Will Rice Boil?

I am not too concerned about the Bulls young players losing P.T. to Glen Rice. Floyd is a good enough coach to handle that one. This is a different equation than the Lakers.

My question is will Rice get in the way of the Bulls developing quickness and aggressiveness. The tired legs of Randy Brown, B.J. Armstrong, Will Purdue, and likely Hersey Hawkins are being replaced by much quicker young guys. Does the addition of Rice mean the Bulls must stick to a plodding half-court offense, with only a rare fast break? Also, will they be able to apply more defensive pressure without tiring the 'old guy' out?

Mike McGinley Hoffman Estates, IL

Glenn Rice is 31 only two years older then Eddie Jones. Even in NBA years 31 is hardly old! Rice will be able to keep up with the young guys and his outside shooting will open up the inside for guys like Elton Brand, Marcus Fizer and Brad Miller. I think Rice will complement this young team perfectly. In my opinion the addition of Glen Rice equals a playoff appearance, which will really help the young kids like Brand, Artest, Benjamin, Fizer and Crawford from developing a losing attitude with another miserable season.

This could be a valid concern. Rice is 31 years old and slacked off quite a bit last year. At the same time, Rice is an emotional player and he should do fine once he gets into the game.

A bigger concern is the defense. Rice has always been poor on defense, and the Bulls certainly won't have enough talent out he court to make up for Rice. He is going to have to step up on defense.

Rice may be a great addition, or a horrible one. I'm afraid there probably isn't much of an in-between. He and Mercer may have a lot of problems playing together (they both have had a lot of attitude problems). If they do, the Bulls are in for a very poor season, perhaps as bad as only 20 wins.

If Rice and Mercer can mesh, Rice could become the outside threat that will open up the lane for the others, as well as a scoring machine himself. The Bulls could win as many as 40 or 42 and a playoff spot (although this is really a long shot). A more conservative estimate is probably around 28-33 wins, as we will still have problems on defense.

The best part of this signing is the fact that it is for one year. Any more than that, and it is probably not a good bargain for the Bulls. The one year deal should keep Rice playing hard, and will give the Bulls an out if he doesn't.

This still doesn't make me a Krause supporter. He made the team much worse than it had to be the last couple of years. At least it appears that he is finally trying to put an NBA team out on the floor.

The last thing a lottery team should be worrying about is playing time. There is nothing wrong with benching a rookie for one season, especially one who is learning to play a new position.

Glen Rice is by no means slow-footed. The thing about him is that in every team he has played in, people consider him a great locker room guy. It was either Shaq or John Salley that said that Glen Rice is the funniest guy he has ever played with.

Also, with Brown gone and Hawkins to follow, the Bulls are desperate to acquire some sort of a mentor for all those underrage kids they have, and it would be even better if that person is a former all-star with plenty of playoff experience. There also should be no egos on the team, with only one vet who is expected to be the leader, and many young players expected to listen and learn.

i say Ric is a greaet addition, but since we now have a shot at winning, we will need to trade the rights to Fizer to the clippers for a 2001 first round pick. we could even throw in benjamin or some other cap player. a second rounder maybe. then we have a definite playoff contendor.....if every one gels

1-Crawford 2-Mercer 3-Rice 4-Brand 5-Woods, or haywood, or curry

i say that is a great line-up....better than anyone in the east except maybe heat and.....well thats it.

NO WAY DONT TRADE FIZER HE WILL BE THE BEST PLAYER OUT OF THE DRAFT THATS THE STUPID MOVE TO MAKE.....

idea di scrivere:

the clippers gave it to the magic.

Why would you trade Fizer? Rice only signed a 1 year deal remember.