Not that is should be too surprising at this point...

...but Vinny Del Negro seemingly only knows one inbounds play from half court. He runs the play every single time the Bulls are in a late game situation after a timeout. I'm using some hyperbole here, because to call what the Bulls ran from two consecutive inbounds plays (after timeouts no less) a "play" is generous to say the least. Here is the ideal outcome from VDN's late game inbounds play. Free up Rose at the top the key and.......that's it. That's where the play ends. After that it's up to Rose (when he is lucky enough to get the ball) to make something happen. Oddly, as a Bulls fan this is OK to me...would I rather put the game in Rose's hands or in the hands of a scripted VDN play? That's an easy call. But this also begs the question, if that's the optimal result of the inbounds, why even call the timeout...Rose generally has the ball when you call the timeout and then you run a play to try and get it back into his hands? Does that seem dumb to anyone else? You already have the desired result of your "play" (Rose with the ball) but you're going to take your chances on getting it back to him with the same play twice in 10 seconds? It doesn't make any sense to me.



My main issue is that he runs the same set literally every time the Bulls have an inbounds play at half court with a game on the line (again, liberal use of "play"). As a point of reference, my 7th grade basketball team had eight variations of inbounds plays....eight. On VDN's master stroke, Rose sets up on just inside the 3 point line, gets a screen (usually from Noah or Miller) and runs toward mid court. From here there are no more moving parts to the play, no semblance of a set play they have been practicing since the preseason. It becomes "OK let's see what Rose can do here"...which, like I said above, with this team/coach, isn't the worst option. This "method" worked with 19 seconds left last night when Rose was able to take Courtney Lee off the dribble and hit a runner for a 100-99 lead...but with 14 seconds left, it not only didn't work but there wasn't any effort to get the ball back into Rose's hands when it didn't work even though there was ample time to do so. Instead, Salmons did his best Ben Gordon impression (it's easy to do....dribble (x 5) without moving anywhere, chuck up a 3 with a defender in your face) and practically handed the Nets the game.

You can give some of the blame to Rose who should have ran to Salmons and torn the ball from his hands...he apparently still isn't completely stepping into that "take charge" role the Bulls need him to as an elite PG (would CP3 or Nash allow someone else to run the show in that moment? Nope....I almost said Billups too, but he has Melo and it's ok to defer to Melo). Whoever deserves the most blame, the Bulls just lost to the 2-19 Nets at home. And that's indefensible.




Nick Friedell's Blog - ESPNChicago.com

The Bulls head coach didn't speak for a few moments. What was he going to say? How was he going to explain that his team had just lost to the worst team in the NBA? How could he explain that the team's best player didn't get the ball when the game was on the line? What about his job security?



The problem with a loss like the one the Bulls suffered on Tuesday night is that it's the kind of loss that brings all these bad questions to the forefront. It's the type of loss that sticks with a team for a while. And, most importantly, it's the type of loss that can get a coach fired.

Rockets' Chuck Hayes agrees that LeBaby's in-game dance moves are inappropriate

“To showboat another professional, it's disrespectful. If you feel disrespected, do something about it within the game, nothing dirty. Eventually, all the dancing and acting will stop. They only do it when they're up big.”

Jack ties shoe...Bulls watch en route to losing by 4 touchdowns

This pretty much sums up the Bulls effort at this point in the year...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Jack-ties-shoelace-during-live-play-Bulls-watch;_ylt=Aj_4uPeG4upFR8gW19AzfK45nYcB?urn=nba,206950

Re-post: Poll Comment Thread

I felt like there should be a thread to have a discussion about the most recent polls. So I started this new post. Feel free to discuss both new "Would you rather..." polls in the comments section below.
















First vote ------------------------->

then comment at the original Poll Comment Thread!

Rare Post During Finals ... Bulls Rant & Links

While I am not studying and watching some hoops, I figured I had time for a little rant.

Should point out that I am working on a long/elaborate post about how the Bulls need to trade Luol (or some other significant move) in order to move up from "getting into the playoffs and making an early exit" to "actual contender". Also working on a prediction re: 2010 free agents, and how the Bulls will miss out on all the big names. Both should be interesting once I get my thoughts together. Speaking of having my thoughts together, here is a poorly thought out rant ...

The Bulls are basically what I expected so far - winning winnable games and losing games to the real contenders. We have had a sub-par Rose (because of the ankle), have been missing TT most of the year, and missing Kirk recently. Like most seasons, we are not off to a fast start ... just riding out the tough early schedule and then make up some ground when the schedule becomes more favorable. Seems good enough, so I cannot complain.

The problem I have is still with coaching. I don't understand what Vinny is doing ... he is not a defensive coach (like Skiles was/is), not a motivator, and clearly not an offensive genius (clearly - I'll get to that below). So if we will never win a championship with VDN running the ship, what are we doing? Biding our time in hopes of getting lucky. I recently linked to Matt at Blogabull when he spelled out that whole theory.

My problem is more with the day to day coaching of this team ... what are we doing to get better from game to game? Or even be consistent from game to game, or possession to possession. I watch pretty much every game and don't understand the Bulls offense. We do something different every time down the floor. We completely lack an identity ... and that all stems from the coach. I don't know what VDN is trying to accomplish ... so I don;t know what this team is doing. The lineups and minutes change from night to night - different sets of players running different styles of offense.

I'd like to see the Bulls become something: a PnR team, isolate D-Rose, run-and-gun ... just some general plan. That way I could tell if we were executing the plan, or just continuing to play like a bunch of high school freshman waiting for an open look and firing up long 2-point jumpers.

This rant is starting to feel like the Bulls offense, completely random with no direction and no real point ... so that's it for now. Here's some links:

Bulls top Pistons to spoil Gordon's return to Chicago

John Salmons led all scorers with 22 points, and Derrick Rose finished with 19 points and six assists, as the Chicago Bulls
earned a 92-85 win over the Detroit Pistons in a Central Division matchup at
the United Center.

Brad Miller chipped in with 16 points, seven boards and six assists for
Chicago, which was able to snap a five-game slide. Luol Deng went for 14
points and eight rebounds, while Joakim Noah finished with a game-best 14
boards to go along with seven points.

Hinrich might be back Saturday

Kirk Hinrich may be coming back to the Chicago Bulls sooner than expected.

The veteran guard, who was scheduled to miss between one to two weeks because of a sprained thumb, is improving quickly. He might even be able to play this weekend.

Rose would love to play with LeBron

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose admitted on Thursday that he has fantasized about playing alongside Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James and other superstars who will make up the free agent class of 2010.

Rose even made a playful recruiting pitch.

"Any one of them superstars needs to come here," Rose said. "I wouldn't mind playing with anybody, especially a guy like [James]. He can't do nothing but make the team better."

Should fans have booed Ben Gordon?

So Bulls fans booed Ben Gordon in his return to the United Center which begs the question: "Was booing Gordon really the right thing to do?"

First, I think the casual fan is likely to boo Gordon for two reasons.

1: Sports radio loved to beat the guy up. I think far more than he deserved (I don't think he deserved to be beat up at all)

2: The casual fan is more likely to just boo anyone who leaves the team regardless of whether he deserves it.

Me personally, I wasn't going to boo Gordon if I was at the game (I wasn't), but I'm not outraged at it. The guy isn't with the team anymore. He's a Piston. He could have been a Bull, but he's not, and he rejected multiple contract offers to stay here.

Who's Bulls' new Gordon? He sees no one

Ben Gordon was mostly diplomatic when asked if he was upset the Bulls didn't make a harder push to keep him. But he answered candidly when asked if he believes his former team has filled his former role.

''I don't think so,'' Gordon said. ''I've watched a few games. At the end, especially with the addition of [Derrick Rose] a year ago, there were two guys who could make big, big shots. And now, it looks like it's only him. John [Salmons] can make big shots, and Luol [Deng] can make big shots.

''But last year, the team relied on me and D-Rose to make plays down the stretch. It looks like it's only him right now. But I'm sure they'll be fine with the guys they have.''

Quick Bulls Links

Mainly because I had to pass along this link from Matt at Blogabull ... he is exactly (EXACTLY!) right with his analysis of the ineptitude of the Bulls organization.


No need to panic: everything is going according to the Bulls plan



Couple other links worth clicking ...

An 18 Foot Jumper By Any Other Name Is Still An 18 Foot Jumper



Final frustration






Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter (as blog posts will become rare during finals) for all of my grumblings/complaints and clever comments about the Bulls ... @BullBearSock

Happy Thanksgiving (Bulls Links)

First, Happy Thanksgiving!















Second, vote in the polls ----------------->

And add your thoughts to the comments here!


Third, my posts should become pretty infrequent over the next few weeks because I have finals. I will do my best to post any urgent or great stories, but other than that I will not be posting here. I will continue to complain about the Bulls and Bears on twitter, so be sure to follow @BullBearSock

Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah Dunk On Greg Oden
(Click for video)


No cause for worry yet about Bulls

It's an unconventional time to write this, but anybody overly concerned about the Bulls getting blown out by the Lakers, Nuggets and Trail Blazers in succession shouldn't be.

Oodles of legitimate concerns surround the Bulls: John Salmons' shooting percentage; Derrick Rose's limited penetration; injuries forcing heavy minutes upon a shortened rotation.

It's possible coach Vinny Del Negro had a hair out of place at Monday's morning shootaround too.

But losing to teams that clearly are above the Bulls' class shouldn't be that alarming. This -- pick a verb -- may bother, annoy, frustrate the most diehard of Bulls fans, but this season isn't going to end with an NBA Finals at the United Center.

And a 6-7 mark with one starter injured and Rose only recently showing flashes of attacking the rim consistently because of his own health issues isn't that surprising for a team that, after all, finished .500 last season.

Bulls make Rose's stripes see swoosh

Since the second half of the Lakers' game, Derrick Rose has looked more aggressive, more explosive and more like himself.

Thus, perhaps the location of Wednesday's Bulls practice isn't the best idea.

With Rose, an Adidas man through and through, just starting to look more comfortable, the Bulls are practicing on the Empire that Phil Knight Built. Yep, the Bulls are practicing on the Nike campus in Beaverton, Ore.

Rose chuckled when told this earlier this week. And this is a light-hearted way at looking at a more serious issue: The Bulls need Rose to permanently return to form.

Rose is 25 for 43 in his last 10 quarters, which is 58 percent. That's a percentage any shoe company would want to market.

"I just feel I've been more aggressive and not settling for so many jumpers," Rose said. "I'm looking to attack the rim."

Understand them; Hate them; Coaching cliches

I think Vinny Del Negro has done a nice job coaching up this team. They're overachieving in the areas that are a result of scheme and coaching and underachieving in the areas that are more about player talent and skill. As such, nice job Vinny, Bernie, Bob, etc.. One thing I can't stand though are the cliche reasons dropped after virtually every loss. They're the same ones dropped by all coaches.

We didn't move the ball well enough.

Sometimes this is true. Sometimes the team doesn't move the ball well enough. However, I haven't seen this with this Bulls team despite the fact this line has been dropped several times. In fact, the team seems to move the ball too much frequently. As much as people complain that Salmons is a ball stopper, there are at least four or five times a game he's got a wide open set three, and he passes out of it.

Young Chicago Bulls Finding West Coast Unkind

Every year the circus comes to Chicago, and that means an annual roadtrip for both the Bulls and Blackhawks.

And every year it seems as if both teams find themselves struggling while clowns and trapeze artists fill the United Center with laughs and cheers.

Well another season and another disappointment, at least for one of the Chicago teams.

While the Blackhawks have continued their hot home-stand (4-0 prior to the Circus Trip) with three straight victories on the road, the Bulls have been a different story.

Poll Comment Thread

I felt like there should be a thread to have a discussion about the most recent polls. So I started this new post. Feel free to discuss both new "Would you rather..." polls in the comments section below.














First vote, then comment! ------------>