Bulls Season Finale Preview: Wed at Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC--- The Charlotte Bobcats take on the Chicago Bulls tonight, and it should be a highly competitive game. Charlotte is 31-9 at home while the Bulls are 16-24 at home. This is a must-win scenario, once again, for the Bulls due to the fact that a Raptors win and a Chicago loss will result in a tied record - and the Rapts own the tiebreaker. And they play against a poor New York Knicks team at home, as well. It is extremely unlikely that the Bobcats will rest anybody because they would like to get into the 6th seed and avoid playing the Orlando Magic if they can.

The Bulls need to make an effort to cut off penetration and limit open looks for the 'cats. They are fortunately that they go up against a team that is similar to Boston. On offense, Charlotte mainly relies on scoring from the wing positions (Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace). They also allow their point guards and starting power forward, Boris Diaw, to set up open plays and step up to hit the open jumper - much like Garnett does for Boston. Charlotte is also one of the best defensive team in the league, as would be expected from any Larry Brown-coached club. Chicago's perimeter once again need to be aggressive and fearless against the Charlotte defense.

With a win tonight, the Chicago Bulls would match last year's record of 41-41 and once again play in the opening round of the Playoffs.

April 14, 2010

Rami Abboud

ChiCitySports post

Rose drops career-best 39 to beat Boston (4/13/2010)

It was a spirited night at the United Center on Tuesday. From Benny-the-Bull: giving former NBA guard Reggie Miller an intense stare down at the broadcast booth. To Marisa Miller: who was in attendance, singing D-Rose praises from the stands (who was recently anointed "Chicago's Sexiest Athlete"). Tonight the Chicago Bulls won a huge game to regain their 1 game lead over the Toronto Raptors - now with only 1 game to go in the 82-game season.


Derrick Rose should be nick-named the "Celtic-killer." More specifically - The Rondo killer. He seems to dominate Rajon Rondo on both ends of the floor in all of their head-to-head match-ups. Rose followed up that game-winning block from Game 6 last year by packing 2 of Rondo's early shot attempts tonight. Derrick also followed up his 36 point playoff debut with a career high 39 points tonight. He played like the superstar he has the potential to be, on Tuesday night. He and Kirk Hinrich combined for 69 points (compared to the stellar 53 put up by Pierce & Ray Allen), had 9 rebounds, and 11 assists with only 3 turnovers between them.

The Chicago Bulls immediately got out to a relentless running start. The key to this game was the Bulls' relentlessness and fearlessness going up against what still remains to be a great Boston defense. Chicago also won the battle of the boards by the count of 49-40. Joakim Noah made Kendrick Perkins seem almost non-existent tonight with his activity and solid all-around play.

The fans in the United Center gave the Bulls a standing ovation as the time was running down in their 101-93 over the Celtics. This is Chicago's fourth nationally televised game in the past month, and they are putting themselves on the basketball map in a big way. They have won 9 of their last 13 games and have stormed back into the Playoff picture after many people counted them out of the mix. When you consider the fact that they are missing much of their depth from last season, you need to give this team credit. They have a youthful, vibrant core in Rose and Noah. These two guys, in their 2nd and 3rd seasons, respectively, have put this team on their backs and not only have filled up the stat sheet but have made their teammates that much better who surround them.

Somewhat of a fuss was made on TNT tonight about Bulls' VP of Basketball Operations, John Paxson, allegedly shoving Vinny Del Negro over a dispute about Joakim Noah's playing time. As unprofessional as it may have been on Paxson's part, to me it is actually refreshing seeing Bulls' management this passionate about winning. Del Negro is at a point where he needs to be decisive as the coach regardless of what the nay-sayers say, because there are no guarantees, playoffs or no playoffs, that he will keep his job next season.

The magic number for the Bulls is down to 1. They need a win in Charlotte tomorrow to clinch #8.

April 13, 2010

Rami Abboud

ChiCitySports post

Bulls beat Toronto to lead in Playoff Race (4/10/2010)

TORONTO, ON--- The Chicago Bulls defeated the Toronto Raptors on the road on Sunday evening - bumping Toronto from the 8th and final playoff spot. Chicago won the game 104-88 behind a stellar performance by Rose (26 points, 12-of-23 shooting, 7 assists; only 1 turnover) and a nearly flawless outing from Joakim Noah. Noah scored 18 points and had 19 rebounds. He also had 7 assists, displaying his true all-around game on both sides of the ball tonight. The NBA TV broadcasters joked tonight when Noah finally got his first turnover in the 4th quarter, saying it seemed like the first mistake he made all night.

Hedo Turkoglu had 8 assists in the first-half, himself, and finished with 9. The Raptors decided to roll with Turkoglu playing a point-forward style on offense. This was likely done to compensate to the lack-luster offense this team has now due to the absence of Chris Bosh. Turkoglu also pulled down 19 boards, as Raptors' coach Jay Triano actually put him on the lowblock to try to make up for the lack of rebounding that Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson were getting. You know that when Hedo Turkoglu is the best rebounder on your team, you are in a lot of trouble. The Bulls' starting frontcourt of Noah and Taj Gibson dominated the Raptors on the glass (out-rebounding Bargnani and Johnson 25-7). Turkoglu tried his best to carry the load on his shoulders in every facet, but it ended up playing right into Chicago's hands because of the ridiculously poor shot selection of Hedo - forcing up heavily contested jumpers and long three-pointers; he finished 2-of-12 from the floor and, to add insult to injury, went 1-of-4 on free-throw attempts.

This is a huge win for the Bulls, who pushed the ball relentlessly up the floor to spark their transition offense. This is something they may need to do more often, because this was easily one of the most dominant performances they have had this season - if not the most dominant. Bulls' fans should be pleased to have the one-game lead for the 8th Playoff spot, however we should not celebrate early. The Bulls either need to win 2 games, win 1 and hope Toronto loses 1, or else hope Toronto loses both games. Excuse the pessimism but the Bulls do face a more daunting schedule (Boston and Charlotte), while Toronto merely has to go through Detroit and New York. I never thought I would be uttering these words but... go Knicks and Pistons.

April 10, 2010

Rami Abboud

ChiCitySports post

Bulls Sunday Preview: Battle the Raptors for 8th (4/10/2010)

TORONTO, ON--- It has come down to this for the Bulls: An 8th-place showdown with the Toronto Raptors. Both teams are tied at the bottom of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoff race at 38-41. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Toronto is 2-0 against Chicago so far this season and therefore will own the tiebreaker. If both teams end with identical records then Chicago will be "goin' fishin'" early. The Bulls lost 89-99 to the Rapts back in November, and were dealt an embarrassing 78-110 pounding in the United Center at the hands of Toronto, as well - where the infamous moment occurred when Jarrett Jack tied his shoes while all the Bulls stood idly by, instead of going for a steal or tie-up (or, better yet, knocking Jack onto his backside for the blatant back-handed insult).

But, despite the defeats, the Bulls need to kick it into high-gear with Toronto's star Forward Chris Bosh out of the line-up. Amir Johnson looked sharp against Atlanta, hitting 8 of his 10 shots. He helped them cut a 20-point 4th quarter deficit down to 5. Chicago needs a solid effort to keep Amir Johnson contained. Bosh may be out of the rotation but if they sleep on Johnson, he will make the Bulls' defense pay. He is already a more active defensive player at power forward than Bosh; the last thing the Bulls need is to allow him to fill up the box score.

The key match-up in this game is probably Luol Deng-Hedo Turkoglu. Deng is going to have to get the ball out of Hedo's hands and force other players to take long, contested jump shots. They need to deny the Raptors' bigs of Bargnani, Johnson, and Turkoglu the ball by getting their hands up in the post out in front, and by forcing them to run high off screens and back-cuts - forcing the Raptors frontline to receive passes as far away from the paint as possible. Chicago should not put Rose on rookie swingman Demar DeRosan so he can avoid getting into foul trouble. Instead, Del Negro should run with Hinrich on DeRosan and make him take some difficult shots, while Derrick Rose watches the Toronto 2-punch combo of Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon on the perimeter. Rose's length and quickness on defense is perfect to close out on dangerous 3-point shooters. Putting up points on Toronto should not be a big problem, but they need to get Deng involved in the scheme early, as he too often seems to go M.I.A. through long stretches of the game.

This game will be played on NBA TV on Sunday at 5:00 PM CT. It is vital for Chicago's playoff chances that they win. Otherwise they would need to count on Toronto losing their last 2 remaining games against Detroit & New York; the Bulls, as well, would then need to win their last 2 games against the Celtics and in Charlotte the day after.

The Bulls will not have a chance at the #1 pick in the off-season due to a technical detail in the John Salmons-Hakim Warrick trade with Milwaukee. So all of us Bulls fans can rest assured that winning now will not hurt our chances of winning next season.

The Bulls head into Toronto trying to put themselves in the drivers seat to face the upstar Cavs in less than one week.

April 10, 2010

Rami Abboud

http://www.chicitysports.com/2010/04/14/bulls-sunday-preview-battle-the-raptors-for-8th/

Missed Calls cost Bulls against Nets (4/9/2010)

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ--- The Chicago Bulls lost a gut-wrenching Double-OT game to the lowly New Jersey Nets 127-116. The Bulls claimed sole possession of the 8th Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference for nearly a half-hour after the Raptors dropped a game to the Atlanta Hawks.

Again, clutch free throw shooting does-in the Bulls, as Derrick Rose missed 5 of his 12 attempts from the line (as a team, Chicago missed 10 free throws). The Bulls rallied from a 12-point 4th quarter deficit to take a 103-101 lead before Brook Lopez scored a put-back dunk on a missed floater by Courtney Lee. The ball definitely seemed to be above the cylinder as Lopez slammed it down, but nevertheless the game headed into OT. The Bulls looked to have the game well in-hand in the first overtime as they stormed to a quick 112-105 lead. However, the Nets would make a run and get within 2. Derrick Rose was slapped across the arm and the ball was ruled out-of-bounds to New Jersey. This no-call was made even more infuriating because the referees were forced to review the play to make sure Rose touched the ball last, but however they cannot call a foul that they missed - only decipher who the ball last touched. New Jersey would then send the game in Double-OT where Rose would foul out early, and the Nets would then storm to claim their mere 12th win of the season.

This was a disheartening loss for Bulls' fans, but they have a chance to redeem themselves against Toronto on Sunday. Both teams have a record of 38-41 and the winner of this game will likely go on the 2010 Playoffs to meet LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

April 9, 2010

Rami Abboud

http://www.chicitysports.com/2010/04/14/missed-calls-cost-bulls-against-nets/

Bulls Hold Off Mo, Cavs Behind Noah, Rose (4/8/2010)

Joakim Noah had this to say about LeBron James possibly signing with Chicago, prior to the Bulls-Cavs meeting on Thursday night:

“Let’s talk about that after the season. But I think right now he’s not my friend. He’s the enemy right now. I don’t want to give him too much homage.”

One could imagine that these words were sparked from this incident between James and Noah earlier this season:

James’ dancing would be halted tonight.

The Chicago Bulls, backed by a furious effort by Noah, defeated a LeBron-less Cavs team 109-108. Joakim Noah was the undisputed player of the game, putting up a monster night:

•17 points
•15 rebounds
•4 assists
•4 blocks (all of which coming in the 2nd half)

His play was outstanding. He made a couple excellent spin moves – including a monster wheeling dunk as the 1st half expired. Joakim’s hustle was the difference in this game. My personal favorite play was hustling down a loose ball that seemed to be well within the grasp of Varejao (who is known as the best loose-ball-hunting big man in the NBA). On a jump ball, he popped it out for Rose, who finished with a fast break lay-up on the other end. He hit a go ahead unchallenged jump shot with under 2:00 remaining in the game.

It wasn’t easy against Mo Williams who went off for 35 points (12/24 shooting) and 10 assists. Rose poured in 24 of his own, making 10 of his 17 field goal attempts. However he only went 3-of-7 from the line – including 2 misses with 2 seconds remaining in the game. TNT definitely provided its motto tonight. There was some definite drama in the 4th quarter tonight, but fortunately the Bulls prevailed – silencing a giddy ‘Bron on the Cav’ sideline. Clutch free throw shooting has seemed to be a big problem for the Bulls all season long. Tonight, the Bulls’ Deng missed a pair after a HUGE defensive stand by Hinrich on the red-hot Mo Williams. Then, the Bulls put up another great defensive pressure, giving Derrick Rose the rebound and a chance to ice the game at the foul line…

First attempt – missed

Second attempt - tipped out by Noah, allowing the clock to expire.

Fittingly, it was Joakim and his ability to get his hands on loose balls that was the game-winning play. The win puts the Bulls in a virtual tie with Toronto at 38-40. Though, Toronto owns the tiebreaker, so the Bulls must finish with a better record in order to slip into the 8th seed.

Both teams are playing tomorrow night: Raptors at Atlanta; the Bulls at New Jersey. Their next respective games following that will be one – in Toronto.

April 8, 2010

Rami Abboud

ChiCitySports post