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« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »
I don't know if you set any goals for the 2nd West Coast long road trip. The first one, in November, you just hope to come home with a win.
At this time of year, you hope your season is going pretty good...you're coming up to the All-Star Game and the halfway point of the season. You figure now you've played on the road and you know how to do it.
So you go out on that trip with some confidence and you know you're gonna come back with some wins !!
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Bulls coach Scott Skiles couldn't relax after his team held off the Miami Heat on Saturday night. Skiles also had to deal with Ben Wallace's 4th quarter knee injury.
Scott Skiles on Ben Wallace's Knee Injury vs. Heat
The Bulls and Heat met in the first round of the play-offs last year and I think that when you don't make a whole lot of changes, you know each other really well because you went thru a 2 week period where you comprehensively prepared for the same team time and time again. I think the familiarity that the Bulls and Heat have from the play-offs carries over to the following year.
I think the Heat are a fairly older team with a short bench that has trouble staying up with the Bulls' athleticism. I think the Bulls match up well and that showed in the play-offs as the Bulls pushed Miami in a hard-fought 6-game series.
This year, the Bulls beat Miami in the season opener...the worst loss ever for a defending champion on Opening Night...and then scored 109 points in the rematch one month ago in Chicago. If the Bulls can get the game into the open court, they've got a huge advantage over Miami whenever they play.
Wayne
I'm probably a little prejudiced...I could think of 5 guys that should make it. But knowing guys that could probably make it, #1 is Luol Deng, who has gone up in all phases of his game in the three years he has been in the league. It'd be nice to see a guy like Luol get a chance to play in that game.
The #2 guy I'd say is Ben Gordon. He just seems to be the guy we go to with the ball this year and he's delivered for us.
I'd pick Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
Red
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I think the biggest surprise for the Bulls this season has been the play of Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni. They've stepped their game up annd they're improving as they get older in the leage.
A decision on the rookies is still on hold. I like the progress of Thabo Sefolosha and Tyrus Thomas' future is unlimited. He's got to learn more about the game, but he's got great athletic ability.
Tonight is Game 41, the halfway point of the NBA season and I've been impressed by the depth of the team and its versatility. They use a multitude of line-ups and it doesn't really matter.
They have defined roles off the bench for Ben Gordon and they can move him into the starting lineup and they don't seem to miss a beat.
I like the way they're coming along defensively. I think it took them awhile to figure out how to play with Ben Wallace in there and they're going to be the best defensive team in the league by the time it's done.
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Bulls coach Scott Skiles was pleased with his team's win on Monday over the San Antonio Spurs. The game was a rare matinee at the United Center due to Martin Luther King Day. After the game, Skiles was pleased with the effort since the Bulls were without Ben Wallace on the day.
Skiles Pleased with Win over Spurs
The Bulls have played some of the NBA's elite teams since the start of the new year and I have noticed that the defense is really starting to come around. The Bulls have held 5 of their last 7 opponents under 40% shooting AND 8 of their last 9 opponents under 100 points. The Bulls are playing the kind of defense that they've played the last 2 years and that will serve them well as they head out on the West Coast road trip at the end of January.
A lot of focus has centered on Ben Gordon starting vs coming off the bench. When Ben starts, be gets in the game sooner and gets into a pretty good rhythm, like he did on Saturday against Memphis. The downside is that you lose 20 points off the bench and Ben happens to be the Bulls' leading scorer, which is rather unusual, but what a luxury to have. Ben will contribute his points either way and it doesn't matter to him because his minutes will still be about the same.
Wayne
I'm probably the wrong guy to ask about playing rookies...or maybe the right guy...I was an expansion team coach - it seemed like I had ALL rookies on my team !!
I've seen rookies come into the league, trying to make an impact, but not many have been successful right off the bat. Even Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant had to develop before becoming great players.
On the Bulls now we have Thabo Sefolosha and Tyrus Thomas who have a world of talent, but they just need some playing time. Unfortunately, right now they have several people in front of them who are having pretty good seasons.
Red
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Bulls forward Andres Nocioni was suspended for one game by the NBA on Saturday as a result of an elbow to the head of New Jersey's Mikki Moore in Thursday night's loss. Before the game, Bulls coach Scott Skiles discussed the incident and the suspension.
Scott Skiles On Nocioni Suspension
Mike Miller of the Grizzlies is a former NBA Sixth Man of the Year and one of the more interesting guys we get to talk to each season. Dan Roan caught up with him in the Memphis lockerroom before the game on Saturday to hear Mike's thoughts on the coaching change and a Florida quarterback he knows fairly well.
Grizzlies Mike Miller Talks About His Team's Struggles
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Before Saturday night's game with the Pistons, Bulls center Ben Wallace took a few minutes to talk to Dan Roan about the conflicting emotions as he faced his old team for the first time this season.
On Saturday night's Bullseye, Chicago Tribune beat reporter KC Johnson stopped by to give his take on the Bulls week, plus news from around the NBA.
Bullseye: Dan Roan talks with Tribune's KC Johnson
One way to close out these games that the Bulls have let slip away, is to keep doing what they were doing to get the lead in the first place. They got the lead early in both games against Phoenix and New Jersey, but then got complacent and careless and started to fire outside shots, going for 3-point field goals. Maybe if they had waited, they might have had a chance to take the ball down and get a better shot.
After you get the lead, you've gotta bear down and put your foot on their throat. If you can close it out in the 1st quarter, why wait until the 4th??
Red
I would say too much is being made of Ben's first game against Detroit, except that Ben is contributing to it in that he's doing a lot of interviews with Detroit and Chicago and he's spoken about it, so it's nothing that bothers him. That's good.
It's great to see a guy that was such a focal point of their last championship in Detroit, getting a chance to play against the same team he helped lead to a championship. I think it's a great story. This is a regular season game and there are alot of them left, but this is a little different. It's special for Ben, for sure, and it's a measuring stick of sorts for the Bulls because the Pistons are still the class of the East right now. It's like the Cleveland game a week ago...games that could impact tie-breakers for play-off positioning later in the season.
Wayne
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There is a big test on the road at New Jersey Friday night, but Ben Wallace is already looking forward to his first meeting with his old teammate Saturday night, when the Detroit Pistons visit the United Center on WGN-TV.
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