SB Nation - Brad Miller

Daily Links 12/13

FLCeltsFan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:10:34 -0000

Herald   Celtics charge past Bulls
Celtics’ Ray Allen copes with time away
Rajon Rondo gets foe’s message
Replays help Pacers past Wizards
Web site providing new ticket ‘option’ for Celtics fans
Globe    Updates from Celtics-Bulls
Pierce injuries shoulder, but returns to game
Analysis of Celtics-Bulls
Celtics’ Pierce deserves contract extension
Rondo undaunted by Miller
Celtics make it a perfect 10
Vote for Perk   Vote For Perk

CelticsBlog   Celtics Stuff Live 12/13: Mike Gorman
Rondo the (Bulls) Destroyer
Loy's Place     Comments from the Other Side - Bulls 12/12
Telegram   Celtics’ bench will take back seat
Celtics.com   Ford Keys to the Game: Celtics at Bulls Ford Keys to the Game: Celtics at Bulls
Red's Army   The Maestro
The Morning Dump... where Rondo takes his shot at Brad Miller
Enemy Chatter: "We're not even close..."
Green Street    Fast Break: Celtics-Bulls
CSNNE     Live from the United Center!
Celtics 106, Bulls 80
Celtics Hub    Ray’s "Nothing But Net" Moment
10 in a Row with No Signs of Slow
Where’d the Bulls Go? C’s 106, Bulls 80
Sunday Notebook: Pierce Wants to Stay, Rondo’s a Bad Ass and Ray Copes
Chicago Now   Boston Celtics beat Chicago Bulls 106-80 Haiku
North Station Sports    Celtics Make Bulls See Red After Beatdown 106-80
An unwilling witness: why LeBron James has let me down
What Do We Do With Rajon Rondo Now?
CT News    Celtics Play the Right Way
NBA.com   NBA Development League: Red Claws at BayHawks
Celtics Town    Celtics grab the Bulls by the horns
Celtics Loudmouth Quote of the Night
Hardwood Houdini    Celtics Charge Past Bulls, Win Tenth Straight
Rondo Leads Celtics To Tenth Straight
Lex Nihil Novi    Pistons Require 3 OTs to Top Celtics Record 83-84
Celtics Overcome 12 4th-Quarter TO's to Finally Beat Knicks 83-84
19-4: Celtics 106, Bulls 80
World B. Free Sounds Off after Celts Top Cavs
Celtics Life Live Game Chat, Celtics at Bulls
C's Blitz Bulls for 10th Straight Win
Celtics/Bulls Post Game Videos
Gino's Jungle    Live from Chicago
Celtics Stuff Live     The Gold Rarities Postgame Show
Daily Herald    Bulls fade against surging Celtics, lose 106-80
Slam Dunk Central   Celtics Use "Killer D" To Slaughter Bulls 106-80 For Tenth Straight Win
Bulls.com   Celtics Show Bulls 2009 Playoffs are History
NW Herald Not much of a rematch
NY Post   Post blows whistle on Donaghy claims
ESPN   Do you want Ray to stay?
First impression: Celtics 106 , Bulls 80
Rough night for Pierce
Bulls can't slow Rondo
Bench solid for Celtics
Defending Del Negro
The Celtics-Bulls rematch that wasn't
BWorld Jazz drop LA Lakers from league’s best record; Celtics win
NESN    Live Blog: Celtics at Bulls
Celtics Make It 10 in a Row With 106-80 Rout of Bulls
Kendrick Perkins Thriving Under the Radar
WEEI   Kendrick Perkins on WEEI
MetroWest Daily News   Celtics 106, Bulls 80: Power of ten
Courtside View: Celtics finding winning form
Yahoo   Williams, Jazz end Lakers' streak
Behind the Box Score, where the C's outclassed the Bulls - Ball Don't Lie
Autographs   Proof That The Nba In Fixed….tim Donaghy Rats Out…
Dimemag   Game of the Weak
Hoopsworld   5 Things We Learned In The NBA This Week
The Hoop   Lokomotiv Kuban announced Gerald Green
Hoopsworld   Only Getting Worse for Bulls
Chicago Now    Brad Miller called for flagrant on Rondo
Chicago Breaking Sports    Celtics blowing out Bulls
Chicago Tribune Doc Rivers rises to Vinny Del Negro's defense
Orlando Sentinel     Is the NBA headed for another Lakers/Celtics Finals?

10 YEARS OF STIFFDOM: A Decade Retrospective...

Andrew Feinstein — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:04:03 -0000

Who knew that at the beginning of the '00s - with none other than Dan Issel in charge - that the Nuggets would end up having a successful and often thrilling decade? Here's a look back at the last 10 years of Denver Nuggets basketball...

At the conclusion of the 1990s, the Nuggets were in utter disarray. As documented in detail here at Denver Stiffs, this once proud and respected franchise had been turned into an NBA laughingstock thanks to a lethal combination of ineptitude, incompetence, and ignorance. Between 1990 and 1999, the Nuggets made the playoffs just twice and Nuggets fans were forced to endure seasons with win totals under 40 games eight times (including the lockout shortened 1998-99 season in which the Nuggets would likely have "won" about 25 games had an 82-game season been played out). We witnessed five seasons in which the Nuggets won less than 24 games, and in 1997-98 the 11-win Nuggets won less games than the Broncos that year.

Making matters worse throughout the 1990s, the Nuggets never caught a break. Even though they participated in eight NBA Draft lotteries, twice sported the worst record in the NBA (1990-91 and again after that infamous 1997-98 campaign) and had a bottom-four record five total times, the highest pick they were ever rewarded was third (which Issel promptly screwed up by drafting Raef LaFrentz over Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Antawn Jamison). We missed out on all the game-changing draftees of the 1990s: Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Chris Webber and Tim Duncan. And a freak knee injury sustained by rising star LaPhonso Ellis in 1994 would prove to be the undoing of the Nuggets only good team of the decade: the 1993-94 squad that had just stunned the NBA world by beating the number-one seeded Seattle Supersonics in the playoffs before taking the Utah Jazz to seven in Round 2.

But make no mistake about it, the Nuggets problems throughout the 1990s were self-inflicted. Cartoonish figures such as Peter Bynoe, Bertram Lee, the Comsat "Corporation," Paul Westhead, Bernie Bickerstaff, Allan Bristow and finally, Issel, made every wrong/bad decision possible, leaving the Nuggets organization in tatters until Stanley E. Kroenke rescued the franchise in 2000 with his purchase of the team. Upon arrival, Kroenke made it clear that he wanted to win and win now, and thus set in motion a series of events that produced one of the better decades in franchise history...

2000-2001 (40-42, no playoffs)

In an increasingly tough Western Conference, the Nuggets remarkably won 40 games but were still seven games off the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. While a 40-win season would normally be a good thing having come off a 35-win season, team "president", "head coach" and dictator Dan Issel had already mortgaged the Nuggets future by sending away numerous first round picks in order to build that 40-win team.

Non-Stiff of the Year: Antonio McDyess

Coming off a gold-medal winning performance in the Sydney Olympics, McDyess was a stud in 2000-01. The quiet, dignified power forward averaged 20.8 ppg, 12.1 rpg and 1.5 bpg and even made the All-Star team.

Stiff of the Year: Dan Issel

The aforementioned Issel had previously (and foolishly) traded away the Nuggets own first round picks for 1999, 2000 and 2001 - all lottery picks, mind you - and after an assortment of complicated, even more stupid deals, for those picks he essentially brought back Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Kevin Willis (on the very wrong side of his career), Voshon Lenard and Tracy Murray. But that was just off-the-court. On-the-court, Issel was a tyrant with his players and the refs. At one point, his players were so fed up with the way he was treating Raef LaFrentz (a draft bust of Issel's own making) and others, that point guard Nick Van Exel led a player boycott of practice.

2001-02 (27-55, no playoffs)

After years of overpaying for mediocre players and parting with valuable first round picks in exchange for nothing, the wheels finally came off the Issel Administration and the Nuggets fell apart in 2001-02, precipitated by a major knee injury to McDyess that caused him to miss all but 10 games of the season. Prior to the season starting, Kroenke - either sensing that Issel had too much power, was too incompetent or both - astutely hired Kiki Vandeweghe as GM to a five-year contract.

Non-Stiff of the Year: Kiki Vandeweghe

After Issel "resigned" the day after Christmas (more on that shortly), Vandeweghe gutted out the roster and made a controversial move that would put the Nuggets on the path of success they still enjoy today. Knowing the Nuggets were going nowhere with the expensive roster he inherited, Vandeweghe boldly shipped out Van Exel, LaFrentz, Abdul-Wahad and Avery Johnson (another overpayee thanks to Issel) to Dallas in exchange for Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey and a future first round pick. When the Nuggets eventually met the Mavericks in the 2009 playoffs second round, I detailed how that major trade actually brought the two once dormant franchises together.

Stiff of the Year: Dan Issel

"Go drink another beer, you Mexican piece of shit!" Those nine words - uttered by Issel towards a heckling Hispanic Nuggets fan after a December 10th loss to the Charlotte Hornets - were exactly what Kroenke and Vandeweghe needed to kick Issel out the door. Issel, a Nuggets legend as a player, had built up so much great PR in the community (he still has some...note Woody Paige's ludicrous suggestion that the Nuggets bring Issel back to the organization last year) that he would have been tough to fire otherwise. After serving a four-game suspension, Issel "resigned" on December 26th, 2001 and unfortunately for Issel, things haven't exactly worked out for him since.

Stiff of the Year Runner-Up: Tim Hardaway

Unlike Howard who - knowing playing in Denver would be a brutal, losing situation - accepted the trade to the Nuggets and behaved like a total professional during his time here (it helps when you're getting paid $18.8 and then $20.1 million per season!), Hardaway was a petulant, angry brat who never got over leaving Dallas where he was hoping to gravy train his way into an NBA Championship. After starting 14 games for the Nuggets, Hardaway unleashed his anger on a TV monitor by throwing it onto the floor and getting himself suspended two games.

2002-03 (17-65, no playoffs)

Entering the 2002-03 NBA season, Vandeweghe purposefully compiled the worst roster in modern NBA history in hopes of tanking enough games to win the first pick in the draft (knowing that on the horizon was one of the better drafts in NBA history). The Nuggets starting back court of Vincent Yarbrough and Junior Harrington couldn't crack a 14-man roster the following season, and the rest of the roster was littered with names you already don't remember. Armed with two lottery picks - thanks to a great trade that sent McDyess to New York in exchange for Marcus Camby and the Knicks lottery pick - Vandeweghe drafted Nene and some skinny kid from Georgia, and I'm not talking about the university (more on him shortly).

Non-Stiff of the Year: Jeff Bzdelik

In spite of being dealt the worst hand ever dealt a coach in modern NBA history, rookie head coach Jeff Bzdelik refused to make excuses, worked his ass off and was able to get 17 wins out of our Nuggets. I'd argue that was 17 more wins than they should have had and Bzdelik should have gotten Coach of the Year consideration. The Nuggets were awful talent-wise, but they played harder than their opponent almost every night.

Stiff of the Year: Nikoloz Tskitishvili

Drafted fifth overall out of the Republic of Georgia, "Skita" has since gone down in history as the worst fifth overall pick of all time (and believe me, there have been some bad fifth overall picks). Given ample opportunity to succeed in his first season, Skita - listed at seven-feet tall - shot 29.3% from the field as a rookie. At a game in Los Angeles against the Lakers, I once saw Skita shoot a wide open shot in which the ball hit the shot clock first before getting anywhere near the backboard or rim.

2003-04 (43-39, 1-4 in the playoffs)

A full 10 years after upsetting the Sonics in the playoffs, the Nuggets finally got their act together and Coloradoans cared about basketball again. Unable to shake the Nuggets streak of bad luck with the Draft Lottery, Vandeweghe got lucky nonetheless thanks to Detroit GM Joe Dumars' stupidly drafting Darko Milicic (i.e. Skita 2.0), leaving Syracuse star/stud Carmelo Anthony available with the third overall pick. And with Howard's giant contract coming off the books, Vandeweghe was finally able to spend Kroenke's money. Free agent signees Andre Miller, Jon Barry and Earl Boykins joined Melo, Nene and a healthy Camby. Under Bzdelik's stewardship, the Nuggets won 43 games and put up a respectable fight against the Timberwolves in the playoffs first round. As fans, we were happy just to be in the playoffs!

Non-Stiff of the Year: Carmelo Anthony

For the first time since Alex English last donned a rainbow jersey, the Nuggets had a perennial All-Star caliber player in Melo. As a rookie, Melo averaged 21 ppg and 6.1 rpg while giving fellow rookie phenom LeBron James a run for the Rookie of the Year Award. But more importantly, Melo led the Nuggets back to the postseason in a hyper-competitive Western Conference, whereas LBJ couldn't do the same in Cleveland in the weakened Eastern Conference.

Stiff of the Year: Rodney White

Playing for his next contract after his rookie deal was due to expire in two seasons, White gave the Nuggets next-to-nothing in 2003-04 even though he appeared in 72 games and received 14 minutes of playing time per game. Just a few years removed from being the ninth overall pick to Detroit (ahem...Joe Dumars again), White would be out of the NBA completely after the 2004-05 campaign. But hey, at least he was nominated for the Denver Stiffs Hall of Fame!

2004-05 (49-33, 1-4 in the playoffs)

Wanting to build upon the Nuggets newly found success (and at Kroenke's alleged insistence), Vandeweghe spent the entire 2004 offseason shopping for a big name free agent to bring to Denver. After being turned down by Manu Ginobili and Brad Miller, Vandeweghe panicked and got duped into sending three number one picks to New Jersey for Kenyon Martin in a sign-and-trade deal. K-Mart's price tag? $90 million over seven seasons. Under immense pressure to win more games, Bzdelik and the Nuggets floundered out of the gate, starting out 13-15 before Bzdelik got sacked and replaced by a former WNBA coach (Michael Cooper) who went 4-10 as coach of the team.

Non-Stiff of the Year: George Karl

Inheriting a 17-25 team loaded with talent but without any direction and big egos to boot, Karl's no-nonsense, "my way or the highway" approach immediately turned the Nuggets fortunes around. With only 40 games to work with, Karl guided the Nuggets to a 32-8 record (the best in NBA history after a mid-season coaching switch) and had the Nuggets playing the best basketball in the NBA down the stretch of the regular season.

Stiff of the Year: Kiki Vandeweghe

By acquiring K-Mart, Vandeweghe essentially panicked while throwing away all of the salary cap flexibility he had worked so hard and smartly to cultivate. But worse than that, Vandeweghe was eerily silent while Bzdelik was left to twist in the wind as the Nuggets struggled early in the season. Vandeweghe never publicly defended the one man willing to coach the dreadful 2002-03 roster that Vandeweghe had assembled, and Kiki made matters worse by bringing in Cooper to take over as head coach. The Cooper hire cost the Nuggets a higher playoff seed.

Stiff of the Year Runner-Up: Carmelo Anthony

Melo couldn't stay out of trouble in 2004. First, he was cited for marijuana possession at DIA that his cousin conveniently took the blame for (the old "that wasn't my pot!" excuse). Second, he feuded with Olympic coach Larry Brown in Athens and found himself benched on the 2004 Team USA that embarrassingly finished with a bronze medal. Third - and perhaps the worst/dumbest - Melo was caught on a "Stop Snitching" DVD in which alleged drug dealers explain what happens to people who cooperate with the police. Melo didn't improve much on the floor, either, and found himself (rightfully) in Karl's doghouse early and often.

2005-06 (44-38, 1-4 in the playoffs)

Unable to build off the team's incredible run under Karl to conclude the previous season, injuries ravaged the Nuggets and they limped their way to a 44-38 record. K-Mart and Camby missed 26 games apiece and most tragically, Nene succumbed to the Nuggets power forward curse and was lost for the season with an ACL and MCL tear after just one game. At the time, the Nuggets marketing and PR team spun the season as as success under the guise of "Northwest Division Champs" and that the Nuggets were a three-seed entering the postseason. But this was before the NBA properly seeded division winners who have mediocre records. The Nuggets were such a weak three-seed, that the Clippers purposely tanked games to face them in the first round...and when they got their wish, the Clippers clocked the Nuggets in five games. Oh, and that was the Clippers only playoff series win since becoming the Clippers in 1978. Overall, the season was a mess from from the top down (as chronicled in detail at the time by the Denver Post's Thomas George). Vandeweghe would be let go at season's end and was replaced by Mark Warkentien (and eventually Rex Chapman, too). Dysfunction, egos and injuries had set the Nuggets back a few steps.

Non-Stiff of the Year: (tie) Carmelo Anthony and Andre Miller

Melo and Miller played in 80 and 82 games, respectively, and carried the Nuggets in 2005-06. Melo improved his scoring average by over six points per game and his field goal percentage went up, as well. Miller - the modern day NBA "iron man" even if he doesn't condition well in the offseason - was a steady hand as always, starting in all 82 games and dishing out over eight assists per game.

Stiff of the Year: Kenyon Martin

Recovering from microfracture surgery and frustrated by knee tendinitis, K-Mart was pretty surly for much of the season and was morphing into a locker room cancer. He allegedly didn't get along with coaches or teammates (according to George's article, K-Mart's teammates questioned his commitment to recovery and work ethic) and it all came to an ugly head during halftime of Game 2 at Los Angeles, when K-Mart went at it with Karl and several teammates. K-Mart was benched for the remainder of the game and eventually su spended for the duration of the series.

Stiff of the Year Runner-Up: Reggie Evans

As perhaps a microcosm of the dysfunction and lack of respect for the game that was taking over the Nuggets, "The Joker" grabbed Clippers center Chris Kaman's testicles while fighting for a rebound during Game 1 of the Clippers series.

2006-07 (45-37, 1-4 in the playoffs)

In spite of it being K-Mart's turn to succumb to the Nuggets power forward curse (he would play just two games all season) and losing their first three straight games by a total of five points, the Nuggets would win 12 of their first 21 games with Melo playing the best basketball of his career. That all changed abruptly on Saturday, December 16th, 2006. In New York facing the Knicks (who had embarrassingly beaten the Nuggets in Denver in Game 3 of the season), the Nuggets found themselves up 19 with 75 seconds to go. Karl - alleged by some to want to rub the victory in Knicks coach Isiah Thomas' face (Thomas had recently sandbagged Karl's good friend Larry Brown) - left his starters on the floor, prompting Thomas to send in his "goon squad" and make the Nuggets pay. What began as a hard, unnecessary, dangerous, around-the-neck foul on J.R. Smith by the Knicks' Mardy Collins erupted into a full-scale brawl...culminating with Melo's cheap shot punch on Collins. Melo would be suspended 15 games and Smith 10, prompting Nuggets management to attempt to salvage the season by bringing in super star guard Allen Iverson from Philadelphia in exchange for Miller, Joe Smith and two first round picks. Little did we know that the fun was just beginning.

Non-Stiff of the Year: Allen Iverson

Welcomed with open arms by Nuggets fans and his new teammates, Iverson made an immediate impact on the Nuggets (on and off the floor, in good ways and bad). But with Melo out 15 games, Iverson was able to keep the Nuggets afloat and competitive almost by himself. When Melo and Iverson finally got to play together for a long stretch, the Nuggets reeled off nine straight wins and 10 of 11 to finish out the season strong as the hottest team in the NBA.

Stiff of the Year: Isiah Thomas

In addition to sinking the Raptors as an incompetent vice president, sinking the CBA in a summer as an incompetent commissioner and sinking the Knicks as an incompetent president/coach/alleged sexual harrasser (hell, Isiah was an incompetent broadcaster, too), Isiah would sink the Nuggets season in one fell swoop by commandeering his players to take out the Nuggets starters in that game.

Stiff of the Year Runner-Up: (tie) Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith

Even though Isiah "started it," Melo and J.R. were unable to keep their heads cool and unnecessarily exacerbated an already ugly situation, ruining the Nuggets entire season as a result.

2007-08 (50-32, 0-4 in the playoffs)

Entering 2007-08, the Nuggets would finally have a training camp with their full roster participating from the get-go. With Melo and Iverson having ample time to play together, optimism in Denver was higher than it had been since entering the 2004-05 campaign. So high was the optimism, in fact, that Kroenke had over $83 million invested in the team's payroll (second or third highest in the league at the time) and Melo and K-Mart started floating out "60 wins" as a realistic goal. But even with Iverson appearing in all 82 games, Camby playing 79, Melo 77, K-Mart 71 and vast improvements seen in the games of bench players J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza, the Nuggets weren't able to secure a playoff spot (an eighth seed no less) until the 79th game of the season with a big win at Golden State. As an eighth seed, the Nuggets got worked over by the Lakers in an embarrassing four-game sweep: a series which saw Melo bark at Karl "don't just sit there!" and the benching of Iverson early in Game 3 that didn't go over well. Prior to the Nuggets final regular season game, Melo would get arrested on suspicion of a DUI. It became evident that the A.I. experiment was an expensive failure.

Non-Stiff of the Year: Nene

After being diagnosed with testicular cancer and undergoing surgery to remove his right testicle, Nene remarkably returned to play again on March 27th against the Mavericks, giving the Nuggets a much needed emotional boost that helped them secure a playoff spot down the stretch.

Stiff of the Year: George Karl

Stuck in an admittedly tumultuous and difficult situation, Karl spent much of the 2007-08 sitting on his hands during games while the Nuggets unraveled on the court. While the Nuggets head coach got called for just one technical foul all season (second to last in the NBA), his players finished in the top two in personal fouls, technical fouls, flagrant fouls and ejections. The inmates were running the asylum as Karl's coaching record in Denver got extended to a paltry 3-16 over four years. Karl would later admit to SI.com that "...the last couple of years, I was confused." Watching Karl's Nuggets routinely take nights off that season, so were we.

2008-09 (54-28, 10-6 in the playoffs)

Disappointed with his lack of return on investment, Kroenke gave an edict to management to slash payroll during the 2008 offseason. Camby would be shipped out to the Clippers in exchange for a trade exception, coach and fan favorite Eduardo Najera would not be re-signed, Iverson's contract wouldn't be extended and things were looking grim entering the 2008-09 campaign. But what loomed as a disaster instead became a season of reformation and rejuvenation. Karl came into training camp as "Fiery George" again, Melo won a gold medal with Team USA and learned a thing or two from Kobe Bryant on what an NBA work ethic really is and K-Mart, fully healthy, came into camp with an apology to his coach and teammates and a vow to work harder and play better. With former NBA castaways Chris "Birdman" Andersen and Dahntay Jones added for next-to-nothing (by NBA salary standards) and Nene in real basketball shape for the first time ever, the Nuggets were quietly confident that they had a special season on their hands.

The lone chink in the Nuggets newfound armor would be Iverson who, upset by not receiving a contract extension, showed up to camp out of shape and several steps slow. Remarkably, Nuggets management was able to pull off one of the great trades in Nuggets history by shipping Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups. By adding Billups to a roster primed to take off, the Nuggets would shock the basketball world by tying a franchise record with 54 wins and going toe-to-toe with the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Simply put, it was the greatest full season of Nuggets basketball since the 1984-85 Nuggets made it to the conference finals and hopefully a sign of more good things to come in the decade ahead.

Non-Stiff of the Year: Chauncey Billups

The Denver-born Billups - who had been cast off by Issel years earlier without ever given a fair hearing as a Nugget - immediately proved to be the perfect leader for the Nuggets. Coming off six consecutive conference finals appearances with the Pistons, Billups would make it seven when he led the Nuggets there.

Non-Stiff of the Year Runner-Up: (tie) Nuggets Management and George Karl

After years of placing talent over character, the Nuggets GM "troika" of Warkentien, Chapman and team adviser Bret Bearup had assembled a roster stocked with good character guys and also deserve credit for not panicking after the 2008 playoff debacle. Warkentien would be rewarded with the NBA's Executive of the Year Award, but it should have been shared by all three guys. Karl, meanwhile, turned in one of his finest performances as an NBA head coach while bridging whatever gap had existed between him and his mercurial stars Melo, J.R. and K-Mart.

Stiff of the Year: Allen Iverson

The NBA will soon be announcing their "All Decade Team" and it will be fascinating to see if A.I. makes the squad. One of the greatest players of the decade, Iverson ultimately proved to be a bad fit for the Nuggets and a bad influence on Melo and J.R. This became painfully clear when the Pistons imploded after bringing Iverson on board in exchange for Billups.

Overall, the '00s were a great decade for Nuggets basketball: six straight playoff appearances, two 50-plus win seasons, All-Star players and thrilling performances (how many game-tying and game-winning shots has Melo made?!). And while it would have been nice to see a few more playoff series victories prior to last season, the memories of the Bickerstaff and Issel Administrations are still prominent enough for me to appreciate what's been going on recently.

Fortunately for Nuggets fans, four of our best players - Melo, J.R., Nene and rookie Ty Lawson - still have many seasons ahead of them and hopefully will remain in a Nuggets uniform into the next decade. At the very least, we're guaranteed that the new decade starts out reasonably well and it will be fascinating to see where this franchise is standing in 2020.

Thanks for the memories and Go Nuggets!!

Photos courtesy of AP and NBAE/Getty Images

RECAP: Warriors 91, Bulls 96 – Brick!

Fantasy Junkie — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:58:58 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

10 days ago: Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis (8) reacts after missing a shot during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. The Bulls won 96-91. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Warriors Web Links | Open Thread (1100+ comments)

With all these young guys playing prominent roles, I guess you have to expect this kind of inconsistency. A blowout win over the Nets followed by a head scratching loss to the Bulls. The Warriors "should" have won this game? I guess my optimism got a little ahead of me. The Bulls, losers of 9 out of 10, maybe aren't as bad as I thought. But I'll still maintain that this loss wasn't so much that the Bulls beat the Warriors, but the Warriors shot themselves out of the game. Plain and simple, the Warriors desire to shoot tons of jumpers instead of getting aggressive and driving to the hole, cost them the game. Hopefully these young guys learn from this game.

Shooting Woes
The Warriors made the Bulls look like a great defensive team tonight. 38% shooting? You realize the last few games the Bulls have allowed 50%, 45%, 48%, and 51%? This is not a bad Warriors shooting team. What was with all the jumpers and lack of drives? Were they saving themselves for the second game of the back to back? 37-97 from the field. 8-28 from 3, 28.6%. Ouch. Oops. Oy.

And what's with the 12 free throws? Monta had 6. So between the other 7 players for the Warriors, they shot a combined 6 free throws. Ummm guys? You're allowed to go inside of 10 feet from the basket more than once a quarter. Corey Maggette usually gets to the line 6-7 times per game - tonight he never made an appearance.

The lack of free throws means a lot of jumpers which means not very many assists and also means lots of rebounds. The Warriors got pounded on the boards 58-44 with many thanks to the twin towers, Brad Miller and Joakim Noah. Yeesh. 14 rebound differential.

I have a beef with Anthony Morrow. 15 shots. 13 three pointers taken! Only 4 made. I can understand the 13 three pointers if he was hot, but like with alcohol, know when to say when. He went a little overboard with the 3's tonight. Every now and then you have to take the ball to the hole if you're not shooting so well from the perimeter. Or maybe take a few steps in for a jumper. C'mon young fella. I guess this is part of the maturation process? For awhile there it seemed like he was varying his offensive game by driving it to the hole, pulling up from 15, and making some decent passes. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Monta was bad as well. 10-26 from the field. At least he had more assists (5) than turnovers (3). Steph Curry was 3-9, Vlad was 4-13. The starting 5 was 24-66 (36%).

Just a bad offensive night for the Warriors. Too many jumpers and not enough drives to the hole. Not the Warriors style of play. Not a style of play they'll be successful at. They were nearly successful but that's because this was against the Bulls.

Corey MEgette
There's not a whole lot else I want to write about this game, so I'll write about Corey MEgette. I like how in Marcus Thompson's interview with MEggette that they make the argument he's not selfish because he takes care of the young guys off the court or buys expensive presents for teammates. THAT'S NOT THE SELFISHNESS FANS CARE ABOUT. Nobody gives a crap if you're a kind, generous person off the court. He may be the nicest guy, helps old women cross the street and rescues kittens out of trees. Again, nobody cares.

The selfishness fans care about is his play ON THE COURT. He's selfish on the court, no matter what Monta says. If you directly ask Monta if Corey's selfish, you really think he's going to say "Yes, Corey's selfish. He's a black hole and dosen't try on defense." Uh no.

Does MEgette work hard? Yes. Does he give up his body on offense while driving to the hole? Yes. Flopping on defense does not count as giving up one's body, that's just flopping and nobody likes a flopper. Nobody's saying he's not trying. I write "MEgette" because he plays like he's never heard the word "pass" before. I'm not asking him to be a point guard but at least make the defense think that you might drive and kick or rotate the ball around the perimeter. The second reason I write "MEgette" is because he doesn't give a crap on defense. He flops all the time and will rarely get a charging call. More often than not the offensive player either makes an uncontested shot or goes to the line. And while guarding guys on the perimeter, he's more matador than defender. Good defenders know that it's all about hustle and desire. If you're not a good defender, you lack hustle and desire.

That said, he had a nice rebounding game off the bench - 10 boards in total.

I think he's a good guy and does some great things off the court. I don't think he should be booed at the Oracle. He's far from one of the bad players on the team. He's just not a team player. He doesn't make anyone better. I don't think it's because he doesn't want to, I think it's because he doesn't know how.

One More Rant
Why is Mikki Moore still starting? When your starting center gobbles in 3 rebounds in 26 minutes, you're in trouble. Except for his revenge game against the Nets, Moore has been bad. He played a combined 19 minutes in the games against Houston and Orlando. Is it any coincidence that the Warriors had legit chances to win those games? Heck he grabbed as many rebounds as I did against the Thunder, except he played 21 minutes. How does your starting center suck so bad at getting 2 hands on an orange ball? If he was a good defender ala Chuck Hayes, I could forgive him. If he swatted shots like Turiaf, then at least he'd have something desireable about his game. But the guy is a non-factor. Can we mix up the starting lineup just a bit? It might be just me, but starting Mikki hasn't seemed too successful so far.

Anthony Randolph may have regressed and has been pretty ugly this season, but he's still better than Moore. He might even find a groove if you change it up and throw him in the starting lineup. I don't care if he hasn't earned it. Neither has Moore. Randolph at least has shown some flashes that you might be able to get something out of the 5 spot if you started him. Might even boost his confidence. What do you have to lose?

Right now, you need to change things up. Keith Smart? Don Nelson? Hello?

Silver Lining
The only silver lining? A better chance at getting John Wall. Nobody will match the Nets and Twolves ineptitude, but that 3rd worst spot is up for grabs. LGW!

No Warriors player deserves this. Nor does any of the coaching staff, front office, or waterboy. So instead I'm going TMZ style and giving it to Elin Nordegren for no other reason than I can imagine her coming after the Warriors with a 9-iron after watching them play tonight. And she's not even a Warrior fan.

And this is just a funny picture. Even Corey is about to laugh.

Poll

For the rest of this road trip, Pistons and 76ers, how many games will the Warriors win?

Nets 103, Bulls 101: Won't say rock bottom since there could be a ways to go

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:04:41 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose stands on the sidelines against the New Jersey Nets trying to figure out how many days until he's a free agent. It's a long process. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
New Jersey	96.0	107.3	47.0%	28.6	28.9	13.5
Chicago		105.2	48.9%	17.0	36.4	17.7

Bulls weren't embarrassed tonight, they're just continually embarrassing with this loss being another instance of it. Though of the 8 losses in 9 games, this certainly is the worst opponent.

And the Nets didn't disappoint in showing their ineptitude for long stretches of the game. But you could tell from the outset that the Nets smelled a win here, and they proved that they're just as good as the Bulls...or that the Bulls are just as bad as them.

I didn't see a team that quit on their coach, or played down to competition. This is who the current Bulls are, a team that's as good as the New Jersey Nets, having to put up a 31-point fourth quarter to lose by 2. I truly thought all 4th quarter that the Nets ran out of gas and the Bulls would narrowly get this one. And I was not rooting for them to lose as some kind of statement to show how bad they are. The fact that it was this close at the end, and they were down double-digits for a majority of the 3rd quarter, showed how comparable these current rosters are, win or lose.

(though the final possession was indeed a head-scratcher, with the Bulls having 14 seconds and John Salmons launching a 3 with a hand in his face with 7 left. I'm fine with not holding until the last shot in that situation, but the 'quick' shot has to be a better option than that, and Rose has to at least touch the ball. Also, Vinny ran out of timeouts, and he subbed out Taj (one of the team's best offensive re bounders) before Rose missed the final rebound, which I believe was on purpose? Anyway, credit Kiki Vandeweghe and his cool glasses for fouling Rose up three.)

A young duo of Harris-Lopez that's possibly better than Rose-Noah (Rose had a great second half when he realized a bit late that they needed him to score a lot, but Lopez dominated Noah). Middling wings in Lee and CDR that seemed interchangeable with Salmons-Deng at a fraction of the price. Crappy depth all-around.

Taj Gibson had a great night shooting the ball, but registered two defensive rebounds in over 35 minutes. He actually was benched in favor of Brad Miller to start tonight's game, a move I'm in favor of...but Miller looks one step over the hill and provided nothing tonight.

It's real bad right now. And while I don't see any changes overnight, when they get absolutely hammered in Atlanta tomorrow, the Org. may have no choice but to do something to salvage the season. A season they were not really interested in anyway, but they can't let it stay this bad.

Bulls 92, Pistons 85: Given the current state of the team, a must-win that was won

your friendly BullsBlogger — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:40:41 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

"It's not your fault, their minds were poisoned all these years by that blind jackass Neil Funk. "(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Detroit	86.0	98.8	41.0%	26.9	37.0	17.4
Chicago		107.0	50.7%	31.9	34.3	19.8

Ugh, that was a terribly boring night of basketball. Not much of a recap is needed, the Bulls opened up the game huge with a 23-6 lead (credit for coming out strong given they were on a 4 game losing streak) and never trailed. They likely saw a Pistons team missing Hamilton, Prince, and Villenueva and realized they weren't going to be threatened offensively, and played like it.

Not that there weren't some good performances. I don't know how anyone can say any team with John Salmons should be in transition more (does anyone kill fast breaks with such regularity?), but he shot well, hit 3-4 3-pointers and finished with 22 points. Brad Miller had his first solid game in a long while, and his six assists included two lobs to Derrick Rose (shame Rose's one attempt at a lob - this season? - didn't convert). And, of course: Noah rules.

They actually weren't that bad from an efficiency standpoint tonight on offense, but maybe it's just seeing 11 more minutes of Lindsey Hunter (egads, I think VDN thinks he 'found something' here), Hunter-Pargo together, Taj fouling out in under 20 minutes...this team is going to be very bad for the next few games, so it was good they got a team worse (and more banged up) than them tonight, and got the win.

This Pistons team looked really inept, their remaining guards of Gordon, Stuckey, and Bynum each were ballhogging and missing, and any time Chucky Atkins was in there was a disaster. And apparently the renaissance of Ben Wallace took a break tonight (maybe he's just so used to nights off in the UC?).

The big sidestory* in this game was, of course, the return of Gordon. The in-house crowd was split maybe 65/35 boos, which is a pretty pathetic referendum on any hoops sophistication in this town. But I likely should've expected it, and given that they were more enthusiastic seeing Cuppy Coffee win the Dunkin Donuts race on the jumbotron than in booing Gordon, it stopped bothering me. It's not like the crowd at these games is exactly a 'hardcore' sampling of fan. Though they didn't get their free big macs tonight, they did see a game where Gordon (not looking 100% on the ankle) had chances to get his team back into the game (with the Bulls blessing) but instead shot them out of it. He was 2-8 from three and missed a lot of makeable up-close shots, as our vaunted tall guard couldn't really stay with him, and Lindsey Hunter seemed really determined to get into the scoresheet as much as possible through fouling.

But yeah, there was some shaky dribbling, ill-advised leaners, barreling into the lane, outsized on defense....but watching it from the other side, I still missed the guy. At least he'd make these games less excruciating to watch.

*(And as an emerging sidestory, James Johnson again with the DNP-CD)

Bucks 99, Bulls 97: a near ugly-win. By that I mean they were certainly ugly, but lost

your friendly BullsBlogger — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:47:22 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Chicago Bulls' Lindsey Hunter (11) shows off one of his old defensive tricks: laying on top of your opponent and crushing him with your fat. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Chicago	89.0	109.0	43.8%	33.8	40.0	15.7
Milwaukee		111.2	47.8%	12.0	37.7	11.2

Lindsey Hunter played the entire 4th quarter. That's basically all one needs to know when it comes to determining how an NBA game can be lost. The Bulls have major depth issues and it comes to a head when not only Hunter is required to play at all, or significant minutes, but he actually shares a backcourt with Jannero Pargo (0-3 in 11 minutes. As Barney Gumble once said to Lisa Simpson: "Go back to Russia!").

But, overall, Lindsey was an improbable +6 for the night, and though it may not have been old-man tricks but just random chance, his strategy of chucking the ball as hard as he could at the backboard so Joakim Noah could rebound and score was working. In one of the Bulls final possessions, Hunter took an ill-advised (dubbed so by me as it was a field-goal attempt) leaner that wound up back at the 3-point line for Salmons to hit one of the teams two threes of the night.

After the foul shot dance of late-game deficits, in their final possession the Bulls found themselves down two and Derrick Rose passed to a wide-open Brad Miller who front-rimmed a jumper. I guess it was a bit of irony that Miller for once wasn't the old Bull overused in the 2nd half, as that went to Hunter...yet he still didn't seem to have his legs under that shot. Again, Hunter played the entire 4th quarter. I criticize VDN for a lot of things, but failing in a 'ride the hot hand' strategy is not one of them. I think he's mostly done a good job of identifying his best guys and going to them, not who happens to be 'hot' that night. But he definitely stayed with what was working tonight, and the question is then was Hunter actually doing that well? Even if so, it just meant a higher likelihood that he'd return to dust.

But while Hunter was inexplicably on the floor on an offensive lineup substitution in the Bulls final try, another story is Rose passing instead of shooting in that posession. Him doing that doesn't bother me, what did was his complete disappearance in the first half, scoring 2 points in a game where he had to know he'd have to (even moreso than usual) pick up the scoring load for his undermanned team. I don't mind the mindset that brings an occasional deference on a given possession, but Rose seems to drift through entire stints on the floor. (With nobody else being a meanie and taking the ball from him either)

But Rose did recover and had himself a fairly stellar 2nd half, and outperformed Brandon Jennings in that span. In fact, if we're still sticking (and I'm trying to) to the mindset that only Rose/Deng/Noah truly matter anymore on this team, then it was a pretty good night. But the Bucks have 3 point shooting (including slight PFs, as Ilyasova and Warrick must be Skiles dream...though not quite Malik Allen dreamy), as well as a big they can devote possessions to in Andrew Bogut. The Bulls have no such options, and I don't need to go into their designed inefficiency after every single game. I almost feel bad when they came close in this one, that's how bad they look.

Why the NBA needed instant replay

ZombieMonta — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:34:11 -0000

(And the winner for "most awkward, premature celebration of the season" goes to....)

On Tuesday night, Brad Miller got off a shot with only 0.3 seconds remaining in a game and got nothing but net, giving the officials the workout of a lifetime. The first several replays were inconclusive, but the final angle -- the overhead shot -- showed that the ball was still on his fingertips when the clock went to zero. No basket. The Nuggets won, the Bulls lost.

Miller came very close to making NBA history. Since the NBA enacted the Trent Tucker Rule -- which was created after Trent Tucker hit a game-winning shot with only a tenth of a second on the clock -- no player has ever hit a game-winning jump-shot with less than three tenths of a second to go. Two years ago, David Lee tapped in a game-winning lob with only 0.1 on the clock.

If not for instant replay, Miller's shot probably would have stood and the Bulls would have walked away with a wrongful victory. Teams no longer have to worry about erroeneously receiving a win or a loss, a luxury that baseball teams do not possess. Never again will the league officials have to live with the embarrasment that they suffered on January 15, 2001, the kind of embarrasment that baseball umpires endure every single week.

It was on January 15, 2001, that the Los Angeles Lakers played at home against the Vancouver Grizzlies. Los Angeles should have obliterated them, but the Lakers were never known for getting off to great starts. The game miraculously went to overtime and the Grizzlies were on the brink of victory. With only a few seconds remaining in overtime, the Grizz held a 112-111 lead over the defending champions.

On the Lakers' final possession, the ball was thrown in to Robert Horry, who launched a 20-footer to hopefully win the game. His shot was off, but was rebounded by Shaquille O'Neal, who put the ball up as a Vancouver defender contested the layup. O'Neal's follow-up banker was in and the Lakers were awarded the win. Television replays showed that O'Neal got his shot off long after the buzzer sounded, meaning that the Grizzlies should have been declared the winner. However, with instant replay still years from introduction, there was no way to challenge it.

The offcials ruled that because Grizzlies center Isaac Austin had fouled O'Neal on the play, O'Neal's shot counted as continuation -- even though there was no time on the clock when he released the ball. The Grizzlies were furious and had every right to be. Not only was Austin's contact questionable at best, continuation was hardly an appropriate cover considering a foul was not called on the play. Had there been continuation, O'Neal should have received a free-throw with time still on the clock, which he did not.

Grizzlies forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, in one of the most honest (and fine-worthy) reactions in history, told this to the Associated Press: "I don't care. We fought too hard and played too hard to be put in a situation like that. They can fine me for that. That's a blown call by three cowards. ... If referees get fined, all three of them should get fined triple whatever they are fined. I can't say anything else but gutless and coward."

"It's a sad thing for it to come down to something like that," said Austin. "They made the wrong call and we just have to live with it."

Sadly, the most inept franchise in NBA history was robbed of a victory against one of the premier teams in history. Had this scenario played out in 2009, the Grizzlies would have come away with the win. That's why there needs to be instant replay in baseball -- at least on the final plays of the game. No one wants to see a game end that way -- where the winning team should be the loser, and the loser should be the winner. And yet it happens all time. Thankfully that isn't the case in the NBA, at least not anymore.

Nuggets 90, Bulls 89: when 0.3 seconds isn't enough

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:57:03 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Look at Noah with his hands clasped. He's the best. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Denver	91.0	98.9	44.6%	17.9	34.1	19.8
Chicago		97.8	46.0%	10.3	32.6	14.3

(more on the 4 factors box score)

Man, do I not like instant replay. I don't like it in any sport, to be honest. Because I feel like every time it's implemented, it winds up ruining the entertainment value of the game, with the increased stoppages where you watch old men peering into a monitor. I think it devalues the entertainment of watching the sport (which is all it is). I can't see many people that concerned about a point here or there unless they're gambling on the game, and I'd rather just assume one catches some breaks and misses some over the course of a sports-watching life.

Enough of that mini-rant, and back to this game. It's certainly possible that the referees would have ruled Brad Miller's shot no good when it occured if they knew they wouldn't have the crutch of replay, because I believe it's one of Newton's laws of physics that Brad Miller cannot catch and shoot a basketball in 0.3 seconds. But they called it good, and there are shots of the replay (ht: Sham) that indicate that it wasn't. When they started taking forever when looking at the replay, it seemed less and less likely that the on-court ruling would stand, and you could feel the crowd getting more nervous.

But honestly, we got to jump around and high-five like idiots (as did the Bulls) when Miller hit the shot, so we got that winning feeling, if only for a short time. That was fun.

This was a great game, and I was immensely impressed with the Bulls defense. I kept being surprised that they were staying in the game, and then to see them really lock down in the fourth quarter and take a lead was outstanding. With the season Carmelo Anthony is having, he's incredibly scary to see opposing your team in a close game, but the combination of Luol Deng and Joakim Noah made his life as difficult as possible, and both were fantastic on that end of the floor all night. Everyone was, pretty much, with the only defensive holes popping up sporadically was a free pass for Nene to dive down the middle of the lane without impediment. Though I wouldn't want to get in his way either.

The offense continues to stink, and I'm getting more used to it by the game. They can't shoot 3s, they don't get to the line (Rose was avoiding the lane it was a pit of lava and his only FTAs were on the late possession where Billups was trying to give a foul on the floor), traits taken to the extreme when they finished the first quarter with 20 points on 10 field-goals. It almost seems like they'd be better off just chucking the ball at the rim as early in the possession as possible to allow their offensive rebounding to take over, and that was actually how they scored their last basket, an offensive board and then Noah getting the ball stripped right into Rose's hands for a layup.

We know how the next possession went, a foul by Hinrich on Billups with .6 seconds left. He missed the second free throw leaving just enough time for a catch-and-shoot, though apparently not enough for Brad Miller to do so.

Can't say enough about how great Noah was tonight, and seeing 21 rebounds may not be to crazy for the next few weeks, with nearly nobody else on the Bulls able to cannibalize his boarding totals (and him being awesome and everything). As I mentioned, Rose was a bit too jump-shooty but made enough of them. Taj Gibson really impressed with some of his finishing around the rim. As far as the bad, Brad Miller had his worst game of the season, making one basket in 14 minutes and forcing a couple of awful passes from the high post resulting in turnovers. Salmons and Hinrich didn't shoot well and again don't hit enough threes. And Pargo sucks. Defensive rebounding remains a problem. Have I mentioned the offense is still bad?

The defense looks good though, and given their opponent tonight it was looking great. Having Luol Deng back makes all the difference, and Joakim Noah is becoming an absolute force.

Gameday Preview at Chicago Bulls

David Arnott — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:30:47 -0000

Pump Up Music: CKY -- "96 Quite Bitter Beings"

The Big Picture: I love this Bulls team way more than I probably should. First, if you don't like Derrick Rose's game, then you probably don't like basketball. We should all consider ourselves blessed to see him battle with Paul, Rondo, and any other young point guards to come up over the next fifteen years.

The number two reason is Brad Miller. Don't get me wrong: He has his limitations and is at the age where he might fall off a cliff at any moment, but his style falls under the same rubric as Sheed, the kind of big man I love. At this stage, he's there to provide adequate defense, pass the ball off the block, and pull their big man away from the basket by hitting threes.

Finally, the Bulls have three guys that, in my pre-Rufus days, I trashed and predicted the team would regret picking: Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas. None of them are All Stars, by any means, but none of them are even remotely busts, either. To my mind, those three have beaten the odds. None was particularly special in college, though Thomas's exceptional rebounding and shotblocking has carried over to the pros (rebounding might be the easiest skill to translate from college to the NBA), and they were each picked based more on imagination, prayers, and awe of their physicality than cold evaluation of their skills. Though Thomas and Noah have been in and out of Vinny Del Negro's doghouse at times, and Thomas won't play tonight due to a fractured forearm, all those guys are worthy contributors, and it's as if the Bulls turned a magic trick with each of them.

Key to Victory: The Bulls last played on Thursday, when they stunned the Cavaliers in Cleveland. The Cats are on the back half of a back to back. However, having spread the minutes out fairly evenly last night, Larry Brown has put his team in position to match the Bulls' energy. After tonight's game, they'll have two days off to recuperate before another back to back. We'll see what happens in the fourth quarter when the rested Bulls push the tempo.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: My best friend in middle school loved Vinny Del Negro for reasons that have still gone unexplained. It might have been because Del Negro rocked the blow dried look even while playing. My favorite basketball player happened to be Dennis Rodman, so in retrospect it was a weird coincidence that two kids in San Francisco had this odd fascination with two guys on the San Antonio Spurs, neither of whom was David Robinson.

Morning Briefing: Sometimes You Get the Bulls, Sometimes You Get Horns. Try to guess what we got?

JakeTheSnake — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:24:48 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

about 1 month ago: Chicago Bulls guard Lindsey Hunter, top, battles Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas for a loose ball during the second half their preseason NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, in Chicago. The Bulls won 93-70. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Sure, it was apparent the Wizards weren't too invested in getting a W last night, but can you blame them? After all the talk about being a playoff contender again, I think everyone on the team is chomping at the bit to start showing what this team is made of in the regular season. Not to mention that everyone is paranoid about being the next Wizard to get stricken by the injury bug. Regardless of what the reason was, let's hope a dose of regular season action is what the doctor ordered.

Game Hub | Boxscore

Bulls 93, Wizards 70 - Michael Lee, Wizards Insider

The only positives that can be taken from this game? Nobody else got hurt and the preseason is finally, mercifully, over. If you thought the Wizards couldn't look worse than they did against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, then you missed the entire second half against the Bulls. That's when the Wizards decided that they were ready for the regular season. They were outscored 52-31, missed 25 of 34 field goal attempts, and got outrebounded 29-11. They seriously packed it in.

Bulls end preseason with another win - Mark Deeks, Chicago Bulls Confidential

Of course, tonight didn't really count. They weren't playing anybody. The Wizards completely forgot to turn up; as the final score will have alluded to, they were really, really, really, really, really bad. The Bulls weren't great, despite what the big margin of victory might suggest, but they were good enough to take at least half of what the Wizards gave them. And the Wizards gave them everything. In a bad way.

Fullcourt Press: Bulls' PG mystery solved - K.C. Johnson, Full Court Press

Who needs Derrick Rose when the Bulls have Brad Miller? And, no, that's not meant to be serious. But on a night the Bulls had one healthy point guard as they concluded their preseason schedule against Washington at the United Center, Miller tallied six first-half assists, including three pretty lobs.

Best of Twitterville

Twitter / Michael Lee
Andray Blatche is balling this quarter. He's gone on a personal 8-0 run, hitting Js, rebounding and dunking - all while wearing a headband

Twitter / Bradford Doolittle
1st quarter lesson #1: The Bulls do not want to go into the season with Lindsey Hunter as their starting point guard.

Twitter / Truth_About_It
@MrMichaelLee Looks like Blatche is on his way to a '7 Day Dray' Triple Double: Points, Rebounds & (Turnovers+Fouls) all in double figures.

Twitter / Michael Lee
Where would the Wizards be w/o Blatche & Foye tonight? They've scored 21 of 33 pts on 10-14 shooting. Rest of the team is 5-14.

Twitter / Bradford Doolittle
Arenas made a move to get into the lane against Hunter at the end of the half that looked pretty explosive. He didn't finish, though.

Twitter / George V. Panagakos
Fast paced low scoring game so far, 41-39, Bulls over Wizards at half. Blatche was on fire early, and Arenas is pushing it to the max.

Twitter / Michael Lee
Bulls lead 41-39 in classic battle of inconsistent big men. Tyrus Thomas & 7-Day Dray both have 12 pts. Blatche hit 1st 6 shots

Twitter / Michael Lee
Gilbert has 6 pts, 4 assts and 3 rebs. Not bad, but you'd think he'd dominate with 39-yr-old Lindsey Hunter the only PG playing 4 Bulls

Twitter / Bradford Doolittle
Artis Gilmore is in the house.

Twitter / Kevin Pelton
@bbdoolittle But still not in the Hall of Fame.