Hanging Vinnie Out To Dry

Not surprisingly, there has been lots of speculation that Bulls coach Vinnie Del Negro will be fired, with most people expecting it to happen Christmas Eve, since the Bulls have played Scrooge on that day by firing two coaches in the recent past. But Christmas Eve came and went with no firing. Then, directly after Christmas, there were reports that Vinnie was fired. So, Vinnie had to face a press conference and state that it wasn't true. However, the silence from the front office was deafening. Neither Paxson nor Forman came out to make a statement in support of Del Negro. Their silence was even more punctuated by the fact that the Pacer's coach was in a similar situation with firing rumors and Larry Bird immediately made a statement to support him.

It it seems like the Bulls have their heads up their butt, that's because they do. But before I get back to thumping the front office, I'd like to thump the Bulls players for some of the worst basketball in recent memory.

Post awful circus trip, they get killed by a Cleveland team that clearly looks like they aren't even trying. Then they get destroyed by the Raptors in a game that featured a bizarre moment where a Raptors' guard dribbled the ball past halfcourt in the third quarter with an enormous lead, and then proceeded to casually tie his shoe with the game clock on. The Bulls didn't even attempt to take the ball from him, and instead stood around waiting patiently for him to finish. They probably realized that they would just embarrass themselves with the ball once they got it.

Next the Bulls lose to New Jersey at home. The same New Jersey team that set the record this year for most losses to start the season. A New Jersey team that is currently 2 and 29! Then after a few blowout losses and a few lucky wins, the Bulls produce one of the most stunningly inept games in basketball history. Playing at home to the same Kings team that gave them their only win on the circus trip, a Kings team that is playing without their best player, the Bulls build up a gigantic 35 point lead well into the third quarter. Then they make NBA basketball history by becoming the first team to have a lead like that so late in the second half and lose the game.

Then they lose to the Knicks, one of the very few teams the Bulls have been able to look down on during the past several years. After all the Vinnie rumors, they finally show a bit of life by beating New Orleans, but it was basically a New Orleans team that was taking the night off.

On the plus side, everyone is healthy now and both Hinrich and Thomas played better than usual against New Orleans. This may be the Bulls one last shot at trading Thomas. There are rumors of a three team swap that gets us Al Harrington for Tyrus. Please let it happen!

The other really stunning fact is that as bad as the Bulls have been, they are still in playoff contention! It seems like a bad joke, but there are plenty of crummy teams in the East so all the Bulls have to do is play mediocre ball and they could get a sixth seed!

But getting back to Vinnie and Paxson and Forman, there is certainly plenty of blame to go around for all three. I'd be quite happy to see all of them out the door but the coach always goes first. I've hinted at it before, but now I'll say straight up that Paxson is one of the worst NBA management types I've ever seen. It hurts me to say it because I was a big fan of Paxson when he was a player, starting back in his college days. He's a smart, likable guy, but man has he done an awful job in the front office. And Gar Forman is a joke! Have you ever seen a more invisible GM? Most people I talk to in Chicago don't even know he is the GM! They still think it is Paxson, and really it is all the same because neither one knows what they are doing. This latest fiasco with Del Negro is a perfect example. Clearly the Bulls are looking around for another coach but they don't even know how to do that properly.

Now, as for who I'd like to see as the new coach, that is a tough question and one that I, just like Paxson and Forman, will address in the future.

It's A Circus All Right

Well, I wrote that the Laker game would be a bellwether of what the Bulls were capable of, and unfortunately, it proved that they can't do much. Deng took one look at Ron Artest and stood in the corner sucking his thumb and crying for his teddy bear. Gasol must have had this game penciled in for his return from injury because he knew the Bulls bigs wouldn't be able to stop him. Kobe basically took the night off since he wasn't needed. Salmons is forever going to be up and down. And worst of all, Rose is proving himself to be no floor leader.

A disaster all around, not just for the Laker game, but during the four blowouts in a row to Denver, Portland and Utah as well. Bulls at least put up a fight against the Bucks, mainly by playing a bit of defense, before losing out in the end. That puts the circus trip in the books at 1-5, with four very ugly loses. Extremely disappointing, to say the least.

Bogut took note of Gasol's triumphant return and repeated it himself against the Bulls. Potential trade target Boozer, killed them. Why would he ever want to come here when he can have career highs against them? Bulls displayed almost no toughness or desire during the road trip. They are a weak team, content to go through the motions for a few quarters and then fold.

Clearly, the Bulls are worse than last year, which makes the playoffs unlikely. And a top draft pick is out of the question with horrific teams like New Jersey, New York, and Minnesota sunk down at the very bottom of NBA muck. Free agency may well be their only hope.

Dare I say Rose has been over-rated? He's not good defensively. He doesn't get the offense moving fast enough -- Bulls are ridiculous with their 24 second violations. And he isn't shooting well. Hopefully, it is a bad stretch and he can learn from his mistakes.

Heinrich has been hurt, so the Bulls are short at guard now. Hunter had to play against the Bucks and it wasn't pretty watching the Buck guards breeze past him. Of course the Bulls are short-handed in the front court as well with Thomas out, but I don't see that as any loss. Speaking of which, Bulls revealed that Thomas broke his arm while doing chin-ups. Now, just imagine that for a minute. Think about attempting a chin-up and breaking your arm in the process. Envisioning that? Now you have a glimmer of understanding as to what kind of a spaz Tyrus is.

Nine out the the next eleven games are at home now, so the Bulls should improve somewhat. Historically, they do improve anyway. Bulls are 10-60 on the circus trip in the post MJ era, so it would be difficult for them to be that bad all the time.

Ghost of Trent Tucker

Bulls sweat out a win against Charlotte on a night where Salmons finally has a decent game. Then they come home for a crazy game against Denver. A tight battle throughout, game tied and time running out, Billups drives to the hole and gets bailed out on a dubious call with .6 seconds left. Billups is money at the line, so he makes the first and purposely misses the second to run out the clock. He gets a bad, quick bounce off the rim though and the Bulls call time-out with .3 seconds left.

Now if you are a Bulls fan and know your NBA history, you'll know that there is a "Trent Tucker" rule in the NBA that resulted from a 1990 game between the Bulls and the Knicks. In that game, the Knicks inbounded the ball to Tucker with only .1 seconds left! He tossed up a prayer that went in. Bulls protested, saying that .1 seconds was too short to get off a shot and they lost that protest! However, the NBA subsequently did a bunch of tests and soon after put in a rule that states that a player needs a minimum of .3 seconds to get off a shot.

So, inbounding from the halfcourt with .3 seconds left, Bulls toss it to a wide open Brad Miller who instantly heaves up a prayer that goes in. Bulls and fans go nuts as they seem to have escaped with one. The officials reviewed the play for a good 15 minutes, and they replayed the shot endlessly from every angle on the TV. There was no way in the world you could tell if the ball was completely off his fingertips. Just no way. It looked good to me, but there really was no way you could say for certain. You'd think that the hoop gods would try to make amends for the Tucker fiasco, but no, Chicago is a hard luck town for its sports' teams. Officials somehow decide to overrule the basket and give Denver the game!

Next night, at Toronto, they play hard but ragged and fold in the fourth. Bosh and to a lesser extent Bargnani killed the Bulls last year, and they did it again this game. Hinrich and Salmons couldn't make a shot if they were locked in the gym. Salmons was 1-11!

On the plus side, Gibson is already better than Tyrus. Yes, he makes plenty of mistakes and he's not going to be ROY, but we are 8 games into the season and he already knows more about how to play basketball than our four-year-man Tyrus, who is fortunately out for several weeks with an injured arm.

Bulls now have one at home and then the infamous circus road trip. Bulls get kicked out of the United Center while the circus plays there, and they have historically gone belly up during the long road tour. We'll see.

From Terrible to Not Bad

Boston crushes them at their place; then Bulls fold at Miami; they have an awful first half at home against Milwaukee, but bounce back to squeak out a win; and finally they pull out a gutsy win in an ugly game at Cleveland. Most likely we will see quite a bit of this up and down from the Bulls, but they are not at their best right now so there are things to be hopeful about.

Rose is clearly not back all the way yet. He looks good in spurts, but the way they are controlling his minutes, you can tell he's not well. He does show flashes of his regular self, such as during a coast-to-coast drive at Cleveland.

Tyrus was sick with the flu and got a DNP against the Bucks. May be the best thing to happen to the Bulls as it threw Gibson in there. He was bad against Milwaukee, but he was pretty good against Cleveland; certainly better than Tyrus, who did play a bit there and actually wasn't as awful as usual. Maybe the Bulls should keep infecting him with flu all season. Not only will he play better but he might get some opposing stars sick.

Deng is "half a man" this season. What I mean is that when he's up against smaller, more passive defenders, he's doing pretty well; but when he has someone his own size against him, who challenges him, he folds. There was a sequence in the Boston game where Deng wimps out on driving to the basket against Pierce and instead tosses up one of his flat, lazy, no-arc jumpers. Then he stands there, with wrist gaily extended, watching his shot while Pierce runs down the court for an outlet pass. Deng is too late to catch the guy who infamously couldn't run down Noah on the dribble during the playoffs last year, and fouls him for a three point play. This is the Deng I despise.

However, his shot is falling when he isn't challenged, which is far, far better than we've seen from him the last two years. And while he still isn't a fierce defender, he's at least using a bit of energy on the defensive end, which is new for him. I'll take that, because he's never going to be the All-Star the Bulls were dreaming about when he had a decent year two years ago. Just having him become a relatively useful starter is a huge jump.

Brad Miller has been a key in the Bulls wins. He's stepped up, particularly in the clutch, with less time wasted on Tyrus. Too bad he's not 3-4 years younger because 10 more minutes of Miller on the floor would win a lot more games for the Bulls. And Noah deserves some props too because he's been rebounding, making the hussle plays, and even banging with Shaq as best as he can.

Hinrich has been decent with his increased minutes, good but not as good as he can be. His shooting is off. Not as off as Salmons though, who couldn't hit the side of a barn for most of this season. I think he was shooting .264 before Cleveland! He was 3-15 vs the Spurs and the Bucks and 2-14 vs Boston. It would be hard to shoot that bad if he was trying to miss! He was 6-13 vs Cleveland and was pretty good vs Miami, so he may have just been in a slump -- hopefully short, because the Bulls really need him.

I shouldn't rub salt in the wound, but Ben Gordon has been shooting very well for his new team. He's scored between 22-30 points in every game and has shot over 50% in every game except one.

Except for some garbage time in Boston, Bulls first pick last year, Johnson, has not played a minute. That's a bit scary, and disappointing when so many other rookies are playing decently. I guess if Gibson pans out he'll be considered a steal, but the Bulls obviously had higher hopes for Johnson.

In short, it looks like we're going back to the scrappy Bulls of the early Skiles era. They don't shoot well but they get steals, defend and rebound. If Rose gets back to form and Gibson progresses, a playoff slot is a realistic goal.

Opening Night -- Spurs, home

Bulls beat an old team at home after catching them at the end of a back-to-back, but hey, it's the Spurs, so you have to be happy about that. Duncan certainly didn't look old, dominating the Bulls bigs for 28 points and 16 rebounds. Jefferson is not starting out well with the Spurs. Whether he pans out for them or not will make or break their season. Parker and Ginobili were off as well and the Bulls definitely hussled more, especially for rebounds on the offensive end.

Rose wasn't quite up to par, but he was still quite good. Fortunately, Hinrich played very well, so Rose was able to keep his minutes down. Noah had lots of hussle plays and wound up with a double-double. Salmons couldn't find his shot, going a dismal 3-15, but he played decently otherwise. Miller was solid. Deng still plays bad defense, but he shot pretty well. If he can play at least this well every game I'll stop ragging on him so much.

Gibson played with energy, but still like a rookie. And our top pick, Johnson, got a DNP. How bad does our drafting look now when the Spurs can pick up a guy (Blair) who we passed over twice in the draft and are able to have him in the rotation? Of course it is way too early to judge last year's draft, but at least initially, the Spurs look like they skunked us.

Tyrus was absolutely horrible in the first half. I'm surprised Vinny didn't send him home, but he played about as well as he can in the second half; that is to say, not terrible. He scored 13, all in the second half, but he did it mostly on jumpers, which scares me a lot.

Bulls now have the first of their all-too-many back-to-backs, traveling to Boston. Celtics are looking good this year too. Barring another injury to Garnett, they are my pick to get to the Finals.

Season Just Around the Corner

The NBA still doesn't have the refs in place, but it's looking like they are just about to finalize an agreement with them. There have been plenty of complaints about the replacement refs in pre-season, including a bizarre incident where the Israeli Maccabi coach refused to leave Madison Square Garden after being tossed in a warm-up game against the Knicks. A rabbi tried to persuade the replacement refs to let the coach stay, despite having two technical fouls. The refs stuck to their rulebook and the coach finally stormed off after a long game delay.

Rose is hurt, bad ankle. Whether he misses the opener against the Spurs or not is still up in the air. Either way, he's missed most of the pre-season and is bound to not be at his best for awhile. Combine that with a tough early schedule and the Bulls could be digging an early hole.

Bulls play more back-to-back games than any other team, so they clearly have a very unfavorable schedule. Combine that with lots of improvement around the East and loss of Ben Gordon, and you have to think the best the Bulls can do this year is about the same as they did last year.

Tyrus is fuming at being left out of the starting line-up in some pre-season games. Blog-A-Bull has been slamming Vinnie for starting the rookie Gibson over him, but I completely agree with the move. There's no future in Tyrus. I hope he's improved, so that we can fool some other team into taking him on, but I think the Bulls have wasted more time and energy on Tyrus than they should have. Not that Gibson is ready to start, because he isn't, but at least there's hope that he can be a stable NBA player.

So, I think the Bulls should find out what they have in the two rookies, get what they can for duds like Tyrus and Deng, and clear out the cap space for the big guns of 2010. And don't play Rose when he's injured because we'll need him healthy to attract those free agents.

Carlos Arroyo wound up going to Miami, who needs a backup point-guard more than the Bulls do. Maybe that incident with the Maccabi coach scared him out of rejoining them for another year?

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is about to purchase the Nets and become the most interesting owner since Mark Cuban. The Post reported today that he blew $19k on a lunch at Nello's with six friends! How do you spend $19,000 on lunch? How about $825 for three orders of truffle taglioni; $600 for four orders of truffle carpaccio; $210 for three orders of veal chops; and $72 for six (I'm assuming mineral) waters. Hmm, just googled them and a mineral water is $15-$18 at Nello's! So they were actually being frugal with the waters they ordered! A bowl of soup is $32. Perfect for a Russian billionaire visiting New York before buying their (well, almost "their", Brooklyn in 2011 or 2012) basketball team.

Finally, Victoria's Secret model Marisa Miller squared off against Rose at the Berto Center yesterday for a publicity photo shoot they are doing to nominate the sexiest athletes in Chicago. How they could choose Rose for nomination when they have Noah on the floor? He's completely irresistible when he dons his big bow tie and pulls out the Courvoisier.

Arroyo?

Lots of rumors about Carlos Arroyo joining the Bulls, which seems strange at first glance. After all, the Bulls are deepest guard and have been very public about saying that their roster is set for the upcoming season. If they do wind up with Arroyo, I'm thinking they will really be pushing to trade Heinrich. Not that Arroyo is better than Heinrich, because he isn't, but because his contract (rumored to be 1 year and 1 million) is far better for a backup point guard.

Now, I know people will debate about whether Arroyo is better or worse than Pargo. Personally, I think he's better. Pargo has a much better outside shot, but Arroyo can drive to the basket and he's better on a fast break. Arroyo has never had the same success in the NBA as he's had in international ball. He's a star on his Puerto Rico national team, and he just had a good year with his Israeli pro team, yet he seems to bounce from team to team in the NBA. Still, he has some skills and is a bargain at $1 million for the season.

Like the Bulls, I'd hate to see Kirk go, but I don't mind losing his contract. I'm still praying that we can package him with Tyrus for a decent big man.

Off Season Infamies

It happens every summer, certain NBA stars get bored and get themselves into trouble. Bulls bad boy Joakim Noah started early, getting photographed in May at St Barts with a surgically-enhanced topless babe, marijuana, and plenty of alcohol. But there's been plenty of off-season notoriety since then.

Rashard Lewis nets a ten game suspension for taking DHEA, a common supplement well-known to have no performance enhancing benefits whatsoever. Since it takes two failed drug tests to get ten games on the pine, that tells me that Lewis is extremely dim. At least use something that works dude!

Stephen Marbury has been the wacko star of the off season. Guy seems to be live webcasting 24x7 and he's sent some pretty weird videos out for our viewing pleasure. Stuff like him eating Vaseline, gay-dancing to "Barbie Doll", and, in a truly bizarre web moment, getting into an auto accident during a live broadcast and encouraging his limo driver to ignore it, saying that it's "just the devil's work". GMs have got to be lining up to offer this guy a contract.

Michael Beasley burns through several Twitter accounts in a few weeks, posting bizarre and distressing messages on them. He posts a photograph on one that displays a horrific tattoo on his back, but gets into trouble when people notice what appears to be two bags of grass on the table next to him. Well, at least that would account for that tattoo. Finally, he disappears and then checks himself into a Houston rehab. Thank goodness Rose was available in that draft or else this would be the Bulls' problem.

Speaking of Rose though, he has his college career at Memphis wiped off the books for getting someone else to take his SAT test. Hey, he's just a natural assist man, right? Probably handed that test off to some guy for an easy layup.

Last but not least, is Shaq and his new TV show. He allegedly stole the idea from Steve Nash, but Nash has been too distracted by his Entourage cameos to do anything with it, so why not let the Big Shamu (he swims against Michael Phelps in one, though they would have gotten better ratings with a bong duel) take it over. "Shaq vs. the World" is the perfect venue for The Big Megalomaniac and is the perfect way for him to pump up his ego before become a member of LeBron's supporting cast. I've never been a Shaq fan, but I've got to say that the guy is entertaining. The Big Goofball will have a fine career post basketball, and I'm predicting that time won't be far off after we see him have a mediocre season with the Cavs this year.

Free Agents and Summer League wrapup

Bulls finished the summer league stronger than they started, winning their last three after losing their first two games. Good news is that Johnson started playing a lot better. Bad news is that Gibson sat out the last three games with an injury.

As expected, Deng bailed on the UK Olympic hoops squad because of his perpetual injury. It cracks me up to see him billed in the British papers as "NBA superstar Luol Deng"!! I wonder what the real NBA superstars think when they see that in the papers. They probably think about how many points they are going to score on Deng the next time they play against him. Gordon also opted out, so he can concentrate on scoring as many points as possible against the Bulls next year.

Portland is lucky enough to sign Andre Miller and then their idiotic coach comes out and says that Steve Blake is the starter going into camp! Unless Miller is really feeling his age all of a sudden, he's far better than Blake. Why insult your potential floor leader before he even plays a game for you?

Boozer has pretty much burned his Utah bridges. He clearly wants to play for Miami, but he'd be happy enough to play for the Bulls or just about anyone else. Utah is a stubborn team though that doesn't like to deal away players for less than they are worth. I wish the Bulls could emulate that attitude a bit more, but in this case Utah is going to have to take the best deal available to them and it isn't going to be very advantageous.

Tim Thomas gets picked up by the Mavs, but they don't give him much, not even using an exception on him. He isn't worth it, but may be worth a roster spot.

Aside from the Boozer rumors, there are David Lee trade rumors afloat. I'll take just about anyone if it gets Tyrus out of town.

And the president, in congratulating Bill Lambeer for coaching the winning WNBA team, announced that it was difficult for him to do this as a Chicago Bulls fan, because of the fierce rivalry between Lambeer's Pistons and the Bulls. Can't the president issue some kind of executive order that gifts Deng to England permanently? Or maybe he can use his Emergency Powers privilege to declare the Bulls to be in a state of disaster? FEMA could cart Tyrus away. He could declare war on LA, Boston and Cleveland. Got to be some way he could help the Bulls.

Summer League and more Free Agents.

First off, I had incorrect info on the Summer roster. The two rookies are the only Bulls playing, which is right and normal. Unfortunately, they are playing like crap. Johnson is turning the ball over left and right and Gibson has 9 and 10 fouls respectively in the two games they have played. That's a lot even for Summer League. Hopefully, they are learning something.

Bulls buy out Tim Thomas again!! This is a good demonstration of why I named the title of my blog what it is. They have one stint with Tim Thomas, discover he is lazy and doesn't play defense, so they buy him out. He leaves acrimoniously. Fast forward a few years and they trade for him again, saying that Vinnie knows him and can handle the issues they had previously. Then, surprise, they discover that he's still lazy and doesn't play defense, so they buy him out again. What's great about this story is that the Knicks picked him up off waivers last time and appear likely to do it again. Maybe they hope to trade him back to the Bulls in a year.

On the FA front, it's looking like Utah will match Portland's offer for Millsap and retain him. I think the factor for them in doing this is that Miami appears interested in Boozer, so now they have a few teams that seem to want him, and I'm sure the Bulls are still in the mix. They are gambling that they can get a reasonable deal done before the season and tax time starts.

As a sure sign of the bad economy, the NBA lowered the salary cap this coming year. Less than half the teams made a profit last year. Bulls of course are one of the healthier franchises, but they will be under pressure along with everyone else to keep salaries down. This probably was a big factor in losing Ben.

Rumors and Pargo

A false rumor swirled around that had Tyrus going to Utah, Boozer to the Bulls, and Hinrich to the Blazers. Tyrus was convinced enough to Twitter about how happy he was to be playing with Deron Williams.

Silly to comment on a false rumor, but I will anyway. Boozer isn't an ideal player. He's injury prone and not a great defender. However, he does score and rebound well, and I would be so over-joyed to get rid of Tyrus that I'd take that deal, even with losing Kirk, who we now need since Ben is gone.

As a footnote, the Bulls did bring back Pargo from overseas for guard insurance. I like him for spot stretches

Free Agency and Summer Leagues

Bulls only move during a busy free agent signing period was failing to re-sign their top scorer. They gambled that no one else would overpay him and Detroit made them lose that bet. To lose Ben for nothing hurts a lot, but not as much as overpaying guys like Deng and getting stuck with them.

I was surprised to see Derrick and Tyrus on the summer league team. Derrick, because he is supposed to be working out with the USA National team in Las Vegas, but obviously that was a big factor in having the Bulls join the Vegas summer league this year, instead of Orlando, so Derrick could do both. And Tyrus? Well, what's the point. Are the Bulls going to try to dominate the summer leagues, where his lack of defense is less of a factor? You can't foul out in summer league, so it's perfect for Tyrus. He should stay there permanently. I was also surprised that the rookies were not on the roster, but they may be put on at the last minute.

Good that Noah is on the summer league team. Bad that he's in Vegas though!

Some misc NBA thoughts:

Shame on Rubio for entering the draft and then blowing off the team that picked him. What's the point of having a draft if the unpopular cities can't get the guys they pick?

Very tough break for Yao and Houston. He could very well never regain form.

Cleveland made a bigger move by resigning Varejao than by picking up Shaq, but they will be the favorites in the East next year.

Turkoglu leaving Portland at the altar to elope with Toronto shows two things. First, it's never a done deal until after they sign. And two, you must woo the wife!

And very clever of the Mavs to get Marion out of that Hedo four team shuffle. They need more than that though.

Lakers with Artest is going to be very interesting. They lose Ariza, but I think they still look good enough to be favorites in the West.

Post draft notes

I think the Bulls really wanted to pick Hansbrough and Casspi, respectively at 16 and 26, but neither one was available. Mullins and Blair obviously didn't scout well in workouts, as both dropped far. So, the Bulls went with what they thought was the best available: Johnson and Gibson.

Neither one of those guys are going to make a big impact in the NBA, but when you compare them to what was available, they aren't bad choices. I had Johnson on my radar so that was a pretty safe pick at 16. Gibson at 26 is definitely higher than I thought he'd go. It's even more strange because Blair was still on the board at 26! Teams must know something about him though for him to drop like that. He may have had a bad MRI on his knee or something like that. But then the Spurs eventually took him and they are one of the smartest teams at drafting.

Johnson can give them some of the toughness that they wanted to get in Casspi. He did score badly in body fat during the combine, (second fattest there) so he needs a better diet. Gibson reminds me of a smaller version of Noah. He's clumsy and can't make his foul shots. He does have freaky long arms though!

If either one pans out and we can finally bail on Deng, I'll consider this draft a huge success!

Here's a link to the combine numbers, you can look up past years as well:
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/measurements.php?page=&year=2009&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=2

Bulls Draft

NBA draft is only two days off, so I'll revisit it. Of course there is much, much less attention in Chicago then last year since we have two late first round picks instead of the number one overall. As I've said before, we're not going to get a starter with either of those, at least not right away.

I still relatively like Hansbrough, which shows how weak this draft is. DeJuan Blair, the Pittsburgh swingman, is another possibility. He's only 6-7, but he rebounds well. Mullins, the true center from Ohio State is someone they need to scout very, very hard. He'll either be a steal at 16 or a complete bust.

Earl Clark, the Louisville PF, will likely be gone, but is another possibility. Ditto for James Johnson, the Wake Forest.

Here's my preference: if Mullins scouts well, then he's worth the gamble. If he doesn't (more likely) then I'd go with Hansbrough, then Blair, then Johnson.

At 26, the rumors are that the Bulls are going to go with the Israeli forward Omri Casspi. I know very little about him, except that he's 6'8" and 21 years old. Gani Lawal is a possibility if Casspi is taken by then. I like the idea of picking a young overseas player and not bringing him over until he's ready.

It's a much weaker draft than last year. If the Bulls can package these picks in with a trade then that would be their best option.

First Draft Thoughts

Clearly the Bulls need a big man. However, they also are in love with the concept of having a big guard. This love affair drove them into misguided moves such as drafting Thabo and trading for Larry Hughes. If there's a promising big guard around, such as Evans from Memphis, or DeRozen from USC, then I don't mind that pick. However, those two will most likely be off the board by 16, and they will be tempted by guys like Henderson from Duke (Bulls love the Dukies, despite their horrible luck with them), or Chase Budinger from Arizona. Those guys aren't bad, but if there is any kind of decent big man available at 16, then I would prefer they go that direction.

That said, the Bulls may well be better off getting a big man through free agency. I like Varejao and Boozer as targets. However, let's look at some of the big men who may be around at 16 (and/or 26, since the Bulls have Denver's pick):

Tyler Hansbrough -- Bulls like a pedigree, and he has that in in excess. The knock is that he's small, unathletic, and will have little upside. All true, but look how far athleticism has gotten Tyrus Thomas. We need someone with a few brains who can play and he fits that bill. He's at the top of my list unless someone like DeJuan Blair freefalls.

B.J. Mullins -- He's big and very raw. Higher ceiling than Tyler but also a lower floor. He'd have to show some skills in a workout before I'd risk it, but a possibity. He was the second tallest player at the combine (behind Thabeet, who will be gone 2 or 3) and you can't coach size.

Austin Day -- Also, very, very raw, but certainly has potential. Might not be tough enough to bolster our wimpy frontcourt. I think I'd take the other two before him, but he's a consideration.

Gani Lawal -- A bit smaller than the others, but athletic. He could still be around at 26 and might be a good choice there.

James Johnson -- I think he'll be more of a 3 than a 4 in the NBA, but he has more offensive skills than the others. He won't be around at 26 and maybe not even at 16. If we are lucky enough to get rid of Deng and see this guy on the board, he might be the best choice. It's often joked that the Bulls only scout the ACC, so at least they've seen him play. ;-) Like Deng though, he takes the jumper too much instead of driving, so the question is, can he expand he game or does he emulate Deng by contracting it?

None of these guys are going to knock anyone's socks off. Still, there are often pleasant surprises at the bottom of the first round. "Big Baby" Davis springs to mind. And last year, Darrell Arthur turned out to be a good pick after he unexpectedly fell out of the lottery. Bulls goal should be to find someone who can give them 12 solid minutes a game in relief. Or package the trades in a deal (with Deng and Tyrus!!) for a starter.

Semi-Finals Thoughts and Draft

Yes, this is a Bulls blog, but we have two good semi-final series going, so I thought I'd toss in two cents. I think the Lakers match up very evenly with Denver, and ditto for Cleveland and Orlando. However, I think LA would fair better against Cleveland, and Denver would do better against Orlando.

Lebron and Kobe definitely get the all-star calls and are the league's marquee players. However, if they took all the players in the NBA and drafted them off, Lebron would be taken first, Dwight Howard would be taken second, and Kobe would be third. All three are having good series so far.

Speaking of drafts, I'll address the Bulls NBA draft opportunities in a different post. Overall, Griffin is a lock to go number one, with Rubio and Thabeet 2-3, not necessarily in that order. After that, it is a complete toss-up, although the Knicks are said to be zeroed in to Curry. Maybe I'll do a mini-mock later. The Bulls won't get much with that 16 pick though.

Boston game seven and offseason

Bulls could never quite recover from a hideous second quarter wherein they seemed determined to make as many turnovers as possible. Still, they had opportunities to make a run in the fourth quarter, but couldn't knock down the shots. They were particularly cold from the 3 point line and Boston shot over 50% from behind the arc. That's the difference in the game right there.

OK, well, a better season than could be hoped from this team. And a promising future as well. So far Paxson has proven to be a poor GM, but let's see if he can turn that around. Here's what I think he should do:

Trade Tyrus and Deng!! Should have done this two years ago when both had much more value but better now than next year when they will be worth even less. Tyrus will always be stupid and Deng will always be a wimp. Nothing the Bulls coaches can do will turn that around. Trading them for something worthy will not be easy but should be possible.

Resign Ben Gordon. He should have gotten Deng's money. Now give it to him. Guy had a great year. Yes, he has flaws in his game, and he's a midget, but he's our best player.

Salmons, Rose, and Gordon are the only players who shouldn't be considered for trades. I like Hinrich, but he makes too much money for what the Bulls use him for. Noah is a guy I've turned around on and would now like to keep, but if the right offer came around.... Same for everyone else.

Chris Bosh has got to be a guy the Bulls have their sights on. He's not a great defensive player though and not a particularly tough one either. I'd love to get him, but we also need a rough-neck to do the dirty work. We lost a lot of toughness when we traded Noc and could use that again. A Reggie Evans or Anderson Varejao type player would do.

In other words, we need two big guys. One who can score and one who is mean. Put an ad out!

Get your best trainers to work with Rose during the off-season. Last year, they were lucky enough to have the Olympic team to send him off to for a bit. Don't want to waste him in the Summer leagues, but he needs some good practice time.

And speaking of training, don't let Noah go to Florida! Or Monte Carlo, or anywhere where the Courvoisier flows like water.

We almost certainly won't get any help in the draft, so it's trade now or accept mediocrity.

Boston game six

Wow, just when you thought this series couldn't get any wilder - 3OT! It was an epic battle, one of the longest games I can remember watching.

It was an improbable victory for the Bulls because Gordon had a bad game and then fouled out, and Rose, despite scoring 28, did not have a great game either (turnovers). Fortunately our Sacramento imports picked it up as both Miller and Salmons played well. Noah had the play of the game with a steal and dunk in the third OT. And just how slow is Paul Pierce when he can't catch Noah on the dribble? I think he did a little too much celebrating last year.

Rondo, who had his first bad game of the series, had yet another cheap shot, this time on Hinrich, who should have emulated Big Baby and flopped over the table instead of coming right back at Rondo and getting a T. Speaking of Big Baby, he had a heck of a game and Bulls are fortunate he fouled out. And speaking of fouling out, Pierce and Perkins joined him, and that had to help at the end.

And speaking of heck of a game - Ray Allen! This guy defines the term "streak shooter" and he was definitely on a streak. I have no idea why the Celtics didn't go to him for the final shot, but I'm glad they didn't.

Vinny played Tyrus too much, actually giving him more minutes than Miller who was far, far superior on the court. Maybe he was hoping that Tyrus would scratch up the inside of Pierce's nose again. Ouch, that had to have hurt!

Winning washes away memories of bad play, such as the Bulls blowing another ten point lead in the fourth quarter or muffing several chances to finish this game off earlier. The Bulls really needed this one as that would have been a terrible loss to end the season on. Clearly these teams (as they lineup at present) are about as evenly matched as you can get. Since all the pundits were picking the Celtics to win in 5 or 6, the Bulls have done well.

Boston game five

This OT loss was about as tough as they come, particularly as there were some bad calls that went against the Bulls. Rondo's foul on Miller at the end was clearly flagrant, but the refs aren't going to blow the whistle there against the home team in the playoffs (although Scottie Pippin may well remember otherwise, since he once had a ticky-tack three point shot foul called on him at home that cost the game). And blowing a ten point lead with under eight minutes to play is never a good thing.

Miller looks really bad messing up those free throws, but it must be distracting to be in that position, plus needing stitches in your mouth.

However, we all know the Bulls weren't going to contend for the championship this year, so I'm going to focus on the positive things they can take away from this game:

Rose did not have a good game and we still went into OT and the last shot. He's only going to get better. He has to watch those turnovers while still being aggressive in going to the basket.

Tyrus sat on the bench for most of the second half. Vinny has finally found his best position!

Ben Gordon was clearly hurt, although he was still up for some heroics.

Noah continues to play well. No question he is the most improved player on the Bulls since midseason. Now if he could only learn that a free throw is not attempted in the same manner as tossing a beach ball....

Hinrich is playing well, although he still dribbles too much and doesn't get them into the offense quick enough. Salmons isn't playing as well as he can, but he's hampered by injury too and shows great promise.

I strongly believe that if the Bulls could have swapped Tyrus for either Perkins or Davis, then they win this series. Shouldn't be too tough to make a similar off-season move. Throw Deng in as well and we could well get someone even better down low.

Boston game four

Never would have predicted that the Bulls would win two overtime games in this series. Anyone who has watched them this year knows that they have perfected folding down the stretch to an art form. Ben Gordon can be relied on to make a big shot, as he did at the end of regulation, but the Bulls defense rarely makes stops during crunch time. I'm not even sure that they did it that much in this game. It seemed more like Boston missing some shots, but they did do it a few times, and it turned out to be just enough.

It would have been a brutal loss if they didn't pull it out, what with the missed free throws, bad calls, and the usual bonehead plays by Tyrus. I wrote several weeks back that the Bulls best lineup is the four guard with Miller, when they can get away with it. And Vinny went with that, but he switched in Noah and Tyrus sometimes as well. Noah was good this game, so I was happy with that. Tyrus should be on the floor only in short stretches and never after the third quarter, and should never be allowed to take a jump shot. He took one 300 degree turnaround jumper that I wouldn't even try in a game of HORSE and was lucky to graze the rim. Even worse, during a key moment towards the end, with the Bulls ahead by two and Boston needing to foul, he ignores Rose, who was standing right next to him, and instead dribbles down court and gets fouled. Then he bricks the free throw!

Of course a lot of the Bulls were bricking free throws, but fortunately not Salmons, who made some big ones in OT. Rose had too many turnovers again, but was more aggressive offensively, and played his best since game one.

A big reason the Bulls pulled out this double OT miracle was that Perkins fouled out. Not that he's that great, but the Celtic frontcourt was decimated and that allowed the Bulls to stay small without getting killed on the rebounds. The Bulls should continue to go at him early because he is foul prone.

A few misc thoughts:

Scalabine must lead the league in fouls per minute.

Rondo's headband push his ears into a Vulcan point.

Big Baby Davis nearly won an Oscar for his reaction to Miller's shove. If he would have shed a few tears I think he would have gotten that ejection to stick.

How far has Marbury's star fallen? He only plays five minutes in a double OT game.

Salmons and Hinrich definitely bother Pierce. Yes, he had 29 this game and shot well for stretches, but he missed 15 shots and looked frustrated at times.

Rondo has really improved his game. Rose is going to be better for playing a series against him. I also think Rose will eventually be clearly the better player, although he's not in this series so far.

When the announcers were speculating on what the Bulls were going to do when Luol Deng (and I should add "if he ever") returns, I could only scream: "Trade!".

Boston game three

This was the game I was afraid the Bulls would pull out of their playbook in game two, coming out completely dazed and confused. They had a ridiculous amount of turnovers at the start and this game was over midway into the third. Both teams played scrubs for the fourth quarter.

Tyrus Thomas is just a joke. Bulls would clearly be better off without him on the court but they simply have no one else to put in. Since it was a garbage game, Tim Thomas and Aaron Gray got some minutes and reminded us why they usually sit on the bench. At one point, early in the game, one of the TNT announcers said that Vinny had some "keepers" in Tyrus and Noah! Is he kidding me? Actually, Noah wasn't as bad as usual and as I've said before, he has improved a lot lately. He also has one less year in the league than Tyrus, so there may be some hope for him. There is no hope for Tyrus and I'm amazed that the Bulls can't see that. And how ironic is it that his much less touted college roomie, Glen Davis, is clearly a better pro player than Thomas?

Of course, you don't have a blowout just because of one guy and the Bulls were generally bad all around. Even Rose had 7 turnovers after receiving the ROY award with his family before the game. And Boston shot well. Pierce got his form back and they moved the ball around they way they need to.

At least the Jazz game was a good one. ;-)

Rose wins ROY

As expected, Derrick Rose won the rookie of the year award. I know that people were telling me that the ROY voting is done before the playoffs and is only for the regular season. Yes, that is the official stance, but I'm quite certain that plenty of votes come in after the season and you can't tell me those votes are not influenced by those early playoff games.

The proof is that he won so easily over Mayo: 111 votes for Rose and only 5 for Mayo, with 2 each for Lopez and Westbrook. Rose would have won anyway without that big first playoff game, but I doubt it would have been such a landslide.

And for those guys who wanted to pick Beasley in the draft: 2 second place and 1 third place votes.

Boston game two

A tough loss, but the Bulls typically play very badly after a big win and they played pretty well this game. Ray Allen is going to look like the hero because he got hot at the end, but the real reason the Bulls lost is because Boston badly out-rebounded them (21 vs 8 on the offensive end) and their big guys were able to score inside. Doug Collins said something to the effect that if you raise your eyebrows at Tyrus Thomas, he will go for the fake, and that is absolutely correct. Tyrus always goes for the block! He did get six in this game, which is great for fantasy sports, but bad in real basketball because he doesn't rebound, and he doesn't stay in front of his man.

At least Vinny was smart enough to keep Tyrus on the bench for long stretches of the fourth. Miller and Noah were both OK, but not as good as Perkins and Davis. Rose was fine, but not great like he was in game one. Ben Gordon was nearly the hero once again, and I'm sure that seeing his fellow Huskie get hot got his pulse up.

For all of the huge flaws the Bulls have in the forecourt, they would have won this one if Allen didn't catch fire at the end. Pierce looks slow and out of sorts during this series so far. Hard to believe that will last, but the Bulls are playing pretty good defense on him.

It hurts to lose a close one, but Boston can't be feeling comfortable going into the United Center 1-1. Salmons, in particular, tends to play a lot better at home, and the Bulls need him to stay in this series.

Boston game one

This game almost makes up for all of the bad OT losses the Bulls had this year. Never mind that we should have won it in regulation or that we didn't play all that great -- it was a big, big win.

I should say that everyone except Rose didn't play great, because he was great. Before this game it was going to be a close ROY vote, but now they're already drilling his name onto the trophy. He needs to play better defense against Rondo, who had a very good game himself, and he needs to watch the fouls and the dangerous passes, but everything else was super. The Bulls future looked a lot brighter after this game.

Tyrus and those jumpers!! I hate those! I know he made two out of three at the end, but what is he doing jacking up a jumper from the baseline, and another from out near the three point line, when Rose is having a career night and Gordon had finally found his shot in the 4th!! Move over Deng, because Tyrus has become my new least favorite Bull.

Noah made a very, very stupid play at the end of regulation, that almost cost us the game, but overall, he played pretty well. He's much improved during the last few weeks. He gets us the rebounds that Tyrus should, but doesn't. Vinny is rewarding him with big minutes for his efforts.

Miller and Salmons both had very off nights, but then so did Pierce and most especially Ray Allen. We'll take that trade-off any day. Boston was out of sync all night and that won't last. I still don't understand why they didn't let Pierce have the ball more at the end, but then Tyrus wasn't giving it to Gordon either... .

Hinrich is the only other Bull who gets solid minutes, and his have dropped considerably, although he played fairly well. So they have a very short 7 man rotation. Our other Thomas is too lazy on defense to have him replace Tyrus. Bulls are basically one or two decent big guys away from being a good team.

I'm still not expecting the Bulls to win this one, but they are pretty good at home and have now won on the road, so it's a real series now.

Slouching into the playoffs

Bulls barely beat a Detroit team that looked asleep and then got trounced by a bad Toronto team, that nonetheless seems to have the Bulls number. Why? Because Toronto has decent big guys and the Bulls most emphatically do not.

So now we get Boston, which as I've said before, may be better for the Bulls than Orlando. Of course if KG is 100% than I think we get swept. But if he's still hurt and a few of their other guys are banged up or off, then we could take some games. Bulls are still a huge long-shot to win a series against Boston though. A few playoff wins would be great.

Now, does Rose get ROY? I think he does. It's clearly him or Mayo, with Brook Lopez also getting votes. Mayo has better stats, but his team finished so poorly, and he didn't finish as well as he started. Memories are short in post season voting. Rose will win and he deserves it.

New Jersey and upcoming playoffs

Thanks once again to Ben Gordon for rescuing the Bulls late in a game. Nice to have Salmons back, even if he does seem a bit hampered still.

So, now it looks like the Bulls are definitely in the playoffs. Some may think that this isn't a good thing with a first round exit nearly assured, but it is important for Rose to have the playoff experience. Right now it looks like Orlando or Boston. Strangely, I think Boston is actually better for the Bulls, as Garnett doesn't seem like he's going to be 100%. The Bulls weakness is clearly in the front court and Dwight Howard would murder them.

Not that the Bulls have much of a chance with either one, but getting a playoff win (dare I hope for two?) would be extremely nice.

Toronto away

Another very tough loss for the Bulls in OT. This game sums up our season very nicely.

Ben Gordon is our main go-to guy.

Derrick Rose is often great and just needs time to be always great.

Tyrus and Noah can't play defense or really do much of anything. Actually, Tyrus can block shots and Noah can get some junk rebounds, but that's about it.

Luol Deng is MIA.

Salmons and Miller were good pickups, but we need a whole lot more.

Miami away

Bulls fans may have thought that the last Bulls/Heat game was as brutal as they come, with Thabo tossing away an inbound pass and then Marion getting an easy dunk to close us out in OT. Well, it was even worse this time as Wade put us away with a running toss in 2OT.

There were a lot of similarities between the two loses. The Bulls guards were good and the big guys were rubbish. The Heat got a lot of easy layups and dunks due to poor defense. Wade wanted it more than the Bulls did.

Gordon was almost the hero again, getting red hot in the fourth quarter. Salmons was also playing pretty well, as was Rose. Hinrich was mostly good while he was in but was clearly still hampered by injury.

Our big guys are so bad that it is scary. If we have any thoughts about long term plans with Tyrus and Noah, please, please, let them end now. These guys stink! Tyrus was so awful and so out of control that he was embarrassing. Vinny couldn't even play him with a short bench for much of the long game, and Vinny gives him lots of rope! Noah is the most uncoordinated player in the league. Don't the Bulls have a "walk and chew gum" test when they bring in potential draft picks? How could they possibly miss the fact that Noah has little control over his arms and legs? How did they miss the fact that Tyrus has the brain of a pea and is borderline psychotic?

Wade has flaws in his game and he blew as many big shots as he made, but he still has more guts than the Bulls combined. He deserved to be the hero and the Bulls deserved the agony of defeat. How they can let a team get so many uncontested dunks in OT is absurd. At least get close enough to foul the guy! We really look clueless in stretches on defense and if Vinny can't solve that he's going to have to go.

Milwaukee home

Now the Bulls can beat a mediocre team at home that has their two best players injured. Progress is being made!

Actually, it isn't a whole lot. Our three guards - Rose, Gorden, Hinrich - were our main factors. Salmons and Miller were productive after having some very bad patches. Noah and Tyrus are so clueless that it hurts to watch them. Although with all the minutes they are getting they sometimes do a few things right. Tim Thomas played very little and with no impact. He may still be hurting. Don't miss Deng a bit. We basically played 7 guys and that seems to work out well.

Bulls at least try at home, even when they are not playing well. Then if Gordon and Rose start to get on a roll, they have a shot at winning. That's basically their only path to victory.

Golden State home

Big deal, the Bulls can beat a team at home that plays even less defense than they do. Tyrus got embarrassed on a block and then played like a fool for the rest of the game, completely out of control. I guess that is better than the sleepwalking he often does.

A win is a win though.

Charlotte away

Bulls tend to follow up a feel-good win with a terrible outing, and this was no exception. They basically rolled over and played dead at Charlotte. 18 turnovers! Terrible shooting. Everyone was bad too, and Deng didn't even play.

Charlotte is one of five teams the Bulls are fighting with to catch that last playoff spot. Add in the five more that could be caught at the bottom of the playoff list and that is ten mediocre teams, plus the Bulls, trying to get in and get positioned out of a sure knockout. Losing games like this one and the one at Washington (the only team really out of the playoffs in the East), are very bad signs indeed.

BTW, isn't that one ugly bobcat on Charlotte's home floor?

Houston home

A rare, rare, feel good, come from behind win. Bulls were well on their way to tossing this away in the 3rd, but they came through tough in the end. Deng got hurt in the first half and it was a blessing. We needed some heart and guts to win this one.

Kudos to Tyrus for passing up some open jump shots. He should still do it more, but he blew our last game by trying to shoot and he seems to have learned a lesson.

Finally, kudos to Rose and Gordon for once again being our heroes. Rose in particular, showed the kind of aggressiveness on the offensive end that we need from him to win games like this.

Orlando home

One of the Bulls better efforts. They were on their way to their usual 3rd quarter collapse, but they pulled themselves back up and finished off a good Orlando team. The Bulls simply shot well and that will win games. Everyone except Deng seemed to be hot.

Speaking of my favorite bad player, I remember that one of Tim Thomas's comments the first time he did his stint with the Bulls was that he thought he was better than Deng but wasn't given the minutes to prove it. Of course, that was a jerky thing for Thomas to say and he is a bit of a fool, but he was clearly better than Deng in this game, and he played a minute more than him. If I was the coach, I'd think about working him into the starting unit and reducing Deng's already reduced minutes.

Trades

Now that the dust has settled, I'll try to weigh in on the trades. First, when I mentioned the Amare trade to Michele, she said that he was too injury prone. I thought about it and agreed. I would have loved to give up Tyrus, Noah, etc for Bosh though. Then Amare gets injured the day after the trade deadline and is likely out for the year!

Now, for the trades they did, they weren't too exciting but I guess it is better than nothing. I think Miller for Gooden is mostly a wash, although Miller is a better passer. Hate to see Noc leave, but his contract is high compared to what he gives us. Salmons has more upside, but also more downside. Really, the whole success of these trades will fall on whether Salmons improves or backslides.

Praise to the highest that we unloaded Hughes, and I knew that the Knicks would be the only team silly enough to take him. We got basically nothing back in return, but maybe Tim Thomas will decide he wants to play as a Bull this time around.

It's funny, when we swapped Wallace for Hughes I knew Hughes was no good but I was so happy to get rid of Wallace that I didn't care. Now we have the same situation with Hughes for Thomas. I know he isn't good, but I'm very, very happy to make that trade.

Getting rid of Thabo for basically nothing is fine with me, as he's pretty worthless. Ideally, we would have gotten rid of Deng, Tyrus, and Noah, but I knew those were unlikely. Finally, I'm glad we kept Hinrich. We need a solid backup guard and I think he's playing better of late.

Worst news of all was Paxson saying he isn't going to step down after all. He probably sees that even with all of his bungling the Bulls have a good shot at the 8 spot.

Miami - home

Didn't take long for the Bulls to ruin the good mood from the last game. They tossed this one away in the very worst way. Gordon did his best to be the hero again by converting a huge three point play at the end of the game. Then Hinrich stole the ball from Wade to seemingly seal the win.

But wait! First Thabo tosses the inbound pass to Wade instead of calling for a timeout! Then, the Bulls let Marion score a dunk at the buzzer despite having a foul to give!! Unbelievable!

Usual gutless wonders (Deng!) should also take a fair bit of blame. Very ready for the trade to come.

Detroit home

Bulls were well on their way to following their second half collapse script when Detroit started screwing up and the Bulls started hitting some shots. Wallace and Hamilton were having their way, seemingly scoring every time down the court. Then the Pistons self-destructed, taking bad shots and throwing the ball away. Even more improbably, the Bulls took advantage of the opening.

This game was a perfect example of why Ben Gordon is far more valuable than Luol Deng. Deng was MIA during his insipid 29 minute stint. Meanwhile, Ben, despite his obvious ball-handling problems (5 turnovers) was once again, THE MAN, converting a huge 4-point play at the end of the game.

Rose was pretty solid the whole game. Tyrus was good on offensive, but he stupidly threw the ball away 5 times and played little defense. Noc and Hinrich were fine. Thabo was useless. Noah was his usual clod-self, but not nearly as bad as usual.

This is the third game in a row that the Bulls caught a team without their best guard. Chris Paul, Jason Terry, and Alan Iverson. Plus, teams in the east playoff hunt have been hit hard by injury with Brand and Redd out for the year. Bulls have been very lucky.

Right now Bulls are 1.5 games behind the 8th spot. Hard to say whether it is better or worse for them to get in. This Pistons game was a nice present though.

Dallas away

Door was wide open for the Bulls because Jason Terry broke his hand and Dallas was off a bit. Really, the Bulls should have won it in regulation and Rose was the goat here because he let Jason Kidd hit an open three pointer when that was about the only thing that could keep the Mavs in the game. Can't be too hard on Rose though because overall he played well and far outplayed Kidd.

Gordon was hitting some shots from outside and Tyrus played well offensively. Deng was wretched, especially during the stretch. The big problem was defensively, as the Bulls couldn't come up with any stops in OT. As usual, the opposing teams front court gets to feast - in this case, Dirk Nowitzki. Now Dirk can be a handful for good defensive teams too, so I could somewhat excuse his 44 points, but the Bulls had to put Noc on him because Tyrus and Noah can't guard anyone, and that isn't going to make the Bulls winners.

The east is wide open at the bottom of the playoff hunt, so the Bulls could still sneak in. It's a false goal though because this team isn't going anywhere. So, Bulls fans can only wait and hope for the roster blow-up.

New Orleans away

A good game for the Bulls, but you have to keep in mind that the Hornets are shell-shocked with Paul being injured. I know LBJ will win the MVP this year, but you've got to give props to Paul when his team needs him so badly.

This win follows our "Gordon/Rose both play well" scenario. The big guys redeemed themselves somewhat though. Noah really bounced back. After looking like he shouldn't be on the court in a neighborhood pickup game, he almost looked like he could play in the NBA. Tyrus played with good energy early, as he sometimes does. We moved the ball well at times.

Bulls got lucky and played NO at the right time, but at least they made the most of the opportunity.

Houston away

Bulls followed the "crappy big men, third quarter collapse" script for this one. It's one of their primary themes for the season. Ming and Scola completely dominated inside. McGrady was his usual lazy self, but brought his pulse up from time to time by blowing by Deng.

Looking at Deng's 28 point box, you'd think he had a good game, but he didn't. Offensively, he was far better than usual, and his shot was falling, but he was terrible defensively and folded when the Bulls needed a run. Noah was absolutely pathetic. All the big men were bad, but he was just awful. He doesn't belong in the NBA. Thabo was on the court for over 16 minutes and I didn't really notice him. I don't think Houston did either.

Rockets did not play well and still won easily. The "winning streak" was an illusion. Bulls have the same problems as they've had all year.

Sacramento Phoenix away

It's funny, I lambaste the Bulls their terrible play, then Jerry does the same thing. I point the finger at Paxson and Jerry says that the one person who isn't to blame is Paxson. Hmm. Then the Bulls somehow manage to win three road games in a row, albeit against teams in disarray.

Another thing to comment on is that Yahoo sports had an article last week about how Deng was finally being productive for the Bulls. Are they kidding me? Yes, his numbers are up, but he's still pretty gutless. I guess it is all relative though and he is playing better than he was.

I think Gordon is the main reason we won three in a row though. He's been their go-to guy throughout. And Rose is playing pretty well too, especially in the Phoenix game. Hinrich had two good games in a row after two bad ones.

We'll see. Bulls have some tougher games ahead at Houston and New Orleans. That will show what they are made of.

LA Clippers away

Missed it, but actually figured they'd win despite the five game losing streak and the overall crappy play throughout. This is because the Clippers are wounded and walking wounded. The starting five they put in against us was E. Gordon, F. Jones, Thornton, D. Jordan, and Skinner. If we can't overcome that, then we shouldn't be in the pros. Camby and Davis did play, but just back from injury, they were simply testing their injured limbs.

From the box it looks like Rose had a good game. Deng and Thomas don't look too bad either, but I know how misleading that can be. A win is a win though and the Bulls badly needed one.

Minnesota away

First, don't get any false hopes that we put up a battle just because we got into overtime. Minnesota is a bad team and they played bad. We were just worse.

This game was typical of our most glaring weakness -- the inability of our front court to defend, particularly when Drew Gooden is out. Of course when Gooden is in we are only a bit less pathetic, but with him gone, the opposing teams' front court have big nights. In this game, our generosity was extended to Jefferson (39pt, 9rb) and Love (19pt, 15rb).

Bulls were completely gutless, just about everywhere across the board. And Hinrich, our lone bright spot of the last stinker, was particularly off, going 0-7 with 3 turnovers.

What is the solution for this mess? Blow up the team? Sounds good to me, but that isn't practical. We just won't get much in trade. The coach? We've tried three now with this group. The GM? I think so. Paxson had his shot and completely blew it. I like him personally, and think he's a class guy, but something has to change. I'd love to change owners, but that won't happen.

Bloggers can deal with the hypothetical though, so here's what I would do if I could swap out players -- get rid of everyone except Rose, Gordon and Gooden. If I had to factor in contracts, I'd get rid of everyone except Rose and try to lure someone from the big free agent class of 2010. Boston did the big turnaround, so it can actually be done. The trick is not to hold on to over-rated players like Deng and Thomas.

Toronto away

One clear pattern with the Bulls is the second half collapse, and this game was typical. They stay in the ballgame until about midway into the third quarter and then roll over. Vinny needs to change up his rotations.

Hinrich was the only Bull who played well and that was mostly in the first half. Noch broke out of his slump a bit. Otherwise, we were bad, bad, bad.

Atlanta home

In a nutshell, Bulls went with a three guard lineup for much of the night and none of them could guard Mike Bibby. It's funny how certain players just play better against certain teams, and Bibby always seems to kill the Bulls. Johnson was off this game, so the Hawks were open for a loss, but the Bulls did not want to go there.

One telling point was that early in the game, Deng and Thomas made one of their lazy mid-range jumpers. My spider sense immediately went off as I knew we would pay for those later. Sure enough, they both clanked a few lazy mid-range jumpers when they should have gone to the basket. Well, Tyrus at least. You see, there was one point where Deng got the ball, and as usual, I'm shouting "drive, drive," and he actually did drive, but only to shovel up the most pathetic excuse for a shot I've ever seen. It was shocking. Here, for so long, I thought the answer to Deng's problems was to go to the hole and now it turns out that he's even worse at that than his terrible mid-range jumper. I blame him for this loss more than anyone, since he bricked a key jumper in the stretch, but in reality, there was plenty of blame to go around.

And Tyrus, well he looked cool and got some highlights by blocking shots, but he didn't play a lick of defense otherwise. There was another memorable moment when Tyrus and Deng were put into the game at the same time, just before our traditional third quarter collapse, and the lack of intensity on both of their faces was so striking that I immediately said: "here comes the lazy twins." Back when the Bulls were a championship team, you could see the steely determination on just about everyone's face. I think M.J. stamped it there before the game and Phil read them some philosophy to turn them into mystical warriors. Now, they look like they can't wait to get the game over with so they can go home and play on their Xbox.

As for the not so fearsome threesome of Ben/Derrick/Kurt, they were not quite terrible, but they've all had far better games. They combined for 12 turnovers, 3 more than the Hawks had total. And none of them shot well. Ben at least got to the line for some free throws when he's shot wasn't working, and after his Knicks performance it was great to at least see some of his shots go down. And as I already said, they watched Bibby drop 31 on them.

New York away

This was one of those rare games when pretty much everyone on the court stunk. Truly, a pathetic game for both teams. Richardson on the Knicks came closest to having a good game, but he made his share of bonehead plays. Actually, their rookie, Gallinari, made a few nice plays during the short time he was out there. Rose and maybe Deng came closest on the Bulls. Bulls would have one this mess except that Gordon, who usually torches the Knicks, shot a miserable 3-15. Gooden only played 12 minutes. I don't get this, is he hurt or what? My guess is that he is banged up and also that the Bulls what to include him in an upcoming trade.

Pretty much zero defense in this game and both teams struggled to approach the 100 mark. The Bulls played right into the Knicks' game plan, which is to lure you into their sloppy, jack-em-up pace and hope they catch enough lucky bounces for their awful team to steal a win. And to rub salt in the Bulls' wounds, it was Duhon who finished them off, with a driving layup and some free throws.

Spurs home

I knew the good times wouldn't last very long. We were actually in this game right until the end, but the experienced Spurs just performed better in the stretch. They were ice cold for much of the game too, but wound up better than us.

Deng went back to his old, lazy, wimpy self. Tyrus too. Gordon basically kept us close for much of the game with good shooting. Noch broke out of his slump (17pt, 15rb) and was very good for most of the game, but made some errors at the very end. In one play, Ginobili baited him into a crucial three point foul. Rose was good, but not great. I think Parker outplayed him. Gooden was good, but didn't play that much, so he must be still hurting. Hinrich was good in stretches, but not shooting great. He only played 23 min, same as Gooden.

Bulls defense was better than usual, but still not good. They have to find a way to win games like this, and I think their best bet to do it is to step it up on the defensive end.

Cleveland home, attended

The best game of the year for the Bulls and I had the good fortune to be there, in a very nice box, and I'm grateful for getting the opportunity.

First off, we won because we played some defense and LeBron was off his game a bit. Yes, it is harsh to look at a 28pt, 14rb, 7 assist line and say the guy was off, but hey, this is LeBron and he really was. He usually drops 40 on the Bulls without breaking a sweat. We made him work this game and even frustrated him a bit at times. He had 8 turnovers and missed a shot that would have won it in regulation.

Hinrich and Deng were not perfect, but they both had solid outings for the second game in a row. If you toss out 4 stupid turnovers, Deng had his best game of the year. He continued to use better judgement with his job selection. Hinrich played excellent defense and was 3-4 from behind the arc, including a huge one in overtime. Tyrus also had a very good game, being active on both ends of the court. Hughes, Gray, and Hunter all got DNP and I think this is clearly the trend for the Bulls, at least until they start losing again.

Once again, Rose was standout at the end. He did miss two big free throws, but then made two huge ones later to get us into OT. Earlier in the game, his shot wasn't dropping and he was getting schooled on defense, but he turned that around with another outstanding end run.

It's a huge lift for the Bulls to beat Cleveland, who are clearly a lot better than them this year. When you think about the Bulls falling to the Thunder just a few games back at home, they've made a huge turnaround in a short time. I'm not convinced they've turned the corner for good, but this is a very sweet victory to savor for now.

Toronto away

One of the Bulls best efforts this year, particularly because Drew Gooden was out. We won because we moved the ball well, racking up 33 assists. A big reason for this is because Hinrich played 33 minutes and Larry Hughes played 0 minutes. He's just a huge upgrade over Larry and it helps the Bulls tremendously, both on offense and defense.

Another factor in the win was Deng showing a bit more restraint with his bad jumper and going to the hole more. He still has a long way to go, but this was his best effort of the year. The final factor was Derrick taking over during crunch time and pulling out the win for us. There's no doubt now that he is option number one on offense going into the home stretch. Overall, Rose had a great game, putting him back in ROY spotlight.

Defensively, we were up and down. Bargnani just killed us and Bosh wasn't far behind. However, we stopped them at the end, where even Noah came up with a block. A big win.

Portland, home

Bulls got Deng and Heinrich back but it did them little good. Deng was even slightly better than usual, but still not good. He keeps trying to jack up those line drive shots and missing them. On the plus side, he got to the line more than usual. Heinrich looked a bit tentative, but I'd rather see that than missing shots. Rose was off a bit, trying too hard I think. The only Bull who looked good was Gooden.

As usual, we played almost no defense. Every Blazer looked like they were getting an easy shot, but the three point shooters seemed to have all the time in the world. No surprise that Portland shot well there.

Hughes hardly played, a big, welcome change from the past few games. I hope that doesn't mean he's off the trading block though.

OK City, home

Just when you think the Bulls can't possibly sink any lower they pull off a stinker like this. I missed the game and thank goodness. How could they possibly lose to a team this bad at home? Well, I know by now that the Bulls are fully capable of losing a game to anyone, and I could probably include high school teams as opponents.

So, a box analysis -- we get outscored 15-4 in overtime. That indicates our gutlessness. They hugely out rebound us, and Tyrus ends up with 1 measly rebound. He had some blocked shots, but he needs to pull down more boards. OK City clearly wasn't shooting well, making only 1-10 from outside the arc and 40-98 field goals. Turnovers wasn't the problem (although Ben had 5) because we had one less than they did. Therefore, my guess is that our defense was crap and we let them control the boards.

The other thing to catch my eye was that Larry Hughes got the most time on the floor! What the hell is Vinny thinking? I know Thabo was sick and we were short, and also we want to showcase him for a trade, but come on! Also Gray didn't play again which is also curious because of our rebounding problem. Noah and Thomas had 4 and 6 points, so they clearly weren't having career nights.

This team needs a trade really, really badly.

Wizards home.

OK, they won, but they Wizards are really, really bad and the Bulls didn't win that easily either. I know people are going to look at the box for Tyrus and think that he had another great game. The fact is that he had a great quarter (the first) and then went back to being both good and bad. He still takes bad jumpers when he should go to the basket (is Deng giving him pointers?) and he still plays bad defense.

While I'm taking note of bad defense, let me point the wagging finger at our golden boy, Derrick Rose. He's been playing crappy defense lately and he has got to learn how to take a charge. Several times, Wizards were driving to the basket and Derrick just got out of the way. We need Kirk back to show him how it's done. In fact, we need Kirk back offensively as well because the Bulls once again just completely fell apart offensively when Rose is on the bench. Ben Gordon showed once again that he is a terrible ball handler, and should only stick to shooting, which he did well in this game. Hunter was shaky as hell bringing the ball up, and Hughes is a mess.

From the box, Hughes didn't look so bad, with 6-12 and 1 turnover, but he looked much worse than that. He continues to jack up bad shots and he was lucky he didn't have a lot more turnovers with some sloppy passing. The crowd was on him, probably because there was more trade rumor talk in the papers. In Larry's defense, he's handled the boos pretty well. He's just going to have to accept the fact that he isn't an NBA starting caliber player any more and find a niche. If he played a little defense and passed more/better then that would help. The papers keep talking about Larry wanting to find a place where he can get more minutes! I mean, come on! If you can't get more minutes on this crummy Bulls team, where you need only show signs of a pulse to get in the game, where does he think he's going to play? Well, maybe with these Wizards (who already got rid of him once) but not too many other places.

Gray got a DNP, which is curious. Sometimes Vinny starts him and sometimes gives him a DNP. Now there's a guy who should be questioning his minutes, especially when Tyrus and Noah get in there so much. I'm not going to question Vinny on this though because for the most part, Tyrus and Noah were better than usual, so I guess they deserved the court time. And Gray wasn't super last few outings, although you could say that about all the Bulls.

On the Wizards side, Nick Young was eating us up and the rest of the Wizards looked totally lost. It wouldn't have taken much to score on this Bulls defense

Sacramento at home -- attended

Went into the United Center to see this one, and sat way, way up in the Budweiser Penthouse. This is at the top, as far as you can go, and just a bit to the side. It was like watching play diagrams from a sky cam. An interesting perspective and it's always a plus to have free food and drink for a game!

Bulls continued their generally poor effort from the Minnesota game, so that's two bad home games in a row. They were just a bit better though, particularly Gordon and Rose, who both had enough game in them to scratch out a win. Ben was getting to the line and hitting the free throws. Rose had a very solid effort and it is clear the Bull completely fall apart when he's on the bench. Gooden came back from his injury and was helpful, aside from missing two free throws at the end that would have got my bus moving quicker had he'd made them.

Everyone else was bad, with the exception of Tyrus, who had a second game of doing good things along with his usual bad things. Oh, and Thabo had one cool block. Other than that, the rest of the Bulls should have stayed on the bench. Noc was 1-11, ouch! Gray looked like he was wearing lead shorts -- when Brad Miller can blow by you on the dribble, you are beyond torpid! Noah plays like someone whose feet and hands have been lathered in super-slippery grease.

Hughes continues to be habitually atrocious. At one point, he was in with Hunter and the Bulls just looked horrible during that stretch. Just getting the ball up the court was a huge accomplishment for them. Ben and Derrick signed back in together and everyone gave a cheer of relief.

For the Kings, it was pretty much all Kevin Martin and Brad Miller. If the rest of the team wasn't quite so pathetic, they could have stole this one. There have been rumors of a Brad Miller trade and the Bulls in the mix offering Hughes and Noah. Why the Kings would want to do this is a mystery to me, but I hope they do.

Very scary that crappy teams like the Kings and T-Wolves can play winable hoops on the Bulls home court! Bulls clearly need to make a move for a big guy and hope that Hinrich comes back in fine form.

Minnesota home

Bad vs badder, and the Bulls were the latter. And the really, really scary thing is that their bigs all played better than usual. Tyrus is still a numskull, but he had some highlight dunks and at least played with energy. Still can't shoot or box out though. Gray and Noah were both improved somewhat.

So how could we lose to a bad team like the T-Wolves at home? Well, Rose and Gordon were both bad in the first half and only a bit better in the second. And no one plays defense. When those two are not scoring, then even a bad team can outscore us. Deflating.

Cleveland away

Well, that was probably the easiest 3x2 that LBJ is going to get. Bulls fought just a little bit in spurts, but mostly they just rolled over. I'm surprised the Cleveland crowd didn't cheer Larry Hughes for being on the Bulls now.

It's our big guys who stink the most though and now it looks like Gooden, by far our best big, is going to be out for awhile longer. We have an easy part of the schedule coming up though, so we might be able to win a few anyway.

Orlando

Didn't see it. Figured we'd lose, even though it is home. We did.

Shocker of the box score was Noah leading the team in scoring! That's very scary. He made his FT and played 30 minutes. I'm guessing it was mostly garbage ball since that Bulls were getting killed at half.