Over at the Bulls blog, Sam Smith had this to say after the Bulls latest loss to Portland on Monday night:

“But in the Bulls continued softness on the defensive end and with a bench filled with offensive players, most of whom play on the perimeter, it’s going to fall to Del Negro to make the tough decisions that a lot of his players may not like. And they may not like Vinny for it. But as much as many try, it’s never the job of the coach to be liked. Just to produce, motivate and develop.

It’s time for that to begin with the Bulls, and this is how it has to start: With defense. Thabo Sefolosha and Tyrus Thomas have to be on the court regularly.”

I agree about Thomas, and wrote as much yesterday. But I disagree about Sefolosha. He’s just not comfortable on the offensive end, and he often seems overmatched. Last night he posted up down low. When the pass came in 2 Blazers got to it before him. He didn’t fight to go get it. I don’t think he can shoot very well and I can’t remember really any time when he took the ball off the dribble to make something happen.

A better lineup would include Hinrich and Rose in the backcourt. Hinrich is not as rangy as Thabo, but he can shoot it and he gets the ball moving in the half-court. And Hinrich is a solid, pesky defender. Players like Thabo and Noah grind the offense to a halt. Hinrich knows that ball movement is essential with the lack of a low post presence. I liked the way Rose and Hinrich shared the ball and worked the offense last night.

Drew Gooden continues to take some horrible shots. Look at his shot chart. His misses came from 15 (2x), 19, 21 (3x), 22 (2x). Hello? Dude–you are a 4. Get under the basket. It’s ridiculous. He’d probably lead the league in FG% if he just chose shots correctly. But he is a free agent to be.

Gordon also aggravates me to no end. Most of his energy is exerted on the offensive end, which is a nice way of saying he doesn’t play good defense. You need a scorer like Gordon and Smith advocates him as 6th man. I agree. There’s no shame in coming off the bench to score in bunches and Gordon can definitely do that.

I’m rambling. I hope the trade deadline brings some type of clarity to the roster for next season. I would love it if they could find a big guard that can shoot and defend. The Knicks want to move David Lee and Quentin Richardson. Hmmm…would they like a Ben Gordon or Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden deal?