Well well well, what do we have here?
Was that the baby Bulls pulling off the stunner in Cleveland in a nationally televised game on TNT Thursday night?
Wait for it.
Hell yes it was.
Derrick Rose finally started showing some life for the first time this season. His pass to Joakim Noah underneath for the easy dunk in the 2nd quarter was "straight nasty."
And how about Taj Gibson?
The rook' coming up big with buckets and rebounds down the stretch.
I don't want to say he was the steal of the draft, (that honor goes to DeJuan Blair) but he showed tonight he's ready to contribute right away for this Bulls team. Although being a 23 year undergrad will do that.
Did you see LeBron whining tonight after the game?
He's no longer happy with getting to take 8 steps. Now he wants to control the outcome of games as well.
Who does he think he is, David "The Crook" Stern?
What a huge win on the road for this young team.
Vinny's gotta be happy with Rose's production tonight, and Deng continued to show why the Bulls pay him the big dollars.
Next game for the Bulls (2-2) is home on Saturday night to the mighty Charlotte Bobcats.
Let's see if the Bulls can piece together a decent encore.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Derrick Rose Playing Hurt? Highly Prob-A-Bull.
Okay. It's been three games, and if no else is going to say it I will.
Derrick Rose is playing hurt.
Not the Allen Iverson "my back is sore" kind of pain or the Stephon Marbury "I've gone insane and need help" hurt, more of the the Luol Deng "I have a serious injury and really can't play" varietal.
Anyone who saw Derrick Rose in layup lines last season knows that he's not 100 percent.
His jumper is off, his speed is limited and his explosiveness is on sabbatical.
The Bull's answer?
Deny everything, and hope for the best.
That's certainly the impression their giving off, with comments like this from head coach Vinny Del Negro.
"Derrick's just got to get in better shape," Del Negro said after Monday's practice to ESPN. "He's not in condition to play the minutes he's playing and play at the level he needs to play at."
I've heard more convincing arguments at a Tea Party rally (2009 of course).
So what is the Bull's game plan at the moment? It seems to be nothing more than let Rose play until he hurts himself and he's out until the All-Star Game.
You read it here first: Derrick Rose's ankle injury will cause him a serious chunk of time this season.
Someone with a thimble of common sense needs to recognize that Rose's enthusiasm to play, usually an asset, is detrimental to the future of this team. What good is Rose injured?
His conditioning has nothing to do with it, Vinny. I'm surprised that you, as the man in charge of this team, refuse to step up and tell Rose to rest until he's ready to play, anything less than that and your wasting everyone's time.
Are the other players concerned?
You betcha.
Guys like Tyrus "Contract Season" Thomas need a player like Rose to provide some open looks (although Thomas will let it rip from anywhere inside half court, but that's another story). Noah's game is dependent on transition buckets and alley-oops, both of Rose's specialties.
It's no secret that as Rose goes so do the Chicago Bulls.
Milwaukee is in town tomorrow night, and don't be disappointed if the Brandon Jennings-Derrick Rose match-up doesn't live up to the hype.
Sure, Rose already schooled Jennings on national television when Simeon took down #1 Oak Hill on ESPN in 2007, but that was with a healthy ankle and a sensible coach.
When Rose goes down in the near future, don't say I didn't warn you.
Derrick Rose is playing hurt.
Not the Allen Iverson "my back is sore" kind of pain or the Stephon Marbury "I've gone insane and need help" hurt, more of the the Luol Deng "I have a serious injury and really can't play" varietal.
Anyone who saw Derrick Rose in layup lines last season knows that he's not 100 percent.
His jumper is off, his speed is limited and his explosiveness is on sabbatical.
The Bull's answer?
Deny everything, and hope for the best.
That's certainly the impression their giving off, with comments like this from head coach Vinny Del Negro.
"Derrick's just got to get in better shape," Del Negro said after Monday's practice to ESPN. "He's not in condition to play the minutes he's playing and play at the level he needs to play at."
I've heard more convincing arguments at a Tea Party rally (2009 of course).
So what is the Bull's game plan at the moment? It seems to be nothing more than let Rose play until he hurts himself and he's out until the All-Star Game.
You read it here first: Derrick Rose's ankle injury will cause him a serious chunk of time this season.
Someone with a thimble of common sense needs to recognize that Rose's enthusiasm to play, usually an asset, is detrimental to the future of this team. What good is Rose injured?
His conditioning has nothing to do with it, Vinny. I'm surprised that you, as the man in charge of this team, refuse to step up and tell Rose to rest until he's ready to play, anything less than that and your wasting everyone's time.
Are the other players concerned?
You betcha.
Guys like Tyrus "Contract Season" Thomas need a player like Rose to provide some open looks (although Thomas will let it rip from anywhere inside half court, but that's another story). Noah's game is dependent on transition buckets and alley-oops, both of Rose's specialties.
It's no secret that as Rose goes so do the Chicago Bulls.
Milwaukee is in town tomorrow night, and don't be disappointed if the Brandon Jennings-Derrick Rose match-up doesn't live up to the hype.
Sure, Rose already schooled Jennings on national television when Simeon took down #1 Oak Hill on ESPN in 2007, but that was with a healthy ankle and a sensible coach.
When Rose goes down in the near future, don't say I didn't warn you.
Patrick Beverley
This is just to remind anyone and everyone that the best high school player I have ever seen in Chicago was Patrick Beverley of Marshall. He averaged well over 30 points a game in the Chicago Public League in 2005-2006.
I'll never forget seeing him play against Loyola Academy in the 2006 Super-Sectional at Depaul. Beverley was pulling up from anywhere and knocking it down every single time.
He often gets lost in the shuffle of great players from the class of 2006. Notables include A.P. 1st Team All-American Sherron Collins (Crane, Kansas) and Duke Starter Jon Scheyer (Glenbrook North).
While less-heralded than his contemporaries he ultimately proved himself to be the most dominant scorer in the Chicagoland area that year.
He went on star at Arkansas for two years, with an S.E.C. newcomer of the year award earned along the way.
After leaving Arkansas following his sophomore season, over an academic dispute, Beverley went on to star in the Ukrainian League before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA draft.
Beverley is currently playing for Olympiakos in the Greek League.
Mark my words, he will come to find success in the NBA.
Play That Funky Music Wennington
Has any Bull's fan ever noticed that the Neil Funk/Stacy King Comcast broadcasting team is not working, like at all?
Having watched every game last year on CSN I feel compelled to comment on the state of their affairs.
Funk is old school. He call's the games as he sees them and tries to keep it simple.
King is a former NBA flop who I enjoy listening to. His "quirky" language and street-ball terminology bring a much needed creative presence to the booth.
The problem is, the aforementioned styles do not compliment each other.
All to often Funk will provide a bland description of an event only for King to over-whelm him with some slang (Kaboom! etc).
Funk would be much better off with ESPN 1000 Bulls radio color man Bill Wennington. Wennington's bland style and total lack of imagination go nicely with Funk's sandpaper personality and overall dry demeanor.
This switch would create a dream-team paring of ESPN 1000 announcer Chuck Swirsky and Stacey King.
Swirsky's zingers (onions, baby) would finally get some respect from a man who can dish them out just as smoothly.
Lets face it, Wennington doesn't know what he's doing and Funk seems like he would prefer someone to match his own pace.
Chicago Bulls, I urge you to heed my recommendation.
Having watched every game last year on CSN I feel compelled to comment on the state of their affairs.
Funk is old school. He call's the games as he sees them and tries to keep it simple.
King is a former NBA flop who I enjoy listening to. His "quirky" language and street-ball terminology bring a much needed creative presence to the booth.
The problem is, the aforementioned styles do not compliment each other.
All to often Funk will provide a bland description of an event only for King to over-whelm him with some slang (Kaboom! etc).
Funk would be much better off with ESPN 1000 Bulls radio color man Bill Wennington. Wennington's bland style and total lack of imagination go nicely with Funk's sandpaper personality and overall dry demeanor.
This switch would create a dream-team paring of ESPN 1000 announcer Chuck Swirsky and Stacey King.
Swirsky's zingers (onions, baby) would finally get some respect from a man who can dish them out just as smoothly.
Lets face it, Wennington doesn't know what he's doing and Funk seems like he would prefer someone to match his own pace.
Chicago Bulls, I urge you to heed my recommendation.
Why Nobody in the NBA Ever Really Loses.
Having watched my fair share of games over the years, I have come to deduce that the vast majority of NBA players seem relatively unaffected after a loss. Not just a pre-season "I don't care even a little" type loss, but play-off and even finals defeat. After some deep thinking I realized why that is.
NBA players make too much money to care about anything.
I'm serious. They have reached the pinnacle, and no longer feel emotion.
Okay, maybe that's a little overboard, but still, they "ain't in no soup lines."
Don't worry though, you will be relieved to find that I have developed a system for calculating what each player makes per game.
What is this brilliant formula?
Simple, just divide the player's salary by the number of regular season games, and you will see what they picked up for that night's work.
Being a Chicago blog, I will run our beloved Bulls through the system just to show what they take take home after a tough win (or loss).
I'll start in descending order.
Brad Miller: 2009-2010 Salary: $12,250,000. Divide that by 82 games and we get $149,390 per game. Not bad for a half-assed effort Brad.
Next we have Luol Deng, who checks in at a hefty $10,370,425 per season. Divided that by 82 and we get $126,468 per night. That would cover my clothes bill for a whole week.
Now that you have mastered my formula, check out what the other Bull's take home each night, and you might understand why they don't ever seem to care as much as the fans.
Kirk Hinrich: $115,853 per game.
John Salmons: $66,536 per game.
Derrick Rose: $63,225 per game.
Tyrus Thomas: $57,548 per game.
Joakim Noah: $29,825 per game.
That should give you a good sense of where these players stand emotionally after a game. Even Aaron Gray makes a cool $19,000 each night for sitting on his ass in the same old gray blazer.
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