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.

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.

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 Power of the Hamburger, Bulls Win 98-79

Last night the Bulls played the Wizards. By winning they gained sole possession of first place in the eastern conference, and added to their winning streak making the streak 7 games in a row. They will play the Nets on Thursday to try to extend that streak to 8 games. Through the whole streak Derrick Rose has been the MVP that he has been all year. I hope the Bulls can continue to win like this to finish out the rest of the season.

The Bulls have won most of the games during the streak without Boozer and last night they didn't have Noah either. Those two players have had troubles this season staying healthy, but it will be good to have Noah back on Thursday. I don't know when Boozer will be back, but this injury is not his fault. He got almost killed by Kwame Brown. Boozer did shoot a little today, but I doubt he will be back that soon. I hope Boozer will be back soon, because when the Bulls have Noah, Boozer, Deng and Rose on the court to start the game they win a lot more games than when they don't. I also hope that Boozer and Noah will be on the court throughout the whole playoff run, when it comes that time.
Another big part of the game that probably shouldn't have been a big part of the game was that fans were a little upset with Brian Scalabrine for not attempting a three as time expired so that they could get a hamburger. I don't think this had a huge impact, but I did think it was kind of funny that some fans are fat enough that they would get mad at a player because he didn't try to help them get a free hamburger. Another point, who says that Scal would've hit the shot? I seriously doubt that Brian Scalabrine would have hit a three.
To recap the game, I don't really have much to say. I couldn't watch the game because it wasn't on my TV, but from what I saw on twitter they were sloppy. That is not the kind of play that will help us in the playoffs. My favorite thing that happened last night was that the Bulls won big, they took first place in the east and yet after the game coach Thibodeau was mad at the team. That is why I love having him as our coach, he pushes them hard and never stops asking for more. Some people say he pushes them too hard and they may not like it, but from what I have heard so far he is well liked by the players and he is doing a great job coaching them. In my opinion he deserves to get the Coach of the Year award. Getting to the NBA Finals, or even the conference finals would help him get that even more. That was the best pickup we had this offseason, even over the Boozer pick up.
I hope the Bulls continue to get better as the year finishes out and I hope they go far in the playoffs. Derrick Rose will win the MVP, I don't think any other player can put up an argument, because no other player has played as well as Rose the whole year. There might be some players that are starting to play well recently, but Rose has been the best player the whole season.


I felt the need to share that picture, because when I first saw it I almost peed my pants.

From 1991 to 2011

Last night I was tweeting as I do most nights and I was watching the Bulls game. I was trying to make a really good point about the similarities between the 1991 team and the 2011 team and I completely failed. I said they were ten years apart, when they are twenty. So now everyone that reads knows that I am a legit idiot. Since cramming the similarities into 140 characters is a bit of a challenge, I figured I would write a blog post about it, so here we go.
In 1991, I was three years old. I don't remember the Bulls winning the championship that year at all, but I do remember the years after and I realize that the 1991 team was the team that started it all. Jordan finally got the teammates he needed to win a championship and so they did win one. It was Jordan's first championship and it started something huge for his career and for the city of Chicago. He went on to win 6 total championships and both of them 3-peats. On to the 2011 Bulls, they were in the playoffs last year but were missing just a little something with their team. They got that in Carlos Boozer and also with Deng becoming a much better player this season. Now they have a chance to win the championship as they are 1st place in the Eastern Conference. These teams seem way too much alike to be just a mere coincidence.
I know that Derrick doesn't like to be compared to Michael Jordan, but there are some very obvious similarities. In 1991, Jordan won the MVP, this year it looks like Derrick Rose will win the MVP. They both are very aggressive and really good players. Derrick Rose grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, and who knows maybe the next Bulls star is idolizing Derrick Rose this year.
That about raps up everything I had to say. The last thing is that the Bulls and Michael Jordan were recognized as contenders, but not really thought of as a championship team until 1991, the same this is with this Bulls team. I just hope that the Bulls can do what the Bulls did in 1991.
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Just for fun I posted this YouTube video. I am legit in love with it.

The Two MVPs

I just thought I would write about the two players in Chicago that are making a big impact on their teams, so much that they are MVP candidates, at least in my book. The first is Jonathon Toews. Lately he has led the team on an eight game winning streak and has scored a goal in the last three games. This is not the only reason that I think he should be MVP. It takes all year to earn the award. All year long Toews has been stepping it up as the team's captain. Together with Sharp they have helped the blackhawks get back into the top of the standings and into playoff position. Toews recently gave a big speech during intermission in St. Louis that fired up the whole team and really helped them get out of their slump. He has stepped up and really showed that he deserves his captain role. Right now he is scoring goals, getting assists, pumping the team up, and just flat out playing good hockey. I think that qualifies him for MVP.

The next player is a guy that I have been talking about being the MVP for a while now. Derrick Rose has had a great year. All year long he has stepped it up and has put up major stats. He is a great player to begin with and this is one of his better years. The Bulls are now 2nd in the east because of him and they are rolling. Every game that the Bulls play against a top team he steps up and scores tons of points. While scoring all those points he also gets little turnovers and a lot of assists. Derrick Rose is MVP and I don't think anybody can truly argue that. Everywhere he goes he gets MVP chants and everywhere he goes he deserves them. He is a scoring machine and also plays the point guard position well by getting a lot of assists. He is the real deal. I won't be surprised if the Bulls win the NBA Championship this year, but I really think that next year is their year. Derrick Rose can change that, he can make what I think the Bulls aren't ready to handle into something they handle very well. He is the NBA MVP. No question.

Derrick Rose

There is no doubt that Derrick Rose has been playing very well this season. He has game in and game out lead this team in scoring, this year he has tried to reach the free throw line more often and he has. The best thing about Derrick Rose penitrating to get to the line is that he is probably going to make the original shot and that makes a lot of his chances and1s. When you get and1s and you can shoot free throws like Derrick Rose can that really helps your team. He is a great player and the Bulls management knew that when they drafted him first overall. This has to be one of the best examples of how having the first pick can help and can help in a hurry. It was only a couple years ago that the Bulls were dismal and made me shake my head, along with the rest of the NBA. Now that Rose is leading this team and that I've gotten over my struggle with the NBA I like this team and I think they are going to do great things. If they don't win this year because they don't have a 2 guard I'm fine because this is a very young team and they have about 10 more years of good play and I'm only a little kidding. Derrick Rose will be a player in 10 years and a few of these players we be there too. They are a great team. Now onto the MVP talk about Rose.
Rose has been playing great this season like I said before. He has been playing like an MVP and yet he hasn't been recognized like one until just recently by the national media. Rose is a great player and this season he has improved a lot and has really stepped up to that upper echelon of players. I think he deserves this award 100%. It is only the middle of the season, but I think DRose is only going to get better not worse. I doubt he will get injured(knock on wood) and so I think they should just hand it to him now. You might talk about some of the other contenders. They are LeBron, Wade, Dirk, and Rondo. LeBron and Wade are probably not going to win this because the votes will be split for them because they are both playing well but they are playing together. Dirk will probably not get this because the Mavs seem like they are falling and Dirk was injured for a chunk of the season. I don't think he will win this award, but if Derrick doesn't get it Dirk should. Now onto Rondo, this is the one that I have a lot to say about. People think Rondo is a better point guard because he had a good year last year. Derrick has had a good year last year and this year and people still don't realize how good of a year he is having this year. When the Bulls played the Celtics most recently Derrick showed up Rondo. He played better both as a scorer and as a passer. Rondo didn't have a great game, but Rose still played better than Rondo would have in a good game. The Bulls won and Rose came out victorious. After this people still didn't think of Rose as an MVP candidate. I think people as fans of the game and the national media have wised up a little and now consider him, but still don't always pick him as a favorite. I think they should have him as the favorite. He is a great player and is having a great year and deserves the MVP.

The Bulls

If you are someone who reads this blog often, you know that I am not a huge fan of the NBA. Well, in the past few months I have become quite the fan. I realized that if I wanted to call myself a true Chicago fan that I had to be a little bit more interested in the Bulls. So, I started to watch a few games. As I watched my first instinct was that the refs are ridiculous and they won't call anything. As I watched the Bulls play more the more I liked it. I think I can now officially call myself a Bulls fan, I've been outed. So lets get talking about the team.
This summer their was a lot of talk about LeBron (sorry anybody reading from Cleveland) and how he might go to the Bulls because we have a great young team. This week I realized that maybe this team is better off without him. Instead of him we got Boozer, who I think fits in a lot better. LeBron would be trying to take the ball, when this is Rose's team and he is the guy who takes the ball. I think the team works a lot better together than they would if LeBron was on the team. Rose is having an oustanding year and with James on the team he would not have numbers near as high and impressive. This was the best thing for the team, now I think we can beat the team that LeBron ended up going to and beat the Celtics as you have seen. I'm not saying that this is a for sure thing, but don't be surprised if the Bulls make it to the Finals. The chances of them beating the Lakers are slim, but its the same with almost every team. I think that maybe something will happen just like what happened with the Blackhawks. They are the surprise team one year, and then the next year they are on top more than before and they win it all. The Bulls have a lot of potential and a lot of really good young players. I think their coach knows how to use them and this team is going to be very good. Go Bulls!

Lebron.

It seems to be looking as though James will be going to the bulls with Bosh right after the free agency period begins. This could be good for Chicago and mean that they have a chance to win a championship sometime soon with young guys such as James, Bosh, and Rose. I say that in 3 years the bulls are a pretty unstoppable force if they get both James and Bosh. ESPN reports that what Chicago is offering is way to good of a chance for LeBron to pass up. They also say that even though James will be meeting with the Knicks and Nets on July 1st it is just a courtesy meeting. Because James will probably not be joining the Knicks they have decided to go after other players such as Amare Stoudemire. I think that James might have better luck at winning a championship with Chicago than he did with Cleveland. A few days ago i blogged saying that if James did not rejoin the Cavs he would be with the bulls. Now the sources seem to be agreeing with me. I will be keeping my phone on once the free agency period begins to see if Bosh and James both get to Chicago and when that happens. We will see what happens when James is officially a free agent, but for right now we can only guess or have an educated guess.