Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of this game. I went to bed before the fourth quarter really got underway, and was working through most of the first half. I was able to listen to Chuck and Bill on my way home, then caught the beginning of the third quarter on the tube.
From what I heard and saw myself, the Bulls look like a pretty good team, even without Carlos Boozer. Their weakness seemed to be at shooting guard. The guys they have seem to have size, and can defend, but there isn't a lot of offense coming out of that position.
That might be okay when the Bulls get Boozer back. Then they will have a low post scoring threat to go with Rose, and their team will seem a whole lot more balanced. When you think about the really good Bulls championship teams, or even the Celtics of the past few years (before last year), their scoring wasn't coming from their point guard, as the Bulls' scoring is. Rose is this team's Jordan, their version of Paul Pierce, perhaps, a player who can create with the ball in his hands. If Boozer can be their Garnett or their Pippen (the secondary scorer), and Noah can be the Rodman for this team, it could be pretty darned good. Especially if Deng can become a guy who can play the whole 48 minutes instead of giving a half of good basketball followed by a half where he isn't a factor.
I understand that the roles are very mixed. Rose handles the ball, ala Pippen, or Rondo for the Celtics. He scores ala Allen or Pierce (or Rondo now), or as Jordan did. Boozer gives the Bulls a dimension they really haven't ever had since Grant left - a big low post scorer. Jordan was a post up player at times, but it's Boozer's specialty. But the ingredients are there for this to be a very good team.
The season hinges, perhaps, on Deng's ability to perform at a high level. He's got to be more consistent and much better down the stretch than he was last year. Playing 2 or 3 quarters is not going to cut it.
It's only one game. It seems in the past I've blogged (elsewhere) about Bulls' season opening victories, only to be more or less disappointed as the season progressed. I'd rather write about a loss starting off a highly successful season. We'll see...
*****
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Basketball Season Begins...
The Bulls open their season tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma. Starting lineup for the Bulls, if I heard correctly, is Derrick Rose at point guard, Joakim Noah at center, Luol Deng at small forward, Taj Gibson at power forward, and Keith Bogans at shooting guard.
It's not exactly a lineup to excite someone with title hopes, especially with Carlos Boozer out for another month or so with his broken hand. But it's a solid lineup with few weaknesses. When Boozer comes back this should be a team to reckon with.
On another happy note, the Heat lost their opener to the Celtics last night. Now I don't hate the Heat, and I recognize that James, Bosh and Wade had every right to do what they did in free agency. I'm not all that pissed at them. But I don't usually root for overwhelming favorites (unless they're a hometown team) and would prefer that underdogs win more. I was happy to see the Rangers beat the Yankees, and I'll be happy if the Heat don't live up to the hype. I'm happy to see the best laid plans of these superstars not work out the way they want them to. I won't be rooting for the Heat this year one bit.
It's not exactly a lineup to excite someone with title hopes, especially with Carlos Boozer out for another month or so with his broken hand. But it's a solid lineup with few weaknesses. When Boozer comes back this should be a team to reckon with.
On another happy note, the Heat lost their opener to the Celtics last night. Now I don't hate the Heat, and I recognize that James, Bosh and Wade had every right to do what they did in free agency. I'm not all that pissed at them. But I don't usually root for overwhelming favorites (unless they're a hometown team) and would prefer that underdogs win more. I was happy to see the Rangers beat the Yankees, and I'll be happy if the Heat don't live up to the hype. I'm happy to see the best laid plans of these superstars not work out the way they want them to. I won't be rooting for the Heat this year one bit.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Chicago Sports News
Okay, here's the bare bones:
Bears are 3 and 1. They looked terrible in Week 4 but not bad in weeks 1 through 3. Cutler got a concussion in their loss after being sacked an NFL record 9 times in one half.
Bulls opened their preseason, and Carlos Boozer, their big signing, is already out for 8 weeks with a broken hand. They did NOT make a trade for Carmelo Anthony, and they DID sign Joakim Noah to a 5 year, 60 million dollar contract extension. Derrick Rose will come up soon enough; he'll likely command a max deal.
Cubs won a lot more under Mike Quade than they did under Lou Piniella, but still were under .500 and have a lot of question marks to address in the offseason. More about that, hopefully, as the year goes on.
Sox couldn't make that final push to stay in front of the Twins, and fell off at the end of the year. Still, not a terrible season for them. They have a couple things to address in the offseason, but they should be strong next year.
Black Hawks have a very new look except for their stars, and have not looked bad in the preseason. But they haven't looked unbeatable or anything, either. Season starts tomorrow.
And that's a wrap for today!
*****
Bears are 3 and 1. They looked terrible in Week 4 but not bad in weeks 1 through 3. Cutler got a concussion in their loss after being sacked an NFL record 9 times in one half.
Bulls opened their preseason, and Carlos Boozer, their big signing, is already out for 8 weeks with a broken hand. They did NOT make a trade for Carmelo Anthony, and they DID sign Joakim Noah to a 5 year, 60 million dollar contract extension. Derrick Rose will come up soon enough; he'll likely command a max deal.
Cubs won a lot more under Mike Quade than they did under Lou Piniella, but still were under .500 and have a lot of question marks to address in the offseason. More about that, hopefully, as the year goes on.
Sox couldn't make that final push to stay in front of the Twins, and fell off at the end of the year. Still, not a terrible season for them. They have a couple things to address in the offseason, but they should be strong next year.
Black Hawks have a very new look except for their stars, and have not looked bad in the preseason. But they haven't looked unbeatable or anything, either. Season starts tomorrow.
And that's a wrap for today!
*****
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
