The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

As this comes as a surprise to no one, the Bulls finally signed free agent Rip Hamilton to a 3 year deal.  The question is how does this affect the Bulls?

The Good - Rip is a veteran who can step right into the the starting SG role.  In his 12 year career he has averaged 18 PPG and a 45/35/85 shooting percentage with almost identical numbers in the playoffs.  He's been on three all-star teams, went to the Eastern conference finals 6 years in a row, been to the finals twice and came out a champion once.  He definitely brings more experience to this younger squad.  He's more polished offensively than Bogans (who's extension will not be signed) and RonRonJuice and is another scoring option to help DRose.

The Bad - At the ripe age of 33, there are questions as to how he is going to hold up in this shortened and compacted schedule.  How will his legs hold up playing 5 games in 7 nights and back-to-back's 17 times this season.  Although he is better offensively than Brewer or Bogans, he isn't the type of guy who creates his own shot in isolation.  In the early to mid 2000's, the Pistons would shove down opponents throats a steady diet of Rip running off down screens and either continuing his drive to the basket, popping in a mid range jumper, or finding one of the Wallaces rolling to the bucket.  Don't know if he can still run for days like he used to, or how much on the ball offense he'll create.

The Ugly - Rather than talk about the stupid mask Rip wears, I saved this section for last night's Hawks Shootout winner.  The only ugly thing about this clip is how foolish Kaner makes Backstrom look on this filthy goal.  Funny to see Kaner undress someone other than a Chicago co-ed in Wrigleyville.