Bulls preseason adventure gets a little more difficult
The Chicago Bulls are 2-0 in the preseason, defeating the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors. Friday night they play a western power house, the Dallas Mavericks.
It’s preseason, so these games don’t matter much except for building team chemistry and learning the system of new head coach Tom Thibodeau, but it’ll be interesting to see how the Bulls defense matches up against Dirk Nowitzki and the potent Mavericks offense.
Dallas has a lot of scoring options other than the 7 foot German: Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Caron Butler. These are just the players who can score in more ways than one, but they also have slashers and easy bucket guys such as Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood.
While the Bulls big offensive summer pick up, Carlos Boozer is out, Chicago has the main pieces they need to be a solid defensive team in Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Ronnie Brewer and Luol Deng.
It will also be nice to see Omer Asik against some bigger stronger centers than he has seen so far.
Top 10 Chicago Bulls After Jordan and Pippen Left
In June of 1998 the Chicago Bulls won their sixth championship of the decade and finished their second three-peat. A few months later, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the icons who were the key elements of the dynasty were gone.
Since the 1998-1999 season, Chicago has seen a mass amount of players come and go. Some were drafted then traded to get a veteran who could help the team. The veteran retired after a season or two or moved on after failing to bring the bulls to a winning season. We all know how the roster played musical names in the early 2000′s.
Even though the team went through a long rebuilding period, there was still enough solid players to form a top ten, especially since the team has been to the playoffs five of the last six years.
This top 10 includes Bulls players from the 1998-1999 season to the 2009-2010 season. I would like to consider Carlos Boozer or Kyle Korver, but they haven’t played a game as a Bull. With this said, lets get to the Top 10 Bulls After Jordan and Pippen Left.
Rose is on USA Team Roster
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has been named a finalist for the 2010 USA World Championship Team.
The teams head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is also the ring leader of Duke’s basketball program, said Rose performed well in exhibition games against the rest of the players trying out for the team. Coach K told this to Bulls.com about Rose’s performance.
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Rosters are starting to take shape
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have found a home. Now everyone else is starting to put their John Hancock on the dotted line. The domino effect ESPN columnists and Dan Patrick have spoke about, is finally happening.
Rosters are starting to take shape, especially for the Chicago Bulls. They traded away Tyrus Thomas, John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich for expiring contracts that are now off the books and future draft picks. The Bulls are starting to build the roster and our only six days into the free agent signing period.
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Boozer and Korver are officially signed. Yesterday, the Bulls signed 7 ft center Omer Asik from Turkey. Asik was originally drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 2008, but was immediately traded to the Bulls. He has been developing for the past two years in Euroleague play. Chicago needs a big man who can defend a Dwight Howard or a Pau Gasol. Asik looks long and lengthy but is a great shot blocker. Maybe he will defend with intimidation as his best aspect; that’s what Ben Wallace did. Scouts seem to think he has solid NBA skills.
Introduction to the Top 10 Summer Free Agent Options for the Chicago Bulls
The next 10 posts are going to be the Bulls Home rundown of the top free agent options for the Chicago Bulls.
Chicago has six players on the books for next season: Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and James Johnson. They are allowed to have 15, so there is room for nine more players.
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The NBA projects next year’s salary cap to be $56.1 million. Chicago only has $33.6 million spent, meaning they have $22.5 mill to go shopping with.
