For those of us who can't get enough NBA basketball, the Orlando Summer league kicks off today. Few, if any, of these games will be televised, but an online video stream available from the Orlando Magic website.
Today, we get an early glimpse of Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley as the Bulls play the Miami Heat this evening. Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah also join the Bulls squad, so there should be a steady stream of dunks from these two, assisted by Mr. Rose.
Boy, wouldn't it be great if the Bulls had someone on their
roster capable of being named to the Olympic squad? Or even
someone worth traveling
with Team USA as the number 1 alternate? Yeah, that would be
nice.
To summarize, Tyson Chandler now lives happily in New Orleans
dunking alley-oop passes from MVP candidate Chris Paul. And the
man Chandler was traded for, PJ "The Tin Man" Brown just got
himself an NBA Championship ring with the Boston Celtics...
At the 2008 NBA Draft, the Bulls did what any team with the 1st pick should do - select the best player, regardless of need. That player would be Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, a local product of Chicago.
Any possibility the Bulls might have opted for Kansas St. scoring machine Michael Beasley ended when his pre-draft height measurements came in at 6'7 feet (Marcus Pfizer, anyone?).
Still, Beasley supporters may point out that Derrick Rose will be too distracted in his hometown to focus his professional basketball career. Yes, the onus will be on the Bulls team management to guide Rose through his rookie year. However, there is a potentially great story line that could play out here: Local kid gets drafted by his hometown team and leads the city to a championship.
Michael Jordan was from North Carolina and quickly became Chicago's adopted son. But this city will always revere players with Chicago roots. Just ask Kevin Garnett or Dwayne Wade. And the feeling is mutual. Garnett was giving shout-outs to Chicago immediately after winning the NBA championship as a Boston Celtic.
Do I think Derrick Rose can lead the Bulls to an NBA...more
Behold the wisdom of Doug Collins as he rationalizes why the Bulls head coach position no longer appeals to him:
"The feeling now is more, 'Should I do this?' Once I got to that point, it meant no. I always make decisions yes is yes, no is no and maybe is no."
No worries, Paxson has moved on and today signed another scrappy former NBA guard to coach the Bulls. Welcome to the franchise Vinnie Del Negro!
Vinnie will actually get to coach this team for a full season, which is contrary to rumors that Paxson would hire Chuck Person, Dwane Casey, AND Del Negro to all serve as head coach. Under this scenario, each coach would run the team for 27.333 games, thereby giving Paxson time to evaluate each candidate during the regular season.
While Doug Collins has the inside track to someday, somewhere, be named the Bulls next head coach, that hasn't stopped the Bulls from continuing to interview other candidates.
Chuck Person, the man who once punted a basketball into the rafters during a Pacers - Bulls game, just completed his second interview with Bulls GM John Paxson. As a player, Person was an avid shooter and borderline black hole (throw the ball to him, and it's not coming back). When a reporter asked him once about his teammates getting the ball to him, he declared, "I'm open as soon as a I step off the team bus." Thanks, Chuck. How would you like to coach an NBA franchise?
When the Bulls cast a coaching net so wide that it includes disparate personalities from Doug Collins to Chuck Person to (insert random assistant coach's name here), the perception is that the franchise is a rudderless ship. Not a good sign.
Paxson, I hear John Wooden is available.
All signs point to Doug Collins being named head coach of the Chicago Bulls in the near future. After John Paxson interviewed just about every assistant coach, cheerleader, and ball boy in the NBA, he appears to have finally settled on a familar friend.
A fiery and emotional coach, Collins was fired from his first stint as the Bulls head coach over "philosophical differences." He just couldn't get a team with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant deep into the playoffs. Phil Jackson, then an assistant, took over and the rest was history.
Collins has been known to turn a team around quickly, but the stress of game losses and underperforming players always takes a heavy toll upon him. Hopefully, Paxson brings in some quality assistant coaches such as Jeff Hornacek or Brian Shaw to aid Collins in turning around this franchise.
I don't expect Collins to last more than three years here, and his potential successor should be on staff in the event that he resigns or is fired (again).
Number 1: Hire a real head coach
Eric Snow, Elston Turner, Tyrone Corbin, Jeff Bzdelik, Kurt Rambis, Brian Shaw... are we expected to take these coaching candidates seriously?
Number 2: Draft Derrick Rose
Joakim Noah doesn't need anyone else to smoke weed with. He needs a pure point guard who can run an offense, defend, and get his head above the rim. Michael Beasley scored a ton in college, but he's a tweener with a potential attitude problems (the last thing the Bulls need).
So to help Paxson remember this lengthy list of tasks, I'm recommending he use a To-Do Tattoo. He simply draws on himself with a sharpie.
If Mike D'Antoni resigns from his position as head coach of the Phoenix Suns, he immediately becomes the Bulls best choice to fill their own head coaching vacancy. The Bulls would be foolish not to snatch him off the market asap.
In Phoenix, D'Antoni coaches an open, high-scoring brand of offense that would fill the Bulls requisite for new philosphical approach to basketball from its coaching staff. D'Antoni is an underrated X's and O's coach who would easily hold his own in the Eastern Conference.
Defense isn't a top priority if Phoenix, but the Bulls didn't take it too seriously this year either. A new offense would invigorate and re-engage the Bulls players.
With the youngest roster in the league, full of fresh legs, why not get out and run? Kirk Hinrich can run up and down like he did at Kansas. Ben Gordon won't have to work as hard for shots as he did in the half-court offense. Larry Hughes becomes more of a slasher (his best skill) instead of a jump shooter. Big men Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah can run out and attack the rim.
If anything, D'Antoni's system...more
The Milwaukee Bucks wasted no time finding their new head coach, Scott Skiles. Skiles appears to be the perfect remedy for an underachieving, poor defensive team filled with high draft picks. Sound familiar?
Don't be surprised if the recently fired, Bulls coach Jim Boylan winds up on the sidelines with Skiles in Milwaukee next season.
Meanwhile, the Bulls search for their own head coach hasn't produced any serious leads. It's somewhat disturbing that Bulls GM John Paxson doesn't have a short list of top candidates he is pursuing. Instead, he sounds open to listening to whoever sells themselves the best to the Bulls organization.
The Bulls season mercifully comes to an end tonight against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are a .500 ball club in the Eastern Conference, thereby making them the 6th seed in the playoffs. So expect them to put up a little more defense than Milwaukee did last Wednesday, when the Bulls erupted for 151 points.
Joakim Noah wasn't fooled by the disparity between meaningless games and having something to play for:
""It definitely wasn't a playoff atmosphere. Put it this way, if people were playing for something right now, like a playoff berth, the score would have never been like that."
Unfortunately, fans are still obligated to pay full price for tickets to a game where the effort is anything but full.
Prior the last night's game against the Miami Heat, the Bulls
were still mathematically alive for the playoffs. Realistically,
they've been out of it since the end of March. And after last
night's loss to the NBA's worst team, the Bulls can officially say
they've thrown in
the towel.
Check out this world beater lineup the Heat trotted out:
Let's not forget the bench players for the Heat, most notably
Kasib Powell, who torched the Bulls for 18 points. Stephane Lasme,
Joel Anthony, Jason Williams, and a bag of potato chips also
contributed to their glorious 95 - 88 victory.
In a game that was somehow both comically depressing and positively
irrelevant, the Bulls players appear just as anxious as their fans
to see this season over with. Only 5 more games to go. I will now
go vomit.
A fourth quarter comeback victory on the road against Lebron? Surely you jest. But tonight's heavy weight title match of coaching prowess between Jim Boylan and Mike Brown came up in the Bull's favor 101 - 98.
Joakim Noah logged 40 minutes of play tonight and singlehandedly contested Cleveland's final two shots. First, he altered a driving fade away shot by Lebron. Moments later, he ran out from under the basket to close out on Daniel Gibson's last second three point attempt. Two misses later, the Bulls walked out with an improbable victory.
Trailing by as many as 17 points, the Bulls caught fire in the 3rd quarter and finished the fourth quarter with a 24 to 13 point advantage. The rare display of offensive potency lead to a 53.5% shooting with 40% on threes.
Welcome to the NBA. Where Eastern Conference basketball happens.
Last week, Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning was in attendance at the McDonald's High School All-America Game. Next season, it would be nice to see him on the Bulls bench as their big man coach.
Mourning has been out for the season since suffering a knee injury in December. Assuming he opts to retire after 16 years in the league, he might be persuaded to join a team's coaching staff as a big man mentor.
With Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, and Aaron Gray, the Bulls have three young big men that would greatly benefit from the teachings of such an acclaimed player. Mourning was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and was perenially a member of the NBA All-Defensive team. But he also had offensive scoring ability to match his tenacious defense.
Compared to some of the other less heralded, former big men brought in by the Bulls to teach their forwards and centers, Alonzo's career resume instantly commands respect.
Perhaps his presence at the Mickey D's basketball game demonstrates Alonzo Mourning's appreciation for the game itself. So perhaps he wouldn't mind passing some of his sage wisdom down to its next generation of players.
There really isn't any other choice, is there? If this season is going down in flames, we might as well make it entertaining. This Bulls team has struggled so mightily, both on the court and off, that the masochist in me says why not see how fall we can push this envelope of insanity.
Signing Oakley to the Bulls roster would be the equivalent of GM John Paxson tossing a live hand grenade into the Bulls locker room. At 44 years old, the Oak Tree still thinks he can play.
While Oakley might not start for the NBA's "All-Crazy" team, he's definitely coming off the bench. And I couldn't think of a better mentor for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. If you're going to fued with fellow players and coaches, then you better learn from a master. Plus, he once appeared in a music video for Hootie and the Blowfish, at least according to Wikipedia.
As a much needed bonus, Oakley would administer old-school beat downs to any team that dared put on a slam dunk...more
The latest chapter in this soap opera season for the Bulls brings us another 4th quarter collapse, another player outburst, and an interim coach campaigning to be retained as the head coach next season.
Earlier this season, Joakim Noah was suspended for two games after cursing out assistant coach Ron Adams, in practice. Now Andres Nocioni gets fined an undisclosed amount for cursing out the head coach in a game.
Inconsistent? Absolutely. But doesn't this make the Bulls train wreck all the more watchable? Probably not. The Bulls should be thanking the Knicks for diverting media attention away from what may be the most dysfunctional NBA team this season.
The saga continues tonight when the Bulls look to avoid further embarrassment againt the Atlanta Hawks. Here we find the Bulls still fighting for the 8th playoff spot in a most pathetic stumble towards the end of the regular season.
