Today has been a good day for the Bulls so far. Contrary to popular belief, it seems the Knicks may not be tanking as they beat the Hawks in a thriller 113-112 behind 39 points from Carmello Anthony.

Now, the Lakers and Thunder get it on in a match-up of the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the Western Conference.

Also today:

Toronto at Detroit

Houston at Miami

Sacramento at Charlotte

Golden State at Minnesota

Cleveland at San Antonio

Orlando at Denver

New Orleans at LA Clippers

[A WAY-too-late game preview. But I guess I get what I pay for. -ed.]

Well, here we go again. Yawn! The Bulls play another lowly team that they should thoroughly trash but we always fear they won't.  This reminds me a lot of the good ‘ol days of MJ and Pip thrashing would-be upstarts during the dog days of the championship seasons and a bit of the one Skiles season in which the Bulls were actually legit contenders (sigh).   The United Center will no doubt be a tomb tonight as the tubular fans sit on their hands while drinking beer, eating pizza, and competing for Benny the Bull's attention.  "He makes the game!" the nice lady said on the commercial or didn't you know.

(If it is this hard to get excited about viewing a game, imagine how the Bulls feel about playing it)

So while the Nuggets and Nets have the captive attention of the entire league, the Bulls and Pistons (that other team involved in the trade) spar in a Central Division match-up.  Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer will lead the way while BG7 clanks long range brick after brick at the rim as he clenches his fist vowing to make the Bulls pay for not paying him his worth a year ago.  Luol Dung(!) will dribble the ball off his feet as he fumbles his way to 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

What to watch for? Derrick Rose going to the hole and creating contact to follow up on his career high 19 free throw attempts against Boston.  This, barring Rose going for 50, will be the only suspense of the night.

The Enemy: Detroit Bad Boys

The Game tips at 7 on CSN! Go Bulls!

So, while the Nets, Pistons, and Nuggets wheel and deal to send Carmello Anthony to the Brook-er New Jersey Nets, the Bulls could end up a likely beneficiary from this trade as well.  It is no secret that Bulls fans would love to swap Deng + Taj plus picks for the rights to Anthony but that doesn’t look to be in the cards.  However, that doesn’t mean the Bulls have to walk away empty handed. 

Chauncey Billups, "Mr Big Shot" himself,   has had his agent go on record to state that he would like to be bought out from his contract if he was included in the proposed three way trade.  If this did occur, would he go back to a dismal losing situation in his hometown Denver? Or perhaps, would he do what many veteran players have done over the years and hook up with a contender?  If Billups was looking to go to a contender, why not the Bulls?  Paxson/Forman would be wise to extend Billups a contract for whatever is remaining of the cap space and a starting job with a dynamic young point guard that he played alongside during the summer.

The Bulls are currently lacking a true outside shooting presence in the starting line-up.  Bulls fans have had to suffer Keith Bogans starting when we’d prefer anyone BUT him alongside Rose in the backcourt.  Since Hinrich was traded, the Bulls have lacked a secondary ball-handler to spell Rose and to direct the offense while he sits.  CJ Watson has tried to live up to that role but he is clearly a scorer and not a passer (see Exhibit A: any time Watson was in the game while Rose sat versus the Celtics).

On the season, Billups is averaging 17 points a game and 5 assists.  He’s 34 years of age so this wouldn’t be a move that would solidify the 2-spot for years to come but it would give the Bulls a veteran shooter who could stretch the defense with his 3 point shooting (.431% on the year) and stabilize a second unit when Rose would need to sit....for this season at least.

Currently, Thibs likes to start the second quarter with a group made of mainly the bench with Watson at the point.  If the Bulls had Billups, he could start the second quarter (leaving around 3 minutes to go in the first to be subbed by Brewer at the 2) with Asik at center, Boozer at the four and Korver or Brewer at the small forward spot while Watson takes over the 2 spot.   This is superior to playing Deng 40 minutes a game and wearing him out just to have a starter/shooter in the game.

Also, opposing teams love to double Derrick Rose in the backcourt to get him to turn the ball over. With Billups, Rose could move over to the 2 spot at times (as he did last year with Hinrich) and play off the ball.  So, while it would be sad to see Melo go east and not be in a Bulls uni, the signing of Billups after he is bought out would be a nice consolation prize.  Once Noah returns, I’d see a line-up of Noah-Boozer-Deng-Rose-Billups having enough firepower to be legitimate Finals contenders.

[Thanks to 'Playboy_BullV' for today's game preview (sign up!), the first night in what is the 8th season of Bulls blogging from yours truly. The Bulls are justifiably underdogs in this game, but I wouldn't be surprised if they start out hot tonight, with the Thunder being distracted by the opening night atmosphere. It's like they won the title, but more like a title of 'goody good good team that isn't that great yet but it's apparently necessary to create some kind of antithesis to the Heat'. It's hard to fit that on a trophy.

Game is at 7, localy on WGN and nationally on ESPN for those (like me) who can't fathom why they didn't get around to replacing Funk and King in the offseason. For all your Thunder needs, check out Welcome to Loud City and Daily Thunder -ed.]

Well, this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the start of the 2010-2011 season for the Chicago Bulls.   While we were all thoroughly entertained by Boston’s victory over the Heat last night the main event is tonight on ESPN!

Our raging Bulls get to start the season against the league’s darlings, the Oklahoma City Thunder led by MVP-in waiting Kevin Durant.  Durant is coming off the FIBA World Championship of Basketball tournament in which he was the best player on the court and looked like he was (IS!) ready to become the new poster child of the NBA.

Quiet as it was kept, All-Star point guard Derrick Rose also played for that USA team. Rose even started but was relegated to a role player and didn’t nearly make as much of an impact (depends on who you ask) as other young PGs such as OKC’s Russell Westbrook, tonight’s opponent.  Rose wasn’t expected to dominate the ball as he does for the Bulls so he did seem out of sync as he got used to a role as a distributor rather than a scorer.  Expect a grand duel between Rose and Westbrook tonight. Both men are super-athletic and while Rose is regarded as the better player, Westbrook has his supporters as well.  It probably helps that the two are friends and work out together in the off-season.

The Bulls have a new coach with Tom Thibodeau taking the reins after Vinny DelNegro was unceremoniously dismissed for being generally inept at his job.  In the preseason, Thibs as he is called amazed us with his offensive and defensive schemes.  No longer was it just “Derrick ATTACK, ATTACK!” but we got to see Luol Deng show flashes of the player he used to be while free agent signee Kyle Korver did his best Ray Allen impression.  Against the better teams in the league such as the Thunder his coaching expertise is a plus and Bulls fans don’t have to worry about whether or not if their coach is overmatched.

Joakim Noah is the team’s heart and emotional leader. While they will live and die with how Rose performs until Boozer returns, the team’s emotional center is the engine that makes this team go.  He sat out the last few preseason games with the flu but Noah won’t be afraid to bring it tonight! We’re expecting a Rodman like performance from Noah tonight on the boards (15+) while at least scoring 10 points.  Noah should be able to impose his will on the Thunder front court players Nenad Kristic and Jeff Green and help the Bulls control the boards.  The last time the team was in OKC, Noah starred to the tune of 13 pts, 11 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.  And that was with a bum foot!

It is also great to see the aforementioned Luol Deng reverting to his 2006-1007 season form. Deng has looked deadly from behind the arc with his newfound 3 point shot. The long two be damned, Deng has upped his level of play as well (at least during the preseason) and that bodes well for the team while they weather Boozer’s absence until early December. Durant won’t have an easy time on defense because Deng will drive and look to draw fouls, something he is good at when he isn’t trying to dribble (more of this Ok Luol plzthanks).

So, what are we expecting out of this game tonight?  The Bulls fielded an inferior team to the one they have now yet they dominated the Thunder last season on their home court (96-86) with Rose putting together a 26 point, 7 assist, 3 rebound performance against Kevin Durant’s 28 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.  Yeah nice line KD!   The Bulls will need Rose to duplicate his performance from last season and even one-up it if they are to survive in what is to be a raucous rocking Ford Center.  There will be a playoff type atmosphere for sure and both teams will be looking to prove a point.   Let’s go Bulls!

Prediction:  Bulls 102 Thunder 100

So here are the Chicago Bulls, eight months off of an exciting first round classic against the then-defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, languishing in the young season as losers of eight of nine games and the object of ridicule nationwide.  
    Derrick Rose, reigning Rookie of the Year and the NEXT big thing in Chicago's sports, and not to mention a hometown boy, was supposed to lead the Bulls back to prominence but after an ankle injury in the pre-season he has started off the season less than stellar.
    Joakim Noah, known for a few national championships and his wild side, had grown up and his newfound maturity would lend itself to his already boundless energy and catapult him to the top of the food chain when one would discuss the best young centers in the game of basketball today.
    Luol Deng,  along with Kirk Hinrich, stood as a lone holdover from the previous regime of Scott Skiles, and was expected to provide a scoring punch with his excellent mid-range game and slashing expertise.  No longer injured, he would help shore up what the Bulls would be missing from the departed Ben Gordon, master of the long range shots and as clutch a player Chicago has seen since Michael Jordan and Toni Kukoc left at the turn of the century.
    And last but not least there is Vinny Del Negro, a man with hair that'd make even a young Pat Riley envious but with a resume as thin as toilet paper.  Yes, one ply.
    These are (were?) the men expected to lead the Chicago Bulls franchise into serene mediocrity for the 2009-2010 season as the team geared up to redeeem itself in the Summer of 2010 for all of the trespasses against Bulls fan in recent years.  
    And yes, there are many.  Who could forgot trading young Elton Brand to the LA Clippers for Tyson Chandler (who departed in a ho-hum trade some seasons later for effectively PJ Brown) to pair with the weak-willed and lazy Eddy Curry.  Who could forgot about the summer of 2000 in which the Bulls were shunned by every major free agent possible and had to settle for Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson? Who could forgot the firings of Tim Floyd, Bill Cartwright, Scott Skiles, and Jim Boylan and the Ben Wallace signing? Some, not this writer, will also lampoon the Bulls for letting Gordan walk as a free agent.
    The last ten years have not been kind to the Bulls.  Three first-round exits, one first round play-off series win (a teasing triumph over the defending champion Miami Heat followed by a season that was just plain bad), and Bulls fans are tired.  
    They deserve better.  They deserve a coach with experience who can help a young star like Rose grow.  They deserve players who can buy into the team concept and not look for "their" turn to shoot the ball.  They deserve a team that can compete for the NBA title.  Chicago hasn't seen a team like that since Jordan retired and Phil Jackson rode off into the sunset to begin a retirement that ended when Los Angeles came calling.

Continue reading this post »