Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

i dont' want to ruin the game for you but i will say the Hawks didn't desesrve the win themselves

No matter, the Bulls came away with the win. I can live with that.

so what are the chances of the Bulls to get the rights to draft Greg Oden????

As long as the Knicks are in the lottery, they've got a shot.

Bulls/Lakers was a pretty good game I thought, they didn't look too good in the second quarter and were somewhat shaky early in the third but they pulled themselves together and got the job done.

Most of Fox Sports' NBA schedule for January is listed as TBA in the Foxtel magazine (extremely useful, I know) so perhaps we'll be getting a couple more Bulls games in the near future. Otherwise, the next one that will be shown here in Australia is a game against the Wizards in February.

With Cleveland's loss today, the Bulls move into second place in the Central, third in the East.

[air gordon]

yeh- the bulls are almost unbearable to watch when they go through those ruts like they did in the 2nd/3rd qtrs

Thabo's reverse layup was awesome

2 games in a row now the Bulls did a good job containing #24. i don't know whats up with him wagging his finger at the ref after he received his 6th foul. clearly he did committ the foul. he should have received a tech. and it was hilarious when the UC crowd started chanting his name (and adding a few 'YOU SUCK!") when he fouled out

up next @MSG vs the Knicks. i predict 20pts for both Curry and Crawford. 30 for Ben... Gordon

[Andrew]

Agreed, that up-and-under was crazy. Speaking of Thabo's layups, I don't know how they didn't call goaltending on his attempt a couple of plays before that spectacular reverse.

i don't know whats up with him wagging his finger at the ref after he received his 6th foul. clearly he did committ the foul. he should have received a tech.

I was thinking the same thing. Mind you, they have been pretty selective with their "zero tolerance" policy so it's not surprising. It seems like certain players will get T'd up for raising an eyebrow while others (Tim Duncan comes to mind) are allowed to gesticulate and protest calls without so much as a second glance from the referees.

[Dan's Brain]

Martynas Andriuskevicius was punched by Awvee Storey during a D-League practice. This is insane. He's got a skull fracture and a pretty severe concussion.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketba ... 23.article

The police spoke to Storey but Marty doesnt want to press any charges.

[Matt]

psycho!

[Weiland]

nocioni rules!!!

[air gordon]

Agreed, that up-and-under was crazy. Speaking of Thabo's layups, I don't know how they didn't call goaltending on his attempt a couple of plays before that spectacular reverse.

i don't know whats up with him wagging his finger at the ref after he received his 6th foul. clearly he did committ the foul. he should have received a tech.

I was thinking the same thing. Mind you, they have been pretty selective with their "zero tolerance" policy so it's not surprising. It seems like certain players will get T'd up for raising an eyebrow while others (Tim Duncan comes to mind) are allowed to gesticulate and protest calls without so much as a second glance from the referees.

seems like goaltending only gets called against Tyrus thomas. i think he gets a lot of unwarranted goaltending calls because some of those shot attempts he gets a piece of were seemingly unblockable

you said gesticulate.. haha. maybe since the outcome was a foregone conclusion the refs let it slip. ah well...

i was pretty close on my nyk prediction hehe. Knicks are tough to beat when Crawford is on fire, hitting those tough shots. especially when your team's defense falls asleep in the 2nd & 3rd qtrs. frye and lee could have 25 rebs each if they weren't in foul trouble

Bulls need some road wins. Minny is always tough against the Bulls since KG normally dominates them. Ricky Davis is a tough guard for the bulls small backcourt and James seems to kill the Bulls too

[bigh0rt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2709897

"Hinrich pulled his hand. He does it all the time," Riley told reporters. "That's what he does. Anytime Dwyane comes off screens, they will always grab his shirt or grab his hands. It's a tactic down below the body -- the official can't see it. He had Dwyane's hand, and [when Wade] tried to pull it out of there, I think something happened."

With the Posey situation, as well as this, are we seeing a rivalry come alive?

[Matt]

Riley cries foul when Wade gets injured but says nothing about Posey who had that flagrant on Hinrich in playoffs, broke Thomas' nose and had another flagrant on Deng.

[Andrew]

Riley cries foul when Wade gets injured but says nothing about Posey who had that flagrant on Hinrich in playoffs, broke Thomas' nose and had another flagrant on Deng.

My thoughts exactly. Whether or not Hinrich intentionally injured Wade or the injury was accidental and the result of relentless, physical defense - something Riley has himself preached in years gone by - is open to debate. Posey's actions have been blatantly intentional with one of them even going unpunished.

Anyway, they've finished 2006 on a high note winning their third straight to move into second place in the division (and with the new seeding structure, the conference as well) and went 14-3 in December. They've got the best home record in the league but their 5-10 record on the road is somewhat of a concern, though their schedule in January is fairly generous with 10 home games and only five on the road. February however is heavy on road games.

[R.J.]

well that game was a piece of shit, piece of shit barbosa hits a lucky three, game just proves how much we need kirk back and how overrated the suns are.

[---]

The Suns are overrated because of one bad game that they still managed to win?

[Jugs]

The Suns are overrated no matter what.

[Matt]

piece of shit barbosa hits a lucky three

the only lucky thing about that is that Gordon went under the screen and couldnt contest the shot as much as was needed. Great play by Phx.

[R.J.]

The Suns are overrated because of one bad game that they still managed to win?

No, they're overrated because the only team that actually plays defense in the NBA shut them down about 13 points under their average. Matt, nice moving screen by Nash on that.

[dan_suth]

There was no moving screen on that play, lol. Nash didn't even touch up against Gordon, just got in his path - which led to Barbosa being able to set up and knock down the trey. It would have been a lucky shot if he had heaved it from half court, but considering he had time to set up and shoot from only a couple feet past the 3 point line, it was definitely not just luck.

Also, it makes no sense when you say "they're overrated because the only team that actually plays defense in the NBA shut them down about 13 points under their average." So what if the Bulls held them to 13 points below their average - they still found a way to win. Phoenix is one of the top teams in the league and they sure showed it last night. Overrated? I don't think so.

[R.J.]

What's with all of these idiot Piston fans in a Bulls thread? Just be ready when we kick your cheap asses on Saturday.

[---]

OK, so the only team that plays defense - Chicago, must be the best defensive team in the league, and they held the best offensive team 13 points below their average... That's supposed to happen. If it didn't, Chicago's defense would be overrated.

[dan_suth]

What's with all of these idiot Piston fans in a Bulls thread? Just be ready when we kick your cheap asses on Saturday.

How am I an idiot? Please, I would like to know. I pointed out a bunch of faults in your post, yet I'm the idiot? Come on man, at least try to explain why I'm wrong. I feel bad for the real Bulls fans here that have to deal with someone like you on their side.

[R.J.]

Guess I was pissed off and went a little over the top. Sorry about that. Your points are very valid, but I still think that the shot was lucky with two hands in his face and that Phoenix isn't the best team in the league.

Ryan

[Dean]

If Kobe made that shot, would you still say it was lucky?

[Andrew]

Another update for Aussie Bulls fans: looks like we're getting another game on Fox Sports later this month. Based on the timeslot of the TBA entry on January 26th, we should be getting the Dallas/Chicago game since there's only two games scheduled for the 25th and that's the only one that fits a 12:00 PM EDT tipoff as listed in the Foxtel guide.

Best of all, since January 26th is Australia Day the opportunity will be there to watch it live for those of us who don't have to work on public holidays...assuming my deductions are correct, of course.

[maes]

Bulls over the Pistons.

I can't wait to gloat over all the Pistons fans at work. Yep, that Ben Wallace is run down, old, and can't play ball anymore. The Pistons sure are better off without him.

[Matt]

Saying Pistons are better w/o Ben Wallace is obviously incorrect, at least at this point in time. However, w/o Wallace Pistons can still win a championship....especially since potential contenders (Mavs, Spurs, Suns) all play a lote more small ball and Prince & Rasheed have been effective @ the 4 & 5 down the stretch.

Anyways, too bad Billups didn't play.....next game 25 Feb@Palace

[air gordon]

The Suns are overrated because of one bad game that they still managed to win?

No, they're overrated because the only team that actually plays defense in the NBA shut them down about 13 points under their average. Matt, nice moving screen by Nash on that.

i think that game was more an indication of how good the Suns really are and that the Bulls are an above the average team

as you said, the Bulls held them way under their ppg average and the Suns FG% was one of it's lowest all season... yet the Suns found a way to win!

games like that suck but i think the team needs to focus on winning games on the road


as far as a Heat-Bulls rivalry resuming... nationally perhaps the media is starting to pay attention to it but i think since last year in the regular season when Noce gave a hard foul to Wade, it started. then the playoff series between them only fueled the fire. a lot of Bulls players/fans thought they gave the Heat their best run in the East and then the Bulls destroyed them on opening nite this year.

Miami comes to the UC on the 27th. i think Posey is going get his bell rung.


i'll take a win over the Pistons any day, even if Mr Big shot was out and Rasheed seems to be playing through an injury. the Bulls needed that win after 2 hearbreakers losses in a row