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
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- 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.
Chicago Bulls tid-bits from first week of camp
As you know, Ben Gordon resigned with Chicago earlier this week. He signed a one year tenure and will remain with the team for atleast one more season, before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer. It is hard to believe that he would end up resigning with the Bulls, after turning down contract extension each of the last two summers. His agent though, Raymond Brothers, say that Gordon would be willing to negotiate with the Bulls again next summer. This coming after Gordon stated a little over a month ago that he would not be back in Chicago, that he would either be traded or end up in Europe playing basketball.
On Thursday, when Ben Gordon returned to practice, the log jam at guard began. The Bulls have Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Thabo Sefolosha and rookie Derrick Rose. Rookie head coach Vinny del Negro has quite the job ahead of him, trying to get enough playing time for everyone. Del Negro recently refered to the problem as a ‘good problem’ though and would like to set the rotation soon. John Paxson said the Bulls are going to ‘develop rookie Derrirck Rose this season,’ so the rest of the guys will need to ‘play themselves into minutes.’
In other Bulls news, forward/center Joakim Noah will be unable to practice for about five days after being sctrached in the eye by Thabo Sefolosha during a contact drill Wednesday. This is not a good thing for the second year Noah, who del Negro said he ‘wasn’t happy with his summer league play.’ He believes in the end Noah had a very productive summer overall and can’t wait to get the guy back on the court.
San Antonio, lets not make a trade
A recent blog post from NoBloodNoFoul.com came up with an interesting trade rumor between the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls.
The trade included San Antonio sending Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen and Matt Bonner to Chicago for Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni. I am writing this post in response this trade rumor; a trade which does not make sense to me for Chicago. Lets go over whats wrong about his points for the Bulls.
The first reason made was that Chicago needs leadership. I agree with the fact the Bulls could use some veteran leadership. NBNL believes that Chicago can find this leadership in Manu Ginobili once he returns from his injury after a month or two. Why would we want someone who is injured? Ginobili is going to start the season injured. Ginobili, although a better shooter, is not much different than Nocioni. Each from Argentina, play tough nose defense, always playing with maximum effort.
Another reason made is the defense play of Bruce Bowen would also take pressure of younger Bulls players, as well as act as a mentor to teach the younger players. Bowen is quickly aging and his defensive play will begin to diminish as he becomes slower. Does another name pop into your head when you think of aging, defensive players? Ben Wallace.
The last point, and the only one I agree with, was that the Chicago Bulls get rid of two long term contracts they don’t really need. The Bulls have Hinrich and Nocioni inked to long term deals, each for players likely to spend more time than before on the bench. With Derrick Rose now slated as the Bulls future at point guard, Hinrich’s lack of skills at the shooting guard position make him a back up. The same goes for Nocioni now that Luol Deng is signed to a long term. The Bulls also need to be looking forward to 2010 when Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha become free agents.
Now although this trade makes since from a financial point of view, I believe the Bulls would be better off holding out on this one. As the dead line begins to approach in February, teams who are just out of it or missing players due to injury, others may become interested in these players.
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