Lakers 108, Bulls 93

Pau Gasol scored 24 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls 108-93 on Thursday. Chicago’s Derrick Rose said, “I’m playing terrible. I’m not going to the hole the way I used to. It seems like, to me, I’m not that aggressive, but that’s going to change. I know that I’m going to have to be aggressive from now on.” Although Rose pushed the ball quickly up court and unleashed several fearless drives to the basket, he only made 2 of 11 shots in the first half. The point guard recovered in the second half when he swished seven shots in a row and finished the game with 20 points. But Rose’s effort was too little, too late. Chicago fell behind by 11 points at halftime. The Bulls also had the misfortune of greeting Gasol. He made his season debut with the Lakers after returning from a hamstring injury and didn’t show much rust, as he finished the game strong by grabbing 13 rebounds. Gasol registered 10 points in the first seven minutes. Kobe Bryant added 21 points for Los Angeles, and the Lakers enjoyed a 60-40 advantage in points in the paint. John Salmons was the only player for the Bulls who had it going offensively. He recorded 18 points in the first half, but was  held scoreless in the second. The Bulls’ Luol Deng managed just six points, while Joakim Noah kept up his league-leading rebounding pace (sixth consecutive game with a double-double, 15 boards and 12 points). The Bulls have two days off before they play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

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Rose upset with his performance

Chicago point guard Derrick Rose has not been happy with his play lately. Although the Bulls defeated the Sacramento Kings 101-87 on Tuesday, a contest in which Rose scored 10 points, he was still obviously upset. Through 10 games, he’s averaging 13.4 points and 5.5 assists with a field-goal percentage of .438. The point guard was suppose to step up his offensive game this season, but his numbers are significantly lower than the 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and .475 field-goal percentage he compiled as a rookie. Rose said he’s not playing aggressive. He told the press “‘We’re winning right now, so I don’t care anything about my game. But if we weren’t winning — I’m playing terrible. I’m not going to the hole the way I used to. It seems like, to me, I’m not that aggressive.” The Bulls need Rose to play his best when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight at the Staples Center. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro thinks the media has made too much out of Rose’s struggles. The coach said, ”I just think he has to gain a little confidence in his ankle. He doesn’t have that explosion that he had, and he’s trying to get that back with his conditioning. I think he’s a little tentative right now, but the thing is you just have to keep playing, keep on playing through it, have good practices and transfer it to the games.”

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Bulls beat Kings 101-87

John Salmons scored 23 points, Luol Deng added16, and Joakim Noah finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Sacramento Kings 101-87 on Tuesday night. It was the first game with more than 100 points for Chicago, which was held under 90 in five of its previous seven games. The Kings’ Donte Greene scored 24 points, while Tyreke Evans recorded 20 and Beno Udrih had 13. Sacramento had won four consecutive games before losing to the Bulls. Jason Thompson scored with 4:25 left of the game to cut Chicago’s lead to 92-83. But the Bulls responded with Noah’s tip-in and Salmons followed with a 3-pointer. It was the first meeting between Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Sacramento’s Evans. Both men played guard for one season at Memphis State before moving to the National Basketball League. “While Rose was earning Rookie of the Year honors a year ago with the Bulls, Evans took over the starring role at Memphis and later was the fourth overall pick by the Kings.” In the third quarter, Chicago accumulated a 17-point lead, but suddenly went cold with 4:49 left of the quarter. The Kings closed in within nine points on two occasions, but Salmons contributed nine of his own to give the Bulls a 86-72 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

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Chicago Bulls team report

The Chicago Bulls are 5-4 and are off to their best start since the 1997-98 season. They have the second-toughest schedule in the league to-date, but they continue to improve as the season goes on. The Bulls have played teams with a .595 winning percentage. The only other team to have a tougher schedule is the Washington Wizards. Chicago’s Jerome James, Aaron Gray and Tyrus Thomas are out of the lineup because of injuries. Through nine games, Joakim Noah has recorded 10 or more boards in eight games. The center has also registered six double-doubles. Noah leads the NBA in rebounds with 12.2 rebounds per game (rpg). Dennis Rodman is the only other Bull to lead the NBA in rpg. Rodman did it three consecutive years. In 1997-98, the bad boy averaged 15.o rpg. Another interesting fact is that “Joakim Noah’s name currently can be found at, or near, the top of several NBA categories: first in rebounds per game (12.2), third in total rebounds (110), third in offensive rebounds per game (4.3), fourth in double-doubles (six), seventh in defensive rebounds per game (7.9), eighth in blocks per game (2.00), 10th in blocks (18) and 13th in field goal percentage (.557).” Chicago are 5-1 when they limit the opposition to 90 points or less.

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Bulls 94, 76ers 88

Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng scored 19 points apiece, and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 94-88 on Saturday. Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Brad Miller, and Joakim Noah each added 14 points for Chicago. Noah also grabbed a dozen rebounds and recorded his sixth double-double, while Deng chipped in with nine rebounds. Philadelphia was led by Andre Iguodala  with 24 points and Lou Williams with 20, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Sixers’ fifth loss in seven games. The Bulls went on a 14-4 scoring burst in the fourth quarter and took a 77-63 advantage. But the 76ers answered back with with a 10-2 run to move within single digits with 3:20 left of the game. The Bulls were able to keep the Sixers within arm’s length at the free throw line the rest of the way. Chicago lost two consecutive games before winning the contest against Philadelphia. Rose continued to shoot a solid percentage “and the fact that six of his seven field goals against Philadelphia on Saturday came on drives or floaters is an encouraging sign. But through nine games his three turnovers per game is .51 higher than last season’s average, while his assists average (5.3) is one fewer.” After the game, Rose admitted that his opponents were on him until the ball leaves his hands.

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Scottie Pippen believes Bulls can contend in the East

 Bulls legend Scottie Pippen won six World Championships during his 12 seasons in Chicago. The former player gave  his thoughts on how the Bulls can be successful this season. Pippen believes it’s all about the continued development of Derrick Rose. The point guard, who’s in his second year in the NBA, has started out slower than he’d like because of an ankle injury. But there is no doubt that Rose is the Bulls’ number one component and a driving force. In order for Chicago to succeed this season, Rose must stay healthy. He brings something to the game that the Bulls haven’t had for a long time, and that’s an All-Star caliber point guard. Pippen loves Rose because “he plays bigger than his size.” Another quality about Rose that the Bulls will benefit from is how fearless he drives into the paint. Rose is a well rounded player who will continue to get better. Pippen also noted that in order for the Bulls to be successful this season, they must fall back on their defense. He believes “defense is where this team will win and lose games.” Finally, Pippen mentioned improving the young core on the team. Pippen was impressed with how the Bulls defeated Cleveland. Rose, Noah, and Thomas are young guys who will benefit from a contest like that.

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Raptors 99, Bulls 89

Chris Bosh had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jose Calderon scored 18 points, and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Chicago Bulls 99-89 on Wednesday night. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro told the press “We had a good rhythm going early in the third quarter and then we just kind of went flat.” Indeed, the Bulls really went flat. In the second half, the Bulls shot 10 of 40 and in the fourth quarter they were held scoreless for 6-minutes. Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani recorded 16 points, and Hedo Turkoglu added 11 as the Raptors evened its record at 4-4. Denied a win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night after a lengthy review showed Brad Miller’s late jumper didn’t beat the buzzer, Chicago came out strong in this contest, scoring 35 points in the second quarter to take a 60-53 lead at the break. During half-time, Toronto coach Jay Triano told his players the Bulls were outrebounding them. Bosh explained, “He just came in and said, ‘We don’t need to fix it after the game, we need to fix it right now on the fly.’” After that speech, the Raptors came out in the third outrebounding Chicago 15-7. Rookie DeMar DeRozan had seven rebounds for the Raptors, who cut their deficit 78-77 heading into the fourth quarter. Chicago’s Joakim Noah fouled out with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while rookie Taj Gibson registered a career-high 18 points. The Bulls lost its second consecutive game following a three-game winning streak.

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Bulls vs. Nuggets

If the Chicago Bulls can beat the Denver Nuggets tonight at the United Center, they will move 3 games over.500 in November for the first time since 1997-98. The Bulls are off to a fast start, which has not happened often since the championship era. Chicago’s Luol Deng plans to continue the Bulls’ success by securing a win over the Nuggets. Last Thursday, Deng matched up against Cleveland’s LeBron James, then took on Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace (currently the NBA’s leading rebounder). Tonight, Deng has the tough task to guard Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer (31.4 points per game). After Monday’s practice, Deng told the press, “My job is to make it difficult on him and just do whatever we’ve got to do to get the win. I think the main thing is as a team, we’ve done a good job of guarding those guys.” Against the Bobcats, Deng played all but 48 seconds. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said he doesn’t expect Deng to play 47 minutes every night. The coach explained that he wanted to match Deng up against Wallace, who played 45 minutes against the Bulls. Deng  finished the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals. He plans to duplicate those numbers against the Nuggets in tonight’s contest.

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Noah leads Bulls past Bobcats 93-90

Late in the third quarter of the 93-90 comeback victory of the Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago’s Joakim Noah got the ball in the post, made a nifty move toward the baseline, turned and released a hook shot that swished through the hoop. Noah was making moves he hasn’t done in the past. After the game, a reporter asked Noah where his hook shot came from. He said, “A lot of work. It came from a lot of hours in the gym this summer.” Noah went 10-for-12 and earned a career-high 21 points. He also registered 16 rebounds and had  four blocked shots. Chicago’s John Salmons stated that he’s  impressed with Noah this season. Noah has become one of the top 12 centers in the NBA. Although he ’s not a big-time scorer, Noah does things that doesn’t get noticed in the box score. He is stronger this season and can hold his ground against big centers, which was evident against Shaquille O’Neal of the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 5. Since Tyrus Thomas has been sidelined for the next four to six weeks due to a fractured left forearm, Noah assumes a larger role on the team. He played over 40 minutes against the Bobcats, and displayed he’s up to the challenge.

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Bulls hold off Cavaliers 86-85

Cleveland’s LeBron James had a chance to win the game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, but he missed a shot with 0.2 seconds left. The Bulls edged the Cavaliers 86-85 and improved  their shooting percentage to 42 percent. What’s more important is that the Bulls are winning games at the defensive end, something they were trying to improve on since the beginning of the season. Chicago point guard Derrick Rose said, “It’s huge. Our chemistry on offense isn’t really there yet. But you have time for that. On defense, if you can continue to stop people you’ll be fine.” With 1:44 remaining, Rose hit a floater and gave the Bulls a four point lead. 11 seconds later, James responded with a 3-pointer, which were Cleveland’s last points of the night. After that, the Bulls posted three straight stops. During that span, Chicago defended Mo Williams on a three point attempt and then denied James a chance at the hoop. Deng admitted that it was tough covering James. He said, “He’s a tough cover, but I knew my help would be there. I just couldn’t give him a straight-line drive.” Deng, who had 15 points, forced James to the left and Joakim Noah arrived to form a wall at the rim. James’ miss went out of bounds and Noah was delighted the ball didn’t go out off him.

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