Atlanta Hawks
De Ja Vu: Rose, Deng Lead Bulls Over Trailblazers in OT
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, NBA, Portland Trailblazers, Sports, Utah Jazz | No Comments
For the 2nd game in a row, Derrick Rose and Luol Deng paved the way for a big Bulls win at the United Center. Rose scored 33 points – 12 in the 4th quarter – to get the Bulls into the extra period. Rose thought he had won the game with a driving layup as the horn sounded to end the 4th quarter, but the ball rimmed out. The Trailblazers held Rose scoreless in OT, but Deng chipped in 7 of his 23 points in the extra frame and the Bulls were able to pull away for a 115-111 overtime victory over one of the better teams in the NBA. Joakim Noah also had one of his better games since dealing with a severe foot injury – he scored 8 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 27 minutes.
The Bulls are now 31-27 overall with a stellar 19-9 home record at the United Center. The Bulls are in Indiana tonight to take on the Pacers, before returning home to play the next 4 games in the United Center against the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz.
Chicago Bulls Back @ United Center to take on L.A. Clippers
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls are happy to be back at the United Center despite their recent road success. The bulls finished up their 7-game road trip with an amazing 5-game winning streak over 5 Western Conference teams with winning records. Not sure if the Bulls have ever done that before, but it is shocking to think that Head Coach Vinny Del Negro was able to orchestrate that feat. The Bulls got a little lucky on Friday night against the Hornets in New Orleans, as David West threw an errant pass to Chris Paul with less than 10 seconds to play that gave the Bulls another shot at tying the game to force overtime. After Derrick Rose’s shot was partially deflected, Luol Deng knocked home a “putback” with just 0.2 left on the clock, and the Bulls took care of business in overtime. Deng led the Bulls with 26 points; Rose chipped in 18 of his own; Joakim Noah scored 13 points and grabbed 18 boards, while rookie Taj Gibson scored 8 points with 8 rebounds to boot. Del Negro continues to get a balanced attack out of all of his players each and every night.
Deng summed up the Bulls renewed sense of urgency and confidence best: “When you’re winning, everything is positive. We’re going into games expecting to win. A game like that, if we had lost four in a row, we might have lost it. But the mentality right now is we can win every game.”
The Bulls are back home for a game against the Clippers on Tuesday night at the United Center. They go back on the road for quick trips to Philadelphia and Atlanta after that, but then return home for a big game against the Miami Heat on Saturday night. Four games in 5 days is never easy, especially with travel mixed in there, but if the Bulls can go 2-2, that will keep them over .500 as the All-Star break approaches. I’m not quite sure how Del Negro is doing it, but he appears to have his team focused and ready to take their play to the next level. Let’s just hope they can keep it going for the final 2+ months of the season!
Chicago Bulls Must Fire Head Coach Vinny Del Negro Now
Friday, December 11th, 2009 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trailblazers, Sports, Utah Jazz | 1 Comment
The time is now – Vinny Del Negro – head coach of the hapless Chicago Bulls – must go. Do you hear me Gar Forman (General Manager) and John Paxson (Bulls President)?
The Del Negro experiment has failed. Paxson (and Forman to a lesser extent) must acknowledge the mistake and correct the wrong before the team continues to fall further into the abyss. The Eastern Conference is atrocious, so even a mediocre team like the Bulls should be able to qualify for post-season play each year. Derrick Rose (16.1 points and 5.7 assists) is a star in the making; Joakim Noah hustles like no other player in the NBA and his numbers prove it (10.2 points and 11.6 rebounds); Luol Deng (17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds) still has NBA star potential and is only 25 years old (like Noah); rookie Taj Gibson (8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds) has shown signs of being ready to develop into a quality NBA player; and the Bulls have plenty of cap space available to land a big free agent from the free agent class of 2010. My biggest fears could be realized if the Bulls don’t make a coaching move right now. If you don’t fire Del Negro now, current players might regress, get frustrated or not give 100% night in and night out. Even worse, free agents may look at the team as a team in disarray and fail to consider a bid from the Bulls because of the circumstances. If the club does not land one of the big 2010 free agents, it could be several more years before the team becomes a force to be reckoned with in the weak Eastern Conference.
The time is now to bring in an experienced head coach who could also help pitch one of the big free agents to want to come to Chicago. Vinny is a nice guy, but he never coached at any level in the NBA before Paxson hired him prior to the 2008-9 NBA season. After the Bulls botched the hiring of Mike D’Antoni (who went to the New York Knicks) and Doug Collins, the Bulls settled on Del Negro – the guy his own team – the Phoenix Suns – turned down to be their head coach. His game management is bad. His offensive creativity is even worse. He might be a good head coach some day, but you can’t risk wasting the development of the likes of Deng, Rose, Gibson, Noah, etc. waiting for Del Negro to learn how to coach.
Now granted, somehow, Del Negro got the Bulls to finish the 2008-9 NBA season as the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls even took the Boston Celtics (without Kevin Garnett and Leonard Powe) to 7 games in the 1st round of the playoffs. That being said, the team has taken a major step back in 2009-2010, and you can’t simply blame that on the fact that Ben Gordon left to sign a lucrative free agent contract with the Detroit Pistons. Del Negro has not instilled that killer attitude they displayed against the Celtics in the playoffs last year and the team has been in a tailspin ever since the annual Circus Road Trip. The Bulls have dropped 9 of 10 games after winning the 1st game of the trip in Sacramento. The team now sits at 7-13 – only 1.5 games out of the 8th seed in the playoffs, but moving in the wrong direction. I don’t mind the losses to the Lakers, Nuggets, Trailblazers and Jazz to finish up the west coast portion of the road trip – a lot of teams would have lost those 4 games. But to lose at Milwaukee and then follow that up with lackluster performances in December – there is no excuse. It’s unacceptable to lose to the Toronto Raptors by 32 points at home. It’s unacceptable to lose to the 1-19 New Jersey Nets on your home court. It’s even unacceptable to lose to the Atlanta Hawks by 35 points on the road. The Del Negro ship has sailed and now it’s time for Forman and Paxson to give him one final push off the dock…
Del Negro had this to say about his job security: “I don’t worry about that. I really don’t. I go to work every day, doing the best and trying to develop these guys. Those are questions for Gar, John and Jerry Reinsdorf… We’re fighting with what we have. We’ll keep on fighting. And these decisions aren’t up to me.” Guess what Vinny – you should be worried. Your days are numbered and hopefully we’ll see a different team after you leave…
NBA Playoff Teams All Set – Seeds Still To Be Determined
Sunday, April 12th, 2009 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, General, Houston Rockets, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs, Sports, Utah Jazz | No Comments
We know know all of the 16 teams that have qualified for 2008-9 NBA post-season play. While some seeds have been established, there are still a few slots up for grabs.
In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers – led by Lebron James - have locked up the #1 seed for the 1st time in franchise history. The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic are still battling for the #2 seed, but the Celtics have a 2-game edge over the Magic. The Atlanta Hawks have locked up the 4th seed in the East. Miami and Philadelphia have each lost 6 of their last 10 games and are currently sitting in the 5th and 6th spots – they each have 3 games to play. The surging Chicago Bulls – winners of 7 of 10 – and the Detroit Pistons are tied for the 7th and 8th seeds right. That race will likely be decided when the Bulls visit Detroit on Monday night with the winner taking at least the 7th seed.
In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers – led by Kobe Bryant – have locked up the #1 seed for a 2nd consecutive year. The 2nd through 5th seeds are up for grabs among the Denver Nuggets (#2 seed), Houston Rockets (1 game behind Denver), Portland Trailblazers (1.5 games behind Denver) and San Antonio Spurs (1.5 games behind Denver). The 6th through 8th seeds are also up for grabs among the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks (tied for 6th and 7th seeds) and the Utah Jazz (8th seed – 1 game behind Hornets and Mavericks). Looking to avoid a 1st round match-up with the Lakers, the Jazz play the Warriors and Clippers before ending the season against the Lakers – will they be able to bump out either of the Hornets or Mavs? Only time will tell.
The NBA playoffs will soon be here in full effect – get ready for some intense playoffs hoops action…
