Chicago Bulls
Bulls Win 2 In A Row On The Road?!?!?
Saturday, January 31st, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
The Bulls accomplished a few major milestones on Friday night. With the 109-98 win over the Kings in Sacramento, the Bulls won for the first time in that venue since 1997 – when Michael Jordan played for the Bulls. The Bulls also won back-to-back road games for the first time all season long. The starting 5 continues to play well together. Here are the numbers:
Ben Gordon – 20 points
Derrick Rose – 4 points, 11 assists
Joakim Noah – 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots
Luol Deng – 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals
Tyrus Thomas – 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots
Although the Kings out-rebounded the Bulls 44-37, the Bulls out-shot the Kings 56% to 36% and made 4 of 11 3-point attempts.
The Bulls are now 20-27 and trail the Milwaukee Bucks by 1.5 games for the race for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bulls End 5-Game Skid, Top Clippers 95-75 in L.A.
Thursday, January 29th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
It’s about time. The Chicago Bulls finally got a win – beating the 10-35 Clippers at the Staples Center on Wednesday night. The Bulls took a 3-point lead into halftime, and then put the game away with a 26-9 edge over the Clippers in the 3rd quarter. It was the first win for the Bulls in 6 tries following their win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, January 15th. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Derrick Rose chipped in 21 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, but also turned the ball over 5 times. Tyrus Thomas put forth a solid night with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. Joakim Noah just missed a double-double with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Ben Gordon had his highest assist total of the 2008-9 NBA season with 8 assists and he also scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. The Bulls out-rebounded the Clippers 52-33.
The Clippers only had 3 players score in double-digits – Eric Gordon with 19, Fred Jones with 11 and Al Thornton with 10.The Clippers now have the 3rd worst record in the NBA, ahead of only the Sacramento Kings (10-37) and the Washington Wizards (9-36).
The Bulls evened their record on the current 7-game road trip at 1-1. The Bulls record is 19-27 and although they are 8 games under .500, they still only trail the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks by 1.5 games for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. What a joke…
Raptors Top Bulls 114-94 Friday Night in Chicago
Saturday, January 24th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 114-94 on Friday night at the United Center. The Raptors snapped their 7-game losing streak, and the loss extended the Bulls losing streak to 4 games. After a 54-54 halftime tie, the Raptors outscored the Bulls 29-20 in the 3rd quarter and 31-20 in the 4th quarter. Jose Calderon led the Raptors with 23 points and 10 assists. Andrew Bargnani added 22 points and 5 rebounds, while Toronto super star Chris Bosh had a solid all-around night – 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocked shots. Toronto out-shot Chicago 56% to 46% from the field. Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 19 points, while Derrick Rose added 12 points. The Bulls 2 best players came off the bench – Andres Nocioni with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and Kirk Hinrich with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The Bulls are no a season-high 8 games under .500.
Bulls Lose Again – Why Do We Even Write About This “Team” Anymore?
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
Another day, another tough, close loss for the Chicago Bulls. The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Chicago Bulls 105-102 on Monday night at the United Center. While the Bulls focused on stopping Joe Johnson – 16 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds – they forgot to worry about point guard Mike Bibby. Bibby dominated the Bulls backcourt all night long, scoring 31 points and dishing out 6 assists. Bibby hit 5 of his 10 3-point shots. Josh Smith also turned in a great night for the Hawks – 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The Bulls saw another lead slip away down the stretch. They led by 3 at halftime, but found themselves in a 77-77 tie to start the 4th quarter. The Hawks outscored the Bulls 28-25 in the final 12 minutes to pull out the road win. Ben Gordon led the Bulls in scoring with 21 points. Luol Deng turned in another double-double – 12 points and 10 rebounds – but for the 2nd straight game, he did not score in the 4th quarter. Joakim Noah followed up his 18-rebound effort on Monday with a 9 point, 11 rebound outburst on Tuesday night. Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich each scored 13 points and Hinrich even dished out 8 assists. Andres Nocioni put forth a solid effort off the bench – 15 points and 8 rebounds – but it still wasn’t enough for the Bulls to emerge victorious.
The Bulls are now 18-25, losers of 3 in a row and 6 of their last 10. The team doesn’t seem to know how to win. The Bulls have played well enough to be there down the stretch, but they can’t seem to get over the hump to notch the W. There will certainly be some changes during the off-season. First year head coach Vinny Del Negro could even find himself on the hot seat as he seems to be a little lost at times. Several players will likely find themselves playing in new cities as well.
After Bulls Top Cavs on Thursday, Bulls Drop 2 In A Row To Spurs & Knicks
Monday, January 19th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
Oh how things have changed. After the Bulls come-from-behind win over the NBA’s best team – the Cleveland Cavaliers – on Thursday night at the United Center, there was excitement and optimism that the Bulls could turn around their spiraling season before it was too late. But after the last 2 losses, that just doesn’t seem possible.
The Bulls lost to the San Antonio Spurs 92-87 on Saturday night at the United Center. The Bulls fell behind by 11 points at the end of the 1st quarter and could never climb all the way back to take the lead. The Spurs had 5 players score in double-digits – led by Manu Ginobili’s 21 points, Tony Parker’s 20 points and Tim Duncan’s 18 points. Duncan also had 14 rebounds, while Parker dished out 8 assists. The Bulls also had 5 players with double-digit scoring, but the offensive output was just too inconsistent. Ben Gordon led the team with 20 points, while Luol Deng chipped in 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Andres Nocioni had the best night for the Bulls – 17 points and 15 rebounds. Derrick Rose also had a productive night with 12 points and 8 assists, but the team shot just 30% from 3-point range and 45% from the floor overall.
The Bulls shooting woes continued in Monday’s matinee game against the Knicks in New York. In a back-and-forth contest, the Bulls blew a late 3-point 4th quarter lead and lost to the lowly Knicks 102-98 at the Garden. In the loss, the Bulls wasted a number of solid efforts from key players. Joakim Noah grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and even scored 7 points. The Bulls got double-doubles from Luol Deng (20 points and 10 rebounds) and Tyrus Thomas (19 points and 10 rebounds). Derrick Rose just missed a double-double of his own with points and 8 assists. But overall the Bulls shot only 24% from 3-point range and 43% from the floor overall. And the Bulls defense slacked off way too many times, allowing the Knicks to score too many easy baskets. Quentin Richardson led the Knicks with 24 points and 6 rebounds and hit a key 3-point shot from the corner which tied the game at 97 with just over 2 minutes to play in the game. Former Bulls player Chris Duhon hit the game winning shot for the Knicks with under a minute to play and poured in 19 points overall to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Bulls are now 18-24 and sit 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks and New Jersey Nets for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs race. Next up for the Bulls is 2 home games at the United Center – Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks and Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.
Lebron Who? Bulls Top NBA’s Beast 102-93 in OT
Friday, January 16th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
2 nights, 2 improbable victories. After struggling through a 3-week stretch at the end of December and the beginning of January, the Chicago Bulls put together 2 good outings on back-to-back nights. On Thursday night, the Bulls upset the NBA’s best team (record-wise at the time) – the Cleveland Cavaliers – 102-93 in overtime on the United Center hardcourt, pulling off the improbable victory after Derrick Rose’s 2 free throws tied the game with 20 seconds left in regulation.
The Bulls were helped by an “off-night” by Lebron James. James scored 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 7 assists, but the focus was on the atrocious 8 of 28 shooting from the floor (including only 1 of 6 from 3-point range) and his season-high 8 turnovers. The Cavs did get a solid effort from Mo Williams, however, who scored 26 points with 5 of 10 shooting from behind the arc. The Cavs were a little short-handed after an ugly injury to point guard Delonte West while trying to block a Derrick Rose layup from behind late in the 1st quarter. The Cavs also started the game without forward Ben Wallace and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
As for the Bulls, it was a full team effort, with 6 different players scoring at least 11 points. Rose chipped in 16 points and dished out 6 assists. Luol Deng led the Bulls in scoring with 22 points and also grabbed 8 boards. Tyrus Thomas knocked down 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. The bench was the key for the Bulls – Andress Nocioni (11 points and 6 rebounds) in 37 minutes; (12 points and 5 assists) in 30 minutes; and Drew Gooden (11 points and 6 rebounds) in 18 minutes. The only negative – Ben Gordon had a 2nd straight poor game – scoring only 5 points on 2 of 6 shooting (he scored only 10 points on Wednesday night in Toronto shooting 4 of 13 from the floor).
Can the Bulls win 3 in a row? It will be a tough task against the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Sours who have won 8 of their last 10 games. But no one expected the Bulls to beat the Cavs either, so anything is possible. Del Negro is working in a nice new rotation of players now that everyone is healthy again. If the team continues to develop together with a full complement of players (avoiding the injury bug the last half the season), the Bulls could make a run at the last 2 playoff spots in the East. A realistic goal would be to try to get back to .500 and stay there through mid-April. If they can do that, we’ll likely see the Bulls in a 1st round Eastern Conference match-up against either the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic.
Bulls Get Surpise 102-98 Victory Over Raptors in Toronto
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls have been struggling since the middle of December and the road has not been kind to the weary Chicago team. After watching a 9-point 1st quarter lead disappear into a 1-point halftime deficit, the Bulls could have just cashed it in for the night, as they have done so many times this season. But after an even 3rd quarter in which each team scored 21 points and the Raptors still led by 1, the Bulls showed some resilience and spunk in the 4th quarter. The Bulls rode rookie guard Derrick Rose who scored 17 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter to the 4-point victory. In addition to Rose’s Bulls game-high 25 points, Rose also dished out 10 assists and only turned the ball over once in 38 minutes. Luol Deng, making his first start since returning from an ankle injury had one of his best games of the season – 16 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists in 39 minutes of play. Another player who just returned from injury – Kirk Hinrich – also had a productive night off the bench. In 32 minutes of play, Hinrich knocked in 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
It will be nice to see how Vinny Del Negro handles his team now that just about everyone is healthy. From the looks of it, Del Negro might continue to go with a starting lineup of Rose and Ben Gordon at guard, Drew Gooden at center (with Joakim Noah filling in when Gooden is injured), and Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas at forward. Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni will continue to log significant minutes off the bench. Larry Hughes and mid-season pick up Lindsay Hunter may be th odd-men out in the near future. Hughes did not play in Wednesday night’s game in Toronto and Hunter has not played in the Bulls last 2 games. The Bulls have until Saturday, January 17th to determine whether or not to keep Hunter or waive him before the deadline. If the Bulls don’t waive Hunter by Saturday, his contract becomes guaranteed for the entire season.
Next up for the Bulls are 2 home games at the United Center against 2 of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Bulls take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night and the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. Each team has won 8 of their last 10 games. The Bulls are 17-22 and find themselves 1.5 games out of the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference trailing the Philadelphia 76ers.
Trailblazers Slam Dunk Bulls 109-95 @ United Center
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
Another day, another loss for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have now lost 7 of their last 10 games and stand at 16-22 – a season-high 6 games under .500. After taking a 28-21 1st quarter lead, nothing went right for the Bulls the rest of the way. The Bulls allowed Travis Outlaw to score a career-high 33 points off the bench. Greg Oden dominated inside with 17 points and 13 rebounds. And although the Bulls were able to keep Brandon Roy in-check with only 11 points, Roy did grab 8 rebounds and Steve Blake was able to score 16 points while dishing out 10 assists.
As usual, the Bulls did get a solid performance from Drew Gooden – 22 points and 9 rebounds. Ben Gordon chipped in 17 points, while Derrick Rose scored 13 points and dished out 10 assists. The Bulls did get back 2 regulars of the recent past – Loul Deng (14 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes) and Kirk Hinrich (4 points and 3 assists in 21 minutes). Both have missed significant playng time during the 2008-9 NBA season.
Now that the Bulls have all of their players back healthy, it will be interesting to see how 1st year coach Vinny Del Negro keeps everyone happy. Because the Bulls have a slim chance at making the playoffs, the rest of the season will be dedicated to show-casing talent to determine who will get traded and who will stay on the roster. Del Negro and GM John Paxson have their work cut out for them over the next few years. With super-star Derrick Rose blossoming on the pro level, the Bulls organization needs to find a way to surround him with quality talent to take the next step towards legitimate playoff contention. Will Paxson be able to work some magic? We’ll have to wait and see…
Bulls Hit Season Low – Lose 109-98 to Lowly Thunder at Home
Monday, January 12th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls season sunk to an all-new low on Saturday night:
Thunder 109, Bulls 98 – OT.
Ouch…
In a back and forth game, the Bulls actually led by as many as 7 points midway through the 4th quarter. But once again, they couldn’t close, allowing the Thunder to tie the game at 94 and have 2 chances at the end of regulation to send the hometown Chicago fans home crying. While the Bulls managed to stop the last 2 Thunder shots in regulation, Oklahoma City dominated overtime play outscoring the Bulls 15-4 for an easy win. Kevin Durant is a stud – 28 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook each added 14 points and 12 boards, while Nick Collison scored 21 and grabbed 9 boards of his own. The Thunder out-muscled the Bulls in the paint – winning the rebounding game by 22 boards – 59-37. How embarrassing is that on your home court – especially when it comes at the hands of the NBA’s worst team.
Drew Gooden had another solid night for the Bulls – 20 points and 12 rebounds. Ben Gordon led the Bulls in scoring with 22 points, while Larry Hughes poured in 16 points in a rare start and season-high 41 minutes of play. Derrick Rose scored 16 points, grabbed 3 boards and dished out 6 assists. Joakim Noah grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench.
The Bulls are now 16-21. They are still only 1 game behind the Bucks and 76ers for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, but they face a difficult schedule during the upcoming week. Tonight the Bulls face the Portland Trailblazers and then they travel to Toronto for a game against the Raptors on Wednesday night. The Bulls then play the Cavaliers and Spurs at the United Center on Thursday and Saturday nights. Given the way the Bulls have been playing, it will be a huge shock to me if they don’t lose all 4 games and fall a season high 8 games under .500. Not a good trend for 1st year head coach Vinny Del Negro. Look for Bulls GM John Paxson to try to make some moves before the February trading deadline. If not, the Bulls could be in for another long 2009-2010 off-season and regular season.
Bulls Win 2 In a Row, Top Wizards 98-86
Saturday, January 10th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bulls beat the Washington Wizards 98-86 on Friday night at the United Center. It was the first time that the Bulls had won back-to-back game since they beat the Wizards and Knicks at home on December 6th and 8th respectively. Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 22 points. Big men Drew Gooden (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Tyrus Thomas (16 points and 10 rebounds) both put in spectacular nights. Larry Hughes also poured in 17 points in only 20 minutes off the bench. If the Bulls expect to make a run at the 2008-9 NBA playoffs, they will need to get more consistent efforts from Hughes and Thomas to make that a reality. The Bulls are currently tied with the Philadelphia 76ers in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, just 1 game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the 8th seed and 1.5 games behind the New Jersey Nets for the 7th seed. The Washington Wizards, on the other hand, have only 7 wins – the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
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