Bulls @ Grizzlies Tonight

The Bulls travel to FedExForum in Memphis to face the Grizzlies tonight.  The first order of business for the Bulls will be to contain Memphis’ scoring duo of Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo.  Gay is one of the longest and most athletic small forwards in the league and can score in a variety of ways.  He’s struggling a bit from the field this season, but he’s still a major threat.  Mayo is leading all rookies in scoring, averaging nearly 21 points per contest.  Though he guarded Mayo for most of their matchups on the high school and collegiate levels, Derrick Rose will be responsible for containing the Grizz’s one-two point guard punch of Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley Jr.  Both guys are exceptionally quick, but give up a significant size advantage to Rose, which he should be able to exploit.

The Bulls are going to need a strong effort from Drew Gooden tonight.  Coming off a 22 point, 16 rebound performance, the former Jayhawk needs to take advantage of Memphis’ weakness at the power forward position.  He’ll need to be aware of where center Marc Gasol is when he’s down low, but he should be able to dominate guys like Hakim Warrick and Darrell Arthur.  Luol Deng needs to stay aggressive in this one for the team to win.

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Coming Up Roses

Bulls guard Derrick Rose remains atop ESPN.com’s 2008-09 NBA Rookie Class list.  “Rose played a big part in the Bulls having a mostly successful circus trip,” writes David Thorpe.  “I’m especially impressed with some of the numbers he put up on the road trip: 25 points and 5 assists in a win at Golden State; 25 and 9 in a big win at Utah; and 18 and 10 in an easy win in Philly.  On top of that, he’s already starting to develop that feeling of being able to will his team to a win.”

That’s the biggest thing that this blogger has noticed about Rose, his poise.  Throw out all the stats, as impressive as they are, and watch a game.  You’ll see that this kid looks extremely comfortable for a rookie, especially for a rookie point guard.  He’s calm and collected while on the court and displays all the leadership that you hope for in a floor general.  The Bulls, as a team, are still finding their way with a new coach and a new system.  The team has some good pieces on place, namely Rose, that bode very well for the future of this franchise.  There is no doubt in this blogger’s mind that the Bulls made the right choice when they selected Rose with the number one pick this past June.

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Gooden Big in Bulls’ Win

The Bulls squeaked out a win against the New York Knicks last night thanks to a solid all around performance from the team.  Chicago has had trouble getting more than just a few players to produce on any given night, but this contest saw six Bulls players score in double figures.  Drew Gooden had himself a game, scoring 22 and grabbing 16 boards.  If he can put up numbers even approaching these on a more consistent basis, the team will rack up more wins.  Derrick Rose scored an efficient 15 points on 7-11 shooting.  Luol Deng scored 16, but it’s his 16 shot attempts that support the notion that he’s got his confidence back, which will serve the Bulls well going forward.

Larry Hughes added 16 of his own, hitting a crucial three pointer with the game knotted at 97 in the fourth quarter.  Hughes has never been much of a team player, and there have been some rumblings that he’s unhappy coming off the bench, but he’s played pretty well since returning from an injury he sustained in the preseason.  One potentially concerning thing about last night’s game is that coach Vinny Del Negro chose to go with an eight-man rotation, signally his lack in confidence in much of the team’s bench.

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Bulls vs. Knicks Tonight

The man who turned down the job Vinny Del Negro now holds will visit the United Center tonight.  Current New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni, who chose the coaching vacancy in New York over the on in Chicago this summer, brings his 9-11 team to Chicago to face a Bulls club with a matching record.  Another interesting storyline is the return of former Bulls guard Chris Duhon to the United Center.  Duhon played four seasons in Chicago, never amounting to much more than a decent backup point guard during his stint in The Windy City, but has found success under the offensive-minded D’Antoni in The Big Apple.

Duhon will be matching up with Bulls point guard Derrick Rose tonight.  Rose should be able to use his athleticism to overpower the smaller, less athletic Duhon.  The Bulls also need to do a good job of keeping Knicks forward/center David Lee off the boards, especially the offensive glass.  Al Harrington, the Knicks main offensive threat, must be contained as well.  Another strong effort from Luol Deng would serve the Bulls very well, as the forward seems to be gaining his confidence back after a rough start to the season.  These teams appear to be on pretty equal ground right now, which should make for a good matchup.

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Bulls 18 in Power Rankings

The Bulls fell two spots in the latest update to ESPN.com’s Power Rankings, landing at number 18 this week.  “You’re going to have to wait for our first Trimester Report to get us into a rookie of the year so-far discussion,” writes ESPN.com writer Marc Stein.  “Yet you can safely assume we’ve decided to bring it up here because of someone Chicago-based.”  It’s obvious that Stein is alluding to super-rookie Derrick Rose, whose play has been a big part of the success that the team has had in nine of their contests.  The club currently sits at 9-11.

The Bulls landed their ninth win of the season with a victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.  Luol Deng had what was probably his best game of the year thus far, scoring 26 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing four assists.  A better sign than those impressive numbers was probably the 19 shots Deng hoisted, showing confidence after being timid for much of the first few weeks of the season.  The Duke product has scored more than 20 points in consecutive games now, and looks to be back on track.  He and Rose are the team’s best players and the future of the franchise; seeing them both produce would be very encouraging for Bulls fans.

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Wins, Wins, Wins

With the Boston Celtics (18-2) and Los Angeles Lakers (15-2) off to hot starts, NBA pundits are already bringing up the possibility of either team challenging the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record win total of 72.  The notion seems ridiculous at first, but upon further examination, this blogger isn’t ready to completely rule out the possibility.  The Lakers are in a league of their own in the Western Conference, and currently have a 76 percent chance of winning the conference according to ESPN.com writer John Hollinger’s Playoff Odds.  The Celtics can only be challenged by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in their conference, as those two clubs are on a different level from the rest of the East.

But is it really possible?  Anything is possible, but either team even cracking 70 wins is highly unlikely.  The most glaring problem for either team is that they’re missing an important piece of that ’95-96 Bulls squad, one Michael Jordan.  Jordan found ways to will his team to victory better than any other player in the history of the league.  As much as people have wanted to compare the two, Kobe Bryant is not Michael Jordan, and neither Pau Gasol nor Lamar Odom is Scottie Pippen.  The potential for injury and feuding could come into play.  The Lakers don’t play great defense and the Celtics are old.  It’s probably safe to say that the 70-win club will remain a one member guild.
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Deng Solid in Loss

Though it occurred in a 97-90 loss to the Bucks, Luol Deng’s highest scoring night of the season should encourage Bulls fans.  The Chicago forward scored 21 points on an ultra-efficient 9 of 14 shooting effort.  The point total is more than Deng had scored in the team’s previous three games combined.  Chicago fans are surely hoping that this signals the turning of a corner for Deng.  Deng recently returned to action after missing multiple games with an injury and perhaps now he’s fully healthy.  If it’s the injury that’s been hampering his performance this season, there’s no reason to think that he can’t return to 2006 form.  The team made Deng its highest paid player this offseason by awarding him with a contract in the realm of $70 million.

Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose had solid games last night as well.  Gordon chipped in 22 points while adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  Rose added 18 points and 9 assists, but it wasn’t enough to take home the victory.  Charlie Villanueva and Richard Jefferson both eclipsed 20 points, proving too much for Chicago to handle.  The Bulls still need more consistent contributions from the supporting cast, but Deng’s game last night could signal a move in the right direction for the team.

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Bulls Suffer OT Loss to Phili

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Andre Miller must have taken it personally when ESPN so heavily featured two plays in which he was embarrassed Bulls rookie Derrick Rose two days ago.  In that contest, Miller had a layup thunderously blocked by the rookie on one play and almost had his ankles broken by a killer crossover on another.  The two teams faced off again last night and this time it was Miller who had the last laugh.  The Sixers guard dropped 28 points and had several big buckets in overtime to help Phili grab the 103-95 victory.

Rose played well in the contest, scoring 24 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.  Ben Gordon had a rough shooting night, hitting just 33 percent of his attempts and 20 percent of his threes.  Forward Drew Gooden did well getting to the line, where he connected on 9 of his 10 free throw attempts, but was unable to hit from the field in the contest.  Tyrus Thomas had a good game off the bench, scoring 14 points and collecting 13 rebounds while adding three blocks in 32 minutes of play.  The team saw another lackluster performance from its highest paid player, Luol Deng, who scored a meager 10 points and only managed to corral two boards.  With the loss, the Bulls fall to 8-10.

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Bulls 16th in Power Rankings

The Bulls come in at number 16 in this week’s ESPN.com power rankings, up two spots from last week’s ranking.  “Derrick Rose & Co. wound up going a solid 3-4 on their dreaded annual Circus Trip,” writes Marc Stein.  “That’s only the second time since MJ’s retirement that the Bulls won more than once on the long excursion they take every November.”  It’s true that the team’s solid performance during their annual hiatus from home is encouraging, but the team needs to be more consistent as a whole.  The Bulls will still be glad to return to the United Center tonight to host the 76ers, as Chicago is 5-2 at home this season.

The Bulls currently sit in the 10th position in the Eastern Conference, just a half game out of the eighth and final playoff seed.  The team’s offense has been pretty solid thanks to production from Rose, Ben Gordon and Drew Gooden as of late, but they’re giving up 100 points per game to opponents while scoring just 98 per contest.  At this point, the East seems to have three teams on a different level than the rest, Boston, Cleveland and Orlando, and the rest of the playoff seeds are up for grabs.

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Big Three Emerging?

It’s becoming pretty clear that the Bulls have three guys that they can rely on night in and night out.  Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon and Drew Gooden seem to be the only Bulls players that consistently contribute on a nightly basis.  Luol Deng should be another one of those guys, but he’s struggled out of the gate and has been battling an injury; this blogger expects his play to improve as the season progresses.  The Bulls saw the three aforementioned contributors help the team to a 103-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers last night.  A 31-11 third quarter was the difference in the contest.

Gooden turned his fifth consecutive game in which he’s scored at least 18 points, dropping 20, and is looking like a guy that can provide the scoring up front that the team has sorely lacked in recent seasons.  Gordon, the team’s leading scorer this season, chipped in 21 points in efficient fashion.  Rose added 18 point and 10 assists, grabbing 5 rebounds in the process.  The Bulls won’t be able to win every game with just three guys getting it done each night, but it would be nice for the club to receive consistent contribution from a variety of players.

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