Bulls, Rose and del Negro Undefeated

The Chicago Bulls (1-0) opened up the 2008 season at home against former Bulls head coach Scott Skiles and the Milwaukee Brewers (0-1) at home.  The Bulls would ruin Skiles return to Chicago, defeating the Bucks 108-95.

The Bulls were able to pretty much dominate the game from the tip-off.  The starting line up featured only one player from last year, Luol Deng.  Number one pick Derrick Rose won the starting role at point guard during the preseason and Thabo Sefosha the shooting guard spot.  Rose got the most minutes at guard, scoring 11 point and contributing nine assists.  Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich each filled in well of the bench, scoring a combined 33 points and 10 assist.

As for down low, Drew Gooden and Tyrus Thomas pretty much stole the show.  Gooden held second year center Andruw Bogut to just nine points in 25 minutes, while scoring 13 points and grabbing eight boards himself.  Tyrus Thomas played all but 34 seconds.  He recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Joakim Noah was able to offer his defensive presence off the bench as usual, grabbing 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 19 minutes.

In the end, the Bulls pretty much dominated the Bucks.  The Bulls beat the Bucks almost every stat that matters.

Looking ahead to the Boston Celtics on Friday, the Bulls will need similar stats in order to win.  Tyrus Thomas will have the tough task of guarding all-star Kevin Garnett, and will need to keep his head in the game on both offense and deffenese.