Not only is he in the top 10 in the NBA in points with 24  and assists with 8 per game, but he is leading the Chicago Bulls to a 20-10 record, could be 21-10 after the on-going Bulls-Nets game, which gives them third place in the Eastern Conference.

Rose is the main reason the Bulls continue to lead the league in average attendance with 20 thousand plus. Even the two-time defending champions the Los Angeles Lakers can’t match the fan support of Rose and the Bulls.

Check out this well produced video of Rose’s 2010 highlights.

I know some of them are from last season, but those clips are the ground work for what the man is doing this season.

D-Rose for MVP.

Derrick Rose is playing at an MVP level, Carlos Boozer is at an all-star level and if he didn’t tear ligaments in his thumb Joakim Noah would be an all-star also.

With everything on the up and up in Chicago, it’s only going to look better as eight of the next ten games are against teams under .500.

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The best thing about this is, no one is talking about the Bulls because of all of the other drama happening in the Eastern Conference.

The Boston Celtics are dealing with the injury to Kevin Garnett’s right leg, which was first said to be his knee but ESPN has the injury listed as his calf on Garnett’s player card. Besides the injury to one of their big three, the Celtics have been playing good ball and are at the top of the conference. If they fall off the top of the ladder or remain, there is going to be hoopla around the organization the duration of Garnett’s absence.

Miami is a circus show and as long as the team is still in existence with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat roster, they will always have more shine than Chicago.

The Orlando Magic were stagnant with their roster so they made headlines with blockbuster deals which moved Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat while receiving Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu. This deal puts them back in the elite race because they now have players who want to win instead of simply being paid.

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While all this is going on, the Bulls are staying off the radar and doing what they have to do to win games.

Mentioned before, Noah had surgery on his thumb and has missed six games which has resulted in only two loses for the Bulls. The team hasn’t technically filled the void, but they are putting in players who are producing where Noah did, defensively. Kurt Thomas, Omer Asik and James Johnson have stepped up their game and have made a difference coming off the bench.

Carlos Boozer had a couple of rough games after his return from his broken hand, but since then he has been unstoppable and has opened up the Bulls offense like never before. Chicago finally has an inside presence to draw double teams but also has great passing skills to find the open shooter.

Rose, Kyle Korver and Keith Bogans are shining as shooters because of Boozers job inside.

The only thing to worry about is becoming complaisant against lesser teams such as the New Jersey Nets (twice), Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Bobcats.

Fortunately, the Bulls have a roster full of character guys who thrive on proving the masses wrong.

The only two winning teams in the next ten games are the Celtics and the Heat. If the Bulls continue to play at their current level they could possibly win both of these games.

My early prediction is: Chicago takes nine out of the next ten games.

Leave your prediction…

How will the Bulls finish in the next ten games?

Other than that, nothing too exciting except I did well on my NBA picks, almost undefeated if it wasn’t for Granger.

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Here is my personal cheerleader, well…

SATURDAY’S PICKS (8-1)

Chicago Bulls beat Washington Wizards 103-96…Right, the Bulls were just too big and Rose won the one-on-one match up against John Wall.

Orlando Magic beat New Jersey Nets 91-90…Right, but barely, whats going on with the Magic, they’re playing bad basketball compared to what they’re capable of.

Utah Jazz beat Charlotte Bobcats 96-95…Right, again barely, what is going on with the Jazz as well?

Indiana Pacers beat Cleveland Cavaliers 99-85…Wrong, the Cavs play well at times then are horrible the next, Indiana is showing they could be moving from the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat beat Toronto Raptors 109-100…Right, thought it’d be a bigger win, but it’s still a W.

New Orleans Hornets beat Portland Trailblazers 107-87…Right, Portland is stumbling, while the Hornets continue to sting.

Boston Celtics beat Memphis Grizzlies 116-110 in overtime…Right, Great game, Memphis is doing good things with their young lineup.

Milwaukee Bucks beat Golden State Warriors 79-72…Right, Warriors are falling apart, already.

San Antonio Spurs beat Philadelphia 76ers 116-93…Right…Tim Duncan and company are going to be a hard team to play with if they can stay healthy.

SUNDAY’S GAMES AND PICKS

The Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves already played, so I won’t count this one. Atlanta won 111-105.

Detroit Pistons at Sacramento Kings…Pistons, they’re putting together a nice little string of wins and they have more experienced players.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder…Spurs, the Thunder can’t defend in the paint, which is where the Spurs dominate.

Houston Rockets at New York Knicks…Rockets, just not impressed with the Knicks, or the Rockets for that matter, but should win this one.

Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers…Lakers, they’re too big and dominant inside and can run with the Suns if they need to.

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The Pacers tore it up, but unfortunately, I thought the game would go the other way for the Nuggets because no one would ever think the Pacers would shoot as good as they did. Mike Dunleavy had 24 points in the third quarter alone and finished with 31 points for the night.

Lets see how the rest of the night went around the League.

TUESDAY’S PICKS (4-3)

Indiana Pacers beat Denver Nuggets 144-113…Wrong, Nuggets could match the firepower of Indiana.

Cleveland Cavaliers beat New Jersey Nets 93-91…Right, Cavs are not a good team, but they’re one of the best of the bad teams.

Utah Jazz beat Miami Heat 116-114 in overtime…Wrong, Paul Millsap put up the most points in the NBA Tuesday with 46 because the Heat don’t have an inside defensive stopper.

New Orleans Hornets beat Los Angeles Clippers 101-82…Right, Hornets are 7-0 for the season and have beaten the Clippers 14 consecutive times.

Milwaukee Bucks beat New York Knicks 107-80…Wrong, Sorry I underestimated the Bucks, they put it on the Knicks, who have been shooting the ball well.

Portland Trailblazers beat Detroit Pistons 100-78…Right, Detroit simply over matched.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Minnesota Timberwolves 99-94…Right, the Lakers played some of their worst ball of the season and still won to either show the strength of the Lakers or how bad the Timberwolves are. LA is undefeated at 8-0.

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WEDNESDAY GAMES AND PICKS

Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks…Hawks, although the Bucks played well Tuesday, they played the no defense Knicks, the Hawks are on a way higher level.

Utah Jazz at Orlando Magic…Magic, Paul Millsap isn’t going to score 46 points against Dwight Howard and the Magic defense.

Houston Rockets at Washington Wizards…Rockets, Houston has a better lineup and is playing better ball.

Charlotte Bobcats at Toronto Raptors…Raptors, game could go either way, but Toronto has been playing a little better as of late.

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New Jersey Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers…Cavs, they beat the Nets in New Jersey on Tuesday, no reason they can’t beat them at home.

Golden State Warriors at New York Knicks…Warriors, if the Knicks played like they did Tuesday, anyone can beat them.

Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder…Thunder, the 76ers don’t have the scoring punch or inside defense to hang with the Thunder.

Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies…Mavericks, the Grizzlies won the first meeting, I think Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki want to prove it was a fluke.

Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs…Spurs, they’re who we thought they were, a talented team with veteran leadership.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings…Kings, they’re a solid team while the Timberwolves are struggling horribly.

MAKE YOUR PICKS

1) In the comment box

2) Send an email to brandon.lachance@bullshome.com

I’m disappointed in the Bulls, favorite team, and the Blazers, one of my two bandwagon teams, couldn’t help me out. If they can’t who can, I guess Friday’s games will tell.

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Thursday Results (0-2)

New York Knicks beat Chicago Bulls 120-112…Wrong, the Knicks shot the lights out of the United Center and the Bulls defense didn’t do anything.

Oklahoma City Thunder beat Portland Trailblazers 107-106 in overtime…Wrong, Durant and Westbrook took it to them.

Friday’s Picks

Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics…Bulls, they have to play defense the entire game, if they do, they can beat the Celtics.

Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers…Bucks, Milwaukee is a complete team with better individual skill.

New Jersey Nets at Orlando Magic…Magic, too big, too talented, too better in every aspect.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers…Cavaliers, 76ers played well last game, but there are too many distractions with Andre Iguodala trade talk and coach Doug Collins has been bothered with illness.

Charlotte Bobcats at Detroit Pistons…Bobcats, two bad teams, Charlotte is better.

Washington Wizards at New York Knicks…Knicks, if they shoot anything similar to yesterday, they destroy the Wizards.

Miami Heat at New Orleans Hornets…Heat, Chris Paul will play well in an audition for the team, but Heat will kill them.

Atlanta Hawks at Minnesota Timberwolves…Hawks, Minnesota is terrible.

Memphis Grizzlies at Phoenix Suns…Suns, although they’re on the decline, they’re still better than the Grizzlies.

Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets…Nuggets, after the loss to San Antonio they want redemption.

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Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors…Jazz, Deron Williams and Al Jefferson are starting to come alive.

Toronto Raptors at Los Angeles Lakers…Lakers, same old story, too good for team with minimal talent.

The only way I want to look at this game is Amare Stoudemire verse Joakim Noah in a battle of one of the best scoring big men in the league against one of the best defensive big men in the league. This is a match up I’ve been waiting to see all season because unlike last year Noah is completely healthy and Stoudemire has something to prove. Taj Gibson might be assigned to Stoudemire, but I have faith in Noah taking a couple possessions against him.

Stoudemire wanted out of Phoenix so he could be the man and prove to the world he is one of the best players in the NBA. He has his opportunity, but has looked unimpressive because he has no one around him who can play basketball except forward Wilson Chandler.

Chicago should dominate the Knicks much like they did the Portland Trailblazers Monday. I don’t know if Luol Deng will show up and have another 40-point game, but Derrick Rose will be golden with 25-to-30 points and Noah will have his fourth consecutive double-double, especially as the flu symptoms are well behind him.

With this said, lets get to the picks.

Thursday’s Picks:

New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls: Bulls, New York can’t score and has little defense, the Bulls should be able to dominate.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trailblazers: Blazers, besides when they played the Bulls, the Blazers have been an impressive team and have the defense to stop the Thunder’s high powered offense.

Wednesday’s Results:

Atlanta Hawks beat Detroit Pistons 94-85… Right, Hawks to talented.

Charlotte beat New Jersey Nets 85-83…Right, Charlotte had to beat someone.

Orlando Magic beat Minnesota Timberwolves 128-86…Right, Bone stomping

Philadelphia 76ers beat Indiana Pacers 101-75…Wrong, 76ers finally showed up.

Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee Bucks 105-102 in double-overtime…Right, the Bucks came to play though

New Orleans Hornets beat Houston Rockets 107-99…Right, with Chris Paul healthy, the Hornets can beat anyone.

Dallas Mavericks beat Denver Nuggets 102-101…Wrong, thought Denver’s Offense would outscore Dallas, I was wrong.

Utah Jazz beat Toronto Raptors 125-108…Right, It doesn’t matter how bad they look against other teams, they’ll mop the floor with Toronto nine out of 10 times.

San Antonio Spurs beat Phoenix Suns 112-110…Right, Spurs are still a solid team while the Suns are falling apart.

Golden State Warriors beat Memphis Grizzlies 115-109…Right, the match of two up and coming teams goes my way.

Los Angeles Clippers beat Oklahoma City Thunder 107-92…Wrong, I didn’t think the Clippers were going to win until December.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Sacramento Kings 112-100…Right, Lakers are experienced for the little Sacramento boys.

]]> http://www.bullshome.com/2010/11/knicks-come-to-chicago.html/feed/ 1 http://www.bullshome.com/2010/11/first-sign-of-perfection.html/ http://www.bullshome.com/2010/11/first-sign-of-perfection.html/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:35:12 +0000 Brandon LaChance http://www.bullshome.com/?p=1505 It’s official, I finally had a perfect record in my NBA predictions Tuesday going a perfect 6-for-6. There was supposed to be a seventh game, but because of debris falling from the ceiling of Madison Square Garden, the New York Knick and Orlando game was canceled because of an asbestos threat.

Anyway, It is 7 p.m. and Wednesday’s games have already started. I wasn’t able to get my picks out due to a migraine headache gracing me around lunch time and sticking by my side until somewhere around 6 p.m. I’m going to make my picks without looking at what is going on now. I promise I haven’t looked, it you don’t believe me, that is your problem.

Tuesday’s Picks

Atlanta Hawks beat Cleveland Cavaliers 100-88–Right, Hawks had too much in their favor.

Washington Wizards beat Philadelphia 76ers 116-115 in overtime–Right, Wall led the league in scoring Tuesday with 29 points to earn his first NBA victory.

Boston Celtics beat Detroit Pistons 109-86–Right, Boston is a team, Detroit has players.

Miami Heat beat Minnesota Timberwolves 129-97–Right, this game was over in July.

Portland Trailblazers beat Milwaukee Bucks 90-76–Right, I love it when teams we beat, win against other teams in the central division.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Memphis Grizzlies 124-105–Right, everyone had this game right.

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Wednesday’s Picks

Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks–Hawks

Charlotte Bobcats at New Jersey Nets–Bobcats

Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic–Magic

Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers–Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics–Celtics

New Orleans Hornets at Houston Rockets–Hornets

Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets–Nuggets

Toronto Raptors at Utah Jazz–Jazz

San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns–Spurs

Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors–Warriors

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Clippers–Thunder

Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings–Lakers

Silly me for picking against the Lakers and the Jazz.

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The Lakers haven’t given me a reason to doubt them, but the Golden State Warriors had given me a reason to think they’re fast paced offense could take the Lakers away from their powerful low post offense; I was wrong.

Lakers over Warriors–107-83, Gasol continues to kill as he went for 26 points to stomp on the Warriors.

My other loss for the day was the Jazz dominating the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before this game, the Jazz had not only lost two games, but had been dominated by the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, while the Thunder were undefeated with victories against the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons.

It’s only the third game in the season, but maybe the Thunder are over rated. They won against the Bulls, who are a team on the rise, but don’t have Carlos Boozer to help with the scoring load and the Pistons are not a good team besides scoring the ball. If a team has one or two premier shooters or slashers, it can beat the Pistons because they have no defense.

Behind Paul Millsap’s 30 points the Jazz destroyed the under sized Thunder in the paint. Is this a weakness bigger teams can exploit? I think it is.

Jazz over Thunder–120-99, the Jazz showed they’re still a good team after dropping their first two games.

The other two games Sunday and my picks

Miami Heat beat New Jersey Nets–101-78–Right, Miami is just too talented for the Nets.

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Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles Clippers–99-83–Right, same thing, Dallas is just too talented for the Clippers. It’s looking like Blake Griffin will never get a victory.

Monday’s Games

Portland Trailblazers at Chicago Bulls– I’d love to say the Bulls, but the Trailblazers have been playing at a high level and have multiple scoring options. If Boozer was in the lineup, I’d pick differently but the Bulls have only Derrick Rose to score the ball…Blazers.

Toronto Raptors at Sacramento Kings–The Kings have been playing well with their young talented nucleus, I’m going Kings.

San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers–The Clippers will not get their first win against the Spurs, look for Duncan to own the inside.

Let’s get to it…

Miami Heat at New Jersey Nets…Heat, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade should go crazy against the Nets.

Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers…Mavericks, The Clippers have been losing against lesser opponents, nothing telling me they can play with the Mavericks.

Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder…Thunder, they will stay undefeated because the Jazz are struggling.

Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers…Warriors, they’re quick and have size to match up defensively with Pau Gasol. Look for Monta Ellis to go for 35 and David Lee to grab 15 rebounds.

What are your picks…put them in the comment box or send them to brandon.lachance@bullshome.com.

This should be a winnable game for the Bulls if:

Defense is at a high level- which it was for three quarters against the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday

Stop hacking-OKC shot 44 free throws compared to Chicago’s 22.

Turnovers- Chicago gave up the ball four times in the fourth quarter, three of them led to OKC points, including two fast break dunks.

Scoring-Someone other than Derrick Rose has to score for the Bulls.

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Detroit doesn’t play defense except for Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, who will probably be on Luol Deng and whoever is at the two-guard. I’m hoping Kyle Korver gets the start, but it could be Keith Bogans, who got the start against the Thunder.

If the Bulls take care of the ball on offense and defend the Pistons scorers such as Prince, Hamilton and Ben Gordon, and do a better job with help defense, Chicago gets the W.

After a disappointing game against the Thunder, in which the Bulls laid an egg in the fourth quarter, they should be determined to beat a poor Pistons team.

Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls–Bulls win because the D holds the Pistons.

Other games on Oct. 30

Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks–The Hawks are 2-0 and will remain undefeated.

Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers–Tough game to choose, but I’m sticking with my upset team of the season, Sacramento

Portland Trailblazers at New York Knicks–Portland has too much talent for Amare Stoudemire to compete against, Blazers win

Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers–Another tough one, but Danny Granger and Darren Collison will pull out the win.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies–Grizzlies have improved over the past two years, they get the nod.

Denver Nuggets at Houston Rockets–The Nuggets are playing good ball, with Carmelo Anthony proving he is an elite player, Nuggets.

Charlotte Bobcats at Milwaukee Bucks-Battle of two rising teams, I can’t pick against the central division in a situation such as this, Fear the Deer, for one game at least.

New Orleans Hornets at San Antonio Spurs–Tim Duncan and company are rolling and it’s at home, no doubt they get the W.

Yesterday I was horrible with a 4-8 record

Things which went as expected:

The Hawks beat the 76ers because they’re more talented and the same things go with the match-ups the Thunder, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers met up with.

Things which went wrong:

The Miami Heat downed the Orlando Magic to prove me terribly wrong because I thought the Magic were ready to take the Eastern Conference.

Blake Griffin is putting up numbers with the Los Angeles Clippers, but the stats are not winning games as they fall to the Golden State Warriors.

After owning the Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers fall to the Toronto Raptors.

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The New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves win games, I thought would go the other way, while the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets lose games they win easily on paper.

Submit your picks in the comment box or email me at brandon.lachance@bullshome.com.