Who’s afraid of the Bulls?
Derrick Rose, Dime #32
Three things happened with Chicago’s win over the Bobcats last night: Derrick Rose locked up Rookie of the Year (QB’ing his team to a .500 record and a playoff berth as an everyday starter is good enough for us; it’s also why Mario Chalmers deserves more credit than he’s getting); Ben Gordon ensured himself a hefty pay raise this summer (and made the Luol Deng contract look even worse); and the Bulls kept themselves in position to go as high as the 5th seed in the East … D-Rose had 22 points and seven dimes on the ‘Cats, while BG dropped 39 points (7 threes), jacking H-O-R-S-E shots all around the arc that you’d normally be scared to pull for fear of getting yanked by your coach … The win was Chicago’s fourth in a row and 11th in their last 14 games, putting them one game up on Detroit for the 7th seed and just a game and a half behind Miami for the 5th seed. If you’re the Hawks holding that four spot, would you rather play D-Wade right now, or the Bulls, who are clicking on all cylinders? It’s not an easy answer … When did the Pistons lose their maturity? Not having Chauncey is obviously a big part of it, but even those who wanna scapegoat Iverson for everything can’t put this on A.I.; it’s not like the Pistons accepted him into the fold enough to let his personality impact the team anyway. One play summed it all up at the end of Pistons/Pacers: Down one with 15 seconds left, Tayshaun Prince got hacked going to the basket, but the refs didn’t make the call. So Tayshaun stood there and complained, the rest of the Pistons stopped what they were doing for a second, and the Pacers ran about 10 seconds off the clock before Detroit caught up and fouled. You never saw stuff like that during the Billups era … After the loss, Rip Hamilton had this on the Pistons’ playoff seeding: “It really don’t matter to us, to tell you the truth. We’re already near the bottom in the playoffs, so at this point, regardless who we play, we can’t worry about who we’re going to play. We’ve just got to know that we made it to the playoffs and hopefully we can have a run.” Not buying it. You know the Pistons would MUCH rather play Orlando than Boston or Cleveland, especially with the way they’re in Dwight Howard‘s head … And speaking of, maybe Orlando is trying to avoid the Pistons; otherwise, how do you explain two uninspired losses to the Knicks and Nets in the last two days? Yesterday’s loss in Jersey secured the 3-seed for the Magic (as of today they’d play Philly in the first round), and Hedo Turkoglu got hurt in the process (ankle), joining Rashard Lewis (knee) on the banged-up list … The Jazz are slipping at the wrong time, too, only their reward at the end of the line is a date with the Lakers in Round One. Deron Williams put up 26 points and 14 dimes in last night’s home loss to Golden State, but he also got lit up for 38 points by C.J. Watson. On top of that, Deron strained an oblique muscle and is listed as day-to-day … The other unfortunate part of this Utah skid is that in the one week where you might get a smile out of Jerry Sloan — given his Hall of Fame induction and all — he’s still in 24-hour frown mode because his team is playing so bad. Sloan slammed the Jazz defense last night, saying, “We’d rather score than play defense.” … This is kinda late, but did you hear about that D-League game the other night where Colorado beat Albuquerque 155-127 in regulation? That’s just crazy. Colorado scored 52 in the third quarter alone, and four guys scored 20-plus points on the night. Albuquerque’s Will Conroy dropped 53 points in the loss, sticking five threes and going 18-for-25 at the line. Is there any current NBA matchup where you could see those kind of numbers put up in four quarters? … We’re out like Hedo and Deron …
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April 12th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Fabian says:
A MUST SEE:
Mr. Love Miracle Glass Cleaner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI4Ll-8z8Q
Hilarious video by Kevin Love highlighting his impressive stats in a funny way!
April 12th, 2009 at 6:59 am
mavs all the way says:
nobody is afraid of the Bulls. good luck on playing the defending champs.
hello, nuggets. please prepare your early vacation tickets. thank you.
April 12th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I’m happy to see all the love the Bulls are getting from Dime but I agree nobody is afraid of them. However, nobody is scared of the Mavs either.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:00 am
QQ says:
‘You never saw stuff like that during the Billups era .’
And that’s why Iverson is a bitch.
And thanks to this article, I fanally saw sonething good about the Orlando’s losses. Cause damn, those are ugly ass losses. But yeah, I’d rather see the Magic match up with the Sixers.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I know the Magic want to avoid the Pistons but if they were the #2 seed they would play the Bulls so I think there’s not anything good to take from these last two losses. Nice try though. Also, Dwight has been getting eaten up the past two games by inferior big men. He really needs to step it up or the Magic won’t even get passed Philly.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:21 am
murcielago says:
@ Dime
which teams are likely to get ben gordon next year?
April 12th, 2009 at 9:09 am
markito says:
If Ben Gordon gets to a team with an distributing star(Lebron, CP3, D-Wade, etc) he’d really cause trouble with that sweet stroke.
Which teams are interested?
April 12th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Chris Cason says:
I have to disagree and I would be very worried about the Bulls if I was a team like Atlanta, or even Boston depending on KG’s health, even Orlando needs to be worried.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:40 am
ticktock6 says:
I’m scared of the Mavs. Of the lower seeds in the West, NO and Utah are on ridiculous skids (both lost something like 5 out of the last 6) but Dallas has been turning it on. Hot enough for an upset? I don’t know. But if I was a top seed looking down, I’d be concerned.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:43 am
ticktock6 says:
@ #6 I know NOLA was very interested in Ben Gordon last year. I believe there could have been a deal instead of the deadline deal they eventually did for Bonzi Wells, but the Bulls wanted Julian Wright/Hilton Armstrong or a combination thereof and the Hornets didn’t want to part with their young recent picks.
Hindsight!
April 12th, 2009 at 10:11 am
QQ says:
I really hope Dwight would step it up, he’s playing like Sheed right now (no heart). And because I’m a fan, I would like to think of this as the time when your team is getting trashed by other teams, and your team will have an epiphany that they are better than that, and they will peak at the right time, and will go down to dominate any team that gets in their fucking way. Hmmm. That would be fucking sweet.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:12 am
chaos says:
I dunno. The bulls are now what philly and atl was last year. They play hard and can give whoever the play a hard time and expose some weaknesses of the higher seeds. They can steal some games
April 12th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
True the Mavs are hot right now but just as quick as a team can get hot they can get cold. Six games ago it looked like the Jazz had peaked and were in prime position to move up as high as a 5th seed. Look where they are now. Although they’re already assured of a playoff spot, they could end up beating out the Suns by only one game. I don’t put a lot of stock in end of the season runs or slumps. When the series start, that’s when it matters.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:37 am
KBY says:
“Is there any current NBA matchup where you could see those kind of numbers put up in four quarters? ”
Sure, Phoenix vs Golden State
April 12th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
As some of you might know, I’m a die hard Bulls fan. I would want nothing more than to upset somebody especially Boston but i think this Bulls team is one year away from being a team that can win a series. These Bulls are definitely a dangerous team when it’s only one game. But a series is a different story. Still i’ll be pulling for them.
By the way this whole ”scared of” talk is only relevent to us fans. We’re the only ones who should be scared of facing other teams. If the players and coaches are scared of facing certain teams then something is wrong. In my experience in sports, I was never scared of facing somebody no matter how good or intimidating they seemed. If you go into a match up scared in any way you have already lost. As my football coach always said when we faced better teams than us, “you have to beat the best to be the best.” Thats true at every level.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:51 am
that's whats up says:
Warriors-Nuggets.
Suns-Warriors-Nuggets-Kings maybe.
Those are four teams that call it efense
April 12th, 2009 at 11:18 am
rocky lobs says:
lord pls bless the opposing pg that faces d-rose in the first round.
April 12th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Data says:
@fabian
That video is hilarious!
April 12th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Barak O'BLAMA says:
I think everyone forgets how John Salmons was clutch in the 4th quarter launching 3′s up in Charlottes face last night.
Salmons is definetly the X-factor for the Bulls!
April 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Shrink This says:
I agree with Spliff,
I think the bulls can be a dangerous team game to game but aren’t yet consistent enough to win a 7 game series, against ATL let alone the higher seeds.
I agree that Chauncey had a steadying influence but I seem to recall Sheed doing more than his share of boneheaded stuff over the past few years, including toward the end of their playoff series with the cavs a year or two back.
April 12th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Luigi says:
that D-League Game…
i could see Suns/Warriors and Warriors/Kings and Kings/Suns
all teams with no defense could do that
April 12th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
rick 773 says:
I’m a bulls fan and while nobody may be worried about the Bulls they should be. No one gave Atlanta a second thought when the playoff started. 6 games later Boston fans were in mass hysteria about losing to a 8th seed who was two games under 500 nonetheless.
April 12th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
E$ says:
Is Jordan coming back? “wearing the #45….”
April 12th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
that's whats up says:
5:15 mark in 4th quarter of Mavs/Hornets and Chris Paul was called for a push-off
April 12th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
K Dizzle says:
Then hornets proceed to put Mavs to sleep. Two teams really wantin the Spurs in round 1.
31pts, 17 as, 9 rbs, 2 stls, 1TO on 11-15 shootin in 44 mins.That’s a man’s game from the best point in the world
Peace.
One time only: Let’s go Celts
April 12th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
K Dizzle says:
31-9 after 1……never mind
April 12th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
the cynic says:
Jerry Sloan is going to be one pissed off Hall of Famer. Lakers are going to kill the Jazz, only thing the lakers have to worry about is how many cheap shots matt harping takes at kobe
April 12th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
rban says:
lol no ones afraid, they are the worst road team in the nba playoffs.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Mr. A says:
Anybody else see Ray Allen elbow Andy Varejao in the balls today on national TV? I understand being frustrated, but this guy is a vet and, more importantly, a grown ass man! How low can you stoop, Ray?
April 12th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
hustleharder says:
I like the Bulls against anybody but Cleveland. With KG on the mend for Boston, Hedo & Lewis banged up for Orlando, I wouldn’t just dismiss the Bulls. I wouldn’t bet on it, but I like their chances! I think Ben-G-microwave will go to Utah in a sign & trade, just my guess.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
D-Wade with a double nickel…
April 12th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
bookkwormmaster says:
hustleharder says:
I like the Bulls against anybody but Cleveland. With KG on the mend for Boston, Hedo & Lewis banged up for Orlando, I wouldn’t just dismiss the Bulls.
I agree. The Bulls are a scrappy, young team with more depth than prob any other team in the East. They possess 3 players (Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, & John Salmons) who are very capable of breaking down another team’s defensive schemes and wrecking havoc offensively. I think their chances really hinges on the play of their bigs (Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, & Brad Miller). If those guess can play solid defense, crash the borads, and provide scoring when needed they could very well pull an upset
April 12th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
bookkwormmaster says:
hustleharder says:
I like the Bulls against anybody but Cleveland. With KG on the mend for Boston, Hedo & Lewis banged up for Orlando, I wouldn’t just dismiss the Bulls.
I agree. The Bulls are a scrappy, young team with more depth than prob any other team in the East. They possess 3 players (Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, & John Salmons) who are very capable of breaking down another team’s defensive schemes and wrecking havoc offensively. I think their chances really hinges on the play of their bigs (Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, & Brad Miller). If those guess can play solid defense, crash the boards, and provide scoring when needed they could very well pull an upset
April 13th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Red says:
Bulls aren’t doing anything unless KG can’t go at all.
April 13th, 2009 at 3:11 am
smoove chips says:
Damn those cavs go hard.Told you cats boston aint coming out tha east lol.Hope my lakers don’t face those trailblazers coz frankly,they own us and that hurts to admit but it’s the truth.(shyt,so does Charlotte..but that’s another story).
d wade was on fire today,nut the MVP still has to be Bron man.At this point it’s too obvious.Any other result and that award loses relevance completely.
On an unrelated note.I’m proud of my president and i couldn’t give two flucks if you don’t.how’s it go..small voice,big stick…Now THAT’S how we roll!!
April 13th, 2009 at 8:12 am
flavur says:
I think the bulls r just to years away from winning a series no rookie or sophmore pg with no all star players are going to win a series.
April 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Diego says:
I don’t want the Hawks to play the Bulls. I’ve been pulling for Miami over Philly for that 5th spot, because I just see Miami as too one dimensional. The Hawks simply are better than Miami, any day. Philly has a lot more weapons and is like a mirror image of Atlanta’s team.
Absent some D. Wade/NBA conspiracy, the Hawks beat Miami, period…oh, wait a minute, damn it to hell!
Bulls vs. Celts = Bye, bye Celts in first round!!