Bulls finish road trip with win over Knicks

The Bulls have just one thing to say:

Thank God for the Knicks.

Chicago finished up a nightmarish seven-game road trip on Saturday night, beating the even-more-hapless New York Knickerbockers, 106-95. The Bulls had lost the first six games of the trip by a combined score of 630-571.

The long road trip is an annual early-season tradition for Chicago as the United Center (and previously the Chicago Stadium) hosts the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus for nearly two weeks. It’s annually the longest road trip by an NBA team and when the Bulls were good, it was an advantage, getting a chunk of the road schedule out of the way early. In the post-Jordan era, Chicago has had a much tougher go of it. This year’s fiasco left the Bulls with a 4-9 record, tied with Milwaukee for last place in the NBA’s Central Division.

Worse for the Bulls, even in victory, there was controversey. Center Ben Wallace was benched in the third quarter because he violated a team rule against wearing headbands. Wallace wore the headband in the first quarter, something he did when he played in Detroit. Chicago coach Scott Skiles didn’t explain why it took until after halftime to discipline Wallace.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 24 points while Kirk Hinrich had 21 and Andres Nocioni scored 19.

Now Chicago hosts those same Knicks on Tuesday, the beginning of a stretch of nine out of 10 games at home. The Bulls need to string together some wins if they want to get back in the race.

Get your Chicago Bulls tickets at StubHub!

Disastorous road trip continues for Bulls

The Chicago Bulls came into the season expecting to contend for the NBA’s Central Division championship and had hopes to go deep into the NBA playoffs.

Those hopes are on hold for the moment. Chicago has lost the first five games of a seven-game road trip with back-to-back games at Philadelphia and New York on Friday and Saturday.

The latest disaster was a 113-109 loss at Denver on Nov. 21. Two days prior, it was an 82-72 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls opened the trip with losses at each of the Texas teams.

Ben Wallace has struggled with his new team. The former Detroit Piston is averaging 10.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, both below his career averages. More disturbingly, the 32-year old Wallace’s statistics are in decline. His rebounding average has fallen each of the last four years from a career-high 15.4 in 2002-03. His blocked shots have fallen five consecutive years from a high of 3.5 per game.

It’s still early, of course. The Bulls record sits at 3-8 and there’s plenty of time to right the ship. The good news is that Chicago has a couple of days off for Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, the Bulls took time to feed the homeless at the Pacific Garden Mission Gospel League Home in Chicago. The way they’ve been playing, it was a welcome respite.

Get Chicago Bulls tickets at Stubhub!

Long Road Trip Off to Rocky Start

The Bulls dropped a second consecutive game on Thursday night losing to the Rockets 101-100; this, on the heels of a 12-point loss to a struggling Dallas team on Tuesday. Two games into the seven-game road swing and the Bulls are yearning for some home cooking.

In response to Ben Gordon’s early season struggles, Head Coach Scott Skiles moved Gordon to the bench and started Chris Duhon in his place. More of the same inconsistency from Gordon; on Tuesday he played 35 minutes, scoring 17 points, but shot 6-18 from the floor. Thursday, as the script goes, BG was filthy, carving up the Rockets D for 37; single-handedly bringing the Bulls back from a 21-point second-half deficit.

The wows continue for the reigning NBA Defensive Player-of-the-Year, Ben Wallace, who has been worthless the last two games. Wallace, who during the off-season signed a four-year deal with the Bulls, believed to be worth $60 large, has tallied 7 points and 13 rebounds…….total!! Big Ben is searching right now; you can tell by his body language that he’s struggling and isn’t sure where to turn. His infectious energy is gone and with it his production. The Bulls desperately need BW to start earning his money, by rebounding, defending, and leading. Until Wallace starts to contribute the Bulls will remain a one-dimensional team.

This road trip is so long you may forget what the Bulls look like; get your Bulls tickets now, before you’re left out in the Chicago cold. VisitStubHub now for the best selection of Chicago Bulls tickets on the web.

Mixed Bag for Bulls to Start Season

The Bulls seven game road trip, which will take them away from the United Center for nearly three weeks, should be very revealing and give Bulls fans a good gauge of just how competitive their team is.

ESPN guru, Marc Stein, has the Bulls ranked tenth in the league right now, which is very generous given the less than impressive start to the season. While the season is brand-spanking new, there are two trends that have emerged early on; one exciting and the other concerning. First the good; third-year player, Luol Deng, looks like he’s ready to make the leap to the next level and appears to have the goods to make him a perennial all-star. Deng has demonstrated an aggressiveness that was often missing the last two years. Deng is second on the team in scoring and is shooting the ball at a 52% clip. A tough guard for many teams; Deng’s length allows him to shoot over shorter defenders, while his quickness at 6’9” creates an advantage when guarded by a big.

Conversely, Ben Gordon has been the epitome of inconsistency to start the year. Gordon is averaging 12ppg. on 38% shooting. Gordon has led the Bulls in scoring on two occasions, scoring 24 points and 37 points, respectively. However, Gordon has also dropped four bombs, shooting a combined 5-35 (.147) good for 16 total points or an average of 4ppg. Gordon is getting every team’s best perimeter defender and when his jumper is broken, as it has been this season (.200 from beyond the arc), Gordon is forced to try and create scoring opportunities going to the basket. This forces him to make shots in traffic over bigger and stronger defenders.

Gordon is too good a player to continue to perform with such inconsistency. Bulls fans calling for the organization to trade Gordon should practice patience and let him get his rhythm; once this happens he should be good for 20 a night.

Don’t wait for the road trip to end; get your Chicago Bulls tickets now. Visit SutbHub for the largest selection of Bulls tickets on the web.

Permalink - Posted in General

Bulls Slow Start Not A Surprise

November 10, 2006

Bulls Trying to Mesh New With Old
We’re now officially one week into the 2006-2007 NBA season and the Chicago Bulls are off to what can only be considered as an inconsistent start. The Bulls are struggling to find their rhythm as they try and successfully integrate newcomers Ben Wallace, PJ Brown, Tyrus Thomas, and Sefolosha, with veteran Bulls, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and Luol Deng.

The results so far have been less than encouraging for Bulls fans. However, the season is very young and it would be premature and unconscionable to start unloading your Bulls tickets this early. In fact, the Bulls are probably where they thought they would be after one week of action; 2-3. The biggest concern to this point is the inconsistency in which the Bulls have played. Blow-out wins over Miami and Milwaukee have been overshadowed by lackluster performances at Cleveland and a late-game collapse against Sacramento.

The Bulls need to get their business in order before they embark on a seven game, 11 day road trip; their longest of the season. The Bulls schedule has them traversing the country where they’ll face six teams that advanced to last year’s play-offs.

This could be the true litmus test for a team searching for its identity. If the Bulls return to the comfy confines of the United Center with an overall record hovering at or above .500, then you can consider the road trip very successful.

Whether you’re planning to catch the Bulls in one of the seven cities they will visit during this ridiculously long road trip or you are counting the days until they return to the United Center; make StubHub your first stop when buying Chicago Bulls tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General