The Oklahoma City Thunder struck down the Chicago Bulls 98-85 at the United Center tonight.

The Bulls looked good early on, but fell apart in the second half, only scoring 33 points, some of which were giveaway scores by the Thunder in the final minutes of the game, when they already had assured the victory.

The Bulls problem was that they had a complete inability to score in the half court. A large part of this was a result of the Thunder playing great half court defense. The Thunder’s half court defense was stifling. They closed out on shooters well, and packed the lane with big men waiting for charges, which slowed the Bulls penetration game.

But the other problem is that the Bulls have no one that can really create their own shot in the half court against tough defense. They had one of those players last year in Ben Gordon, and it looks like they will need to find a new one in free agency this summer, so that outcomes like tonight’s game don’t become a common scene. Derrick Rose is still easy to stop because of his lack of range, which allows the defense to pack it in, allowing most good teams to shut down his driving lanes. Surrounded by poor shooters, the Bulls can’t make opponents pay when they overplay Rose defensively, as the Bulls miss these jumpshots all too often, and in this game in particular, the Thunder did a great job closing out on shooters, not allowing the Bulls to take easy jumpshots.

The Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook who had 29 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds. Westbrook was a real handful, and Rose did a poor job guarding him. Westbrook scored early on by penetrating and scoring around the basket, but later in the game, he was scoring on some laxly guarded jumpshots that the Bulls were giving him.

Derrick Rose conversely had 19 points on 9-20 shooting, along with 7 assists. The Thunder did a good job contesting Rose’s drives to the baskets, which forced Rose into scoring inefficiently tonight. Rose continued to attack the basket aggressively, which drew the defense with him, opening up some easy offensive rebounding opportunities for his teammate. The Bulls snatched up an impressive 25 offensive rebounds tonight, many of which came on Rose’s misses. That is rebounding on 39% of their misses, which is impressive.

The Thunder also got a lot of help from their other star, Kevin Durant, who finished with 25 points. Durant was silky smooth scoring the ball, although he had some ball handling issues which led to his 6 turnovers, but overall, he played great.

Luol Deng had a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, although he scored the ball inefficiently. Joakim Noah also had a double double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Taj Gibson fell short of the double double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Gibson played well early in the game, but did little in the second half, although neither did any of his teammates.

Kirk Hinrich continued his good play since returning to the starting lineup scoring 15 points along with 7 assists. One has to wonder whether Hinrich’s poor play early on was a result of him putting himself in a mental funk because he was sulking because he had to come off the bench. Hinrich played fine off the bench last year, so being uncomfortable coming off the bench leading to his poor play is unlikely.

James Harden had 13 points off the bench for the Thunder, hitting many timely threes. The former Bull, Thabo Sefolosha, finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds.

John Salmons struggled, shooting 1-8, as did Tyrus Thomas, who shot 3-12.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 14-18 on the season.

According to TMZ.com, Derrick Rose is among a set of players that is suing Topps over only being partially paid.

NBA star Tracy McGrady’s autograph is over 16x more valuable than fellow baller Deandre Jordan’s — this courtesy of a lawsuit filed against a trading card company.

Nine NBAers — McGrady, Jordan, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, D.J. Augustin, T.J. Ford, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Randolph and DeAndre Jordan — are suing Topps, claiming they were all only partially paid for their autograph deals.

The most interesting part … how much Topps paid per autograph.

McGrady — $50
Rose — $25
Roy — $18
Westbrook — $10
Jamison — $10
Ausgustin — $8
Randolph — $7
Ford — $6
Jordon — $3

It’s interesting that Tracy McGrady is getting paid the most out of these players for an autograph, even though a Derrick Rose or Brandon Roy autograph are likely more wanted. McGrady must have had a longer term deal with Topps to be making more than Rose.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Oklahoma City 103 to 96 in Oklahoma City to get a much needed road win.

The Bulls in the first half were led by Ben Gordon, who scored 16 points in the first half, and was just scoring at will. Gordon had a rough second half, and finished with 18 pointso n 8-17 shooting. This was a game where Gordon kind of had Derrick Rose syndrome. He shot a respectable 47.1 FG%, but finished with a poor scoring efficiency because he failed to get to the free throw line a bunch of times and failed to make any three point field goals.

Derrick Rose, however, took over in the second half. Rose scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half. He was just unstoppable in the second half, his jumpshot was falling. When Rose plays well, the Bulls usually win, and tonight was one of those nights.

This game was especially important because of the implications on rookie fo the year. Rose was going head to head against another rookie of the year contender, Russell Westbrook. Westbrook finished with 15 points on 6-16 shooting, and also had 6 assists. Having a great game against a fellow ROY contender is a good way to secure the award.

John Salmons was good as always, finishing with 20 points on 8-15 shooting. Salmons has played so well that it is time to give him a nickname, well at least an attempt to give him a nickname. I hereby dub the great John Salmons, “Salmonella”. You better watch out for Salmonella, because he might just infect your team with a loss.

Brad Miller played well once again. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Tyrus Thomas was solid, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. Thomas failed to get a block in the game, so his streak of blocked shots ends at 29 games. His front court counterpart, Joakim Noah, had three blocks in the game.

For the Thunder, Kevin Durant had 28 points on 9-21 shooting. Jeff Green added in 18 points.

The former Bulls, Thabo Sefolosha, finished with 6 points, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 32-37 on the season. They still site securely in that eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Closing Comments

Tonight was a good win for the Bulls. Yes, it was against the Thunder, who aren’t very good, but have been playing better as of late. But we need to start out with some wins against teams like the Thunder. The bottomline is that the playoffs are there for the Bulls taking, and not just that, but potentially the Bulls could move up into that 4 vs. 5 matchup. We’ve seen the Bulls go on late season surges in the past, and this season may prove no differnet. We have 9 games at home, against many mediocre opponents. We aren’t exactly playing good teams on the road, with Washington, Toronto, Indiana, and Detroit being the remaining teams. At the beginning of the season we all looked at the stretch run as being an easy set of games that will help us secure a playoff spot. This seems to be the case. Good win Bulls, now go follow it up against the Lakers on Saturday.

The NBA sent out a press release today announcing the participants in the 2009 Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. Here is the press release that the NBA sent out.

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2009 – Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, the reigning T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, lead a list of 18 players selected for the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam to be held on Friday, Feb. 13 in Phoenix during NBA All-Star 2009.

The participants in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam were selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot. For the first time in the game’s history, two current NBA players, All-Star starters Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat – veterans of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and part of T-Mobile’s “All-Star Faves” – will serve on the coaching staffs, Howard for the Sophomores and Wade for the Rookies. The head coaches for the Rookie and Sophomore teams will be the lead assistants from the 2009 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs.

Forward Jeff Green, Durant’s teammate in Oklahoma City, joins him on the Sophomore team, which also includes Atlanta Hawks forward/center Al Horford, Los Angeles Clippers forward Al Thornton, Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young, New York Knicks forward Wilson Chandler, Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey and a pair of teammates from the Houston Rockets – guard Aaron Brooks and forward Luis Scola.

Joining Rose on the Rookie team are two sets of teammates – guard O.J. Mayo and center Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies and center Greg Oden and guard Rudy Fernandez from the Portland Trail Blazers. Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Clippers guard Eric Gordon, Heat forward Michael Beasley and New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez round out the Rookie team.

The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam will be televised live nationally on TNT at 9 p.m. ET and also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, while NBA.com will make live audio available to fans in multiple languages. Fans tuning in to TNT will also get a special treat, as NBA All-Star starter LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a participant in the 2004 and 2005 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, will join Kevin Harlan, Kenny Smith and Craig Sager as part of TNT’s broadcast as an analyst.

As title partner of the Rookie Challenge and overall NBA Rookie Program, T-Mobile has teamed up with the NBA and NBA Cares to create the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Phoenix students to experience NBA All-Star 2009. By successfully completing fitness, nutrition, and community service requirements, more than 3,500 “T-Mobile Stick Together All-Stars,” ages 11-15, from participating school districts in Phoenix will watch the game from the best seats in the house at US Airways Arena.

As a new element to the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, fans had the unique opportunity to design the official jerseys worn by the Rookie and Sophomore teams. Thousands of fans registered for the NBA LIVE Jersey Creator Contest hosted by EA SPORTS for the chance to win a trip for two to Phoenix, AZ for NBA All-Star 2009. The winning jersey is being produced by adidas, the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, and will be worn by all participating Rookie and Sophomore players, marking the first time that a fan designed jersey has ever been worn during an NBA game or event. In past years, Rookies and Sophomores wore their regular team jerseys during the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. The winning design was created by 18-year-old Tim Ahmed from East Meadow, Long Island. Ahmed attended East Meadow High School and is currently a first-year student at Baruch College in Manhattan.

In last year’s T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson earned Most Valuable Player honors, making 11 three-pointers en route to a game-high 33 points, as the Sophomores cruised to a 136-109 victory. Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay added 22 points and Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar tallied 17 points and 11 assists. Durant, then of the Seattle SuperSonics, led the Rookies with 23 points.

The contest began its current format pitting the Rookies against the Sophomores in 2000 and the Sophomores hold a 7-2 advantage over the first-year players. The game will be played in two 20-minute halves. Individual foul totals will be kept, but a player cannot foul out. A team will be in the penalty situation after 10 team fouls or after the second foul in the final two minutes of each half. In the event of a tie game, there will be a two-minute overtime to determine the winner. The clock will stop after each successful field goal in the last minute of each half.

T-Mobile will provide basketball fans with the opportunity to have their vote count toward selecting the MVP of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam by voting on NBA.com or via SMS on mobile phones during the second half of the game.

The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio beginning at 8 p.m. EST. The game will also be telecast in over 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages and broadcast on NBA.com.

NBA All-Star brings together the top NBA players and performers for a week of competition, community service and world-class entertainment. Among the many other exciting All-Star events are Sprite Slam Dunk, Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, PlayStation® Skills Challenge, Haier Shooting Stars and NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas.

Building upon its already strong appeal to the nation’s youth and as Official Partner of the NBA, T-Mobile is showcasing the NBA’s youngest players — the Rookies — through the T-Mobile Rookie Program. Highlights include the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, an All-Star competition between NBA rookies and second-year players, and rookie awards presentations including the T-Mobile Rookie of the Month and T-Mobile Rookie of the Year. To learn more about T-Mobile’s partnership with the NBA, visit www.t-mobile.com/nba.

Below are the rosters for the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam:

ROOKIE TEAM ROSTER
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. School/Country
Michael Beasley Miami F 6-9 245 Kansas St.
Rudy Fernandez Portland G-F 6-6 185 Spain
Marc Gasol Memphis C 7-1 265 Spain
Eric Gordon L.A. Clippers G 6-3 222 Indiana
Brook Lopez New Jersey C 7-0 260 Stanford
O.J. Mayo Memphis G 6-4 210 USC
Greg Oden Portland C 7-0 285 Ohio State
Derrick Rose Chicago G 6-3 190 Memphis
Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City G 6-3 187 UCLA

Head Coach – TBD
Assistant Coach – Dwyane Wade

SOPHOMORE TEAM ROSTER
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. School/Country
Aaron Brooks Houston G 6-0 161 Oregon
Wilson Chandler New York F 6-8 220 DePaul
Kevin Durant Oklahoma City G-F 6-9 215 Texas
Jeff Green Oklahoma City F 6-9 235 Georgetown
Al Horford Atlanta F-C 6-10 245 Florida
Luis Scola Houston F-C 6-9 245 Argentina
Al Thornton L.A. Clippers F 6-8 220 Florida State
Rodney Stuckey Detroit G 6-5 205 Eastern Washington
Thaddeus Young Philadelphia F 6-8 220 Georgia Tech

Head Coach – TBD
Assistant Coach – Dwight Howard

PREVIOUS T-MOBILE ROOKIE CHALLENGE RESULTS

1994 - Phenoms 74, Sensations 68
1995 - White 83, Green 79 (OT)
1996 - East 94, West 92
1997 - East 96, West 91
1998 - East 85, West 80
2000 - Rookies 92, Sophomores 81 (OT)
2001 - Sophomores 121, Rookies 113
2002 - Rookies 103, Sophomores 97
2003 - Sophomores 132, Rookies 112
2004 - Sophomores 142, Rookies 118
2005 - Sophomores 133, Rookies 106
2006 - Sophomores 106, Rookies 96
2007 – Sophomores 155, Rookies 114
2008 – Sophomores 136, Rookies 109

Source: Bulls.com

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 109 to 98 in an overtime loss at the United Center. The Bulls again failed to win three games in a row, something they haven’t done since the 2006-2007 season when they won 49 games.

This loss is an indictment on John Paxson as a general manager and Vinny Del Negro as a coach.

John Paxson has contructed one of the worst front courts in the league. Tonight, the Bulls did not play a legitimate center, opting to just play power forwards Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah. Although the only true center on the team is Aaron Gray, who isn’t very good. Paxson must begin looking to make a trade for a legitimate center immediately, if not, the team will continue to get murdered on the boards as they did tonight, getting outrebounde by the Thunder 59 to 37.

Vinny Del Negro of course did a very poor job coaching the game. The biggest complaint with Vinny’s coaching would have to be the lack of any offensive system. A team with the Bulls’ offensive talent should easily be able to defeat a team like the Thunder if they had an offensive system in place. If you go out and play glorified pickup ball every night, you open yourself up to losing to team’s such as the 5-32 Thunder.

The next complaint with Vinny’s coaching would have to be playin Joakim Noah over Tyrus Thomas down the stretch of the game. Noah simply doesn’t bring much to an NBA basketball team. He doesn’t have the body to play in the paint. While he did grab 11 rebounds tonight, he allowed Oklahoma City to grab offensive rebound after offensive rebound. Noah is simply too weak to play one of the big man positions in the NBA. He is easily bumped off balance by opposing big men, causing him to miss a rebound or miss an easy shot.

Tyrus Thomas had a solid defensive effort tonight, blocking 4 shots in 25 minutes. Thomas had 6 points to go along with his 4 blocks. If he would have been in the game down the stretch instead of Joakim Noah, the game’s outcome probably would have been different.

The Bulls also had a difficult time winning because Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon both had mediocre games.

Derrick Rose had 16 points on 8-18 shooting and 6 assists. Derrick Rose’s jumpshot looked really bad tonight. When Rose’s jumpshot isn’t falling, he has to attack the basket more.

Ben Gordon had a pretty good regulation, scoring 22 points on 9-15 shooting, but he wilted in overtime, missing all 4 of his field goal attempts. Gordon also had a lot of mental lapses, making quite a few dumb passes again and getting an offensive foul as the result of indecision on a fastbreak.

However, Rose and Gordon did a good job defensively against the Thunder guards. They held Earl Watson to 4 points on 2-10 shooting and Russell Westbrook 14 points on 5-20 shooting.

Unfortunately the Bulls bigs got killed up front as usual. Nick Collison scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Jeff Green had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Nenad Krstic added 8 points. Joakim Noah and Drew Gooden allowed Oklahoma City to score too many points in the paint. The Thunder scored 54 points in the paint.

Drew Gooden had a solid game offensively and rebounding wise. Gooden finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Gooden was having a good game, but kind of fell apart down the stretch.

Kevin Durant had a good night. Durant finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds. He just has a knack for scoring the ball. The only thing holding back Durant from being a dominant player is his body. He needs to get in the weight room and start putting on some muscle so he isn’t so easily knocked off balance. On one play early in the game, Ben Gordon came in to give some help defense on Durant, caught the ball with his hand, and sent Durant down to the floor. You’d never see this happen to Lebron James. If Durant puts on the muscle, he can just fight through contact and continue on for the score.

Larry Hughes had a decent game. Hughes scored 16 points on 6-13 shooting. While Hughes wasn’t selfish for most of the game, he had two fastbreaks where he should have given the ball up to Derrick Rose. If the Bulls would have scored on one of these Hughes fastbreaks or the botched Gordon fastbreak, the Bulls would have won the game.

Andres Nocioni scored 11 points for the Bulls and Desmond Mason scored 11 for the Thunder.

There is no excuse for the Bulls to lose to the Thunder and Vinny should be reprimanded by management for this loss. Losses to 5-32 teams are unacceptable.

With this loss, the Bulls fall to 16-21 on the season.