[kukoc4ever]

The guy has been struggling early on. Not very good at all. The shot is not falling. The defense and rebounding is not there. I've been kind of disappointed in the guy, based on his preseason and his performance with Sacramento. Perhaps his production was a product of their system.

Other options.

1.) Start Sweetney

2.) Start Othella

3.) Start Tim Thomas

All these have their plusses and minuses..... which we can discuss.

One lineup I'd like to see to start the game against teams that are not dominant up front would be.

1.) Duhon
2.) Hinrich
3.) Basden
4.) Deng
5.) Chandler

That team would be a beast defensively, with Hinrich and Deng being our primary scoring options to start the game. Its not like we get anything inside with Songalia anyway. I've liked what I've seen from Basden and starting him would be a nice way to get him guaranteed minutes, develop him and see what we have.

For instance, tonight against Golden State, I think this would be a nice lineup to try out against them.

 

[yodurk]

Songaila hasn't put up the numbers yet, but I still like him in the starting lineup...for now. My reason is that he's the best passing big we have, and that pays dividends early on in games. Granted, we haven't gotten off to the best starts so far, so I guess I'm contradicting myself. But I know the guy has skills and I know he can do better. It's quite possible Skiles is still figuring out how to use him. Right now, I think a lineup change would be premature. But it gets to where starting him really hurts the team, then maybe Othella is the way to go. Or hell, maybe we can start Tim Thomas once he gets out of the doghouse. Nocioni's style of more of a 4 anyways, so you can flip-flop them based on matchups. I trust Skiles, he'll make it work either way.

 

[TripleDouble]

I think Othela should be starting. He provides some low post offense and is a better rebounder than Songaila. Plus he's a veteran.

 

[vandyke]

Songaila was definitely a product of the perimeter oriented system in Sacramento, when you have to stretch your defense to guard Bibby and Peja and Webber and Miller it leaves a lot of room for the other guy in this case Songaila to get in there and get offensive rebounds and easy put backs, he is not that great a player he is average, why else would Sac let him go without even trying to retain him. He is a good hustle guy off the bench to come in and give you a few points and rebounds but he is not that great a player. I always felt he was a little overated.

 

[ScottMay]

Skiles has no choice but to start him for now.

If the goal for Skiles in terms of the power forward rotation is to get "Sweets" as many minutes as possible (and I think that is his goal), then he has to start Songalia. I am certain that Sweetney's mpg would decline, maybe even sharply, if he got the nod as a starter -- lots of two-quick-fouls, spend-most-of-the-first-half-on-the-bench types of games.

 

[yodurk]

While I disagree with vandyke, I'll at least point out that if Songaila proves to stink it up all year long, then we're not on the hook to sign him. We have him for a very moderate $3M next year if he picks up the player option, and if he doesn't pick up the option then he might not cost much more than that (or we could simply not re-sign him altogether). But hopefully he breaks through and this is just a case of adjusting to a new team and/or finding his shot. He has a very good skill set and could really be valuable for us.

 

[PD]

SWEETNEY needs to start along side with Chandler, Period. Chandler, Sweetney, Deng, Duhon, and Hinrich.

Nocioni and Gordon can come off the bench to replace Sweetney and Duhon - just like the old days of Chandler and Gordon replacing Davis or Curry and Duhon.

 

[ace20004u]

I disagree that Sweetney should start next to Chandler, this team really only has three players capable of playing center to any degree, Chandler, Sweetney, and Othella. I think we need to keep Sweetney coming off of the bench so we can utilize him at center. I also think asking Othella to start, while a good idea at face value, may not be a good idea for the same reason starting Sweetney isn't. We need to have players we can plug in at the 5, we want to keep Othella & Sweetney both out of foul trouble and ready to play those minutes.

On Songaila, he is off to a slow start but he does pass the ball well. I say, given what we have available and where we need some players to play at that we give him some more time to get it together.

 

[SausageKingofChicago]

Or maybe we can just get further Center help through trade

Songaila is a 3rd to 4th big in a playoff team's rotation

He can pass . He can shoot.

He's a Pat Garrity type player without quite as much range but better passing ability

Truth is he was a perfect fit for when they were Kings

Here as a Bull... I am not sure

 

[TripleDouble]

SWEETNEY needs to start along side with Chandler, Period. Chandler, Sweetney, Deng, Duhon, and Hinrich.

Nocioni and Gordon can come off the bench to replace Sweetney and Duhon - just like the old days of Chandler and Gordon replacing Davis or Curry and Duhon.

If Sweetney starts alongside Chandler there will be more time when both of those guys are on the bench together which means more time when the Bulls are an absolutely horrible rebounding team.

 

[SausageKingofChicago]

If Sweetney starts alongside Chandler there will be more time when both of those guys are on the bench together which means more time when the Bulls are an absolutely horrible rebounding team.

Well Tyson has been staying in games and Sweetney is making improvements the last few games in not getting in so much foul trouble

I agree..not for now but I would expect next year perhaps ..they could be a starting tandem

Outside of their propensity for fouling they do complement each other reasonably well IMO

 

[Electric Slim]

I think Othela should be starting. He provides some low post offense and is a better rebounder than Songaila. Plus he's a veteran.

He always seemed to play really well in his few starts last year.

+1

 

[kukoc4ever]

I agree with not starting Chandler and Sweetney together.

Man, Tim Thomas would be perfect at that 4 spot to start the game, IMO.

I hope they can get things squared away on that front.

 

[yodurk]

I agree with not starting Chandler and Sweetney together.

Man, Tim Thomas would be perfect at that 4 spot to start the game, IMO.

I hope they can get things squared away on that front.

I agree, but I'm not optimistic. I have a feeling Skiles' definition of hard work is considerably different than TT. It's ultimately up to Timmy to meet those demands, but I'm not sure he knows how to get there.

 

[SausageKingofChicago]

TT is a crap rebounder and a lousy defender to be playing upfront

Couldn't be any worse than Eddy though I suppose

 

[Frankensteiner]

I agree with not starting Chandler and Sweetney together.

Man, Tim Thomas would be perfect at that 4 spot to start the game, IMO.

I hope they can get things squared away on that front.

I know we're only 5 games in, but my feeling is that ship has sailed. I doubt Thomas can be "molded" by Skiles into a "right way" player at this point. It is a shame, though, because Thomas has some talent (decent shooter, decent passer) that we could use.

 

[jbulls]

I agree with not starting Chandler and Sweetney together.

Man, Tim Thomas would be perfect at that 4 spot to start the game, IMO.

I hope they can get things squared away on that front.

I think Thomas can be of use to us too, but I'm not sure that starting him at the 4, given our rebounding issues, is a good plan. He's a sub par rebounder for a 3, he's terrible for a 4.

 

[kukoc4ever]

I think Thomas can be of use to us too, but I'm not sure that starting him at the 4, given our rebounding issues, is a good plan. He's a sub par rebounder for a 3, he's terrible for a 4.

My thought on this is that he could give us what Songalia is supposed to give us, except more effective.

But, you are right, he appears to be an even worse rebounder than Songalia was with the Kings last year.

Either way, we are soft at the 4, with little rebounding or inside game.

I should not have used the word "perfect" in my previous post. Just saying that if we are married to having a soft, passing, shooting 4 I'd prefer a motivated TT over Songalia.

My ideal starting power forward sitauation would include neither Songalia nor TT.

 

[kukoc4ever]

Another crap game for Songalia.

Start Deng or Thomas at the 3 and Noc or Oh at the 4.

 

[DaBullz]

This lineup:
Duhon, Hinrich, Chandler, Deng, Songaila

Is offensively challenged. It's like playing 2 on 5 or 2.5 on 5 at the offensive end.

It sure makes it tough to come out strong at the start of games.