The Chicago Bulls were blown out for the fourth straight game of the circus trip, losing to the Utah Jazz 105-86.

One of the key issues of the game was the Bulls’ lack of depth. The Bulls were without Kirk Hinrich, who was forced out with an injury to his hand. Without him, the Bulls are forced to play Jannero Pargo (or Lindsey Hunter) significant minutes, and neither of those options are conductive to winning basketball.

The other main problem with the Bulls last night was a complete defensive breakdown. The guards failed to close out on shooters, giving the Jazz good looks on their jumpshots. Additionally, the Bulls guards failed to stick with their men in motion. Up front, the Bulls were just as bad. Brad Miller, Taj Gibson, and James Johnson were often out of position, leading to Utah getting a lot of easy looks right at the basket.

The Bulls were completely dominated by the Utah Jazz front court. Carlos Boozer led the way, finishing with 28 points on 12-14 shooting, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Mehmet Okur chipped in 14 points on 5-9 shooting, and Paul Millsap finished with 12 points on 6-8 shooting and 9 rebounds.

Conversely, the Bulls front court produced little. Joakim Noah had 6 points on 3-9 shooting and 9 rebounds, Taj Gibson had 8 points on 4-5 shooting, and Brad Miller had 0 points, and James Johnson had 10 points on 3-6 shooting, but all of those came in garbage time.

I think it is time for the Bulls to end the Taj Gibson experiment. He can hit the the midrange jumpshot pretty well, but he is too much of a string bean to compete on the low block.

If the Bulls are going to suck without Tyrus Thomas, which it looks like they will, they might as well take advantage of the opportunity to develop James Johnson. Because of his strength, Johnson is more apt to playing downlow than Gibson. Johnson also could open up the Bulls offense, as he shows a willingness to try to create his own shot, and Johnson would also improve the Bulls’ dismal fastbreak.

That was one of the Bulls biggest problems last night. They could not finish on the fastbreak. Multiple times last night, John Salmons tried to finish on the fastbreak by himself only to be blocked.

Salmons had another bad game, scoring just 9 points on 4-11 shooting.

Ronnie Brewer scored 15 points on the Bulls, many on easy baskets near the rim off of backdoor cuts.

The Jazz also won the point guard matchup. Rose finished with 19 points on 9-17 shooting, while Deron Williams finished with 21 points on 9-11 shooting, and 6 assists.

Luol Deng played pretty well last night, finishing with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. His scoring efficiency wasn’t the greatest, but he played hard all game.

Aaron Gray returned to the court last night for the Bulls.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 6-8 on the season, and their losing streak is extended to four games.

Closing Comments

It looks like the Bulls ship is sinking fast. It was always going to be a challenging season because of the Bulls’ offensive struggles, but now it looks like the season could become a shipwreck, because of their newfound defensive struggles. The Bulls, who were one of the elite defensive teams at the beginning of the season, have now fallen down to the 15th best defensive team, and they have been getting worse with each progressing game. If the Bulls can’t score or defend, this is going to be a very tumultuous season.

The most disheartening part of the game is the Bulls complete lack of effort. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah were the only two players showing any kind of hustle last night.

The other thing that needs to be considered is the extent that Kirk Hinrich. It is unacceptable for the Bulls to trot out Jannero Pargo and Linsdey Hunter for a prolonged period of time. Bulls fans should not accept it, especially when there is a bit of an Answer out there for the Bulls guard problems.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 102-101 on a James Johnson buzzer beater in London, at the O2.

James Johnson was phenomenal down the stretch. Johnson gave the Bulls a 100-99 lead after scoring on the fastbreak and converting an and one. The Jazz reclaimed the lead on a pair of Ronnie Price free throws. James Johnson tried to be the hero first, but he missed, but the ball went out of bounds on the Jazz.

Then it was Derrick Byars’ turn. He launched a three from the top of the key, which careened off the rim to the left. Johnson grabbed the rebound, flicked it up, and it was good. The entire O2 erupted in celebration.

In total, James Johnson finished with 18 points 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, a much better outing than his first preseason game with the Bulls. Johnson’s energy level was just a lot higher tonight. I think it might have helped Johnson to have Rose out of the lineup. In the first game, Rose really dominated the ball on the fastbreak, while in this game, Johnson was given more reign to show off his skills in transition. When Rose gets back in the lineup, he will have to adjust to Johnson’s great transition skills.

Kirk Hinrich had an impressive day today. He finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. The best part of Hinrich’s game today is how efficiently Hinrich scored the ball. He finished the game with a 102.5 TS%. Hinrich gains the distinct honor of being the first Bull to score over 10 points in a game on over 100 TS%.

The London favorite, Luol Deng, finished with 18 points, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. This was a fitting game for Deng to have in London. In his time with the Great Britain National Team, Deng always finished with point and assist totals similar to what he did today. It’s nice to see Deng moving around the court so well again. It looks as though he is finally completely healed from not only his stress fracture, but the Achilles and back injuries that hindered him in the 07-08 season as well.

Jannero Pargo finished with 16 points on 6-17 shooting and had 5 assists. Pargo chucked up shots in a disgusting display of shot selection, which could make one long for Larry Hughes even. The one big positive of Pargo’s game tonight is that he was 3-6 from three. If Pargo can hit threes at a 40-50% clip this season, he will have a very valuable place on this team, as three point shooting is key in winning NBA games.

Joakim Noah was good today, scoring 10 points, grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing 4 assists, and blocking an astonishing 6 blocks. You would like to see Noah get after it on the boards better, but his shotblocking was great tonight. We know Noah will rebound come regular season time. What’s especially nice about Noah’s first two games this pre-season, is that you know he was serious when saying he worked hard.

Taj Gibson had another solid showing with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Brad Miller had 8 points and 5 rebounds in his pre-season debut, while showing great fire. Derrick Byars had 7 points on 6-7 shooting.

Deron Williams had 16 points and 3 assists for the Jazz. Paul Millsap had 18 points and 6 rebounds. Wesley Matthews also had 16 points for the Jazz.

The Bulls were without Derrick Rose, John Salmons, and Tyrus Thomas.

Carlos Boozer had a quiet 6 point and 5 rebound night.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 2-0 in pre-season action.

Closing Comments

The NBA needs to make the Bulls vs. Jazz in an obscure location an annual event. Last year, in Assembly Hall, Ben Gordon (13 points in the fourth quarter) and Andres Nocioni (8 points in the fourth quarter) hit clutch shot after clutch shot, and clutch free throw after clutch free throw to lead the Bulls to an exciting 108-105 victory. This year, both are departed, but the results were the same. Different player, different place, same result. It was James Johnson’s turn this time around as he downed the Jazz in the O2 in London.

The Bulls just have a knack for downing the Jazz in an exciting fashion, even in the regular season. Last season, Rose and Gordon combined for 50 points in a game against the Jazz, as they led the Bulls from behind to victory. In an earlier regular season game, Larry Hughes hit a game winner off a rebound, similar to what Johnson did yesterday.

And of course there are those game winners Michael Jordan hit in the finals, as well as those other monster performances.

The two Jazz games are on November 26th and March 9th. Mark your calendars, because they’re going to be good ones.

Also, it was cool to see how much support the Bulls got from the London crowd.

Go Bulls!

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 106 to 98 at the United Center earlier tonight.

The Bulls looked disinterested early in the game and fell behind early on. After Rose left with his second foul in the game, Gordon led the Bulls on a run to get back in the game. From there on out the game was close.

The Bulls were able to come through in the clutch behind the double clutch duo of Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon. With 5 minutes left in the game, the Bulls trailed the Jazz by 1. From there, Rose and Gordon took over. Rose started it by getting fouled on a drive to the basket and making both free throws. On the next drive, Rose got to the basket again, this time making a layup. Next time down the floor, Nocioni found Gordon for three. From there on out, it was just a free throw contest for the Bulls.

Ben Gordon was the Bulls best player tonight, finishing with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. Sensing the Jazz’s lack of shotblockers, Gordon was able to drive on the Jazz at will. Gordon drew 2 fouls on Deron Williams in the first quarter on drives to the basket. Gordon abused C.J. Miles whenever he was on him. Gordon got to the free throw line 10 times tonight. Unfortunately, Gordon only made 7 of his free throws.

Like the Celtics, the Jazz met Gordon with double teams when he touched the ball, although the Jazz play much softer defense. Gordon was able to cut through or drive past some of the Jazz’s double teams to get to the basket. There is no scenario where that should happen, so the Jazz need to seriously analyze their defensive effort. Still, the Jazz forced Gordon to turn the ball over, but when you’re getting 26 points and good defense out of Gordon, you can live with 4 turnovers.

Derrick Rose was also key in tonight’s win, finishing with 24 points, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds. It looked like it might be another down night for Rose after a poor first stint in the game, but Rose quickly picked up his play. Rose, like Gordon, was able to drive to the basket at will against the Jazz. The Jazz’s soft interior defense just made this an easy game for Rose. Defensively, Deron Williams abused Derrick Rose early on, but did very little late in the game. The only other negative in Derrick’s game is his lack of passing.

Andre Nocioni had another nice game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. There is a strong possibility that Nocioni has been hurt for most of the year and has just recovered from the injury, as his effort and hustle levels are much higher than earlier.

Thabo Sefolosha had a nice game, finishing with 10 points and 4 steals. Sefolosha came in and really disrupted the Jazz, using his length on defense to force them into turnovers.

Luol Deng gave the Bulls 8 points, and Larry Hughes added in 10.

Joakim Noah had 9 rebounds and 1 block. He played really energetic, and gave the Bulls some second chances with his great offensive rebounding, finishing with 8 in the game.

Deron Williams finished the game with 19 points and 6 assists.

The Jazz’s front court destroyed the Bulls. Mehmet Okur had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Paul Millsap had 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulls just lack any semblance of man interior defense. If a big man gets the ball in a decent scoring position, he probably is going to score. Fortunately, tonight, the Bulls perimeter players were able to frustrate the Jazz front court duo into 9 turnovers.

Tyrus Thomas and Drew Gooden sat out the game for the Bullz. Carlos Boozer was out for the Jazz.

The Bulls are now 13-14 on the season and are ranked 8th in the East. The Bulls are 1/2 game behind New Jersey for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls will have a chance to return to .500 against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 101 to 100 on a Larry Hughes buzzer beater to give the Bulls their second win of the circus trip.

Derrick Rose took over down the stretch scoring basket after basket to keep the Bulls in the game. With the Bulls down 100 to 99, Rose pulled up for a jumpshot and bricked it off the back of the rim. The ball bounced out to Hughes on the left side and Hughes stuck in the jumpshot for the win as time expired.

Rose was phenomenal tonight. Rose had 25 points and 9 assists. It is going to be difficult for Rose to be denied the rookie of the year award if he continues up this type of play. Rose is not only putting up pretty stats, but has also led his team to victory on many occasions.

Larry Hughes started at small forward once again and put in another nice performance. Hughes finished the game with 16 points on 5-10 shooting. If Hughes keeps up this play, he should continue to start at small forward, especially if Deng keeps up his current play. Luol Deng was abominable tonight, scoring 2 points on 1-5 shooting and turning the ball over 3 times in just 13 minutes of action. Deng doesn’t even look like an NBA player out there.

Ben Gordon had a solid game, finishing with 15 points 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Gordon hardly touched the ball in the fourth quarter, only taking one shot. As a result, the Bulls offense stagnated a bit in the fourth allowing Utah to get back in the game, but the Bulls were still able to win this one thanks to Derrick Rose taking over the game and Hughes’ nice jumpshot.

In the first quarter, Ben Gordon missed his first free throw of the game. This ended Ben Gordon’s 36 free throw streak.

Drew Gooden gave the Bulls some production in the front court, scoring 18 points, although his defense was poor. Aaron Gray scored 8 points off the bench and got the Bulls some good baskets throughout the game.

Once again, the Bulls front court was completely dominated. Mehmet Okur had 26 points and 9 rebounds and Paul Millsap had 21 points and 10 rebounds. This is a real problem for the Bulls and Paxson needs to start addressing it by a trade, whether it is making a move for Chris Kaman, Joel Pryzbrilla, or someone else. The Bulls cannot continue to give up big games to marginal front court players like Millsap and Okur.

Ronnie Brewer also had 18 points for the Jazz.

This was by no means a pretty win. The Jazz were without their two best players, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, and were also missing some role players. Still, it is a win on the circus trip, and you cannot take such wins to come by since they have been so scarce since Jordan retired.

The Bulls are now 7-8 on the season and 2-3 on the circus trip. The Bulls have now equaled the amount of wins that we predicted them to get on the circus trip.

The Bulls next game is Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. The Spurs are expected to get Manu Ginobili back for Wednesday’s game.