New Jersey Nets
Bulls in Driver’s Seat to Clinch 8th Seed in East
Monday, April 12th, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls took control of their own destiny with a BIG 104-88 win over the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday. Lucky for them, Raptors star Chris Bosh – who could become a Bull in the off-season – will miss the rest of the season because of fractured bones in his face suffered in a game against the Cavaliers last week. Without Bosh, the Raptors failed to put forth a consistent offensive attack as they failed to top the Bulls in any quarter until the 4th quarter when the game was already out of hand.
Joakim Noah back in the starting lineup led the way for the Bulls with 18 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists. Noah missed a ton of games dealing with a painful and nagging foot injury, so it would have been interesting to see where this Bulls team would have finished had it not been without Noah, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose for a considerable portion down the stretch here. Noah was pumped that they were able t bounce back from the disappointing double-overtime loss against the Nets in New Jersey on Friday night — “I knew it was a really important game, I was really focused. I just wanted to go out there and impose my will as much as I could, just be aggressive offensively and defensively. It was a huge win and I just wanted to make sure that our team played harder than their team.” Rose dished out 26 points and 7 assists in the win. Luol Deng scored 14 points and grabbed 7 boards while Taj Gibson continued his solid play with an 11-point, 6-rebound performance. With their big trio in the lineup – Rose, Noah, Deng – the Bulls always seem to put forth a more consistent effort.
The Bulls host the Celtics on Tuesday night at the United Center and then finish the season against the Bobcats in Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Raptors travel to play the Pistons tonight in Detroit and then end the season at home against the New York Knicks. If the Raptors win both games, then the Bulls must also win both games in order to make the playoffs as the 8th seed (the Raptors hold the tiebreaker over the Bulls because they won the season series 2-1). The Bulls can also clinch a spot in the playoffs if the Raptors lose 1 of their remaining games and the Bulls win 1 of their games, or if the Raptors lose both of their games (even if the Bulls also lose both of their games). You gotta think the Raptors will win at least 1 of their games, so the pressure is on the Bulls to pull off a win over the Celtics at home on Tuesday night. The Celtics are still playing for the 3rd seed in the East (they trail the Atlanta Hawks by 1 game), so they will still be fighting with their all on Tuesday night. The Bobcats are locked into the 7th seed in the East, so the Bulls could benefit if the Bobcats decide to rest some of their players on Wednesday night.
It should be an interesting couple of days. Let’s root for a Raptors loss in Detroit tonight. That might take a little pressure off of this “sometimes-tight and overwhelmed” Bulls squad. Then it will be on to face Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers if the Bulls qualify for post-season play…
Bulls Top Cavs 109-108, Tied for 8th & Final Playoff Spot
Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, LeBron James, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls picked up a HUGE win over the Cavs 109-108 on Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago. It was a hard-fought battle and despite missing key free throws down the stretch that would have iced the game, the Bulls managed to hold to beat the Lebron James-less Cavs.
Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls with 24 points and 10 assists. Joakim Noah started and played 33+ minutes in the win – 17 points and 15 rebounds. How good is it to have the big man in the middle again? Luol Deng chipped in 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Kirk Hinrich made 8 of 12 field goal attempts and scored 23 points. It makes you wonder where this team would be if they didn’t have to play without their 3 best players – Deng, Rose and Noah – for such a long stretch in the 2nd half of the season.
Now granted, the Cavs played without Lebron James in an attempt to rest the all-star for the playoffs run. But Mo Williams answered with 35 points and 10 assists, while Antwon Jamison poured in 23 points. This is a totally different team without Lebron, but a win is a win especially when every game counts.
The Bulls pulled even with the Toronto Raptors for the 8th and final playoff spot. The Bulls play the Nets in New Jersey tonight and the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday night. Both games are must win games for the Bulls if they expect to have any chance to qualify for the post-season for the 2nd year in a row. They finish up with the Celtics at home on Tuesday night and the Bobcats on the road in Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Raptors have the Hawks in Atlanta tonight, the Bulls at home, then the Pistons on the road in Detroit on Monday and the Knicks at home on Wednesday. The Friday and Sunday games hold the key — if the Bulls can somehow win both games, they should be able to lock down that 8th seed. Otherwise, we’ll just have to hope we get lucky in the lottery again like we did when we pulled the #1 ball out of the hat to grab Derrick Rose. Keep your fingers crossed…
I Love This One – Stephon Marbury to Play in China
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | Boston Celtics, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Sports | No Comments
Ha ha ha! Stephon Marbury has agreed to play for the Shanxi pro basketball team in Taiyuan, China. Taiyuan is located about 250 miles from Beijing and the Shanxi team is in 12th place in a 17-team league with a 3-10 record. Classic.
Marbury has agreed to play for the team for only $25,000 per month. This after making multi-millions of dollars with a huge contract with the New York Knicks that ended with a mega-buyout during the course of the 2008-9 NBA season? Too funny.
Marbury says that he is excited to play in Chine – “I’ll communicate with the fans through my basketball. I think this will be a unique experience. To go overseas to play ball, to live for me it’s a challenge.” Good luck – let’s see how long this lasts?
I have a feeling once Marbury gets some traction with his new basketball shoes and apparel line in the Chinese market, he’ll say “zaijian” Taiyuan quicker than you can say “good-bye”…
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…
Finally – Nets Top Bobcats 97-91 for 1st Win!
Saturday, December 5th, 2009 | NBA, New Jersey Nets, Sports | No Comments
Although the New Jersey Nets set an NBA record in the process, it was one they didn’t want. After losing 18 straight games to start the NBA schedule, the Nets finally won on Friday night – 97-91 over the Charlotte Bobcats in New Jersey. The Nets outscored the Bobcats 29-22 in the 4th quarter to pull off the 6-point win. It was new head coach Kiki Vandeweghe’s 1st game at the helm. Vandeweghe had this to say about the win: “For me, I ws happy for the players. This has been a bit of a struggle. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It was tough, tough on everybody.”
Brook Lopez led the way for the Nets with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Courtney Lee pitched in 27 points while Devin Harris also contributed 16 points and 8 assists.
The Nets are now 1-18. They trail the Celtics by 14.5 games in the Atlantic Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Next up for the Nets are road games against the Knicks in New York on Sunday and against the Bulls in Chicago on Tuesday.
Chicago Bulls – - As Inconsistent As Ever
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 | Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Sports | No Comments
What is going on with this frustrating Chicago Bulls NBA Team?
Friday night in Chicago, the Bulls beat the 38-20 Denver Nuggets easily -116-99.
Two nights later in Indianapolis, the Bulls struggle against the 25-35 Pacers and lose 98-91.
On Tuesday night back home in Chicago, the Bulls cruise to a 120-102 win over the 42-15 Orlando Magic.
But the next night, in a battle against a team one game behind them in the Eastern Conference playoff race – the 26-32 New Jersey Nets – the Bulls lay an egg in the 4th quarter (getting outscored 37-21) and lose 111-99.
If the Bulls would have won those 2 games against lesser opponents, they would actually be tied with the Detroit Pistons for the 7th and 8th seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But so it stands that the Bulls continue to lose to teams that they “should beat” and continue to stay on the outside looking in for the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Granted, the Bulls have had to adjust with the addition of 3 new players into the regular rotation – John Salmons, Tim Thomas and Brad Miller. But this isn’t a new occurrence for the Bulls during the 2008-9 NBA season. The Bulls have already lost games to Memphis, Charlotte, Minnesota (twice), Oklahoma City, the New York Knicks and Toronto. Even if the Bulls don’t lose half of those games, that’s 3 more wins that gets them closer to the .500 mark that will probably be good enough to make the playoffs in the East.
More and more collapses in the 4th quarter lead many to believe that 1st year head coach Vinny Del Negro just doesn’t have what it takes to be a consistent head coach at this level. Others feel that the Bulls really don’t have a solid player beyond Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon – who himself has limitations because of his small size as a guard. That being said, it’s probably a combination of both.
The Bulls still have a good shot to make the playoffs in the East, but they will have to buck that trend of losing to teams that are either behind them or just ahead of them in the East. Except for a stretch in March where the Bulls have to play Orlando, New Orleans, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers in an 11-day stretch, the Bulls schedule features numerous games against teams that are 1-3 games ahead of them and teams that are behind them in the East. This means a recipe for taking care of your own business and having the ability to control your own destiny. That’s all you can ask for, but I’d be willing to bet that the Bulls don’t have what it takes to come out on top in enough of those games to qualify for the post-season for a 2nd straight disappointing season in Chicago.
