Doug Thonus has released the 62nd episode of the Bulls Beat podcast. This episode is all about Doug’s talk with David Thorpe, who has worked with Tyrus Thomas this summer. Also, Thonus couldn’t escape a podcast without getting into Ben Gordon.

Thomas didn’t get a 2nd session with David Thorpe to work out this summer because Vinny Del Negro requested all of the players to come back and work with the Bulls staff. Tyrus obliged because he wants to be a leader this year and be around the team as much as possible.

Many of people remember that quote from Scott Skiles last year about how Tyrus has to learn to work out like an NBA Player. According to Thorpe, Tyrus is getting it now. Tyrus is not a party guy that goes out and drinks. He gets to bed on time, gets a lot of sleep, and then gets up early. Tyrus has hired a personal chef that prepares him healthy meals all year round.

Tyrus is putting in extra time for strength and conditioning. Tyrus is now up to 230 lbs. Overall, from multiple sources, Tyrus’ work ethic is looking great. Tyrus has learned how to be a professional, who does all the things necessary to put himself in a position to succeed.

Tyrus now understands taht there is no one else to blame except himself now, for where his career goes. The coaching staff is going to give him an opportunity, and it is going to be sink or swim for Tyrus.

Thorpe also said that Tyrus is actually a very good shooter. He said that Tyrus has good technique and form, and with his technique and form, he has good consistency. Tyrus’ problem so far has been not getting the proper number of reps up, not having a defined role in the offense, and having his minutes yanked around.

Tyrus has been working a lot on his face up game. He is working on body control and working on finishing from 5 ft out with either hand.

Also, on a small Gordon note, all of Thonus’ NBA sources are telling him that Ben Gordon will take the qualifying offer.

In the podcast, Thonus also talks about the stupidity of the rumored Heat trade, his theory on Ben Gordon taking the Bulls offer, and some viewer emails.

You can listen to this podcast at Bullsbeat.com

Doug Thonus released the 60th episode of the Bulls Beat podcast, and it is a good one. In this episode, Thonus covers what each player needs to improve on this offeason, and covers their summer work ethic. Like always, Thonus uses his accurate analysis and a great knowledge of NBA economics to make for a great listen.

Here is what our players have been up to, so far this offseason:

Thabo Sefolosha - His wife was 8 months pregnant at the end of the NBA season. He went back to Europe to be with his wife and family for when the baby was born. He hasn’t been around Chicago very much. He has been working with his former coach back home.

Tyrus Thomas - He has been working out extremely hard this summer. His goals have been a little bit more perimeter oriented, and not working so much on the inside stuff and weight training. David Thorpe said previously that Tyrus really wanted to work on his perimeter game, because he thought it would get him more playing time, but Thorpe wanted him to work on his inside game. Tyrus is doing his 2nd session with Thorpe right now. Doug will have an update soon once Tyrus completes his 2nd workout session with Thorpe.

Joakim Noah - Hasn’t really worked out hard. Thonus says it seems pretty normal for guys to do this after their rookie season, like Tyrus last summer. Doesn’t sound to be up to a whole lot and seems distracted. He just hasn’t been working out as hard as everyone would like him to have been.

Ben Gordon - He has been working out really hard. Gordon works out with his own people (who Duhon once referred to as Gordon’s man-slave). Not very surprising that Gordon is working out so hard. Gordon is an absoute machine He is great with his body. He doesn’t drink heavily or do any drugs. Gordon is a complete health nut and an extraordinary workout warrior. He lives and breathes for basketball.

Kirk Hinrich - He has been one of the hardest working guys this offseason. He has been doing heavy weight training and is bulking up. He is up to around 205 pounds now and a lot more muscular. This should allow him to not wear down as much as he has in the past. He has been working on shooting and ball hadnling. He has been putting out a great effort at the Berto Center in front of the Bulls staff. It is very unlikely he is to be traded before the season starts due to his great offseason. He started working out hard before the Bulls got Rose, so it wasn’t in response to the pick. This is in line with something I was told 2 weeks before the draft that Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas were regulars in the Berto in May, and that Gordon and Deng have been in and out of there a lot too.

Luol Deng - Has also been a workout warrior. Him and Tyrus have been two of the hardest working players at IMG Academy. He has been trying to improve putting the ball on the floor and driving from the basket from 19 feet out. he has also been working out on his range. He is working on the Scottie Pippen bank shot and working on his dribbling game. Everything he has been working on has been more individual moves to help him become more of a go to scorer.

Drew Gooden - He has had a very good offseason so far. He has been working out down in Florida. He is in tremendous shape. He is trying to get that humongous offer next offseason, when he is a free agent.

You can listen to the podcast at Bullsbeat.com

Also, Doug is selling tickets at face value at his site, so check that out. The seats are right in the center of the court and range from the season opener against Milwaukee, to games against the Knicks, Magic, Pistons, Cavaliers, Celtics, and Heat.

Doug Thonus, of Bullsbeat.com released the 58th episode of the Bulls Beat podcast today. This one is all about Ben Gordon and his comments that he has probably played his last games with the Bulls. It is an excellent podcast, and it really puts some well thought out perspective on the entire Gordon situation.

Doug first points out that Gordon hedged on the question. Gordon didn’t specifically come out and say that he played his last game as a Bulls. If you actually go look at the full interview with Ben, he said that it just looks that way, unless the negotiations change.

Doug thinks that it will absolutely stink if Ben Gordon doesn’t return because he is either our best or 2nd best player. He thinks that the argument that the Bulls shouldn’t pay Gordon $10 million a year is absurd, because at $10 million a year you aren’t asking a guy to be a superstar. Doug says he wouldn’t take a player who is making less than $10 million, that doesn’t fall into one of three categories: 1. Is still on his rookie contract and will make big money when he’s eligible for an extension. 2. A player who got significantly better after he signed his contract, such as Caron Butler. 3. A player who took a pay cut to stay with a contender, such as Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

He thinks that Gordon has sort of become a scapegoat for all of the team’s failures last year. Fans are venting their frustrations calling him short or inconsistent. He thinks it is absurd to think that someone like Jason Kapono could replace Gordon since he has a higher three point %. Doug contests that Gordon has to hit his threes off the dribble and while covered, while Kapono is completely wide open and set on all his threes. Kapono would have a low three point percentage if he had to make his the same way Gordon made his.

Doug thinks that Gordon is getting a raw deal. People are calling Ben a bench player, and using that as their point why Gordon shouldn’t be paid. In reality, Gordon isn’t a bench player, he has been 3rd or better in minutes every year he’s been with the Bulls. He’s a bench player since we elected to add scoring off the bench, not because he’s not good enough to start. Ben Gordon is on the floor in the important situations in games for the Bulls. Fans using this as an argument against Gordon are being intellectually dishonest.

He thinks that Gordon is bluffing. The Bulls won’t take crap back just to do Gordon a favor. They are going to want something really good for Gordon, not something like the 20th pick which they can just buy on draft night. Portland is the one team where Gordon is a good fit and they have the assets to make an attractive offer to the Bulls.

Options for Gordon if he’s not going to take the qualifying offer is to accept the Bulls offer or Europe. Europe screws him because he will still be a restricted free agent. Would be better for Gordon to bite the bullet and take the qualifying offer.

Doug also thinks that fans who think Ben Gordon isn’t worth the money because he can’t get an offer sheet are using a poor argument. The only team with any cap space is Memphis and they have a truckload of guards.

This situation can become nuclear for both the Bulls and Gordon. For Gordon, wanting more money is understandable, since he takes all the important shots and is the one aske to score on triple teams when they have to get points. Thinks if Gordon has another down year, he might only be looking at the MLE, or a little above it, if he can’t get back to that 2006-2007 level. I think personally, this is a little unfair, since Gordon’s efficiency once Skiles was fired was sky high, and he was at 20 PPG for the season before Boylan benched him after the Wallace trade. Also nuclear for the Bulls because if Gordon leaves, they will be flushing one of their best players for nothing.

Gordon is the perfect complement next to a great player, which Derrick Rose should be. Gordon can play great in a shooter, off the ball role while Derrick Rose dominates, but also can step up 20-25 games a year and win them by himself.

Doug thinks those saying we will survive losing our leading scorer, because it happened with Jamal and Eddy are fooling themselves. According to Doug, Jamal Crawford sucks at basketball and Eddy Curry had one good year with the Bulls, and became crap with the Knicks because he never worked on his weaknesses. Neither Eddy or Jamal made consistent positive impacts on games for the Bulls. Ben Gordon on the other hand has consistently positively impacted a game for the Bulls. We have won tons of games because of Ben’s scoring ability. Gordon’s +/- has been great except for last year with the Bulls, when everyone’s was bad. He thinks Ben Gordon, like Elton Brand, could be the one high draft pick we get rid of that comes back to bite us in the butt.

Also, Doug thinks the Bulls offense hasn’t been well suited for Gordon. He thinks we spent too much time doing a useless pick and roll with Ben Wallace in the corner, which exposed Gordon’s flaws. He thinks if Ben goes to another team, he could really improve just by being in a better offense. This has been a complaint of mine. The example I like to use is the 2006-2007 playoffs. In the series against the Heat, the Bulls had Gordon playing at the top of the key, and ran him in pick and rolls with Nocioni. Luol Deng always gets the credit for being the best player in this series, and he did good, but I think Gordon was the most dominant player in this series. Then in the Pistons series, we put Ben Gordon back in the corner, and the Pistons simply pinned him there, making him ineffective.

Doug absolutely does not want to send Gordon to Miami. Gordon, Wade, and Beasley would make too good of a team, and also Shawn Marion, the piece the Heat would have to give up, does nothing for us.

He thinks the Bull should go up around $66 million in their offer to Ben. Thinks the Bulls, when trading Andres Nocioni or Kirk Hinrich, should shed some money to find room to get under the luxury tax. Doug thinks Gordon’s stance is that he knows they are going to make moves after they sign him, and since they are willing to go right up to the luxury tax right now with Ben, he knows they won’t be taking more salary back in those trades, so the Bulls could get under the luxury tax before the tax is calculated, and Gordon can get a larger deal.

Doug thinks that Gordon is full of it, and that Ben Gordon will either take the qualifying offer and if not that, then probably the Bulls long term offer.

You can listen to this podcast at Bullsbeat.com.

Doug Thonus released the 56th episode of the Bulls Beat podcast today. In the podcast Thonus covers the Ben Gordon situation, the Bulls schedule, makes a plea for fans to buy off his season tickets, and answers his listeners questions.

He is reporting that Ben Gordon has no offers from Europe at this point. This is not entirely true, I think this was just a bit of misstatement, as Thonus later said that no one in Europe is throwing the big money at Gordon. The teams willing to spend that much on a player have already spent all the money they are willing to spend. A good point was brought up by one of Thonus’ emailers, who pointed out that Ben Gordon has a British passport. This will allow a European team to not count Ben Gordon as one of their 2 American players, which gives Ben Gordon more leverage than other American players. I would venture to guess that Ben Gordon’s offers from European teams thus far have been in around $8 million net, which is more than he would be making with the Bulls, but probably less overall, if going to Europe causes him to lose his endorsements with companies such as EAS.

Everything that Doug says regarding the Gordon situation corresponds with what a source around the Bulls organization told me yesterday. The Bulls are not willing to go past that $58 million over 6 years mark. While them not wanting to go into the luxury tax is the stated reason, this is just a facade. The Bulls are just trying to keep Gordon’s deal small so that he is very tradeable, which corresponds with Doug saying the Bulls don’t want the back end of Gordon’s deal to be huge. In addition, Gordon has not received the offers (monetary offers) from teams in sign and trade scenarios that he was looking for according to Doug. The Bulls are hoping that Ben and his agent see this and become willing to accept the Bulls offer.

This leaves Ben Gordon with two options, to take the qualifying offer or cave in, and take the Bulls $58 million over 6 year deal. As we said on Monday, we think it is in Gordon’s best interest to take the qualifying offer. Thonus thinks that Ben Gordon will eventually cave and accept the Bulls offer. This goes hand in hand with what I’ve heard about Ben really not wanting to take the qualifying offer.

Also, one other important tidbit from Doug’s podcast is that the Bulls will not be playing neutral site games in Atlanta or Indiana. This was just a error made by the NBA on the schedules.

You can listen to this podcast at BullsBeat.com