2011年12月13日 星期二

Chicago falls short when it comes to free-agent destinations

The Chicago Bulls went into the spectacular free-agent summer of 2010 and all they came back with was a lousy T-shirt, er, Carlos Boozer.

Over the past two weeks -- with players, agents, general managers and pretty much anyone with a Twitter handle running amok while the ink dried on the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement -- the Bulls have positioned themselves to ... add an aging shooting guard (Richard Hamilton) once every other team in the league passes on a chance to snag him.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China,

In the Great Mating Dance between NBA teams and current or soon-to-be free agents (or even just foot-stomping trade-demanders), the Bulls ought to be the guys who are flashing their 62 victories from last season, flaunting their Coach of the Year (Tom Thibodeau) and dazzling prospective acquisitions with their defending Most Valuable Player (Derrick Rose). Yet they get as much action as a guy with a cold sore.

Chicago is a terrific city, a popular road stop for pro athletes and a place where basketball fans fill United Center, not just now but also during the Eddie Robinson-Dalibor Bagaric-Tim Floyd era. It's the franchise from which Michael Jordan launched, well, everything: six championships, unparalleled endorsement success,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. worldwide acclaim and what now is a proliferation of sports statuary across America.

"Be Like Mike" echoes long after that particular sports-drink campaign was shelved. Heck, it provided the soundtrack for many of the players in the league today. Yet for some reason, "Play Where Mike Played" falls flat. Never made it onto the charts at all.

As far as desirable destinations for NBA players,MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, Chicago doesn't even make the first team. The Lakers understandably rank near the top year in, year out, for their traditions, their bankroll, their climate and their rank -- stars among the stars! -- within the southern California culture.Buy oil paintings for sale online. New York elbows its way onto the list through sheer bigness and brashness (never mind the Knicks' routine badness), along with a Gotham-centric media that sends its emissaries to every major city in America pressing the question to pro athletes, "When are you coming to play in New York?"

Miami is a relative newbie, its surf, sun and spendiness now outweighing the decay of its urban area and the front-running fan base. All it took was the validation of LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade, making it seem O.K. in an industry that's based on competition to buddy up with, rather than beat, the best.

Dallas gets attention, certainly, as the defending champions. That,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. at least, is a more sporting and noble reason than the flat-screen TVs, plush bathrobes and every other salary-cap skirting nicety that owner Mark Cuban threw at the players in his early days of ownership.

New Jersey is a player now, too, among key free agents. The Nets are owned by a Russian billionaire of mysterious means who might, for crying out loud, get himself elected president there. The grandiosity of it all has a natural appeal to NBA stars with self-conglomeration dreams. Besides, the Nets will be playing soon in trendy Brooklyn, which makes them a New York II franchise rather than, well, wherever it was they will have played for the past 35 years.

And the fifth starting spot among the NBA players' destination dream team? It seems to be held by a rotation. Boston is a franchise that can bring out an almost religious reverence in its players. Houston and Atlanta are popular sites with NBA players for their year-round residences.

An occasional player is eclectic enough to seek out Golden State while Philadelphia is sort of a "Boston lite" in terms of hoops tradition. San Antonio still gets respect as the smartest organization in the league, based on its four NBA championships, pillars still in place (Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan) and that remarkable sequence of lottery events in 1997.

Phoenix, once the most elite country club in the NBA, has dimmed the last few seasons. Orlando, once so prized by Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, cannot seem to satisfy all-NBA, Superman-stying centers. The Clippers, of course, are the Clippers, and for all the wonderfulness going on in Oklahoma City, there may not be a player in the league who would have stepped foot in that town the first time without at least two days' per diem and a return flight home.

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