MVN - Most Valuable Network

End of Season Review: Gooden, Simmons, Nocioni

While I was highly upset with the Chicago Bears 2008 draft picks -not to say the player selected can’t contribute, but not taken a QB- I’m looking forward to find out the spot the Bulls will be selecting from. The three player’s being discussed today are two player’s who joined the team in the middle of the season and one who -to me- lost his aggressiveness.

Drew Gooden: It’s really hard for me to discuss Gooden. Coming out of college, I wasn’t sure what his position would be. He could handle the ball ok, but he didn’t have the speed to keep up with the small forwards of the league. He had the ability to run the floor and possessed range on his jumpshot. What I have to remember from him, just off the top of my head, is the BEARD and his not being mentally prepared in the 2007 NBA Finals against the Spurs. Coming to the Bulls gave him new life and he became a priority in the offense. He had 8 double-doubles in 18 games total before having to sit the final 10 games of the season because of an abdominal strain. He finished the 18 games averaging 14 ppg, 9.3 rpg and 1.3 bpg.

Consistency has been the problem in Gooden’s career but I believe he can flourish in the Bulls offense. He is probably the most effective guy on the roster, playing with his back to the basket. Defenders also have to respect his jumper on the pick and rolls. Gooden can be very useful to this team and I expect him to be around or will his career follow the uncertainty of Chris Gatling?

Cedric Simmons: Like Shannon Brown, Simmons possesses a ton of athleticism and potential. Simmons is still developing and I’m interested in what he could become. It’s hard to analyze a player who only played 87 minutes this season and has only played in 57 games in his two-year career. He’s still only 22 and his highlights have come only in the summer league. If the Bulls have given Tyrus Thomas time to develop, they should at the least give this guy some run in the summer league.

Andres Nocioni:I was upset about the play of a lot of individuals this season, but maybe more-so with Andres Nocioni . He seem to give up the driving to the basket and became strictly a jump shooter. He can knock down the long ball but just because you get the ball behind the arc, doesn’t mean launch the first look you get. He did have a solid year with 13 ppg and 4 rpg. I have no doubt in my mind he can recover. This is arguably one of the toughest guys in the league.

I do have a couple of suggestions for him though. No more forced shots, look for the open man more and try to control the anger.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Bull Riding Updates, Drew Gooden, Bulls, Cedric Simmons, Current Bulls, NBA Teams, NBA, Chicago Bulls, Andres Nocioni, NBA Blogs, Chicago Bulls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.