It's not the Heat, it's the stupidity.

It's been quite sometime since I have been able to blog, and I decided that this is the one I want to get out of the way first...
I didn't want to watch it. But I almost felt like...I had to. I just really wanted to know right away where Lebron decided to go because I wanted it to be over with. The whole thing was fun at first, kind of exciting to read all the different speculations and reports and all the "he said she said" things that surrounded NBA free agency. When Wade and Bosh decided to go to Miami, I thought that actually increased our chances of landing the king, because from a basketball standpoint it made the most sense. I knew Lebron was a competitor, and he would be thrilled to join a team that had a chance of beating them, especially with the addition of Carlos Boozer. It would make for a very awesome and high-publicity conference finals, that's for sure.
On the other hand, I thought maybe he would stay in Cleveland. I mean, why would you plan an entire television special just to pretty much give your city the middle finger and go to another team? That's why if he didn't come to the Bulls, i figured he would be Cleveland's big hero and come back to them and try to win a championship.
So I watched patiently with my brother and my dad, thinking that the decision was to be made within the first 10 minutes of the show. However, there we were 20 minutes later still waiting for him to tell us one way or the other. Finally, after all the filler time, the unnecessary interview questions, he said, "I'm taking my talents down to South Beach".
And then, I, along with the rest of the world outside of Miami, turned it off. And never wanted anything to do with it ever again.
Nobody thinks this is a smart move. Period. But the city of Miami is now just in a whole different world this year. And my beloved Bulls must do everything they can to stop it.
Thank goodness that baseball still has half a season left...I won't have to think about this stupid move. Unless of course, I watch the ESPY's tonight...c'mon, give me a break, this is in fact the slooooowest sports day of the year...

Let the games begin.

Farewell Kirk... (but "hello Lebron" seems closer now...)

Hey guys, remember the Bulls? ^_^

Things have actually been pretty eventful lately for these boys, as Tom Thibodeau has been officially named as the new head coach. I have seen snippets of interviews and press conferences with him, and I like him better than Vinny already (for starters, he called Kirk Hinrich Kirk instead of Kurt...not like that matters now but we'll get to that in a moment...). He's very focused on the defensive side of the ball, which I think will help these Bulls a ton. I know the speculation is that since he and Lebron are members of the same agency, that will help in luring him to play here in Chicago.
In my last blog about the Bulls, the playoffs were still going on, and my hopes for Lebron seemed like a distant dream. Now, though, it seems like it's getting closer and closer to happening, but I still don't want to get my hopes up too much. The constant buzz about it around this town is intense, especially with a championship team and one hot baseball team also in town. The last update I heard was that he is almost definitely not going back to Cleveland, and that update concluded with simply "Bulls/Heat/Clips". hmm... but come on, we don't have enough money to get him, right?
Which brings me to the sad goodbye to Kirk Hinrich paragraph of this blog. I know why we did it, and I just hope it works out the way we want it to. Since I found out about that move earlier today, the Lebron dream is now much much closer. I'll still miss you, Kirk, and now that you're gone, if we don't get Lebron, i'm gonna be pretty angry.
So there you have it, your Bulls update for the first time in a while. New coach, a crazy trade, and more room for the king. Oh yeah, I should probably check up on how their draft is going, too, huh...? These next couple weeks will be very interesting indeed...

The Bulls: a recap.

(alternate title: Vinny Del Negro, we hardly knew ye.)

Well, the inevitable defeat of the Bulls has occurred. They are now cleaning out their lockers and meeting with GarPax to give their thoughts on the season, and probably saying their last goodbye to Vinny.
This season was obviously disappointing despite making the playoffs. In fact the only reason we made the playoffs was because the rest of the Eastern conference is pretty much awful. I am however proud of them for hanging in there at the end when we needed to win the most. I know the core 5 players (Rose, Noah, Gibson, Deng, and Hinrich) can be really good, but I also embrace the idea of a free agent coming in during the offseason. We just have to be very careful on how we approach the issue.
Vinny will almost positively be fired. I don't want to hate on him alot, but it's just so easy. Rose and Noah only know him as far as coaching goes, and it could be kind of a sentimental thing (like poor teary eyed Kaner after Savvy got fired as the Blackhawks coach), but at the same time I really don't see the players respecting him the way they say they do. Rose and Noah need someone to help them develop into the players they can be, the problem is, nobody knows who the Bulls would have in mind. The announcement of Vinny's firing could come this weekend, but the announcement of who is taking his place might be a while.
Bringing in a new coach will definitely help in trying to attract the attention of say Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh. I think that either of them would be a good fit here. Of course in an ideal world, we could get Lebron, but I also try to be realistic about that, as he really doesn't have much reason if any to leave Cleveland (aside from the fact that it sucks ^_~).
I'm gonna miss Los Bulls, I loved being able to watch Rose and Noah play, and I just hope something insane can happen this offseason to get the fans excited.

"Cleveland sucks?"

I just heard all the stuff Noah said about Cleveland and I had to laugh, especially because I was reminded of this.

game 1 thoughts

As much as I didn't want the Bulls to lose, I kind of had a feeling that they would. I anticipated them losing by alot more than they did, so that was at least exciting. Derrick Rose was awesome as usual, and the matchup of Noah and Shaq, although it makes sense, Shaq is just way too huge. Noah doesn't care about the size factor, he's just hungry for a win. And when they didn't get that win, he was upset with his own performance. I love that intensity and energy that he brings to the team, and I still attribute the Bulls 10 game losing streak in March to the fact that Noah wasn't playing. They just didn't seem the same with out him. I'm glad the Bulls at least put up a fight, which is really all I can ask of them at this point.

Cavs fans are all about this storybook playoffs for the King. Being a free agent at the end of it, they know that if he wins a championship with the Cavs, there's a much better chance that he would stay. This is a crucial time to the fans for that reason, and I knew they'd be very energetic the whole game too (I mean it was either that or go to the Indians/Sox game...luckily they could do both for just $5, and they were all drunk enough to do it).

As usual, Vinny did some dumb coaching things. Ozzie should have locked him in his hotel room when they stayed in the same hotel in Cleveland, then the Bulls would have a much better chance in these playoffs. I wish I went over to that hotel too, I feel like the two teams partied together and shared stupid Vinny/Ozzie stories. But that could have taken all night.

Looking into tonight's game, based on Rose's performance in game 1, that should carry into the second game as well. combine that with Noah's energy and Kirk's 3 pointers, and we've got ourselves a closer game tonight that we did Saturday, possibly even a Bulls win? I know that might be asking alot, but i'm just looking forward to a good basketball game.

Playoffs???

well well well. look what we have here. The Bulls in the playoffs. After a year that I was very unsure thy would make it (I mean, they lost 2 games to the NETS) they actually pulled it off. Now, my friends all make fun of me very much for liking the Bulls, but hear me out for a few moments.
First of all, the Eastern conference is BAD. I mean, it's pretty much absolutely awful. So take that into consideration before we think the Bulls are awesome for making the playoffs. However, despite this badness, i really feel like the Bulls should have won many more games, if they had, you know, a good coach.
Vinny is...well...I dunno. Out of the sports, i know the least about basketball, but I feel like I still know more than Vinny Del Negro. I really like this Bulls team and I know they can be awesome. I just know that the coaching is an issue. I'm not going to lie to you and say that I think the Bulls can beat the Cavs, i'm just not going to do that. But I do think that we will at least put up a fight. Joakim Noah is one of my favorite people ever, and I know he can keep up that intensity.
I just keep thinking of last year against Boston, and how that was one of the best playoff series I've ever seen. i really hope we can bring it to 7 games so the UC will be rockin the way it will for these upcoming Blackhawks games (obviously it will be more insane for the Hawks, but the Bulls crowd seemed really into it last night against Boston). Even if we get swept by Lebron and Co., I'm glad we got in the playoffs, and i'm glad Noah and Rose can show how awesome they are to the casual basketball fan.
We might be "playing for next year", but this year is still gonna end with a bang. and Amoung everything else that's going on in Chicago sports, i'm ready for this ride too.