Mavs Win the NBA Championship

 

The Mavs won the NBA Championship last night. It feels like breaking news because all that was being said was that the Heat lost. I didn't like that at all. Yes, I am a Bulls fan that did not like losing to the Heat and I was cheering for the Mavs to win, but last night was just ridiculous. 

The amount of hate put on LeBron last night was horrendous. I guess I feel bad for him because I have been in his situation. It wasn't an NBA title on the line, but it was a state championship. I was like the LeBron of the team. There was also a "Wade" and "Bosh" of the team, but I was the guy that needed to step up to win it. I didn't, I choked under the pressure of the game. I lost. I know how bad that hurt me, and I can only imagine that LeBron was hurt more last night. 

Yes, he said some really stupid stuff and I don't like what he said. I still don't like him at all. He is arrogant and a big jerk. I don't think I'll ever cheer for him, but I will be happy for him when he finally wins a championship. I'm sure what he said last night was heat of the moment and he was upset. Maybe it wasn't, I don't know. I feel forgiving though. He went through a lot this year, especially in the playoffs. 

Sure, he made a huge deal about his move to Miami and probably didn't handle it well. He is 26, if I was in his shoes I know that I might've done the same exact thing. I don't really hate him for that. I don't hate him at all. I dislike his attitude on the court, but I respect his talent and I feel bad for the amount of hate he gets. 

Last nights comments about his haters was over the line, but how many times have his haters crossed the line? Many, many times. Both sides are wrong in this situation and they both need to move on. The Mavs won and deserved to win.

It's Not Over

The Bulls played their heart out in Game 1. They won in a big way, but in the last three games they have looked flat. Granted, the referees have not been giving them any of the calls they deserve. I, as a Bulls fan, am tired of fans complaining about the refs. They are doing the best they can and there is nothing I, or any other Bulls fan, can do about it. The Bulls are going to have to fight through that disadvantage and still find a way to win. The biggest problem in the last three games is that the Bulls have not been playing with heart. They need to want to win the game more than anything else. Right now, the Heat want it more than the Bulls do. The Bulls have to change that if they want to win three games in a row, like the Heat did, and win this series. If the Bulls truly want to get to the NBA finals this year, they can. They have to fight, though. There are six other things that the Bulls need to do.

1. The Bulls need to spread the court more, which will help Derrick Rose get to the basket more and hopefully get to the free throw line more often. He has not shot nearly enough free throws and has not been able to drive on the Heat. Part of this is because the Heat are playing good defense on him and shifting into the paint quickly, the other part is that the Bulls have not shot well from the perimeter. If the Bulls don't make enough shots from outside the three-point line, Derrick Rose will not have enough spacing to do what he does best. Derrick has to be driving to the hoop, but he can't do that successfully if our outside shooters don't spread the court. Kyle Korver has been terrible this whole series and needs to start hitting shots. Deng is a good outside shooter that needs to get it going, and Bogans needs to hit his normal two or three. If these three guys step it up, the Bulls can win a lot easier.

2. The Bulls have been playing good defense, as they have all season and in the post season. They need to keep that up. Letting Bosh score a lot helped in the first game, and I think that is a good plan. Let him take all the scoring opportunities. Keep Wade and LeBron on the perimeter and make them shoot. This is a good plan against the Heat, because they have no inside game. If the Bulls can limit their outside shooting percentage, they can win.

3. Derrick Rose needs to start playing like the MVP. He has not had a single great game throughout the whole series. He needs to score more. Granted, he needs help from the outside shooters like I mentioned before. He needs to start shooting better, drawing fouls better, making smarter decisions, and just being the leader of the team. He can be that guy, if he actually plays basketball. During the regular season, his best games were against the Heat and other top teams. He needs to go back to doing that. If he is productive in the next three games, I don't see why the Bulls can't win this series.

4.  The bench has to start playing like they have in the past. Taj Gibson was huge in game 1 and needs to do the same again. Kyle Korver needs to start hitting shots. Ronnie Brewer needs to start playing better. C. J Watson was fantastic on a few plays the other night. He was looking like Derrick Rose running through the Heat's defense and needs to do that again in these next few games. Asik is out, but Thomas will fill his roll very well. The Bench Mob better be looking good in the next three games, because that's how you beat the Heat.

5. Kurt Thomas. I know there was a rumor going around that the Bulls only wanted to put him in so that he could injure people, but I don't understand that at all. He is such a gentle giant. I'm not sure if that person was kidding or if they are truly dumb, but the Bulls do need him for other reasons. He is a good medium range shooter that plays down low. This is helpful because his defender will be up higher in the paint and will leave more room for Derrick Rose to get through before the defender has time to shift. When the defender does shift, Derrick can throw the ball back to Thomas and Thomas will hit the shot. The big problem with Noah and Boozer down low is that neither has a great jump-shot. Thomas solves that problem and will be huge in the next three games.

6. The final thing the Bulls need to do is adjust to what the Heat have been doing. Thibodeau is a great coach that studies a lot of film. He needs to watch and see what Miami has done to change their game and make it better. The Heat adjusted to what the Bulls have been doing all year, and now the Bulls need to adjust to what the Heat are doing. It should be like a chess match between the two coaches, and the better and smarter coach is Thibodeau. This means the Bulls should win thanks to Thibs smart coaching. The Bulls defense is getting exposed and that needs to be fixed. The Bulls offense is turning one dimensional, so the Bulls need to start spreading the ball more and giving other players the chance to score. Those are a few of the adjustments that need to be made to beat the Heat.

In the end, this series is going seven games. I don't know who will win that seventh game. It's all about who wants it more. Right now, the Heat want it more. The Bulls can change that, they need to regain their confidence and regain their heart and desire to be in the NBA Finals. When that happens, the Bulls will be a force to be reckoned with.

Tom Thibodeau

 

 The big story for the Bulls all year was about how Rose should win the MVP. The overlooked factor by a lot of people was that we had a new coach, and he was doing all the right things to make this team win. It will be announced later today that he wont the Coach of the Year award. He deserves it, and anyone who thinks that he doesn't has not payed much attention to the Bulls or the NBA in general. 

Last year the Bulls had a good team, but they seemed to be missing one big thing. This year they found out that having the MVP and getting a much better coach will help a team a lot and they ended up being the best team in the league at the end of the year. I loved Thibodeau all year, even when he benched Boozer in that one game. My initial reaction might have been an angry one at him, because we ended up losing but in the end I understood his point and that might have helped Boozer pick it up for the next few games. 

All year, he knew what he was doing whether or not people approved. He had a plan for this team and he was not going to stop for anything. He has a great defensive mind, which is exactly what this team needs and just flat out knows how to coach. 

My favorite thing about Thibs is that even when the Bulls win he wants more. If they give up too many points, but still win he is yelling at them after a big win. That is exactly what this team needs. He is the perfect fit for our team. He is not satisfied, and I'm sure when he is holding that NBA Championship trophy he won't be satisfied even then. He will want more, because one championship is not enough and they may have made mistakes along the way. That's why he is perfect for our team, and that's why he is the coach of the year.

Derrick Rose Wins MVP

All season long, one guy played day after day and played well. That man was and is Derrick Rose. I will agree to say that other players stepped up to help their team throughout the season, but not one player other than Derrick Rose played game after game to help the team. The Bulls finished the season as the number one overall seed, and the leader game after game was Derrick Rose. He scored points, got assists, and made everyone else better on the team. Luol Deng had a great season this year, and I don't doubt one bit that Derrick Rose helped that happen a little bit. He makes his team look better and play better. That is what an MVP is. LeBron or Wade can't win this award, because they play together. They both stepped up at different times to help that team win games, Derrick Rose was by himself for the most part. Game after game they turned to him to be their MVP and he stepped up every time, all season.

My favorite thing about Derrick Rose winning MVP is that at the beginning of the season he said in a press conference that he could be the league's MVP. He proved that all season and got the reward here near the end of the season. The only thing that Derrick Rose still needs to do is to win the Finals. In my opinion, winning the NBA Finals this year is not a must for the Bulls. They have a lot of years to come in which they can win a lot when the Lakers and Celtics fade from contention. Also, I think that the team people thought were take the Celtic's spot as controller of the east was the heat. The team that will actually take that spot is the Bulls.

The Bulls are the up and coming team; they proved that when they won the number one overall seed. They proved that they could play with anybody. My favorite stat from this regular season is that they beat every single team in the NBA at least once. Only good teams do that, and the Bulls are a good team. The thing that excites me the most is that this is only the beginning. I can't wait for the Bulls in three years, winning championship after championship.

Blackhawks vs. Canucks Game 2 Preview

This is not a real preview, I just felt the need to post this youtube video that I found on @RunsOnDuncan site. She got it off youtube, but I thought I would give her credit, check her blog out here: http://aeryssports.com/runs-on-duncan/ and also check out the other aerys sports blogs, they are all by women and they are all amazing.

Playoff Bound

Both the Blackhawks and the Bulls are headed to the playoffs for a second straight year. Last year I was not nearly as interested or as much of an avid blogger as I am this year and I missed the chance to write about such a great thing. The Bulls play tonight against the Knicks, which is their second-to-last game of the regular season. They will start off playing the Pacers in this year's playoffs. The Blackhawks played their final game on Sunday against Detroit and lost, but thanks to Minnesota beating Dallas (Thank You Wild!!) the Blackhawks slipped in. They will play the number one seed Canucks.


Bulls
The Bulls ended up sealing the number one spot in the East. If they win tonight, and tomorrow they can clinch the number one overall seed if they haven't already by then. They are playing the Knicks tonight, the only team they have not beaten all season. I think its important to win this game because it shows that the Bulls beat every single team in the league and deserve a ton of consideration as true contenders. I know that our team is young and this team has never won a playoff series together, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be considered. The Bulls are a good team and have proved that time and time again. Yes, the Celtics will show up in the playoffs and so will the Heat's big three, but Rose will show up in the playoffs too. The Bulls deserve to be considered contenders and nobody should be surprised if they win it all, but I actually didn't pick them to win it all. This team is young, like I said and they lack playoff experience. They are might end up facing the Lakers in the finals who have been there the last three years, they know how to win the finals and they showed that last year. This Bulls team is good and young, the Celtics, Spurs, and Lakers are all old teams and after this year they might not contend as well as they will this year and did last year. The Bulls have years to come of winning championships, Derrick Rose will not leave like LeBron and he will bring a championship to his hometown of Chicago. He is a true hometown hero. I didn't pick the Bulls to win this year because I still like to compare this team to the 2009 Blackhawks. They will make a splash and will be picked to win it all the next year and then in the playoffs they will make a great run to win it all. I will not firmly predict that the Bulls win it all, but if injuries subside I am firmly picking the Bulls to win next year's NBA Championship.


Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have the great task of being defending champs in this year's playoffs. They had trouble with injuries all year and were missing a lot of key pieces from last year's team, but they still held on to get in the playoffs in the very end. Now that they are teams should be worried. The Canucks are the number one team and they are very good. The Sedin twins are very good and so is Ryan Kesler. The Blackhawks are not going to let this chance pass them by, though. Jonathan Toews will be yelling and screaming at this team the whole playoff run and that is what will keep them going. Expect to see Kane, Toews, and Sharp playing like they did during that 8 game win streak and expect Hossa to be on the top of his game. The defense will be sturdy and hopefully with a little luck, Bolland will be back sometime during the playoffs. This is a team that can win and be a very good team if they give it their all. They can beat this team and the next team and the next. A great playoff run by the Blackhawks would not surprise me at all. They are a good team with a lot of heart, if they put everything out on the ice and give it their all they can keep the cup.

The Price Was Right Hawks Lose 2-1 in OT

The best thing about tonight's game was probably the amazing play by both goalies. One got the win, but each goal given up was a good shot and good attempt at a save. Crawford went back to his hometown in this game, and was not treated as a hometowner would expect. He shrugged that off and played his ass off. I was very impressed with him in this game. It seemed like every few minutes I was tweeting a tweet that had the hashtag #CRAWESOME in it. That's always a good sign.

For the past few games, he has been the only guy stepping it up and that needs to change. When your goalie is the only player who decides to play you aren't going to win. Most good goalies can't make that many saves, so don't expect it. The Blackhawks need to learn from this rookie and learn from his work ethic and the way he always plays 110%. My favorite thing about tonight's game was that Turco had another heart to heart, goalie to goalie talk with Crawford. I don't know how he does it. If I was a professional hockey player that was sitting on the bench, I could not be mature enough to coach the rookie who took my place. I admire Turco so much for the way he has stepped up and helped Corey out.

The worst part of tonight's game was another injury. Brouwer went down in the 3rd period with a bad shoulder. I don't know the details, but I do know that we can't afford to have any more injuries. Sharp will be skating soon, but if we make the playoffs he probably won't be back for the first playoff game. If we make the playoffs these injuries need to end. We can't make a run at keeping the cup without Sharpie.



The only Blackhawks goal scorer was Patrick Kane. In doing so, he got his 300th career point. This is extremely impressive because it was done in only 314 games. Statistically that means that he only went 14 games without a point, literally he probably went more because he has had 18 multipoint games. Kane is an impressive player. He got cold through the middle of the season and I think people forgot that he is one of our best players. He has been the hot guy lately and has had a point in each of the last 8 games. (That's if my stats are right) Kaner is being the leader of the team right now. I heard that Toews was mad in the locker room after the game and that might lead to another win streak, but until the Hawks play again Kane is still the hot guy.

This game unfortunately and fortunately went to overtime. This was good and bad. I didn't want the Hawks to lose so overtime would have not been necessary if we didn't play like idiots during power plays. I like that we went to overtime because we still got a point. It's better than losing and not getting any credit even though your goalie and a few players played really well.

The Blackhawks started the game as if they had urgency, but did not continue to play that way throughout the game. Their energy trickled and led to them losing this game. They need to play a full 60 minutes of full on urgent lose you go home hockey. This team can win games if they all pull together and actually play well. I think Toews will get a goal the next game, and I think Kaner continues his awesomeness. Just for fun, I'll predict that Johnny gets an Ovechtrick.

White Sox Season Preview Take 2

I did a season preview way earlier in the year when the pitchers and catchers reported. There was a lot that I didn't know back then about this team. Spring Training doesn't mean much, but it can tell you a lot about how some of the younger players are going to play.

I got a good vibe from spring training this year. The wins and losses don't matter and that's not what I'm talking about. I liked what I saw with Milledge, Morel, and Beckham. With those young guys in our lineup playing at their best we are a good team. Konerko will be solid as always, and the rest of our offense seems like it will be ready to play. Our pitching was great, I'm extremely excited about Johnny Danks and Gavin Floyd. Both pitchers came to our team without experience. Buehrle groomed them and now every year they get better. The pitcher I am most excited about is Chris Sale. When he first started playing last year I knew he was a gamer. I was asking for him to be out there as much as possible, he seemed like one of the few guys who could actually win a game for us. This year he will be better and I look forward to him most likely being a starter next year.

The bad things that I noticed were very few. I remembered a few things. I remembered that Adam Dunn strikes out a lot, and that is an understatement. I also remembered how terrible Teahen is at defense and that is why he didn't get the third base job. Other than those two I can't think of anything that was a bad sign. Buehrle didn't pitch well at the beginning of spring training, but he will be fine in the regular season.

The worst thing this off-season and spring training was the Peavy situation. The worst part was that I thought he would be out for a good chunk of the season, then he made a really rapid recovery and I loved what I saw. Right as he was about to finish his miraculous recovery he started to have tendinitis in his elbow and we are back to square one. Peavy will probably be back around the same time he was expected to with the first injury. White Sox fans shouldn't be worried. He will come back when he is ready and he will be fine.

Okay, now onto the future, where I think the White Sox are going to go this year.
They have gotten some love from some ESPN guys to be a dark horse in the league, and that's the position the White Sox like to be in. They have great pitching, and it will be even better when Peavy comes back. You could argue that this pitching staff is only second to Philly. The White Sox also have added a lot of good things to their offense this year. Our outfielders are going to be better than they were last year, and if one slacks off Ozzie won't hesitate to put Milledge in. Our infield is very young excluding Konerko. Morel, Beckham, and Ramirez are going to need to grow up and play well. Beckham needs to have a bounce-back season, which I think is very possible. I'm not too worried about the offense of the other two. This team is built to win a World Series. I'm not going to drink the kool-aid and say they will win, I'm saying that they are built to win it. If we do everything right and don't have very many injuries the World Series is possible. The twins and Tigers are tough, though and we are going to need to play well in every division game. If they play well against their division, and win the division they have a good chance at going all the way. The way the team is set up with great pitching and a good offensive core, they are built for the playoffs. Stay tuned to this blog for a AL Central preview soon, and for more up to date info follow me (@the_chicago_fan) and my blogs (@tcf_blogs)




I had to post this, since I love all team commercials, like the one goal series and I hope the All in series is just as good.

Shutout, Hawks Win 4-0

This game was the first game of our new forward Marcus Kruger who we called up for this game. He played well, he had his first penalty but overall had a good performance. I think he will do a lot of good things in the future and look forward to seeing him play more with the Blackhawks. This game was a first game for someone else too, this is the first game for Campbell after his ankle injury and he seemed to skate just fine. Sharp was still out today, but the Hawks didn't need him, because they scored pretty well by themselves.

In the second period, it was still tied 0-0 when Toews passed to Keith who passed to Seabrook who rocketed it towards the net and got the first goal of the game. Toews had another assist on the stalberg score in the 3rd Period. Also in the third period Kane scored on a sweet pass by Keith. Both Toews and Kane had multipoint games, this was Toews' 24th and Kane's 18th. Later in the 3rd the three slovs were together and teamed up to score an awesome goal. Frolik and Hossa got the assists and Kopecky got the goal.

The biggest story of the night in my opinion was that Corey Crawford was amazing. I can't even count how many times I tweeted something with #Crawesome in it. He was a beast and ending up holding on to get a shutout, his 5th of the season. He has been in net night after night and is still performing like that, I think we have a winner here with him.
The big problem of the game, at least in the first part of the game, was that there was terrible passing by the Blackhawks. They had plenty of chances that were killed because certain players couldn't pass the puck well. They have to improve on that, but later in the game the passes were the things that shined, so maybe Q mentioned it during intermission.
The three stars of the night were crawford, toews, and the number one star was seabrook because his goal opened up the shooting spree and helped lead the Hawks to victory. All three stars deserved it and they all played extremely well.
Overall the Blackhawks played a good game and played like they needed to win, which they did. Toews was a monster as always, and Kane got another goal. I don't think I could be any happier right now about this game.

HAWKS WIN. 2-1

The Blackhawks had a terrible loss a few days ago, and they knew going to Pheonix that they had to play well or they would not be in the playoffs. They rose up to that challenge and played a really good game. This game could have been a blowout for the hawks, but the coyotes' goalie made a lot of good saves, and most of those good saves were on Toews.
Nick Leddy had his birthday yesterday, and as a present got an assist on the Keith goal in the first period and got blamed for the yotes' goal. Kind of an up and down effect there.
The bad news from this game is that Patrick Sharp got hurt on a delayed penalty call. It is a knee injury and there has not been a comment on when he will be back or how he is doing. I hope he is back soon, he has been a vital part of our team this year and losing him for this final playoff push could be fatal.

The good news from this game is that Chris Campoli got his first Blackhawks goal. That is the goal that broke the tie and ended up winning the game for the hawks. Both goals were great goals and from almost the same spot. Great setups on both, one from Leddy and one from Toews. I was really happy for Campoli when he got the goal and I hope that is only the first of many on this team. He fits in well with the rest of the team.
The final minute of the game was crazy, but the Blackhawks ended up holding on. Hossa was about to put it away into the open net, but the shot was blocked and the yotes still had a chance to put the puck in the net and make the game go to overtime. That was huge, I'm done with the overtime thing. The Blackhawks have played too many overtime games, yes it gives you a point but if you end up winning you just give the other team a point. The Blackhawks played well and the score doesn't really show that but they are back to the form they were in when they went on that 8 game win streak.

I thought I would share this because Keith scored last night. Great song and video. I love all the songs that the score puts out.