Great Moments In Troll History: Rose Says 'No' To Big Macs

One Big Mac - ~$3.49

Average Bulls Ticket - $66

Rose's New Adidas Deal - 14-years worth up to 260 Million

Letting the air out of 20 thousand people legitimately excited to save three bucks and change - PRICELESS

The better your team, the longer the regular season seems to drag, especially for a team like the Bulls on the cusp of a Finals appearance. Truthfully, there is nothing, save for three more games against Miami, that will tell us anything new about this team. The season begins in the Eastern Conference Finals; the rest is just satisfying filler. In a slow-moving season, where the Bulls return almost an identical team and will win a ridiculous percentage of their games, it is necessary to cling to the peculiarities. Luol Deng's mohawk, CJ Watson's beard, Carlos Boozer's spray-on hair -- all inconsequential details that serve the purpose of breaking up the monotony surrounding the team. Mike James joins the team to a unexpected outpouring of support. Joakim Noah develops a new Finger-Gunz celebration. Derrick Rose sinks another game winner -- a different game winner. Anything to pass the time until mid-May.

Another such peculiarity occurred in yesterday's 99-95 Bulls win. In what looked to be the makings of a fourth quarter blowout, the Hornets clawed back and actually took a four-point lead with 1:25 to play. Derrick Rose did Derrick Rose things to push the Bulls back into a four-point lead with ten seconds left. The Hornets turned the ball over on their last possession and rather than let the time run out and take the loss, Jarrett Jack inexplicably prolonged the sting of a hard-fought loss by fouling Rose with four seconds left. Rose needed to convert only one of his two free throws to give the Bulls 100 points and the fans free Big Macs.

The Big Mac cheers are something everyone is a little sick of, on par with Kingisms and Scalabrine chants. Giving away free food as a way to entice people to show up seemed like a viable plan when Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson were big free agent draws. It's an outdated promotional tool. The Bulls are one of the best two or three best teams in the NBA, have one of the league's top-five players, and practically are guaranteed to win at home. There shouldn't need to be any incentive to get people to show up to games. Nevertheless, the Big Mac thing has cemented itself as a UC tradition and isn't going anywhere. 

For a little context, Rose had made all nine of his free throw attempts before the Jack foul, including seven in the fourth quarter. He was shooting 82 percent from the line going into the Hornets game. Averages would tell you he'd miss BOTH free throw attempts to keep in line with his season average. One miss maybe, but two appeared unlikely. He clanked the first free throw, to add drama, we all figured. Then he clanked the second. The crowd reacted like the Bulls had lost and slowly exited, heads down, aiming to purchase their own disgusting 30-grams-of-fat from the nearest McDonald's. 

With this performance, Derrick Rose carved out his spot in "Great Moments in Troll History." He performed to the highest level, took over the game down the stretch, did just enough to secure the win, but not enough to secure the coma-inducing slop. Hey, people need to be alive to buy his shoes. He knows this. An impressive feat all around. In any other season, this moment would qualify as a blip on the radar. In 2012, as the Bulls chug their way to the playoffs and us fans are spoiled with wins, this moment qualifies as memorable.

Ariza Deal Doesn't Make Sense For The Hornets

It appears the Hornets have made the same mistake the Cavaliers once did. They've catered to their superstar player with the hopes of keeping him happy and in uniform for the rest of his career. The sad reality is that, just as in Cleveland's case, this will blow up in their faces.
Chris Paul has made no secret about his desire to leave New Orleans. He said he wanted to play in New York if Carmelo ended up there, then changed his stance, and directed his attention towards Orlando.
Paul has two years left on his contract with the Hornets and a player option for a third year. In that short time frame, the Hornets can do all they want to try and build a contender around Paul, but this simple point remains: Come 2012, Paul will likely opt out of his contract and take his talents elsewhere.
After examining all aspects of this trade, the only way to justify it is if the Hornets were trying to please Paul. They added an athletic wing man who can likely compliment Paul in the uptempo fast break game. They also get rid of the rookie point guard who stepped in after Paul's injury and proved he could play just as well as Paul did. Don't underestimate this point. I doubt Paul wanted Collison around taking minutes from him. Paul and Collison are too small to start in the same back court.
Essentially, this is what the Hornets did. They gave up their most valuable player not named Paul and a solid contributor off the bench. They added 5 million to their salary cap, despite downgrading their talent. They will also be stuck with Ariza until the 2014-15 season, when he will be making 7 million a year. In the two years after Paul is likely gone, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza will account for 20 million dollars a year. Terrible.

Even if Ariza does fit in with the offense and makes the team better, this trade still won't make sense. Ariza is not the missing piece to a playoff push. With the possibility of David West opting out of his contract next year, this looks like a bad team two years from now.
The Hornets should have traded Paul this offseason. While it hurts the team's image and makes it look like players have all the power, this would be the best thing for the Hornet's long term. They can begin to build their team around Collison. With Paul gone, Stojakovic and Songaila's contracts expiring, coupled in with West opting out, the Hornets clear 35 million from their payroll next year.
Obviously, there's some uncertainty about the CBO for next year, but the Hornets would be better off starting fresh as soon as possible, instead of suffering for two more years, only to lose Paul in the end.
Instead, the Hornets gave up their best young player, will likely miss the playoffs the next two years, and see Paul move on.
Unless if Paul signs a long term extension, what he wants shouldn't be part of the equation.