Bulls playoff run Heats up
May 13, 2011 by morrisseyc
Filed under Sports
This is a photo collage of the Chicago Bulls playoff run through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs. It contains links to videos and articles in the collage as well.
You better BULLieve it
The Chicago Bulls are best remembered for the Michael Jordan era, but there is a chance to start a new one. The Bulls ended their season with a record of 62-20, the best in the NBA. They don’t get as much credit as the Celtics or the Lakers, but that could be because they are recent champions. This could potentially be the year for the Bulls.
The regular season showed what the Bulls can do, but now it’s the playoffs where it is do or die, so everyone steps up their game. The Bulls started the playoffs in a pretty nice way, playing the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
The first game was on Saturday, April 16th and the Bulls started off slow. Towards the end of the game they stepped it up while trailing the Pacers all game and pulled off the victory. The second game on Monday, April 18th the Bulls again were trailing, but picked it up much faster than the first game.
The Bulls eventually finished the series in five games, despite a minor tweaked ankle for star Derrick Rose. They have moved on to face the Atlanta Hawks, and are now down 0-1 in the series, pending tonight’s result.
As the playoffs have developed, the Bulls have hauled in major season awards. Coach Tom Thibodeau won Coach of the Year honors earlier this week. Yesterday, Rose took home the NBA MVP trophy. Derrick Rose has been on fire this whole season and he won the award by a large margin. In his first two playoff games, Rose had 39 and 36 points. This isn’t a one game thing because Rose’s average per game during the season was about 25 points. Not only can this be the Bulls year, it can also be Rose’s year.
Senior Jimmy Capone said, “ They have a chance to come out the East, but Boozer has to play like the All Star Veteran he is and they have to step up their defense as a team. I do believe though!”
The Bulls are a legitimate team this year and can win the championship. Chicago wants Rose and the team to bring the championship back home for the first time since 1998 in the Jordan era. Chicago BULLieves in the Bulls and will support them throughout the playoffs.
Bulls playoff run begins
The NBA’s best team during the regular season certainly waited 45 minutes into their first postseason game to show up. Derrick Rose’s career playoff high 39 points helped lead the top seeded Bulls past the Indiana Pacers 104-99 late in game one of the best-of-seven conference quarterfinals series.
Danny Granger led Indiana with 24 points, while former University of North Carolina standout Tyler Hansbrough scored 22. The Pacers led the entire game until Rose found Kyle Korver who hit a wide open three-pointer with 48 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead 102-99.
It was a sloppy performance for the Bulls, while it may have been the best possible performance all year for the Pacers. The Bulls’ tenacious defense didn’t rise to the occasion until the final minutes of the game. Joakim Noah ended the game with two straight key blocks of Josh McRoberts, and the Bulls were able to pull out the victory against a scrappy underdog.
Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau will have his gang ready to go for round two. Game two is tonight at 8:30 at the United Center.
Bulls enter as best team into postseaon
The Chicago Bulls in their last game of the regular season beat The New Jersey Nets 97-92 at home. Already having the first seed in the Eastern Conference this win didn’t mean much against a lower tier team, but after this win Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls claimed the best record in the NBA at 62-20.
Led by the leading unanimous MVP candidate and hometown hero Derrick Rose, The Bulls have yet to slow down after the all-star break with an impressive 24-4 record.
“The Chicago Bulls will beat the Indiana Pacers, no questions asked,” Security guard Claude Cima said.
The Bulls start post season play this Saturday against conference rival Indiana Pacers at 12 pm on ESPN. The Pacers are highly unlikely to beat the red hot Bulls who are currently on a nine game winning streak; beating some of the Eastern Conferences premiere teams in the last month including: The Boston Celtics at home and The Orlando Magic and The New York Knicks on the road.
Bulls trade Derrick Rose
March 24, 2011 by flamj
Filed under April Fool's
APRIL FOOL’S DISCLAIMER:
The story below is intended as humor only and is not intended to be accurate. All RB community participants in the story provided written permission for their names to appear.
It became official last night after weeks of speculation, as a solemn Bulls locker room tried to process the impact of Chicago’s latest roster move. The Bulls were forced to part ways with superstar point guard and MVP candidate Derrick Rose after the team was unable to say no to Michael Jordan.
Rose was sent to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for a 2021 conditional second round pick and Jordan’s undying love.
Jordan said, “We’re incredibly excited to have Derrick come aboard our team, especially when we’re fighting for a playoff spot. I love the way he plays. I just called up [Bulls GM] Gar [Forman] and asked if I could have him.”
The Bulls owed Jordan a favor after he won six titles for them during the ‘90’s.
Despite going 51-19 and holding the number one seed in the Eastern Conference to this point in the season, Bulls General Manager Gar Forman felt that it was time for a rebuilding project.
“It’s honestly nothing personal against Derrick. We just felt that it was time to move on and try again. Plus, M.J. wanted to develop D.Rose himself,” Forman said.
Many NBA scouts around the league have been speculating for weeks that the Bulls would make this move after Jordan spoke at a Bulls game on March 12th against the Utah Jazz and made his admiration for Rose prevalent.
Nobody quite knows what kind of impact this will have on the team going forward, but the fan base is remaining faithful. Eighty year old and Chicago resident Del Delgado has lingering hope for a depleted Bulls team. He said, “If the Bulls can get Stormin’ Norman [VanLeer] and Artis Gilmore going, I think they’ll be okay.”
Other players on the team offered a grimmer outlook. Veteran Keith Bogans said, “Just look at our team. [Carlos] Boozer only grows hair on his face. Joakim [Noah] looks like a girl. And have you seen the size of Kurt Thomas’ head? None of these guys are capable of running a team like Derrick is.”
The Bulls have also drawn some comparisons to the Miami Heat after a few guys were seen crying in the locker room.
Still, at the end of the day, Forman believes this is the best thing for the Bulls. “To be honest, we don’t really care about winning a title. We just want people to see how we can keep rebuilding from nothing back into a young, exciting, inexperienced playoff team that tries hard and everyone roots for,” Forman said.
The rebuilding era begins now.
Bulls take lead in East
After last night’s win at United Center against the Washington Wizards (16-50), the Chicago Bulls (48-18) jumped into sole possession of first place of the Eastern Conference, a half game ahead of the Boston Celtics. This win extends their win streak to seven games in a row.
At home, the Bulls have an impressive 30-4 record, the NBA’s second best home court record.
Chicago despite missing two key starters in Joakim Noah (flu) and Carlos Boozer (ankle), managed to win. Leading MVP candidate PG Derrick Rose put up 29 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. The Bulls were also supported by Luol Deng who scored 20 points and Keith Bogans adding 17 points of his own.
The team is quickly establishing themselves as a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference. Former player and the legendary Michael Jordan said at ceremony held last game against the Utah Jazz that, with this team, the Bulls could be adding six more rings to their resume.
Bulls cruising(6 straight wins)
After losing to the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics, two Eastern Conference contenders, the Chicago Bulls have won six straight games. The Bulls are on a roll right now, and they need to be. The Bulls are 15-8 and are in first place in the Central division.
The Bulls have defeated the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Indiana Pacers in their past six games. The Bulls started this run with a win against the Rockets 119-116. They then defeated the Thunder at home 99-90. The Bulls traveled to Cleveland to beat the Cavs 88-83. Then they came back home to finish off Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in a thrilling 88-84 win. Derrick Rose hit a game winning shot from the left elbow of the key to put the game out of reach for the Lakers. The Bulls then went on to beat the Timberwolves 113-82 and the Pacers 92-73.
Rose has been cruising since the return of Carlos Boozer. Rose is averaging 24.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and shooting 46% from the field this season. Boozer is averaging 15.5 points, 8 rebounds, and shooting about 50% from the field in the eight games he has played in this season.
If Rose and Boozer can keep up this play they can extend their winning streak in the next three weeks. For the next three weeks the Bulls play opponents who have a record of under 500. All of the upcoming games are winnable for the Bulls. These are the games that the Bulls must win in order to get ahead while it is easy.
The Bulls play the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night at seven in Toronto.
Bulls finish “Circus” road trip with a 4-3 record
The Chicago Bulls have just recently finished their “Circus” road trip with a 4-3 record. This is pretty impressive for this year’s team because they finished 4-3 even without their key free agent pick up Carlos Boozer. The Bulls had a chance to win every game by not losing any game on the trip by more than nine points.
The “Circus Trip” has been a nightmare for the Bulls for a long time now. This year’s team is the first time the Bulls finished their “Circus Trip” with a winning record since the Jordan Era 1997-98 season. This team finished with a 62-20 record and won the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz four games to two.
The Bulls played great on this road trip. The trip started with a win and ended with a win. The Bulls first defeated the Houston Rockets 95-92. They then lost a very winnable game to the San Antonio Spurs(best record in the NBA right now) 103-94. The Bulls traveled to Dallas to get a 88-83 win, and they lost to last year’s champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, 98-91. The next day they beat the Phoenix Suns in double overtime 123-115. Two days later the Bulls(without Derrick Rose- stiff neck) lost a heart breaker to the Denver Nuggets 98-97 on a Carmelo Anthony game winning buzzer beater. The Bulls then traveled to the home of the Sacramento Kings to finish their “Circus Trip” with a 96-85 win.
In the six games that Rose played in, he played phenomenally. He finished the trip averaging 30.5 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.6 rebounds. Rose has been playing like the All-Star he was last year. The Bulls are hoping he can keep this play up when Boozer returns.
Charles Barkley, an NBA analysis and former player, predicted the Chicago Bulls to win the Eastern Conference to advance to the NBA Finals.
The real question is if the Bulls can play their whole season like the 1997-98 Bulls and maybe even do some damage in the NBA playoffs as Barkley predicted.
Hello Melo? Carmelo Anthony Trade Rumors
Rumors are circulating that Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets may be traded to the Chicago Bulls. Reports have shown that Anthony will be traded before the February trade line. The New York Knicks are also very interested in Anthony.
Last season Anthony averaged 28.2 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game. Anthony is not only one of the NBA’s top scorers but also one of the league’s top players.
Anthony has been offered a $65 million three-year extension by the Nuggets. Chauncey Billups, a Denver teammate of Anthony, has been trying to get Anthony to stay put in Denver.
Chicago has offered Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and one future first-rounder for Anthony. Joakim Noah has been taken off Chicago’s trading block for Anthony. The Bulls look interested in Anthony after LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat. If Anthony were to come to the Bulls, he would be playing with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and recently acquired Carlos Boozer.
New York on the other hand look to make a deal including Eddy Curry and Danilo Gallinari or Anthony Randolph. The Knicks lack future draft picks to offer in a deal with Denver. Anthony would get to play with Amare Stoudemire if traded to New York.
Anthony’s agent has been rushing the Nuggets to make a deal with either the Knicks or Bulls before training camp starts, but the Nuggets seem to be in no sort of hurry to trade away their seven year veteran superstar player.
Stay tuned to see where Anthony ends up.
Team USA and Derrick Rose shine
The USA men’s national basketball team is currently undefeated with a record of 6-0 in the FIBA World Championship Quarterfinals. Team USA has defeated Croatia, Slovenia, Brazil, Iran, and Tunisia. Out of these opponents, Brazil was the toughest as Team USA won 70-68. Team USA has blown out all of the other teams they have played, so they are in need of some competition down the road. The team will continue their run in the FIBA World Championship against Russia on September 9th. The winner will play the winner of Lithuania and Argentina.
The National team is without many of their top players from the NBA including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Jason Kidd who were all members of the 2008 men’s team which won Olympic gold medals. However, in the FIBA World Championship this year, USA’s team shows no sign of need for these players as they have yet to lose. Players that have stepped up this year for the team include Kevin Durant, Lamar Odom, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, and Tyson Chandler.
Mike Krzyzewski, head men’s basketball coach at Duke University, has coached USA’s National team for some time now. Krzyzewski does not lack any experience at all as he coached the 2008 gold medalist team. He looks to coach this year’s team to another championship.
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