Chicago Bulls- See Red

[jmcole33]

Hey, friends. Any suggestions/requests on things you want to see/me to include as I continue? This is a blast for me, but you guys are the ones reading it so I try to make it as enjoyable as possible for you.

Thanks for following!

[trekfan]

Nice wins so far. Seems like the team is really hitting its stride early.

As for what I'd like to see -- more interview pieces, maybe from some of the quieter Bulls (Jimmy Butler?). Definitely like those type of longform interviews you see on various sports sites. And maybe a look around the league as well? Seeing the Kings as the best team in the West was a surprise, I bet there are a number of juicy NBA storylines in the works (like how is Kobe taking the Kings being better than him? And have the Thunder figured out Scott Brooks sucks yet? Has Anthony Davis reached Super-Saiyan?)

[jmcole33]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Nice wins so far. Seems like the team is really hitting its stride early. As for what I'd like to see -- more interview pieces, maybe from some of the quieter Bulls (Jimmy Butler?). Definitely like those type of longform interviews you see on various sports sites. And maybe a look around the league as well? Seeing the Kings as the best team in the West was a surprise, I bet there are a number of juicy NBA storylines in the works (like how is Kobe taking the Kings being better than him? And have the Thunder figured out Scott Brooks sucks yet? Has Anthony Davis reached Super-Saiyan?)

Ask and you shall receive, my friend.

[jmcole33]

Header.png

Kevin Love.jpg

Love, Suns Not Working Out As Planned
November 22, 2015
Chicago, IL-- After a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, Kevin Love shocked the league by opting out of his contract with the Cavs and signing with the Phoenix Suns. Love averaged 21 and 10 with the Cavs, and was a solid third option for a Lebron James led Cleveland team.

It was reported that Love was unhappy with the way Lebron carried himself, and it seems to have boiled over towards the end of the year. He joined the Suns in hopes of being "the guy" again, and hooking up with a talented, young squad featuring the Morris twins and Eric Bledsoe.

After winning their first five games of the season, the Suns have struggled, winning 1 of their last 10. They currently sit at 6-9 and last in the Pacific division. Not helping matters is that Eric Bledsoe has been playing hurt with a broken finger. Love is doing his part, scoring 21.5 ppg and 9 rbg, but his supporting cast has not performed. The next highest scorer is Zoran Dragic, who averages 15.5 ppg.

In a recent interview, Love's frustrations were visible. "I want a ring. I put my trust in the management and team here, and I want a ring. They need to hold up their end of the bargain."

There are rumblings in Phoenix that Love isn't a good fit and the fans don't like the attitude he has shown. Fans don't like his sense of entitlement. Something better turn around in Phoenix soon, or that organization is going to implode.

[jmcole33]

Header.png

Derrick Rose 2.jpg

Bulls Streak to Six
November 23, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT-- A dominant third quarter led the Bulls passed the Utah Jazz tonight. The period featured Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose both scoring 12 points en route to opening up a 14 point lead.

The Bulls came out lethargic and the Jazz jumped out to a 10-4 lead midway through the period. The Bulls responded and took the lead briefly before finishing the quarter with a string of turnovers and falling behind 26-21. Enes Kanter had a big night for the Jazz scoring 17 points and collecting 12 rebounds, and young Dante Exum notched a career-high 31 points.

Jimmy Butler struggled all night long, starting the game 1-8 from the field and facing foul trouble. He did look better in the second half, finishing the game with 17 points on 6-16 shooting.

"Just a poor night shooting. I'll bounce back," Jimmy reassured post game. It wasn't just him though, as the only productive player for the Bulls in the first half was Rose, who had 18 points on 8-10 shooting. Rose would finish with a highlight filled 34 points and 10 assists.

The third quarter was a different story as the ball started to move much better and Pau got aggressive. "He adds another dimension to our offense when he is being aggressive," Coach Thibodeau said of the Spaniard. "When he's looking to score he opens up our shooters around the perimeter and creates mismatch problems in the pick-and-pop.

Rookie, Jimmie Brown, was able to collect his first two career points.

Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz
Nov 23, 2015	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Chicago (12-1)	21	29	33	31	114
Utah (4-10)	26	21	22	28	97

Chicago Bulls
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Derrick Rose	35	12-18	1-2	9-9	6	10	0	0	5	34
Jimmy Butler	33	6-16	0-2	5-6	2	2	1	1	1	17
Doug McDermott	31	3-6	2-5	0-0	6	3	1	1	0	8
Pau Gasol	28	7-10	0-0	2-2	4	2	1	0	0	16
Joakim Noah	26	3-4	0-0	2-2	11	3	0	1	3	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
E'Twaun Moore	13	1-2	0-0	0-0	3	2	1	0	1	2
Nikola Mirotic	25	6-10	1-2	2-3	10	1	1	0	0	15
Kirk Hinrich	13	1-3	1-2	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	3
Tony Snell	18	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	3	0	0	0	5
Marvin Williams	12	0-1	0-0	2-4	2	0	2	0	0	2
Craig Bairstow	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hugh Hughes	2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Jimmie Brown	2	1-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	2
TEAM TOTALS		43-76	6-14	22-16	46	27	7	4	11	114

Utah Jazz
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dante Exum	34	11-24	1-4	8-11	3	5	3	1	0	31
Alec Burks	36	2-6	1-2	1-2	2	4	1	0	2	6
Gordon Hayward	34	4-14	1-6	2-2	5	1	1	0	0	11
Enes Kanter	34	8-14	1-1	0-0	12	1	2	0	2	17
Rudy Gobert	27	2-5	0-0	1-1	6	0	2	1	1	5
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jeremy Lin	15	4-5	0-1	2-2	2	4	1	0	1	10
Wesley Johnson	19	3-7	0-1	0-0	3	0	0	0	0	6
Rodney Hood	13	1-6	0-1	2-2	1	0	0	0	2	4
Trevor Booker	18	2-3	0-0	0-0	5	0	0	0	0	4
Monte Becker	10	1-4	0-1	1-1	1	1	0	0	0	3
Steve Novak	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Ian Clark	-- DID NOT PLAY --
George Jensen	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		38-88	4-17	17-21	41	16	10	2	8	97

[trekfan]

Ah, K-Love. You know, everyone keeps piling on the guy and he's really a good player -- not a superstar by any means, but a star for sure if he's allowed to play his game (rebounding/shooting/eating people alive in the low post via the pick and pop). PHX, on paper, must have seemed like a good fit but I've always felt Love plays best at a controlled pace -- the Suns just run it too fast for a player of his type I think.

Nice move in signing him, unfortunate that he's having difficulty adjusting there.

As for the Bulls, man, what a game against the Jazz. Rose is looking MVP caliber so far and that bench is playing well. Got to see the Bulls as the conference favorites at this point with that play.

[jmcole33]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Ah, K-Love. You know, everyone keeps piling on the guy and he's really a good player -- not a superstar by any means, but a star for sure if he's allowed to play his game (rebounding/shooting/eating people alive in the low post via the pick and pop). PHX, on paper, must have seemed like a good fit but I've always felt Love plays best at a controlled pace -- the Suns just run it too fast for a player of his type I think. Nice move in signing him, unfortunate that he's having difficulty adjusting there. As for the Bulls, man, what a game against the Jazz. Rose is looking MVP caliber so far and that bench is playing well. Got to see the Bulls as the conference favorites at this point with that play.

Love is a very good second option, but I don't think he can pull a bad team out of the gutter by being the "go to" guy. Bledsoe being hurt kills that team, and they don't have a tremendous amount of depth.

The Bulls just have too much talent offensively. Gasol, Butler, and Rose are all unstoppable when they want to be. And it's being done without Danny Green. This team is scary, man.

[jmcole33]

Header.png

Thunder.jpg

Thunder Storm Passed Bulls
November 24, 2015
Oklahoma City, OK-- The most anticipated game of the season did not disappoint, as a rematch of the Finals a year ago went down to the wire with the Thunder prevailing 119-112.

After losing to the Bulls in six games last year, the Thunder went out and acquired the final piece to capture the championship. They signed a veteran Paul Pierce to push them over the edge. Unfortunately, Pierce tore his MCL last week and will be missing the next few months. But there was another key addition for this game that would prove to be the difference.

Kevin Durant. After breaking his ankle in the first game of the Finals, Durant was forced to sit out and watch his team's dream slip away. He faced Chicago for the first time since that game and did not disappoint. He piled up 30 points, including the games first eight to put the Thunder ahead early. His partner in crime, Russell Westbrook, would not be outdone and also recorded 30 points.

The game was hard fought from the start, and Joakim Noah sent a message early with a flagrant foul on a Serge Ibaka dunk attempt. The theme would continue all night as hard fouls were handed out back and forth. Unfortunately for the Bulls, their two leading free throw shooters, Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, only got to the line a combined four times.

Rose did finish with 25 points and nine assists, but he was held in check for the last few minutes of the game. Pau Gasol had an off night, shooting 5-14. He did finish with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but he missed a key free throw down the stretch and had a -19 +/-, good for worst on the team.

"Defense was the issue," Thibodeau said afterwards. "It's been our weakness all year, and this time we couldn't overcome it. We'll need to tighten up if we want to consistently beat the better teams in the league."

This Bulls team is 13-2, but there are clear inefficiencies that can be addressed. Tom Thibodeau will be eager to get back in the gym and work on defensive schemes. The Bulls will need to tighten up defensively if they plan on making a run at a repeat.

Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder
Nov 24, 2015	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Chicago (13-1)	26	33	26	27	112
Oklahoma City (8-5)	27	29	29	34	119

Chicago Bulls
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Derrick Rose	35	11-17	1-2	2-2	4	9	2	0	4	25
Jimmy Butler	39	8-16	1-4	2-2	2	3	1	1	1	19
Doug McDermott	27	5-7	1-1	0-0	3	1	1	0	1	11
Pau Gasol	35	5-14	0-0	5-8	12	3	2	1	3	15
Joakim Noah	31	4-9	0-0	4-5	13	2	0	0	3	12
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
E'Twaun Moore	9	1-1	1-1	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	3
Nikola Mirotic	23	6-10	2-4	2-2	5	3	0	0	1	16
Kirk Hinrich	13	2-4	1-3	0-0	0	4	0	0	0	5
Tony Snell	21	2-4	0-1	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	4
Marvin Williams	7	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Jimmie Brown	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Hugh Hughes	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Craig Bairstow	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		45-84	7-16	15-19	47	27	7	2	13	112

Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Russell Westbrook	35	11-18	3-4	5-5	5	8	0	1	2	30
Jeremy Lamb	34	4-13	0-4	1-2	2	3	0	0	0	9
Kevin Durant	41	10-17	3-4	7-8	5	5	3	0	4	30
Serge Ibaka	36	5-6	0-0	4-6	9	2	2	0	0	14
Steven Adams	33	3-7	0-0	2-4	9	1	1	0	1	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Devin Harris	13	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	5	0	0	1	5
Anthony Morrow	13	0-3	0-2	2-2	1	0	0	0	0	2
Reggie Jackson	18	8-13	1-3	4-4	1	3	0	0	2	21
Kendrick Perkins	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mitch McGary	15	0-0	0-0	0-0	4	1	1	0	0	0
Perry Jones III	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andre Roberson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Nick Collison	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		43-79	8-18	25-31	42	28	7	1	10	119