Will the Bulls Make a Trade for Kobe?
There’s a possibility that the Chicago Bulls may pull Kobe Bryant from the Lakers – and you can bet that both Bulls and Lakers fans are on edge awaiting the decision. The latest news on the possible trade is that the Lakers say they will trade Bryant to the Bulls in a package involving Luol Deng. Deng is the Bulls 22-year-old small forward, who in fact happens to be quite valuable to the team. He’s straight off an 18 point, 7 rebound year, in which he shot 51% from the field. The Bulls have responded to the offer – saying they won’t give up Deng but rather they will pay top dollar for the Lakers superstar. There’s definitely a disconnect here – basically it comes down to Deng not being good enough for the Bulls to pay him the maximum salary, but being too good to trade to the Lakers for all-star Kobe.
Speculation is arising that instead of losing Deng, the Bulls are willing to give up Ben Gordon. Gordon, like Deng, is up for salary negotiation but also getting the run around. Lots of skeptics see the Bulls as truly wanting to get rid of Deng and Gordon because of the lack of conclusion in the salary talks, and this leaves them wondering why, exactly, the Bulls should be trusted to value Kobe for what he’s worth. It’s all speculation at this point, and there’s uncertainty as to whether Bryant will actually be traded – and whether or not that trade will happen with Chicago.
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Big Ben Line is Good-Looking and Inexpensive
Ben Wallace made an appearance at the Steve & Barry’s store at Randhurst Shopping Center in Mount Prospect, Illinois earlier this week. Wallace was in town to debut his new shoes – the Big Ben – along with his apparel line. There was a huge showing at the store; fans gathered and waited in line for hours to get Wallace’s autograph. Wallace dorned a Big Ben T-shirt from his new line, along with a headband with a “BB” logo. The Chicago Bulls superstar planted himself at a table with his two young children and signed autographs for the fans who came to purchase items from his new line – including T-shirts, shoes, wristbands and hoodies.
The great thing about Ben Wallace’s new clothing line is that no single item costs more than $14.98, keeping it affordable for any Bulls fan who looks up to the basketball star. The Big Ben high tops have the “BB” logo and retail at $14.98. They come in four color schemes, including black, red and black, black and white and white and red. Wallace helped design the shoe which he will wear in the Bulls first regular season game against the Knicks this Wednesday. The shoes are far less expensive than other custom basketball kicks by high profile players. Howard Schacter, who manages the Big Ben line for Steve & Barry’s, says that even though they are cheaper, the quality is the same as shoes that retail at hundreds of dollars more. “The reason for this is that the brand isn’t spending money on major expenses like advertising. The shoe is only sold at Steve & Barry’s. We save millions on PR and pass the savings onto consumers.” Sounds like a good deal for any Wallace fan, and the added plus? You can see Wallace sporting the shoes himself when you watch the Bulls take the court.
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Bulls Face Questions About their Starting Lineup for Wednesday’s Game
The Bulls will face the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night, but there are still questions as to what their starting lineup will look like. The Bulls’ Saturday practice wasn’t much of a puzzle-solver, as coach Scott Skiles was still unsure about what to do on Wednesday. Ben Wallace and Joakim Noah were both inactive at Saturday’s practice due to their recently sprained ankles. Noah hasn’t spent much time in the starting rotation anyway, and according to Skiles it’s extremely doubtful that he will be a starter on Wednesday. Skiles isn’t sure about Wallace – who injured his ankle on Thursday but claims it is “minor.”
Joe Smith, who experienced a swollen right knee, revealed that he took both cortisone and anti-inflammatory shots for the injury. According to press notes, Smith “is rounding into shape and health” and should hopefully make an appearance against the Nets on Wednesday. Of the possibility of starting on Wednesday, Smith said, “Whatever’s asked, I’m ready for, whether it’s to be in the starting lineup in place of Ben or if Ben comes back and I’m coming off the bench.” Skiles will have to make a decision soon, so it should be a surprise to everyone who starts in the Bulls first regular season game.
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Bulls Limp Away from Win over Bucks
The Chicago Bulls won their final exhibition game of the preseason last night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 97-81. It is always nice to get a win, especially over a regional rival like the Bucks, but you never like to see players go down due to injury, especially when it’s in a game that has no bearing on anything. That’s why it was difficult to watch as most of the front line went limping to the locker room last night. Ben Wallace sprained his ankle, Tyrus Thomas hurt his foot and Joakim Noah sustained what appeared to be an ankle sprain, all during action in the game last night. Suddenly Aaron Gray really looks like a starter for the opening game of the season.
The good news is that the guards all looked good. Ben Gordon returned to play after healing from an injury. Kirk Hinrich added some solid minutes. Andres Nocioni missed the game. He is another big player who is suffering from an injury right now. Let’s hope that all of these injured Bulls can get back to shape by this time next week. The Bulls will open up their season on Halloween night next week, and it would be great to see everyone out there on the floor for the first time this year.
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One More Preseason Game to Go for Bulls
The Chicago Bulls have one more preseason game remaining on their schedule before the regular season begins on October 31st. The other night the Bulls lost to the Dallas Mavericks in an exhibition game, and tonight they will play the Milwaukee Bucks, which will be the last time you can see the Bulls in action on the court when nothing really counts. The Bulls’ first game of the season will be on the road at New Jersey, but after that, you can begin to see the Bulls finally take the court in Chicago. There are some very good reasons to be optimistic about this upcoming season. The Bulls will return most of the players who got them to the second round of the playoffs last year, they improved over the offseason, and they are all a year more experienced. There is no reason to think that this team can’t get a few more wins, and perhaps even take the Central division title.
One question that remains for the Bulls is: who will become the fifth person on the opening game starting roster? You can be sure that Kirk, Ben G., Luol and Ben W. will be out there, but the power forward position remains up for grabs. The players vying for the spot are Joe Smith, Aaron Gray, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune seems to think that Scott Skiles might be leaning towards Gray. The Bulls are deep at that position right now, and can sub out for better offensive or defensive production from their bench no matter who they start come Halloween.
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Luol Deng Speaks Out About Genocide in Darfur
Luol Deng was born in Sudan, and with the rising concern over the genocide there, he is beginning to speak up more and more. Deng spent most of his early childhood living in Sudan with his family. As conditions in the region worsened, Deng and his family were forced to flee the African nation in order to stay safe. Although he’s spent most of his life out of the region, Deng still feels a need to bring attention to Sudan – in hopes of someday seeing his homeland as a peaceful region. The refugee turned NBA star spoke to about 200 people at a downtown Chicago rally on Sunday in hopes of spreading the word about Sudan. Deng’s mission is to appeal to as many countries as he can, in hopes of getting them involved in helping to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.
So far the civil strife in Sudan’s Darfur region has left more than 200,000 people dead – and that number keeps growing. Deng told the crowd in Chicago that his dream is for the Sudanese people to have the opportunity he had to improve his life. He says a lot of people in Sudan are waiting for hope and that it’s up to others to keep those hopes alive. Deng is definitely using his fame for a good cause – it’s nice to see an NBA star who is more concerned with others than with himself.
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Bulls Waive Two Players to Make their Team Total 15
The Chicago Bulls have decided to waive guard Andre Barrett this week, making a final decision as they approach their first regular season game of the 2007-2008 season. The 5’10”, 173 lb. guard appeared in only six of the Bulls games last season. They had held onto him until now, but finally decided to cut ties with the so-called journeyman. Barrett played college hoops at Seton Hall and was undrafted prior to being signed as a free agent with the New York Nicks in 2004. Barrett played with the Knicks before signing with the Houston Rockets. He then went on to play for the Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Phoenix Suns, the Toronto Raptors and finally, the Chicago Bulls.
Barrett was signed by the Bulls on October 2, 2006 and spent last season with them (in which he only played in six games that amounted to a total of 29 minutes). He averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists with the Bulls last year. Along with Barrett, the Bulls also waived forward/center Jared Homan, leaving them with a total of fifteen players to start the upcoming 2007-2008 season.
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Andres Nocioni Leads the Bulls in their Win Over the Pacers
The Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 100-88 on Saturday, marking another preseason victory for the windy city team. Andres Nocioni scored a game high of 20 points and Tyrus Thomas added 15 points and seven rebounds to help the Bulls overcome the Pacers. Nocioni suffered plantar fasciitis in his right foot last season, which caused him to miss 28 of the Bulls 29 games and limited him in the playoffs. Although his foot is feeling fine so far, Nocioni’s right calf tightened for the second straight preseason game on Saturday – but it didn’t seem to bother him too much seeing as he was the Bulls high-scorer.
According to press notes, Nocioni said, “This preseason is different than the other ones because right now, I’m coming from the tough injury. Last year, I didn’t play to my level for half of the season. This kind of game is really important for my confidence. My leg’s much better. I feel great. I feel like (I’m) 20 years old.” Nocioni was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers and 7-of-9 overall in the Bulls game against the Pacers. He scored 13 points in the first half and led the way as the Bulls increased their lead in the third quarter.
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Joakim Noah is Getting into the Game
These days it seems like everyone is talking about Joakim Noah. The Bulls rookie power forward is just 3 preseason games into Chicago’s 2007-2008 season, and you can bet that there are a lot of eyes on him. Although Noah is still adjusting to the NBA, he’s more basketball-hungry then ever. “I wish we could play every night. I’m saying that now. Come February, many rookies don’t know what hit them.” It’s true that this season will be a whirlwind for Noah – along with the Bulls other rookies James OnCurry and Aaron Gray – but a whirlwind of excitement, learning, challenges and plenty of basketball fun. Noah is already facing the challenges of joining the windy city’s legendary team. “I’m messing up the plays a lot. It gets frustrating at times for me. The point guard or coach will call out a play, and you don’t know where you’re supposed to be. But coach told me to keep my head up and keep working hard and it will click.”
It’s no secret that hard work and practice lead to improvement, and that’s what the Bulls are expecting from Noah and the other rookies this season. Skiles calls Noah a quick learner, saying “You can tell that he wants to learn. So we’ll keep teaching him. He may end up being a bigger factor for us than we realize right now. Who knows?” It seems that Noah has Skiles’ confidence going for him, and along with that he’s got plenty of enthusiasm and seems more than eager to learn – well, what rookie wouldn’t be? Although there are a lot of Noah skeptics out there, it seems that plenty of people are willing to give the guy a chance. In a recent article sportswriter Erick Ward said, “It seems like Noah is the type of player that people hate to play against, and his exuberant personality makes it easy for opposing fans to hate, but when he is on your side his toughness and effort make him impossible to dislike.”
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Joe Smith Comes off the Bench in Chicago’s Game Against the Wizards
The Chicago Bulls’ 12-year veteran Joe Smith made his pre-season debut on Tuesday night in the Bulls exhibition game against the Washington Wizards. Smith, who has been sidelined due to an injured and swollen right knee, played a successful thirteen minutes in Tuesday night’s game at the United Center. To the delight of coaches and fans, he finished the game with seven points, but the Bulls maintain that they will keep a close eye on him so as not to worsen his injury. The team is also keeping a close eye on injured players Ben Gordon, Thabo Sefolosha and Adrian Griffin, who all remained sidelined during Tuesday’s game. Smith, who is new to Chicago’s team this year, didn’t feel 100 percent before the game, but insisted on playing in order to get acclimated with his new teammates.
According to press notes Smith said, “It’s important to get to know my teammates, even after playing all these years. That’s why I’m kind of trying to rush my way back a little bit. Games and practices are totally different. I want to get as comfortable with the guys as I can. Playing in games before the season starts is important.” Skiles is still testing who he wants to start and how long he wants his starters playing, and of Smith’s position on the team he has said, “I think if he started for awhile then all of a sudden you wanted to make a change, I don’t think that would bother him. And I think if he was comfortable in his role off the bench and all of a sudden you said, ‘Look, we’ve lost a couple in a row. We want to mix it up.’ He’d start and you’d probably see the same game out of him.” It seems that an easy-going attitude is what comes from years of experience on the court – and lucky for Smith, Skiles seems to admire his approach to the game.
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