Chicago Bulls draft posted by john howard

The Chicago Bulls had a really good year and did well in the playoffs without Deng.  With Deng back at full strength and Derrick Rose a year older, another step towards the title can be made.  Those two things should happen.  What has Bulls fans holding there breath right now is free agent Ben Gordon.  With out him, the team takes a step backward.  The Bulls have the 16th and 26th picks in the draft.  If Gordon goes, they could use these picks to replace him through the draft or a trade.  Of the past 14 drafts, 6 bench players and 3 starters have been produced.  2 of the starters have become all stars.  8 players have been found with the 26th pick.  4 became starters and one was an all-star.  So, both picks have some weight to them.  The Bulls could maybe use one pick to find a solid bench player to develope.  But, they really need Gordon to stay. Continue reading "Chicago Bulls draft"

Whatever happens in NBA Finals, Jackson is Tops posted by richard Kagan

It looks like the Los Angeles Lakers, up 3-1 in the series vs. the Orlando Magic, will come up with the title before the series is over.  Maybe the Magic will win game 5 and send it back to LA, but it will likely end in game 6.  The Lakers have the best player, Kobe Bryant, and the best coach, Phil Jackson.  Jackson will end up with 10 NBA titles as head coach.  That is a number that's hard to believe.  Years back Pat Riley was the hot coach, when Kareem and Magic Johnson were in their prime.  You have to have great players to be a winning coach.  And, a great coach finds a way to keep his great players playing at the highest level.  Jackson benefitted from coaching Jordan and Pippen and the rest of the Bulls, not to forget, Dennis Rodman.  He was able to get Rodman to play his best, and that was not an easy thing to do.

Jackson won 6 titles with the Bulls.  Six is a lot of titles.  They won three in a row. Took a year off, and came back to win another 3 in a row. The stamina, consistency, and patience, to do that is noteworthy.  It's no so easy when every night, someone looks to knock off "the champs."  But the Bulls and Jordan were ready to play.

Then Jackson goes west and gets Shaq and Kobe.  They won again.  Now, Kobe is left and trying to earn 3rd or 4th ring. Jackson has been there. He got elected to the Hall of Fame. You can't knock Red Auerbach, the Celtics coach, and you have to give Phil Jackson a lot of kudos.  He can coach.

Magic by 10 in Game 3 posted by richard Kagan

The Orlando Magic won game 3 99-89 and took a 2-1 lead in the physical NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cleveland Cavs' LeBron James scored 41 points, but it wasn't enough as the Magic played a smarter game and did not allow for any late heroics as we saw in Game 2.  If not for James' 23 footer in game 2, this would be a 3-0 series and people would be shocked. But the Magic match up well with Cleveland. They have a well-rounded team, with guys contributing points.  Alston and Pietrus played well. And, Hedo Turkelu had double figures despite only making 1 shot from the field.  Free-throws were the difference in this game, and Dwight Howard made 14 from the charity stripe, his high for the Playoffs.

When Michael Jordan first made a splash and was "the man", his team, the Chicago Bulls didn't win Conference Titles, nor NBA titles. The Bulls built a team around him.  Was the Bulls supporting cast back then better than the Cavs' current team?  Well, Chicago had Scottie Pippen.  Enough said.  Pippen emerged as a great player in his own right. He played great defense with Jordan, and ignited their transition team.  Cleveland has some good players, Mo Williams, Delonte West, but they aren't anywhere close to Pippen.  The Bulls also had guys who could flat out knock down an open shot. John Paxon, B.J. Armstrong, Steve Kerr.  They were nearly automatic.  Cleveland doesn't have a player like that.

It wasn't just MJ, the Bulls had a great team.  So, when you listen to all the hype about Cleveland, know that's what it is, a lot of hot air. James' shot bailed out a skittish Cavs team playing on the big stage. If they want to advance they better grow up in a hurry.

Not all hope is lost posted by Zac Cocco

Unfortunatly the playoff series that will go down in history has come to an end.  The Chicago Bulls could not pull it off against the defending champions (Celtics).  The Bulls can take so much from this series. Even though the Bulls played "iffy" during the regular season, they deffinetly played like defending champions in that playoff showdown.  This offseason is going to be interesting not only for the Bulls but for every team in the NBA.  Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili, T-Mac, Richard Jefferson, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Michael Redd can all be unrestricted free agents this year.  Youve got to figure that most of the guys will resign with their current team but their is that chance that they dont.  The bulls can really make an impact in the NBA by picking up the new free agent in Chris Bosh.  If the bulls were to pick him they would have an unbelievable line up. If they could end up so lucky as to land Bosh and even Marion they would be unstopable.  Rose at point, Gordon at guard, Marion at SF, Bosh at PF, and Noah at center.  The bench would also be looking very good, with having brad miller, hinrich, salmons, deng, tim thomas, nocioni, and tyrus thomas.  They could quite possibly take the division.  Now signing both Bosh and Marion are unrealistic but there is always that chance.  On the other hand Paxson is at least working on a deal to get a shooting guard for a small backcourt.  There have been talks of the Bulls acquiring DikemContinue reading "Not all hope is lost"

Celtics to Bulls: You're Outta Our House posted by Hank Hill

Last night's game between the Celtics and the Bulls ended what is only going to be remembered as an epic battle. It's finally over and C-nation got the win we wanted and sent the Bulls packing. Clearly, the Celts bench stepped it up to another level -- this is what I have been waiting for during the entire playoffs -- seeing the team play like a unit instead of counting on one guy.

This made our defense better and gave us the feeling of "this is our house" and that we had something to prove. We did. Still I had the whole fams over my place -- MIT, Dato, Ray, Ro,Bobafet, Neil, Apu, KC, Jon, and Manny, and I had G,The Professor, BillyBob, Hannah, Jr, Bedlam (Showoff Records), J and even Murray on text every 2 seconds because even though the Cs had the lead most of the game; this series we had to expect anything at any moment. This, of course, led to pacing, swearing, yelling, bad/good texts, high 5s, and profuse sweating--not a pretty sight!  But it was all worth it; Eddie House made OUR house go nuts!

House scored 16 points and was 4-4 from three land all in big moments of the game; he also got 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 big steals. His energy along with Scalabrine (8points/2rebounds) and Moore (4points/2rebounds) was exactly what the Cs starters needed, as I mentioned in the pregame blog. It looked like both teams were really tired, and you can't blame them after 3 overtimes and a 7 game series, and that's why our bench, who averaged 5 points combined throughout this series,  scored 30 points last night, perfect! That took stress off of the starters who were in need of some rest even though we still needed them and they produced like usual!!

Playoff Excitement Part 2: Beasts of the East posted by Michael J. Shambaugh

In continuation of my post on 04.30.2009 it’s time to take a look at the East and everything it has brought us so far.  And to think, it’s only the first round!

Detroit Pistons versus Cleveland Cavaliers.  There’s quite a few of us who are still scratching our heads and trying to figure out where the positive for Detroit was in the Billups/Iverson trade.  Winning their games by an average of 15.5 points, Cleveland sent the Pistons home for the season with just one question: “How quick can we get Allen Iverson out of a Pistons jersey?”  A quick side note: Cleveland is averaging a higher winning margin on the road than they are at home this post-season.  That’s not good news for Miami or Atlanta.

Boston Celtics versus Chicago Bulls.  I can be the first one to admit that I did not think this was going to be one of the greatest first round matchups of all time.  You’ve got the defending champion Boston Celtics, with a record of 62 and 20, going up against the 41 and 41 young, high paced, Chicago Bulls.  We all saw this last year, with Atlanta and Boston going at it in seven games, but that was nothing like this series.  There have been six full games played as of this writing.  In those six games alone we’ve had 7 overtime periods, 5 games decided by 3 points or less, Chicago win in Boston, Boston win in Chicago, and 29 potential game tying/winning shot attempts in the final 24 seconds of regulation/overtime.  A good series?  Let’s just say, I’ll be watching Game 7.

Boston Celtics Lose in a Thriller! posted by Hank Hill

This series could be one of the best series in basketball history. The game was completly insane! It went to 3 overtimes which is the 4th time we have gone to overtime in 6 games (an NBA record) versus this young and gun Chicago Bulls team.  Last night, the Professor and I put track marks in the carpet by with all of our pacing, and this game would not end. Every time you thought it was over, (in regulation Cs up by 8 with a couple minutes, Brad Miller stepped up and made amends for the last game, but it was our game to lose and we did) it wasn't--and 3 overtimes later the Cs just looked tired and they still had a chance for the win and Pierce turned it over to Noah and he scored and got fouled by Pierce( fouling out) and giving the Bulls the lead by 3 and that was pretty much the difference in the game. Ray Ray played amazing--scoring 51 and Big Baby (21points and 7 rebounds) also looked great with help from Big Perkins!!! Pierce and Rondo(had 19 assists but wasn't driving to the hoop which Cs Nation is used to) looked a little off and tired, especially down the stretch and our bench just hasn't been able to contribute like the Cs need them too.(last game bench scored 5 pnts, tonight 9 pnts, not good enough) So now the Cs face a game 7 for all the marbles on Saturday night at the Garden where we need some luck and some energy to end this series on a good green note!!! So let's get ready for another battle and game 7 where it doesn't get any more intense than this. This is one you don't want to miss!!!  Let's Go, Celts!Continue reading "Boston Celtics Lose in a Thriller!"

Bruins Cup could give Boston Most Dominant Decade Ever posted by D.M. Lannon

The American sports landscape has been continually tattooed with dynastic labels like “Team of the Year” or “Team of the Decade.”  The NFL in particular has been defined each decade by a juggernaut winning …. a lot.  The dominance of franchises like the 70’s Steelers, the 80’s Niners, the 90’s Cowboys, and the Patriots of the new millennium has immortalized the likes of Bradshaw, Aikman and Montana to deific status.  The NBA has also provided its share of dynastic runs from the Celtics to the Lakers to the Pistons to the Bulls, and examples abound exist in both hockey and baseball as well. 

With the Red Sox being two championships deep this decade, the Celtics with one themselves, and the Bruins…. well….I’ll stop right there for the sake of superstitious Bruin fans; but the current Boston run raises the question: Has any one city or major sports market ever experienced the perfect storm of dominance - that is - has any city with all 4 major professional sports ever won championships in each of the 4 sports in one calendar decade?  If the Bruins do hoist the cup this season, Boston would have championships in all four major sports since the Pats got the ball rolling in ’01.  But would it be the first time?    

And yes.  For the point of this research I am presuming (perhaps incorrectly, but that’s another debate) that hockey is still considered one of the four major sports.

With the help of my handy stat-geek (I call him Google) I decided to look into this question.  It’s important to note that there is a limited group of markets that have all four major sports; 13 in fact.  At least one of these markets won in 3 out of 3 sports in a decade, with the A’s, the Warriors, and the Raiders winning titles in the 70’s, prior to hockey arriving.  Furthermore, there are a number of markets with the advantage of having multiple teams in multiple sports.  New York, Chicago and the Bay Area jump to mind (and yes Bay folk, while you may not want to hear it, everybody else considers San Fran and Oakland the same market).  For the purpose of my research I did not count the New Jersey Nets or Devils as NY teams, but NY still has two teams in each sport except basketball (even though both football teams actually play in Jersey! Hugh?).

THE BULLS!! posted by Gary Cairns II

The Bulls are showing signs of their great days once again..

They have very talented guards in Rose and Gordon, They also have a veteran center finally who compliments his teammates well in Brad Miller.

All the other players play their roles well such as Hinrich, Salmons, Noah. They have made themselves exciting once again and a force to be reckoned with..

I always thought who drafts Noah really wants to win.. He wins big in college and is a very passionate player, now they have Rose who compliments the whole team and especially Gordon,now they trade to Sacramento for Brad Miller and John Salmons! That deal made them contenders.. They have lacked a solid veteran center for some time.. They were stuck with Chandler and Curry and Wallace for some time and finally got a more mature and seasoned vet to fill up the middle and who can also make his free throws..

I don't know how far the bulls can go if they win game seven in Boston but any further they go I won't be shocked,

The Celtics are defending champs though with or without Garnett, No excuses, alot of people say if Bynum and Ariza were healthy last year in the finals it may have been a different out-come...?  no excuses.. all these players are on the teams they are on cause they can playball.. I dont want to here Boston complain they werent healthy when they are eliminated..

Bulls top Celtics in 3 OT classic posted by richard Kagan

This has been the most amazing first round series I have ever seen.  Granted that Boston's  Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe are out for the series, that is a factor in why these games are so competitive. Tonight's game saw the Celtics make clutch plays and the Bulls respond with equally clutch plays.

Noah's steal and drive to the hoop to give Chicago a two point lead was startling. And Rose's block of Rondo's shot at the end of the game was great.  Imagine, the Bulls making two great plays to win the game.  It used to happen when MJ played but this team has improved a lot in a matter of weeks. They are playing against Ray Allen, a potential hall of famer guard, and Paul Pierce, another great player.  These two guys can win you a game in the final seconds. Allen almost did tonight. But Chicago came back like a great fighter who refuses to go down. This series reminds of the the famous Ali-Frazier fight in Manila when in the 14th round, both fighters are on fumes, throwing punches, almost mechanically, refusing to fall. 

The Bulls showed me something tonight. They are learning how to win. A lot of guys stepped up tonight. Brad Miller, made some big Ft's, and plays, John Salmon made big shots, and Kirk Hinrich played solildly. 

You can't fire Del Negro after this series. He has gotten his team to play at a high level, to battle it out with the defending champs, who knows what it takes to win these type of games. Win or lose, the future looks bright for this team. They are young, and have a very solid core of players. It is almost wierd to watch Derrick Rose play.  He is just 20 years old, and he plays like a 5 year veteran.

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