New squad gives playoff-worthy performance

The new-look Bulls brought their A-game to the United Center Tuesday night when they defeated Orlando 120-102 — the most points scored against the Magic this season.
After seeing 7 players on the roster put up double figures and do pretty much whatever they wanted on offense, the idea that the Bulls can make a playoff run is more than realistic.
The newcomers to the team, Brad Miller, John Salmons, and Tim Thomas all contributed immensely. Although none of them started, they came off the bench and put in great performances. Thomas had 17 points, Salmon had 11, and Miller had 9 with 7 rebounds. I like what Tim Thomas said about the team after the game.
"We have guys coming off the bench that know how to play," Thomas said. "That's very helpful. You've got guys in their second, third year that are out there with energy. When they get stuck, you bring in guys like myself, John and Brad, who understand how to get the job done. That's a huge thing."
This is nothing but good news to me. It shows that the new guys realize their role on the team, and are fulfilling what Paxson had in mind.
So far, this trade is looking like the best move of Paxson's career with the Bulls. If they can continue utilizing the depth they now have, especially in the front-court, they will be able to contend with any team on any night.
Thomas also had another quote that iterates my point: "We pretty much have all the pieces," Thomas said. "When teams go big, we can match them going big. When teams go small, of course, we can go small."
This tool is what championship teams are made out of. Now I'm not saying the Bulls are now championship contenders, but they are a lot closer. 4 weeks ago, when other teams would "go big" the Bulls had nothing that could stop it. Now they have depth at every position with players who know how to play the game.
Photo: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Story on SportsCenter about my home town DeKalb, IL.

Bulls Busy Before Trade Deadline

A day after the Bulls got Brad Miller and John Salmons from Sacramento for Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden, Paxson was not done with his trading activity.
The Bulls made a trade with the Knicks sending guard Larry Hughes to New york in exchange for big men Jerome James and Tim Thomas. They also got guard Anthony Roberson, who I don't expect to see much playing time. With James at 7'1 and Thomas at 6'10, the Bulls have taken their small team and made them into a very balanced squad. Unfortunately James is out for the season with an achilles injury, but Thomas will add great depth to the front-court for the Bulls, and should be good relief off the bench. As I said in my last post, I thought Hughes was gone and sure enough he was gone the next day. Sure, he was a good player and all, but he just wasn't a good fit for this team. I think he will do really well in New York.
The Bulls also made a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder sending Thabo Sefolosha to OKC for a 2009 first round draft pick. I think it was another great move by Paxson. Again, Sefolosha is a good player, but he just doesn't fit with the team they have in Chicago right now. And with the Thunder having the third worst record in the league at 13-41, it looks like the Bulls are primed for at least another top five draft pick in the next draft.
Look out NBA, this squad could be really dangerous in a year or two. (Not that Bulls fans haven't been saying that for the last five years.)

Brad Miller Returns...

The Bulls pulled off a 7-man, 3-team deal landing Brad Miller and John Salmons in Chicago for Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Michael Ruffin, and Cedric Simmons. Don't know who those last two players are? Me neither.
I like this trade a lot. I know, I know, everyone wanted Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, or Vince Carter. Who doesn't want those guys? But you know what, that just wasn't realistic and those were dream expectations for any Bulls fan. The deal that Paxson pulled off is about as good as it's going to get — and it's pretty damn good.
I love Brad Miller. I liked him when he was with the Bulls, and was very pissed when the Bulls let him go and he became an all-star. No, he isn't an all-star caliber player anymore, but he his definitely a very solid post presence, which is what the Bulls have been lacking for God knows how long. He is a great compliment to Thomas and Noah, and I feel like he is going to make the whole team better. He is going to open up their offense and allow Derrick Rose to do much more at the point.
John Salmons. Does anyone realize that this guy is averaging 18 points per game and can play the forward or 2-guard position? Not to mention he is a good defender — another area the Bulls have been lacking in this season. I think he is a great addition to the team. Both Miller and Salmons give the Bulls a much better chance of making the playoffs.
So what about the players they lost? Is Nocioni a good player? Yes. Is Drew Gooden a good player? Yes. Are they both expendable? MOST DEFINITELY! If you consider who the Bulls got for who they gave up, the Bulls come out looking great from this deal. Yea, they might lose a little money because of it, but so what?
This deal does raise the question for what guard is the next to go however. Hinrich? Gordon? Hughes? I have a feeling one of those players will be gone before the trade deadline expires — most likely Hughes or Hinrich. I think if the Bulls commit to keeping Gordon, the back-court of Rose, Salmons, Deng, and Gordon coming off the bench is prettay, prettay good. And now with a solid front-court with Miller, Thomas, and Noah — The Chicago Bulls have just gotten A LOT better.
Thoughts anyone?
Photo: www.digiphotos.net/ sports.htm

D Rose wins Skills Challenge

Derrick Rose represented Chicago well on the Saturday night All-Star weekend festivities. Rose faced Devon Harris, Mo Williams, and Tony Parker in the Skills Competition and came out on top, defeating Harris in the final round. It definitely made me proud to be a Bulls fan, even for just a few minutes, and to see our number one draft pick actually becoming a solidified star for once is very comforting.

As far as the rest of the Saturday night All-Star stuff, I thought it was overall an entertaining night. Obviously the main event of the night is always the dunk contest, which although wasn't as good as some in the past, it surpassed my expectations. Every year it gets more difficult for guys to come up with new dunks to do. For a little while, the competition became boring in my opinion, but Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson have managed to make it somewhat exciting again in the past few years. Who doesn't like to see 2 freaks of nature on both sides of the spectrum battling for the dunk contest title?
I agreed that Robinson should have won. Robinson's final dunk of jumping over Dwight was quite the site to see. Howard's final free-throw-line dunk was weak and out-dated as well. But who else is excited to see LeBron James in next year's contest? For those who missed it, James preliminarily threw his name into the list for next year's dunk contest. I have a feeling it will be one to remember.

Paxson, stay or go?

As many have heard, there are rumors swirling around that John Paxson is going to step down as the Bulls GM. I'm having a lot of trouble deciding whether or not that would be good for the Bulls. I think the biggest question is if he were to stay, would the Bulls continue with their underachieving or will he be able to right the ship and get things turned around?
I'm leaning toward thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea if he were to step down. Like I said, the biggest question in my book is what are the pros and cons of him staying or leaving. I'm having trouble figuring out many pros if he were to stay. The possible cons if he were to stay would be the continuance of the inability to pull the trigger on trades that would help the team. I don't even want to get started at all of the missed opportunities the Bulls have had with trades. He also hasn't picked or signed anyone yet that has proven to be a go-to scorer or a leader of the team. Maybe Derrick Rose can fall into that role, but besides him, Paxson has signed a lot of middle-of-the road "stars."
If he were to step down, I don't really see many cons. Honestly, I don't know if it can get much worse than it is right now. So what's the worst that could happen if he were to step down? Someone would come in and actually put together a squad that can compete for a championship instead of competing for the last spot in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. That doesn't sound too bad to me.
I like John Paxson a lot. He is just making it very difficult to embrace him as the GM for the Bulls because really, he hasn't done much to show that he has done a good job. Yea, he chose Derrick Rose as the first overall pick. A) I would have done that if I were the Bulls GM too, and B) Paxson was the luckiest guy on the planet when the Bulls got the first overall draft pick.
I know there are a lot of arguments about this and many different view points. Feel free to leave some thoughts if you feel so inclined.

Welcome to the Derrick Rose show...

Derrick Rose putting on a show in the United Center before even becoming a pro. How is it even fair for a highschooler to be this good? I love how #23 (the guy he dunks on) looks up at D Rose at the 28 second mark. His face says it all.

Bulls drop heartbreaker, Lakers looking unstoppable

Going into their last game of the long 7 game road trip, the Bulls were poised to continue their solid play that had already earned them a winning record for the road trip. For the most part, their solid play continued, but the result was a very tough loss to Dallas 115-114 in overtime.
Unfortunately for the Bulls, they ran into one of the elite players in the league on a night where he couldn't be stopped. Dirk Nowitzki dominated all game with 44 points, 14 of them coming in the overtime period. Sometimes, even when your team plays well, there are players on the opposition who can literally take a game over by themselves. Although Dirk is a little past his primes, he can still fill that role for Dallas on any given night.
A bright spot for the Bulls was Tyrus Thomas continuing his good play with 23 points and 12 rebounds. They have been looking for solid play from a big man all year, and Thomas has been stepping up as of late. He even hit two three pointers in a row at the end of the game to pull the Bulls within 113-111 and the final score of 115-114.
The Bulls remain in playoff contention only 2 games out of the final playoff spot with conference foes Detroit and Miami coming to the United Center this week.
As for the rest of the NBA world, the LA Lakers are stating their case to be the favorite going into the post-season. They have a league best record of 41-9 and are currently riding a 6 game winning streak. More impressive is their last two victories came on the road against the other two teams vying for the league's best record — Boston and Cleveland.
The Lakers trailed almost the entire game against Boston, but were able to pull off a stunning victory in overtime to silence the racuas crowd in the Garden. Three nights later, they trailed the Cavs by 10 at halftime before dominating the 2nd half and winning 101-91.
The Lakers are quickly becoming the team to beat in the NBA, and have been winning without Andrew Bynum again. Luckily for the Lakers, this time they will have Bynum in the post-season, and that is just scary.
Photo: (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Bulls continue winning on the road

The Bulls solidified their first winning record on a road trip of 5 or more games since 1998 beating a New Orleans Hornets team that had to play without Chris Paul for the first full game this season. They are now 4-2 with one game remaining on the road trip against Dallas on Saturday night.
The Bulls dominated the entire game against New Orleans after losing a tough game to the Houston Rockets 107-100 the night before. The Hornets were also without big man and former Bull, Tyson Chandler.
The absence of two of their best players showed as the Bulls did pretty much anything they wanted to on offense all game. D Rose had a team high 21, but more impressive was the team's post play with Joakim Noah putting up 16 points and and Tyrus Thomas putting up 15 and 10 rebounds. Obviously Tyson Chandler not being in the lineup helped, but seeing two post players putting up numbers like that is very nice to see.
The Bulls ran the transition offense with precision all game, and had numerous ally-oops. It actually looks like they are learning to play and gel with one another. About five games ago, it looked like their season was over and they were never going to figure out how to play like a team.
Since watching this road trip, I have seen great improvements in the flow of their offense and even more surprisingly on the defensive end. I thought going into the road trip if they couldn't come out with a winning record, they may as well throw away the season. Thankfully they have done just that and are only 1 game out of the final playoff spot in the conference.
Any fan that has watched the team play the past 6 games should feel confident that the team's play is only going to get better. They have also been playing well without one of their best players, Drew Gooden. Hopefully when he comes back from his groin injury, he will only help continue with helping them progress.
If the team can beat Dallas on Saturday night, I feel like they will start solidifying themselves as a dangerous team. Their record may not show it right now, but they are one of the hottest teams in the league and seem to be putting it all together at the perfect time of the season. The Bulls defeated Dallas the only time they played them this season on Nov. 13th by a score of 98-91 at the United Center.
Photo: (AP Photo/Brian Lawdermilk)

Who wishes it was still like this?

The Bulls starting lineup 1996

Reinsdorf sounds off, Bulls respond

Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf's response when asked what he would give his team for a grade at the midway point in the season was "What's the lowest grade that you can give?" The owner, clearly upset with the way the season is going for the Bulls blamed the whole organization for the poor play thus far. He also said he still stands behind John Paxson 100%.

The Bulls, however are currently riding a 3 game winning streak, and it seems like Reinsdorf's words may have sparked a fire under the young team. It also may have sent a message to coach Vinny Del Negro that he needs to step it up.

The team is now 3-1 four games in to a seven game road trip with wins over two of the worst teams in the league (L.A. Clippers and Sacramento), but also a huge win over a solid Phoenix team that had a healthy Shaq playing for them.

The Bulls remain a game and a half out of a playoff spot with 34 games remaining in the regular season. There is plenty of time to make a run for the post-season, especially if they continue playing with the way they have in their past 3 games.

Photo: (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)