The 2000-2009 Running of the Chicago Bulls
The decade began with the Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf trying to replace the championship roster he had in the 90’s. We know the story. Michael Jordan retired, then un-retired for a year or two for a season with the Washington Wizzards . Phil Jackson left for the Los Angeles Lakers, where he three-peats to start the decade. Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets and Dennis Rodman went completely over the edge.
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. (more…)
Top 5 plots in Chicago Bulls first preseason game
ESPN/Getty Images
- Vinny del Negro: This will be Vinny del Negro’s first game as a coach in the NBA, let alone the head coach of one of the league’s youngest teams. The Bulls line up is filled with plenty of potential. Their are a number of young guys on this roster that could be potential stars in the NBA, it will be interesting to see how he handles the squad.
Ben Gordon to sign qualifying offer
The Chicago Bulls are set to open up training camp tomorrow, and guard Ben Gordon has yet to sign an extension. It is reported that he will sign a one year qualifying offer keeping him with the Bulls for at least one more season.
He must sign the one year, $6.4 million dollar contract by Wednesday to become an unrestricted free agent. This will be the second straight offseason Gordon and the bulls have been unable to come to contract terms. Last year Gordon turned down a 5 year deal worth around $50 million.
This leaves some interesting questions to what Ben Gordon’s role will be with Chicago this season. The Bulls have a young bunch of players who need a lot of playing time in order to continue to develop individually and as a team. As been Gordon will most likely only be with the team one more year, it will be interesting to see how rookie head coach Vinny del Negro will work him into the lineup.
The Bulls were unable to come to a sign and deal trade with Gordon and other teams this off season, but perhaps his name will come up in trade talks again around the trade deadline if it becomes apparent he will not return next off season.
Nothing but rumors and more rumors around Chicago Bulls
Over the last week not a lot of new news has surfaced surrounding the Chicago Bulls. Ben Gordon remains a free agent. Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni have yet to be traded.
Although nothing has happened, that doesn’t mean the rumors and analysis on what the Bulls should do have stopped. Different ideas and possibilities have surfaced throughout the internet over the previous week, non of which appear to be that certain.
Here are a few over the rumors, analysis and other news that has come about over the last week or so.
- The Bodog Beat blog reported rumors of a possible trade between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. The trade would send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Chicago in exchange for Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah and Larry Hughes. They are now reporting that trade talks between the two trade have halted. The Beat also posted their ten reason why to bet on the NBA this year and number two on their list appeared the Chicago Bulls: “2. Chicago Bulls – The Bulls were expected to be an NBA title contender last season before completely tanking. With No. 1 pick Derrick Rose in tow will this season be any brighter for the Bulls?”
- The fans at Bleacher Report provided some Chicago Bulls analysis as well this week. Michael Whittenberg gave his 2008-09 Chicago Bulls season preview. Michael believes the Bulls will finish in 8th place in the Eastern Confernece with a 42-40 record. The only question I have about that, is when was the last time all 8 teams that made the play-offs in the EC finished with a record above .500? Adam Miller also gave his intake on the on going Ben Gordon-Chicago Bulls standoff, saying its a ‘no-win situation’ for either side.
- BetUs.com also provide their 2008-09 Chicago Bulls season preview. Theres a lot of betting terms that I kind of fail to understand. They have the Bulls at +1100 to win the Eastern Confrence and +2500 to win the NBA Championship.
- Diabolo at BlogaBull.com gave his view on Vinny del Negro and the Bulls in 08-09. Much of which has to due with the Vinny’s first year as a coach and getting the locker room to ‘jell’ together.
- And last, but not least, from the UK the Great Britan national team has Luol Deng back on the court. In case you missed some previous news, after Deng signed his new deal with the Bulls, the company who insures players contracts elected not to insure Deng because of injury problems which kept him from being able to play with the Britain team. Last week though he was re-insured, and has began playing with the national team. As you’ll see on this UK news site, the basketball section is filled with praises for their GB team and Luol Deng
Hope this helps you get caught up on everything thats been going on. My 2008-09 Chicago Bulls preview is currently being worked on and can be expected in the coming weeks.
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