The Chicago Bulls started 2009 just where they left off in 2008, getting blown out. The Bulls got humiliated in Cleveland tonight 117 to 92.
For the second straight game, Vinny Del Negro quit. This is the third time this season where Vinny clearly quit on a game, the man is simply a quitter. The Bulls were down 15 with almost an entire quarter left in the game, yet Vinny never brought Rose and Gordon back in the fourth, allowing Cleveland to rebuild their lead.
There is not much to analyze about the Bulls humiliating losses these days. The Bulls are simply playing glorified Boylan-ball. It is only glorified, because Vinny is playing Ben Gordon more than Boylan did and because the Bulls now have Derrick Rose. The Bulls have no noticeable offensive sets and the team doesn’t even pretend to try on the defensive end of the court. Someone should really teach Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah about the concept of help defense, because both seem to think that you aren’t allowed to help out when an opposing guard dribbles to the basket.
It is clear what the Bulls have to do, replace Vinny Del Negro. We gave him a try. Perhaps his ideas really were great, but that doesn’t chance the fact that he had no coaching experience, and obviously could not implement anything. And on the small chance that the players are actually running his offensive and defensive sets, then Vinny is a terrible basketball mind. Regardless, the result has been horrific, and Vinny has earned his dismissal.
Derrick Rose finished tonights game with only 3 points and 2 assists. Rose simply didn’t care when he was in the game. He accepted defeat. This is unacceptable. Our head coach has made this team so bad, that our never give up point guard is accepting defeat. The coach needs to go.
Ben Gordon is the lone bright spot for the Bulls tonight, finishing with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal. He is simply a great scorer, and can score in the face of adversity. Gordon showed a certain look of disgust on his face often tonight. That is the look of other players not passing him the ball when he is sitting there wide open waving his arms yelling for the ball. On one of these plays Thomas dribbled the ball down the court ignoring Gordon on three separate occasions. Sefolosha and Noah also went in against heavy defensive coverage either to be stripped or put up a bad shot. Apparently no one taught our players that you can pass out of the paint to the perimeter in a drive and kick or post up. The coach needs to go.
Our big men again did not produce offensively or defensively. They were easily scored on by the Cleveland bigs and did not offer any resistance to the penetration by Cleveland’s guards. Anderson Varejao had 26 points, Ben Wallace 13, and J.J. Hickson had 13 points. A bunch of Cleveland players had their season highs tonight. The Bulls big men have no idea how to defend either big men or penetrating perimeter players. The coach needs to go.
Lebron James had a triple double for Cleveland, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He easily picked apart the Bulls.
Lindsey Hunter added in 13 points for the Bulls and Andres Nocioni had 11 points.
Delonte West gave the Cavs 14 points, Sasha Pavlovic added in 13, and Mo Williams had 11.
Cedric Simmons had 9 points and 4 rebounds. He has done something our other bigs haven’t been able to do, and that is catch and dunk the ball.
Zydranus Ilgauskus did not play tonight.
With the loss, the Bulls fall to 14-19 on the season.
From Hoopsworld evening scoop, Bill Ingrim reveals more on the Bulls food situation. It turns out that five players were fined, including Ben Gordon. It also turns out that the Bulls provide food within the locker room to their players.
Every once in a while you run across a story that makes your jaw drop. This is one of those.
There’s a story in the Chicago media today about head coach Vinny Del Negro fining three players for eating in the locker room before a recent home game. HOOPSWORLD has learned that the number of players fined was actually five, but whether it was five or three, this story keeps getting wierder.
We’re talking about a team that provides food (at least a fruit tray) to the visitor’s locker room before each game and makes food available to their own players as well. It’s also a team that has never had an issue with players eating before a game, even at their lockers. Ben Gordon has often taken ribbing for his habit of making - not just eating, but actually whipping out condiments, constructing, and eating - peanut butter sandwiches in his locker before games.
So all of a sudden Del Negro decides to not only go off on a group of players, but also fine them for eating in the locker room before a game. Fines were less than a thousand dollars each, but still it’s a strange way to make a point.
It seems to be par for the course for Vinny Del Negro, however, who is going to great lengths to try and establish his authority in the locker room. Given that he’s failed to do it in any traditional way, he beginning to do it in ways that make him seem small and petty.
In case you’re wondering why it’s a bad idea to hand an inexperienced coach the head chair for an NBA franchise, you’re starting to see it in Chicago. Del Negro got the job despite his complete lack of experience coaching at any level, and the Bulls are now bearing the brunt of the consequences for that decision.
This is a team that fired Scott Skiles at about this time last season because his shrill, power-hungry ways were alienating players. Now it seems they replaced him with someone equally as shrill. It would be almost impossible for the Bulls to fire him this season without becoming even more of a laughing stock in NBA circles, but don’t be surprised if he’s one of the first ones picked off next season.
Things are going to get really ugly in Chicago, and that’s not a good situation for a team with so many young players seeking identities and veterans who will be walking away as free agents this summer.
When news first came out about Vinny fining Tyrus Thomas, Larry Hughes, and Joakim Noah for eating in the locker room, it all seemed really strange to me. I was thinking in the back of my mind, what about Ben Gordon’s pregame PB&J’s? I just figured that since Gordon wasn’t listed in the players mentioned, he was doing his eating somewhere else. Turns out my original inclination was right, and that Gordon wasn’t doing his eating elsewhere. What type of long standing team rule could there have possibly been? Remember, this is the team that wouldn’t let Ben Wallace go onto the court with a headband, so surely they would enforce other silly rules as well.
It was never a secret that Ben Gordon liked to enjoy a pregame meal. Here is Ben Gordon speaking about his pregame delicacies a few years ago: “I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before every game. Whoever invented that was smart. That’s got to be one of the best sandwiches ever.”
Pregame meals aren’t just something that the Bulls “no good” players came up with. Early in his career, Kobe Bryant used to eat Big Macs before games. Now, he eats much healthier of course.
It is ridiculous for the Bulls to be enforcing such a rule. Logically, a rule book would have been passed out, and players reading it would have objected at a silly rule. It’s hard to see a player who reads as much as Gordon does not reading the rule book. He surely would have objected as one of his pregame rituals was outlawed. Perhaps the Bulls just hand out food in the locker room to try to tempt their players, kind of like God putting a snake in the Garden of Eden.
These players are hardly bad seeds, they’re just feeding their bodies so they can go out and perform a professional sport at the high level. It’s not like they are doing some pregame drinking like Shawn Kemp.
If true, it is a good thing that the Bulls are prepared to let Vinny Del Negro go. If they fire him after the season, there is a wide array of prospective head coaches they could go after. They could sign former Mavericks coach, Avery Johnson, who has the highest regular season win percentage of any coach in NBA history. Or they could go after Boston’s defensive guru, Tom Thibodeau.
Kirk Hinrich gives the press a time-table for his return to the court. It may be sooner than everyone thinks. Hear the Bulls’ guard talk about getting back into NBA shape.
The NBA has just sent out a press release announcing that Derrick Rose has been named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month. Here is the press release:
NEW YORK, December 1, 2008 The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo today were named the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 28) through November.
For every point scored by the players named the T-Mobile Rookie of the Month, T-Mobile will donate $20 per point scored to school districts in Phoenix, in support of a season-long effort to better the various youth communities in Phoenix, the Host City of NBA All-Star 2009. The four Phoenix school districts that will benefit from the donations are the Creighton School District, Isaac School District, Phoenix Elementary School District, and Roosevelt School District.
This month T-Mobile will donate $7460 on behalf of Mayo and $6260 on behalf of Rose winning the T-Mobile Rookie of the Month Awards. The donation is part of the overall T-Mobile Rookie Program and builds on T-Mobile’s strong appeal to the nation’s youth as the official wireless partner of the NBA. Other highlights of T-Mobile’s partnership with the NBA include the T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, T-Mobile Rookie of the Month Awards, and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, an All-Star competition between NBA rookies and second-year players. During NBA All-Star 2009, T-Mobile and NBA Cares will host more than 3,500 local students from the aforementioned school districts in Phoenix, to sit in the lower bowl of the arena to watch this year’s T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday, February 13.
Rose is ranked first among all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring average (18.4), assists per game (6.0) and minutes per game (38.0). He has scored in double-figures in all but one game and has led his team in scoring six times and in assists 13 times. He became the first Bulls rookie since Michael Jordan, in 1984-85, to score 10 or more points in the first 10 games of his rookie season. His nine assists in his NBA debut tied for the second-most by a No. 1 pick in his pro debut since the common draft began in 1966.
# Mayo leads all rookies in scoring with 21.9 ppg, the highest scoring average for a first-year player since Allen Iverson (23.4 ppg) in 1996-97. He ranks in the Top 10 among rookies in seven major categories, including scoring average, minutes, assists, steals, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and is the first rookie to have four 30-plus point games within his first 17 career games since Allen Iverson (five) in 1996-97. In addition, Mayo is on pace to become just the fifth rookie since the 1996-97 season to average over 39.0 minutes, joining LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Shane Battier.
Here is a recap of the month for both Rose and Mayo:
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
# Nov. 1 vs. Memphis: Tallied a career-high 26 points, six rebounds, and three assists in a 98-86 victory over the Grizzlies.
# Nov. 11 vs. Atlanta: Matched a career-high in points (26) and rebounds (10) in a 113-108 loss to the Hawks.
# Nov. 18 @ Los Angeles: Posted 25 points and nine assists in a 116-109 loss to the Lakers.
# Nov. 24 @ Utah: Recorded 25 points and nine assists in a 101-100 win against the Jazz.
O.J. Mayo, Memphis Grizzlies
# Nov. 5 vs. Sacramento: Tallied 28 points and had a career-high three steals in a 100-95 loss to the Kings.
# Nov. 9 @ Denver: Posted 31 points, eight rebounds and three assists in a 100-90 loss to the Nuggets.
# Nov. 10 @ Phoenix: Registered career highs in points (33), assists (five) and steals (three)
in a 107-102 loss to the Suns.
# Nov. 28 vs. San Antonio: Scored 32 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 109-98 loss to the Spurs.
# Nov. 29 vs. Oklahoma City: Registered 30 points and seven rebounds in a 111-103 loss to the Thunder.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month were Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Miami’s Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, Milwaukee’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, New Jersey’s Brook Lopez, Portland’s Rudy Fernandez, Sacramento’s Jason Thompson and San Antonio’s George Hill.
According to the current standings, the playoff seedings for each conference will be:
Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Orlando Magic
4. Atlanta Hawks
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Miami Heat
7. New Jersey Nets
8. Milwaukee Bucks
Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. New Orleans Hornets
3. San Antonio Spurs
4. Denver Nuggets
5. Houston Rockets
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Dallas Mavericks
8. Phoenix Suns
The Dabullz power rankings model suggests the following playoff results:
Eastern Conference First Round
1. Boston Celtics over 8. Milwaukee Bucks
5. Detroit Pistons over 4. Atlanta Hawks
3. Orlando Magic over 6. Miami Heat
2. Cleveland Cavaliers over 7. New Jersey Nets
Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
1. Boston Celtics over 5. Detroit Pistons
2. Cleveland Cavaliers over 3. Orlando Magic
Eastern Conference Finals
2. Cleveland Cavaliers over 1. Boston Celtics
Western Conference First Round
1. Los Angeles Lakers over 8. Phoenix Suns
5. Houston Rockets over 4. Denver Nuggets
3. San Antonio Spurs over 6. Portland Trail Blazers
2. New Orleans Hornets over 7. Dallas Mavericks
Western Conference Semi-Finals
1. Los Angeles Lakers over 5. Houston Rockets
3. San Antonio Spurs over 2. New Orleans Hornets
Ben Gordon would like to be a participant in this year’s allstar weekend. Not necessary in the main event, but he has voiced his desire to participate in the NBA’s three-point shootout.
Gordon would not be disappointed if he was not inviting, saying, “No, it’s not a big deal to me. But it is something that would be nice to be a part of. I’ve never been in a contest like that before. It would definitely be fun.”
“I remember one year they had Damon Jones in there,” Gordon said. “I think sometimes they look for the personalities, too. I really don’t know how they select. We’ll see what happens.”
While Gordon is deserving of being invited to the contest, it is still unclear whether David Stern will actually invite Gordon after snubbing him for the past four years.
The three-point contest is not the only thing that Stern has snubbed Gordon from in the past. In 2007, when Jason Kidd went down with an injury, Stern had the chance to appoint Gordon as the allstar game replacement. Instead, Stern opted for Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks.
At that point in the season, Ben Gordon was averaging 21.2 points and 3.6 assists per game. Joe Johnson was averaging 25.2 points and 4.3 assists. Johnson had the edge statwise, but traditionally the NBA only picks players on good teams. Gordon’s Bulls were 29-24, while Johnson’s Hawks sat at 20-31. Joe Johnson was also scoring his points very inefficiently, while Gordon was one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA that year.
Gordon is currently tied with Mike Bibby for the second most threes this season with 79, trailing Rashard Lewis, who leads the NBA at 93.
Gordon is currently ranked 4th among active players in career three point percentage. He is 9th all-time. Gordon is currently ranked 109th in total three pointers made, and is quickly moving up the list. Gordon is on pace to finish top three among all-time three point shooters with Reggie Miller and Ray Allen.
Ben Gordon is the Bulls all-time three point shooter, recently passing up Scottie Pippen.
Gordon is clearly one of the best three point shooters of all time, and it is time for Stern to end his history of Gordon snubs.
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