Another sign Chicago is a threat in the Eastern Conference: winning record on annual west coast road trip
There have been many reasons to believe the Chicago Bulls are a real contender in the Eastern Conference this season including individual talent such as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, new coach Tom Thibodeau with a defense emphasis and off-season pickups such as the $80 million man, Carlos Boozer.
Saturday, Chicago answered the hype once again early in the season, by leaving their “circus trip” on the west coast with a 4-3 record. The first winning record on the annual road trip since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were the kings of the court in 1998.
The pieces of talent and solid coaching are coming together to have the Bulls answer the hype, even though Boozer hasn’t played a game and won’t until Wednesday or Friday.
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Back in the game
After a two-day hiatus from making NBA game picks, Bullshome is back in the game.
Wednesday’s match-ups begin with the Chicago Bulls playing the second game of their “Circus Trip” as ESPN likes to call it. In the the road trip the Bulls will play seven west coast teams in 12 days including five of the seven top eight teams in the Western Conference. Wednesday finds the Bulls in San Antonio against the Spurs.
Tim Duncan and company are 8-1 which puts them in a three way tie for the best record in the league with the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns are going to see who can past 6-4 as they meet in a battle of the disappointments. Miami’s big three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are not living up to the hype while the Suns, last year’s Western Conference Champions, are extremely inconsistent, mainly because they don’t have an inside presence. Oh, almost forgot, Robin Lopez, the Suns only valuable big man, is out with a knee injury.
What other games are Wednesday night?
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New Orleans stays undefeated
Saturday NBA action didn’t have many story lines as the great teams destroyed bad or mediocre teams. The New Orleans Hornets stayed undefeated, the San Antonio Spurs continue to impress and Indiana Pacer Danny Granger led the NBA in scoring with 34 points while defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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…
Lakers and Jazz dominate on Sunday
Well, I was hoping to follow up my pick record of 8-1 on Saturday with a perfect four-for-four on Sunday. Thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers keeping their play at a high level and the Utah Jazz finally playing the type of basketball I thought they could, my record for Sunday is 2-2.
Silly me for picking against the Lakers and the Jazz.
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Happenings Around the League
Free agency is over, the draft has come and gone, so, now we wait impatiently for trades to develop or the 2010-2011 season to start. While we wait, what is happening around the league?
The Chicago Bulls are tying to extend Joakim Noah’s contract while trade offers to the Denver Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony seem dead in the water if Chicago will not part ways with Noah. In my opinion, this is a smart move by the Bulls. They need Noah’s inside defense, rebounding and hustle more than they need a scorer. Don’t get me wrong, I love Melo and want him to be a Bull, but Chicago shouldn’t give away their only pure big man for him. We know the saying, defense wins games.
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