BullsEye Blog

Last game, I talked about opportunities that have presented themselves to the Bulls' bench players because of injuries to starters.
Tonight, I want to talk about Thabo Sefolosha specifically. He had a chance to start at the beginning of the season. Now, with Kirk Hinrich still out and Luol Deng out for awhile, Thabo will get some extra time on the court.
He needs to play with confidence and be mentally ready when these playing opportunities present themselves. He is skilled enough, has good size and is a better offensive player than most people think.

Posted by WGN Sports at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Atlanta Hawks finished strong last season, taking the Boston Celtics to 7 games in the first round of the play-offs. They made the post-season as the 8th seed; the Hawks would be a 4th seed at this point in the season.
Atlanta played the Celtics the toughest of all Boston's play-off opponents last season. And that came as a surprise to many fans of the NBA, but I think the Hawks themselves felt they could actually beat Boston.

This season, the Hawks' 3-point shooting is much better. Their overall team chemistry is better - they're playing as a team. Take Joe Johnson; he's not just scoring anymore. He had his first career triple-double against the Thunder the other night. He is learning that he doesn't need to score to contribute to the total team effort.

Posted by WGN Sports at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

* The Hawks won the lone previous meeting between these teams this season, 113-108 on Nov. 11, behind Al Horford's 27 points and 17 rebounds.
* Atlanta has held nine straight opponents below 100 points.
* The Hawks are forcing just 13.0 turnovers per game this season, fifth fewest in the NBA.
* Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby have combined for 133 three-pointers this season, most of any set of teammates.

Posted by WGN Sports at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's pretty difficult to come to the Palace and not remember some of the great battles that we had with the Pistons when I was playing.
I remember when I was a rookie and the 7-game series we had with Detroit in the play-offs. Both teams played well at home, but we lost John Paxson for game 7 and Scottie Pippen was out most of the game with a headache. We were under-manned...BJ Armstrong and I were rookies, and it was really a baptism by fire in that game. After we lost, Michael Jordan told us all in the locker room, "This will NEVER happen again."

It was a natural progression back then...Detroit battled the Celtics, then finally won. Then we battled Detroit for 2 or 3 years before we won our first championship. It was a great rivalry and those rivalries where the cities are close together are good for the league. Right now, the Bulls are hopefully on their way up, while the Pistons are trying to remain one of the elite teams in the East. I don't know if this rivalry will ever be as intense as it was, but I'd like to see it heat up again.

Posted by WGN Sports at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Injuries obviously hurt any team, but the Bulls have had a number of them lately and they are starting to take a toll. Kirk Hinrich has been out since November, Tyrus Thomas has missed a couple of games and Drew Gooden will be out of action for another week or so.
But, if there is a positive in this rash of injuries, it is that it gives Vinny Del Negro a chance to get some guys into the rotation who might not be there if the team were healthy.
The backlog in the backcourt has been eased with Hinrich out and it gives some of the 2nd or 3rd line players a chance to show what they can do.

But on the other side, the injuries to Tyrus Thomas and Drew Gooden have hampered Vinny Del Negro's frontcourt. The Bulls need size to rebound and defend. The Bulls stole a victory from Utah with a small lineup, but in the long run, you need size to be successful in the NBA.

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The next 3 games are big games for the Bulls. I wrote earlier how the Bulls had 8 games against so-called "weaker" opponents and through the first 5 of those 8 games, the Bulls are 2 and 3. If the Bulls can run the table on the next 3, that will put them at 5 and 3 for those games and a 13 and 12 record overall. That's a lot of numbers to digest, but they are important, because if you look at the schedule starting Friday night, the Bulls play Boston, Utah, Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, New Jersey and Orlando before the year ends.

Realistically, I think the Bulls can win 4 of those 7 games, but it will not be easy. They will need to give their best effort in those games and that gets back to the 3 games they will play starting tonight. The Bulls cannot afford another effort like they had in Memphis on Friday night.

So, look for the Bulls to get on a roll in games against New Jersey, Charlotte and the Clippers in the next 5 days.

Posted by WGN Sports at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Derrick Rose is currently 8th in the Eastern Conference All-Star voting and gives the Bulls their best chance to place a player on the All-Star team since the championship years.

There are only 1 or 2 guards in the East who are having the kind of season that Derrick is having and one might be Devin Harris of the Nets and he's not in the top 8.
I have no problem with fans voting for NBA veterans like Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade, but when you look at the list, there are some guys who are not having the impact on their teams that Derrick is having for the Bulls.

So, I'd like to see Bulls fans get out and vote for Derrick Rose and get him some votes and see if Rose can move up in the standings.

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Posted by WGN Sports at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One thing I noticed on this West Coast road trip is how the Bulls are starting to understand what they have to do to play with Derrick Rose. Andres Nocioni got it right away, but now the other scorers, Ben Gordon and Larry Hughes are catching on...and Drew Gooden, too. Gooden has been better and is more consistent.

There was never any reluctance or resistance to letting Derrick run the team on the part of the veterans, but like any veteran player, the Bulls wanted to know not only that Derrick Rose knew how to run a team, but that he was truly able to do it.

After this last road trip, they all know Derrick can run the team and have confidence in him.

Posted by WGN Sports at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When the Bulls go on any kind of extended road trip, like this recent Circus Trip, it is a definitely bonding experience. The Bulls have not had a lot of success in recent years on the West Coast, but what I saw on this last trip was that the players have begun to rely on each other and are starting to come together as a team.
The Bulls finished with a 3-4 record, but could have been 5-2 with a couple of stronger finishes in Denver and San Antonio.

Now that they are back home, the Bulls face a favorable schedule with 8 sub-.500 teams coming up. The Bulls could go 8-0, 6-2 or 5-3 and that would be a real confidence-booster as they will face the Boston Celtics later this month.

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