Chicago Bulls Thread

[Dan's Brain]

If nothing else, Tyrus Thomas should be able to make a significant run at the final 2 rookie of the month awards. He's really stepped up his play of late. And 9/10 at the line for him is pretty decent.

[Slizz]

I just wish scott skiles would give some more PT to Thabo..

[beau_boy04]

good job for Deng today! he played superbly!

[Dan's Brain]

good job for Deng today! he played superbly!

Absolutely. They got the W, and the Cavs lost to the Celtics. Who cares if LeBron wasn't there. The Bulls edge one game closer.

Terrific game from Josh Smith on the Hawks' end. 24/12 and 5 blocks.

[Martti.]

Great win over Atlanta. Again 1/2 game behind Cavaliers..

Tyrus showed Josh Smith. Posterized him and blocking his dunk. Exactly what Josh does..

Taste of your own medicine..

Made a little math - when Tyrus plays over 20 minutes, the Bulls are 13-2

A coincidence?

Still, he's so energized and brings a lot of energy to the floor..

[btam2]

Thomas has stepped up his game tremendously since the All-Star break. Very exciting to see him, and making Play of the Night, Dunk of the Night, and Block of the Night...amazing.

It was a disappointing L with Cavs especially it being the first Bulls game I attended. I thought we were gonna be able to pull out W, but great win yesterday and now being 0.5 game behind Cleveland.

[maes]

Made a little math - when Tyrus plays over 20 minutes, the Bulls are 13-2

A coincidence?

I think we may have talked about this before...it's hard to apply a good stat to TT minutes because he gets played in garbage time when the Bulls have blown out their opponent. If the Bulls are losing generally the starters & vets are in there til the end or last 2 min.

I think the Pistons were undefeated when Darko scored...for similar reasons =P

Not to diss TT, he's athletic & a hustler, i just thought #2 was a quite high for him.

[Andrew]

The upcoming Pistons game (don't forget Foxtel subscribers, it'll be shown here ) may be their next opportunity to pull ahead of Cleveland should the Cavs fall to the Timberwolves tomorrow, as well as proving to be a test as they get ready for the Playoffs. If they want to make any noise at all in the postseason they need to win on the road and a victory in Detroit would be huge.

[Slizz]

Made a little math - when Tyrus plays over 20 minutes, the Bulls are 13-2

A coincidence?

I think we may have talked about this before...it's hard to apply a good stat to TT minutes because he gets played in garbage time when the Bulls have blown out their opponent. If the Bulls are losing generally the starters & vets are in there til the end or last 2 min.

I think the Pistons were undefeated when Darko scored...for similar reasons =P

Not to diss TT, he's athletic & a hustler, i just thought #2 was a quite high for him.

He was drafted number 4 I think...

[---]

He was basically the number 2 pick because they drafted LaMarcus who went straight to Portland for Tyrus. So essentially they used the 2nd pick on him.

This season has been the first time I have been very interested in the Bulls since 98. It's exciting with a high pick this upcoming draft, I wonder who they will grab.

[maes]

Yeah Shannon got me, i meant "giving away the #2 pick, who was Alridge" was a little high for him, because we could use Alridge right now, especially with PJ Brown retiring.

A real heartbreaker losing to the Cavs for that #2 seed...i still think we're in great shape for the playoffs. Wizards lose Caron Butler, YES. Bulls could be the only healthy team in the EC.

[Matt]

As it stands today, Chicago would face Miami. It doesn't appear that Washington has the strength to regain that spot. Chicago still has a good chance of taking over Cleveland but they might avoid Miami if Miami takes over Toronto's spot.

[Dan's Brain]

Wow. Fantastic win. The Small-Ball approach really seemed to work wonders against Detroit. Of course, they won't always be playing the second leg of a back-to-back, but that second half was fantastic.

Kirk and Deng were awesome. Thabo had a great double-double in just his third career start.

And before he was ejected with Rip Hamilton, Tyrus Thomas was fantastic with 13 points and 8 boards in only 10 minutes. And he was also playing sick. I find myself becoming more of a Tyrus Thomas fanboy every time he plays. I only just noticed that he's featured in nearly all of my Bulls thread posts over the last couple of weeks. So i will just get this bit of gushing out and try to move on:

Over his last 4 games, he's averaged 15.3 points, 8.5 boards, while shooting .589 from the field. The argument could be made that he does most of his damage against the opposition's second units. But his aggressiveness and explosiveness is something which is so rare for a rookie to possess, that i can only think with more court time, more experience and more work on his shot, he is going to be a very, very special player in this league.

Just on his ejection as well, he managed to frustrate the best shooter on the best team in the Eastern Conference to a point where he lost his cool and got ejected. This could have been Tyrus' best play of the game.




EDIT: Nocioni has set himself a target of a friday return to action.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ba ... &cset=true

You gotta love him.

Hopefully, he's able to stick to this as much as possible. They really cant leave him any longer.

[Andrew]

It was a shame Gordon had such a tough night but it's hard to be disappointed given the performance of Hinrich, Deng, Thomas and Sefolosha. The final eighteen minutes was a really strong showing particularly the way they finished the third quarter on that 22-7 run. They still have a habit of going through stretches of being very turnover prone and the lack of a post scorer is going to catch up with them at some point but they're still a formidable team, even without Ben Wallace or Gordon's usual contribution. They also had their share of plays that Hubie Brown accurately described as great ideas that just didn't work out, usually because the pass was difficult or the ball simply slipped out of someone's hands down low. It's a shame those plays broke down but it's encouraging to see them setting themselves up for those opportunities.

I guess you could say this for a few teams in the league but if not for a few unfortunate losses here and there, the Bulls could have at least 50 wins at this point. They've lost a handful of very winnable games this season from big leads that were squandered to last second shots that decided the contest. It's great to see them step up to the challenge and get the job done in games such as this one, even when the usual gameplan has to be thrown out the window. This was a big win for them.

And before he was ejected with Rip Hamilton, Tyrus Thomas was fantastic with 13 points and 8 boards in only 10 minutes. And he was also playing sick. I find myself becoming more of a Tyrus Thomas fanboy every time he plays. I only just noticed that he's featured in nearly all of my Bulls thread posts over the last couple of weeks. So i will just get this bit of gushing out and try to move on:

Over his last 4 games, he's averaged 15.3 points, 8.5 boards, while shooting .589 from the field. The argument could be made that he does most of his damage against the opposition's second units. But his aggressiveness and explosiveness is something which is so rare for a rookie to possess, that i can only think with more court time, more experience and more work on his shot, he is going to be a very, very special player in this league.

I know what you mean, it's hard not to get enthusiastic about Thomas. As I've said before I was disappointed when the Bulls traded Aldridge on Draft night and I wasn't too thrilled about Thomas' comments before the All-Star Weekend but he's shown the proverbial flashes of brilliance and had some impressive outings especially since the break. The Pistons game was the first I've seen this year where he hasn't blocked a shot in impressive fashion but his performance certainly didn't disappoint.

It's a shame about the incident with Hamilton, though I have to say I was glad Rip got tossed too because he was doing just as much talking after the initial altercation and certainly wasn't looking to defuse the situation.

[Dan's Brain]

I guess you could say this for a few teams in the league but if not for a few unfortunate losses here and there, the Bulls could have at least 50 wins at this point. They've lost a handful of very winnable games this season from big leads that were squandered to last second shots that decided the contest. It's great to see them step up to the challenge and get the job done in games such as this one, even when the usual gameplan has to be thrown out the window. This was a big win for them.

You sort of wonder if having Nocioni there during some of those games for a few more points, or a key stop or two might have been able to stem some of those lead collapses.... But for the bounce of a ball, the Bulls might have been a 50-win team.

But obviously hindsight is 20-20, and injuries will always be a part of the game.

As for the ejection, the reason i was happy, was that he managed to goad a championship-winning veteran into getting thrown out of a regular season game. Imagine if he was able to do that to Rip in the first quarter of a Chicago-Detroit Conference finals Game 7.

I just love his enthusiasm for the game and his willingness to put himself out there, without giving a damn about the consequences.

[Andrew]

You sort of wonder if having Nocioni there during some of those games for a few more points, or a key stop or two might have been able to stem some of those lead collapses.... But for the bounce of a ball, the Bulls might have been a 50-win team.

But obviously hindsight is 20-20, and injuries will always be a part of the game.

Absolutely. I guess we could drive ourselves crazy with all the "What if...?" scenarios, though you can't help but wonder about them at times especially when the battle for playoff seeding is coming down to the wire.

As for the ejection, the reason i was happy, was that he managed to goad a championship-winning veteran into getting thrown out of a regular season game. Imagine if he was able to do that to Rip in the first quarter of a Chicago-Detroit Conference finals Game 7.

I just love his enthusiasm for the game and his willingness to put himself out there, without giving a damn about the consequences.

That's one of the things I loved about Dennis Rodman, his ability to take his opponents out of the game by getting in their head or actually getting them ejected, though the Worm didn't always get ejected himself. It is a situation that can backfire though and I have to admit I was a little concerned the Pistons might use the altercation as a rallying point even with the score beginning to get lopsided.

I definitely agree about his enthusiasm and passion. It's like AG observed a while back, he's a legitimate energy guy compared to someone like Chandler who would flex or pump his fist but never quite energized the team the way Thomas has done when he's caught a lob, elevated over someone to throw it down or snatch a rebound or emphatically block a shot. I think we can be excused for gushing at times because there's reason to be excited about what he can do already and what he might become.

Besides, it isn't bandwagoning when you already like the team.

[Matt]

we got killed on that P&R tonight....gotta have the bigs step out on the guard more so that Billups & Hunter can recover quicker.

[maes]

I guess you could say this for a few teams in the league but if not for a few unfortunate losses here and there, the Bulls could have at least 50 wins at this point. They've lost a handful of very winnable games this season from big leads that were squandered to last second shots that decided the contest.

I agree with you on that, the Bulls are a little better than their record indicates. One of the most important team stats IMO is point differential:
1. San Antonio
2. Dallas
3. Phoenix
4. Houston
5. Detroit
6. Chicago
7. Utah
8. Cleveland

And that's pretty much exactly who i think are the best 8 teams in the league right now. Obviously there's a big dropoff between the top 3 and the rest, but i think that's very accurate.

[beau_boy04]

Good job Chicago Bulls! do you think they can win it all and reach 51 wins for the season? it is a possibility.

On another note SAC won against UT, damn that a game. SAC came back from double digit deficit. If only PHI and CHA had won but they failed us lol

Current standing!

1. MEM 19-58
2. BOS 23-52
3. MIL 26-49
4. ATL 28-48
5. CHA 30-47
6. SEA/PHI 30-45 (SEA is currently playing LA and up 86-82)
7. NY/MN/SAC 31-44

NY next game is up against MIL, and I think MIL is gonna screw us over, because they don't wanna lose that 3rd spot, besides they been plagued by several injuries.

[Andrew]

Impressive victory against the Nets, quite entertaining to watch as well. I have to admit I was a little concerned when they jumped out to that early lead as sometimes that seems to work against them and seeming safe leads don't prove to be big enough buffers; previous games against the Nets this season are a good example of that. However, they didn't get rattled by any Nets runs and came out strong after every break, the end result being a 31 point victory.

It was great to see Gordon rebound after the foul plagued game in Detroit. Something that I feel has really helped Gordon is the fact he no longer gets yanked immediately after missing a couple of shots but is given a chance to break out of a brief slump. As we've seen, he can miss three or four shots in a row then come back and hit four or five straight. Scorers need a chance to do that and Gordon now has the opportunity as well as the confidence.

Deng was great once again, that tip following Hinrich's miss was a simple yet impressive play. Hinrich had a fine game as well. Thabo showed some really nice moves at the offensive end in the first quarter, great to see him getting quality minutes and contributing. He's been great on the boards the last couple of games as well. The small ball lineup is really working well, I hope we still see it from time to time when Wallace, Thomas and Nocioni are back in the lineup. These victories with a depleted roster have really been strong showings.

In other Bulls related news, the Mavericks lost their thirteenth game of the year courtesy of the Denver Nuggets, which of course means the Bulls will remain the only team to win 70+ games in a season for at least another twelve months. Also, I know I've griped about the quality of NBA Action compared to the 90s (especially since Jim Fagan left) but it's a bit disappointing they haven't profiled the Bulls more often, especially in the latest episode. They've focused on the same teams - especially the Nets and the Wizards in the East - a few too many times, in my opinion. I guess it doesn't matter all that much because I usually find a way to see the games or a few highlights but it'd be nice all the same.

[Matt]

Also, I know I've griped about the quality of NBA Action compared to the 90s (especially since Jim Fagan left) but it's a bit disappointing they haven't profiled the Bulls more often, especially in the latest episode. They've focused on the same teams - especially the Nets and the Wizards in the East - a few too many times, in my opinion. I guess it doesn't matter all that much because I usually find a way to see the games or a few highlights but it'd be nice all the same.
_________________

i rarely watch NBA Action, but if i do it's only for the top 10 plays. All they ever did when i watched was profile Suns, Cavs, Heat, Mavs.

[Andrew]

That's pretty much how it still is, give or take a couple of weeks where they move on to someone else. I remember when they used to profile two or three teams from each conference every week as well as focus on one noteable performance, have the occasional behind the scenes feature along with the highlight zone (or "I love this game" as it's now called) and the top ten. Those were the days...

I haven't been watching much of NBA All-Access either.

[Andrew]

Well...that was less impressive, though it's good to see everyone back in action. Elsewhere Cleveland fell to Detroit so the Bulls remain in second place for the moment.

[air gordon]

Made a little math - when Tyrus plays over 20 minutes, the Bulls are 13-2

A coincidence?

I think we may have talked about this before...it's hard to apply a good stat to TT minutes because he gets played in garbage time when the Bulls have blown out their opponent. If the Bulls are losing generally the starters & vets are in there til the end or last 2 min.

I think the Pistons were undefeated when Darko scored...for similar reasons =P

Not to diss TT, he's athletic & a hustler, i just thought #2 was a quite high for him.

well you didn't talk to me about this before hehe.

if you've been watching the games since the all star break, you know that TT has been a regular in the rotation and it's actually him, not PJ Brown playing the important minutes

gotta get that #2 seed. who cares who they play. got my playoff tix for the 1st round btw. woo hoo!

[Dan's Brain]

gotta get that #2 seed. who cares who they play. got my playoff tix for the 1st round btw. woo hoo!

You lucky, lucky bastard.