The Chicago Bulls embarassed themselves so badly tonight that the president of the United States didn’t bother to stick around for the finish, as the Bulls were blown out by the Washington Wizards 113 to 90.

A large part of the Bulls problems tonight came from their starting backcourt. Ben Gordon had 11 points on a horrific 3-14 shooting. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. His shot was just off tonight, and he was getting blocked on some of his drives to the basket. Gordon had some difficulty guarding Nick Young in the second quarter. Derrick Rose only had 10 points, 3 assists, along with 5 turnovers. He, like Gordon, could never get anything going.

I think that those two had some problems as the result of the offense, or to put it more accurately, the lack of offense. The Bulls really never had a set offense in place tonight. They didn’t run that curl play for Gordon at all. Rather, the Bulls just moved around the perimeter, looking for their guards to create something. That’s not really a very effective offensive strategy. Del Negro has to step up his coaching.

John Salmons, however, off the bench played great. He had 25 points on 8-13 shooting. He was scoring in a variety of ways. He stroked it from long range, going 2-4 from three, and scored on some nice drives to the basket.

Unfortunately Salmons’ scoring outburst was no match for that of the Wizards’ Antawn Jamison. Jamison had 27 points and 11 rebounds and could not be stopped by any of the Bulls defenders.

The Bulls big men as a whole were terrible tonight on the defensive end. They provided little resistance in the paint and gave up 19 offensive rebounds to Washington.

Brad Miller had 9 points and 11 rebounds and Joakim Noah added in 9 points and 9 rebounds as both were solid overall tonight. Tim Thomas had 5 points on 1-5 shooting and Tyrus Thomas had 7 points on 1-6 shooting. Both played terribly tonight.

The Wizards just played all around great team ball tonight, having eight players in double figures. Jamison had 27 points, Caron Butler and Mike James had 14 points, Darius Songaila, Nick Young, and Andray Blatche had 12 points, and Dominic McGuire and JaVale McGee both had 10 points.

When you allow eight players to score in double figures, you are most likely going to lose the game.

Kirk Hinrich had 7 points on a solid 2-5 shooting, and Luol Deng had 4 points on 2-8 shooting.

Anthony Roberson played his first game with the Bulls. He had 0 points on 0-3 shooting.

The Bulls wore black patches to honor Norm Van Lier and Johnny Red Kerr. The Wizards honored Kerr and Van Lier with a moment of silence before the game.

It’s hard to tell what exactly is wrong with the Bulls. Maybe the mix of Barack Obama being present and the deaths of Johnny Red Kerr and Norm Van Lier was just too much for them to handle. Maybe they just don’t have good chemistry after the trade, as they are now 1-3 with the new players in the mix.

But one thing is for sure, when you are playing a 13-44 opponent, and you’re trying to make the playoffs, you have to find a way to win the game. Losing a game like this is inexcusable.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 26-33 on the season. Luckily, they likely will not be affected in the playof race tonight as Milwaukee looks set to lose in New Orleans tonight.

Bulls Get Presidential

The president of the United States invited the Chicago Bulls to the White House yesterday. Barack Obama has been a long time Bulls fan. Tonight was Barack Obama’s first Wizards game since being elected president. He is the first president to attend a Wizards game since Bill Clinton. Joe Biden, his vice president, attended a Bulls game earlier this year at the United Center. The officials waited to start the game until Obama entered the stadium. Obama ended up in some courtside seats on the edge of the court. He left the game with a few minutes left to standing ovation as the Bulls were amidst in getting blown out.

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Tags: Andray Blatche, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Roberson, Barack Obama, Ben Gordon, Bill Clinton, Brad Miller, Caron Butler, Chicago Bulls, Darius Songaila, Derrick Rose, Dominic McGuire, JaVale McGee, Joakim Noah, Joe Biden, John Salmons, Johnny Red Kerr, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Nick Young, Norm Van Lier, president, Tim Thomas, Tyrus Thomas, Washington Wizards

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