Hey, the Bulls are on today

July 7th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

The NBA summer league is not all that important to anyone. I doubt even Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley will deem it important tonight, though maybe they will. Who knows. What I do know is that while most teams sit almost everyone of interest while the most marginal of NBA players get 35 minutes a game, the Bulls are different. They have a new coach with no experience, a team full of young athleticism, and oh yeah, Derrick Rose.

In other words, the Bulls’ summer league is going to be pretty cool.

Today — the game starts at 4 p.m. central, streaming here — I’m predicting four things:

1. Derrick Rose will look every bit as fast as he did in college.
2. Tyrus Thomas will do one amazing thing, and one incredibly stupid thing.
3. Joakim Noah will scream at least five times.
4. Vinny Del Negro won’t even try to call a play.

If those four things happen, we might have Nadal-Federer-level genius at hand. Or not.

K.C. Johnson really hates Joakim Noah

June 27th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Hey, last night was fun. The Bulls drafted in a position they didn’t deserve and landed a player they didn’t really earn, and the prospects are bright. It was, generally, a fantastic evening to be a basketball fan, unless your name is Darrell Arthur.

But where most people saw the beginning of a bright Chicago Bulls future, Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson saw the perfect opportunity for a not-so-subtle dig at Joakim Noah:

Derrick Rose likes to attract attention as much as he likes committing turnovers, so a seersucker suit and bow tie definitely weren’t part of his equation Thursday night.

Nevertheless, Rose is all dressed up with somewhere to go after the Bulls used the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on the speedy, sturdy point guard who grew up in the Englewood neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side.

Unlike Joakim Noah’s brash and outlandish outfit when he was the team’s first-round pick last year, Rose blended in with a classic gray suit, blue shirt and tie. However, as the Bulls’ first No. 1 overall pick since Elton Brand in 1999, Rose won’t be blending in much anymore.

See, Derrick Rose is going to be good, because he’s really quiet, and Joakim Noah is an evil non-veteran bad seed because he … wore seersucker. And that bow tie. Everyone knows people that wear bow ties are douches.

In related news, it’s Friday, which means part two of THE MOST IMPORTANT SERIES OF OUR TIME. I think the White Sox are winning already.

It’s looking more and more like Derrick Rose

June 19th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

I think, for a while now, most people have assumed the Bulls’ No. 1 overall pick would be Derrick Rose. Ever since I was verbally rebuked by two friends for writing that Michael Beasley made more sense for the Bulls, I’ve gone with the Rose flow. To help the process, I’ve watched numerous Rose highlight films, including the above, which I hope is among John Paxson’s bookmarks. When you have the chance to add that to your team, don’t overthink. Just do it. As they say.

Anyway, the pick has remained a secret, until now. Sort of. Rose and his brother may or may not have just tipped the Bulls’ hand:

But as Rose concluded his two-day visit with the Bulls Thursday at the Berto Center, the point guard sounded unsure if he even had a workout scheduled with the Miami Heat, owners of the second pick in the June 26 NBA draft.

“I don’t think so,” Rose said. “I think I have to ask [agent] B.J. [Armstrong] or someone about it. But all I know now is that I’m here.”

Rose’s older brother and confidante, Reggie, went even stronger, saying Rose won’t visit Miami because “this is our last stop.”

It seems difficult to believe the Heat would pick Rose, even as trade bait, without working him out, so perhaps everyone knows what the Bulls are going to do. If that something is pick Derrick Rose, count me in.

Doug Collins is just as slow as you remember

May 30th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

No, not mentally slow. By all accounts, Dougie Fresh — that nickname’s not good enough, either; I’ll keep working on this — is a pretty brilliant basketball mind with the communicative ability to match. Dougie’s slowness is his coaching style, his pace, which John Hollinger calls out today. For fans of uptempo basketball, this is a bad sign:

Collins might be the most extreme slow-pace coach in the past quarter century. I’m amazed nobody has brought this up yet — the guy makes Jeff Van Gundy look like Paul Westhead. His Bulls were the league’s slowest-paced team in 1986-87 and 1987-88, even with Michael Jordan at the peak of his athleticism. Scottie Pippen became a starter in 1988-89, yet Collins had the Bulls playing at the third-slowest pace in the NBA. His Pistons, with a young Grant Hill, were the league’s second-slowest team in both seasons Collins coached in Detroit. And his Wizards were 26th and 27th out of 29 teams in his two years at the helm in Washington.

Exciting! If the Bulls take Derrick Rose, and unless Joey Dorsey’s peerless reportage proves true, they will, the Bulls absolutely should not be slowing down the pace. They should be running at every possible opportunity: Rose utilizing his high dribble stride to get into space; Ben Gordon spotting up in the corner; Tyrus Thomas filling free throw-line extended; Joakim Noah sprinting to the block to collect the mess. Wow. Dear God that sounds awesome. Excuse me for a minute.

/wipes sweat off brow, collects self

Anyway. If the Bulls take Rose, the slowest coach in the past 20 years is not what they need. They need Mike D’Antoni. D’oh.

Fuck. Ing. Awe. Some.

May 20th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Every time the Bulls have a year that’s totally indefensible in every single regard, they turn around and win the fucking lottery …

… and TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES.

No. 1 overall pick. Let the Michael Beasley-Derrick Rose debate begin, though, given the Bulls current lineup, it’s hard to see how Rose would benefit them more than Beasley. Hinrich is just fine, and this team has needed a frontcourt scorer since whenever. And now one just landed in their laps. Hell. Yes.

Update: OK, so now that I’ve had a little time to calm down and think about this — and be sufficiently upbraided by two of my closest friends, who took offense not only to my preference for Michael Beasley but for the swear word in the headline (my apologies, you fucking douchebags) — I realize I may have jumped the gun declaring Beasley the newest Bull. I do think the Bulls have the chance to benefit more marginally from drafting Beasley, given Hinrich’s contract. But Derrick Rose’s ability to become an all-NBA point guard shouldn’t be denied. His ceiling is Chris Paul, and we’ve seen the way Paul has taken David West and Tyson Chandler and some other dudes to the cusp of playoff greatness. Rose could be that.

I’d be just as happy with Beasley as I would be with Rose, both in the short term and over the long haul. Anyway, this is an excellent problem to have.

Update No. 2: BlogaBull’s Beasley-or-Rose poll is, after 583 votes, 71 percent in favor of Derrick Rose. Not nearly as 50-50 as I would have assumed.

Weekend NCAA update: On the move like Jeff Green

March 24th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Since it’s the veritable halfway point of this weekend’s action, let’s take a look at some of what we’ve learned:

– Jeff Green really, really traveled. I mean, this isn’t even close, people. Sure, as the only non-No. 1 seed in my completely unimaginative Final Four, I cheered when the shot went in … but that doesn’t change the fact that Jeff Green took an entire extra step visibly and unabashedly, and that Vanderbilt was eliminated because of an obvious blown call.

– Billy Packer does not see the same things we see. He isn’t even watching the same game sometimes. For example, after the 800th replay CBS showed off Green’s travel, Packer decided to make the dubious argument that the refs couldn’t have called the travel then, since it was toward the end of the game and a travel call would have effectively ended Georgetown’s chances. This is, of course, a dumb argument; it doesn’t matter when a travel takes place, if it gains an opponent’s advantage, you call it. Pretty simple stuff.

Anyway, Packer went on for a bit before Nantz hopped in and said (I’m paraphrasing):

Nantz: “Well, Billy, it certainly looked like he picked up his pivot foot slightly there.”

Packer: “I don’t know if he did, Jim. I don’t think it was a travel.”

Nantz: (Quietly incredulous) … “Well … that right foot certainly is moving around.”

Packer: “I don’t think it was a travel, Jim. I’d have to see it again. We might have to talk to (our producer; head of officials; some dude whose name I can’t remember) to see it again.”

To review: not only did Packer argue that if it was a travel, the refs should not have called it, but he didn’t actually believe Green’s hopstep cha-cha heave was a travel, even after cameras repeatedly showed it was, and blatantly so. Packer was somehow wrong, like, six times in the matter of 30 seconds. Unbelievable.

– There seem to be two schools of thought on Ohio State right now. One: their close wins are sure to catch up with them soon, perhaps tonight vs. Memphis. Two: with close wins under their belt, they’re looking more and more like the proverbial “team of destiny.”

I’m with the former. I think Memphis outruns OSU tonight and displaces Oden just enough to keep him on his heels … and Memphis wins and moves on. (Also, Calipari for Kentucky? Derrick Rose to Indiana? Hey, it could happen …)

– The rest of the picks: Kansas, who withstood So. Ill’s absolute best shot, beats UCLA, who haven’t really taken anyone’s best shot yet … Florida, easy, over Oregon … Georgetown takes down UNC in a close, close game. Hopefully Jeff Green watches his feet this time, because the refs obviously won’t do it for him.