The Chicago Bulls defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 93-90 at the United Center Saturday night in an impressive come from behind victory.

The hero of the game for the Bulls was Joakim Noah, who finished with 21 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Joakim Noah was huge on the glass, and altered shot after shot. He scored the ball well too, getting putbacks, scoring off of setups from his teammates, and also off of the hook shot.

Noah is currently showing what the value of a dominant defensive interior big man can do for a team. Noah has been the anchor to the Bulls defense all year, and he has played great defense, which has allowed the Bulls as a team to have a great defense this year.

The other star of the game for the Bulls was John Salmons, who finished with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. It is good to see Salmons have a game scoring the basketball like this. If Salmons can step it up and score the basketball at the same efficiency as he did last season from here on out, then the Bulls might be able to make some noise in the East, at least in the regular season, if their defense holds strong. Right now the Bulls defense has been so dominant that just a mediocre offensive showing will be enough to get the Bulls a lot of wins.

Luol Deng had a solid game, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He did a poor job scoring the ball, shooting 6-17, but as usual, he did a good job rebounding the basketball and playing great defense.

Kirk Hinrich was okay, scoring 9 points, dishing 7 assists, while racking up 4 turnovers. The nice thing that we saw Hinrich do this game was hit some big shots. Hinrich scored 6 of his points as part of that rally the Bulls put on in the third quarter in which they began to take control of the game.

Derrick Rose had another bad outing, scoring 14 points while racking up 7 turnovers. He was making terrible decisions when he was passing the basketball.

For the Bobcats, Tyson Chandler finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He was booed throughout the game.

Raymond Felton had a double double with 14 points and 10 assists. Boris Diaw led the Bobcats in scoring with 20 points and Gerald Wallace and Vladmir Radmanovic added 12 points apiece.

With the win, the Bulls improved to 4-2 on the young season.

Gar Forman was officially named the new general manager of the Chicago Bulls yesterday.

Forman, unlike Paxson, made it clear that re-signing Ben Gordon is the goal, and not just something that management will try to do.

“We like Ben. Ben’s been a key component to our team. I think he’s our kind of guy. He has great make-up and character, a great work ethic. Obviously, he’s a very talented player. Our goal is to re-sign Ben Gordon,” Forman said.

“The conversations that we’ve had, I think Ben wants to stay here in Chicago and be with the Bulls.”

Forman would then extend an olive branch to Ben’s agent, Raymond Brothers.

“I think Raymond understands, like I do, that as we hit the July period, every negotiation is a new negotiation.”

“I’ve read some of his comments and Ben’s comments that say the same thing. It’s going to be a new negotiation.”

He finished off the talk about Ben by saying, “Ben will know that we want to have him back, with the Chicago Bulls.”

It is good to see Forman come out right away and set the tone for negotiations for Ben. Gordon is an unrestricted free agent this year and could be signed by another team and be gone. There will not be any goofing around in negotiations by the Bulls this year. Ben is one of the premier unrestricted free agents, and the premier unrestricted free agents usually have their fate decided in the first few days of free agent, so it’s important for the Bulls to come out with a strong offer from the get go.

When Forman talks about Gordon knowing that the Bulls want him back, I would assume that Forman means that the Bulls are going to make a strong offer from the get go. I would hope that the Bulls offer Gordon more than they did last year, just to show that they’re rewarding him for going out, playing hard, and having a good year. If the Bulls don’t offer Gordon more than they did last year ($54 million over 6 years), there may be no hope at re-signing him.

That is the danger, words won’t get the job done, and the Bulls need to understand that. Just talking won’t get the job done, they need to follow their words up with actions, and that action is making a good contract offer to Gordon, likely in excess of $10 million a year. In the past few years, the Bulls have given $9.5 million a year to Kirk Hinrich, $10.5 million a year to Tyson Chandler, $11.8-13.3 million (depending on incentives) a year to Luol Deng, and $15 million a year to Ben Wallace. The Bulls have shown that they are willing to spend big money on players, and none of those four players deserved big money more so than Ben Gordon.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the New Orleans Hornets 97 to 79 at the United Center behind some great play by Ben Gordon and John Salmons.

The final score doesn’t really do justice to what the Bulls regulars did.  The garbage players on the Bulls are just really, really bad.  Tyrus Thomas is apparently now part of the Bulls garbage.  Tim Thomas is now more respected by Del Negro to be kept off the floor in garbage time, while Thomas is not.  The Bulls just got murdered in garbage time.  The highlight of garbage time was seeing Linton Johnson III make his Bulls return!

The Bulls really won because of two guys, Ben Gordon and John Salmons.  They just set the tone with their great scoring.

Ben Gordon finished with 27 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal to shake off two poor road games.  Gordon hit 3 three pointers tonight, and moved closer to the record for most three pointers in the first five years of a player’s career.  Gordon now sits at 740 career three pointers and is 11 three pointers away from breaking Nick Van Exel’s record.  Gordon is on the verge of something really special.

John Salmons was stroking it from downtown even better than Gordon.  Salmons shot 5-8 from three point land en route to 24 points in the game.

The Gordon/Salmons scoring combo was great, scoring a combined 51 points.  New Orleans just had no answer for these two guys.  The Bulls moved the ball around great to give Gordon and Salmons some nice wide open looks for three.

The Bulls got good production from both Brad Miller and Joakim Noah tonight.  Brad Miller finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Joakim Noah finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.  These guys are really aiding good ball movement, and were a big part in getting Gordon and Salmons so many good looks tonight.

Unfortunately Tyrus Thomas still isn’t getting it.  Thomas finishe with 8 points on 4-11 shooting and 4 rebounds.  He is playing out of control and is very ineffective.  Thomas got a block tonight though, so he extends his block streak to 28 games.

Chris Paul was definitely the best point guard in tonight’s game.  He finished with 29 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.  He was trying to rally his team back into the game, but his teammates didn’t respond to his rally call.

Derrick Rose had an ineffective 4 points on 2-9 shooting.  He did have 7 assists though, while moving the ball better than usual, and played a bit better defense than usual.

Rasual Butler and David West put 10 points each for the Hornets.  Tyson Chandler sleepwalked through the game for 4 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 30-37 on the season.  The Bulls once again move ahead of the Bucks in the standings.

Closing Comments

The Bulls really need to keep both Ben Gordon and John Salmons. It is exciting to see the combo work. The Bulls haven’t had two consistent scorers like this in a long time. Each guy can carry the Bulls through certain portions of the game, and both seem to be apt for hitting some big shots, as seen in the Miami game on Monday, where both gus were hitting big shots to keep us in it. Once Derrick Rose gets himself established in the NBA, we could have a special trio at the 1-2-3 spots, similar to what the Bucks had in the early 2000’s with Sam Cassell, Ray Allen, and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson.

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The Bulls are officially Dr. Jeklly and Mr. Hyde. One the road, they lose games they should win, but at home, they really can play with anyone. The Bulls are now 20-11 at home, and have beaten a lot of quality teams at the United Center.

The Bulls have now beaten the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets at home.

Another thing that has to be looked at is whether the Bulls would be better suited to play in the Western Conference. The Bulls are now 16-12 against the Western Conference. It is a little scary to see that the Bulls have more wins against the Western Conference than they do against the Eastern Conference, when they play only 36.6% of their games against the Western Conference over the course of the season.

Regardless, a win is a win, no matter who it is against, whether it is against a Western Conference team or not, or at home or away. Good win for the Bulls, now lets do the same against Boston on Tuesday.

John Paxson appeared on Monsters in the Morning to discuss a lengthy list of topics regarding the Chicago Bulls.  Here is a recap of what was said in the interview.

• The trade deadline passed and Paxson is still here, therefore the rumors weren’t true.  Paxson is always going to be loyal to the Bulls.  As long as Jerry wants to keep him around, he will be here.  Will always have some position in the organization.
• The job is getting bigger and bigger.  You don’t just have a GM, you have other people who carry a lot of responsibilities.  Gar Forman is the player personnel director.  Irwin Mandel has been the cap guy for years.
• The league is going in a different direction.  There are some issues that the league is going to be facing in the next year or two.  The star players are always going to get paid waht they deserve.  In the last CBA, the average player got paid more than they probably should have.  The MLE has probably ballooned some salaries.  These are some things in the next CBA that might be addressed.
• When you have to make a deal, you’re matching salaries.  You have to take on a player you maybe don’t want to in order to make the deal.  Lots of things prohibit trades, such as trade kickers.
• Lots of teams dancing under the tax.  The teams under the tax receive a portion of the tax money from the teams that are over and pay.  There are a lot of teams out there that are losing money.  He doesn’t care how much money certain owners have, you don’t want to conduct your business in a manner where you lose money.
• Gets emotional when he sees the team play and that’s why he can never coach.  He gets frustrated with himself and everybody, but that’s in the moment of watching the game.  He doesn’t get frustrated with individuals, but how they play as a group.  Would like for the Bulls to compete hard every night, defend, and share and move the ball better.
• He thinks that they are a better team than they were 2 weeks ago.  John Salmons is a very good player.  Their pro personnel guy was on him all year.  They took on a little more money next year to make it happen.  Going to be looking to sign some free agents or make some trades, pointing out Tyson Chandler getting traded.
• It was Paxson, not Skiles, who made the decision to send Tim Thomas home last time.  Thomas had a personal issue with his wife in an acident.  Just made the decision, since Thomas was in the last year of his deal, that they were just going to use him as a trade chip at the deadline, and play the young players, that Thomas should stay home.  So far, Thomas has been great.
• All players get a little antsy at the trade deadline, more so now than ever.  Back in his day they didn’t have the internet.  Now when these rumors come up, they have their friends and agents calling them.  He doesn’t know how it doesn’t affect them.
• Luol Deng had an MRI yesterday and it came back negative.  He’s day to day.  He was battling the injury for awhile and was wearing a sleeve on his shin.  He felt something a little bit different when he came down in the Houston game.  The X-ray showed what could have possibly been a line.  The MRI showed it being soft tissue.  Stress fractures take a little time to show up, so the Bulls are going to monitor it.  They won’t know for awhile.
• Talks to Vinny Del Negro about things.  It’s a team game, bt Derrick Rose is a big part of what they’re going to be doing in the future.  They have discussed some of the end of game playing time issues.  In Houston, Rose played and was phenomenal.  He’s going to have some successes and failures.  Even Michael Jordan missed some shots once in awhile.  Rose has to be in there to continually learn.
• Paxson has a very good relationship with Del Negro and they are on the same page.  The whole purpose is to help Vinny and maybe offer thoughts that he hasn’t had.  They knew when they gave Vinny the job that he never coached before, so he was going to make mistakes.  That’s the reason why they got him a really veteran staff to help him organize practice and game situations.  Vinny has a very open mind about everything.  He’s learning that the hard part when you’re on the outside is you have so many ideas, but you can’t implement them all.  For him, less is more.  When he just focuses on a few things, what he wants to be as a coach, that will come in time.
• Young guys need consistent minutes.  Right now, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas are getting consistent minutes and now they’re seeing who those players are.  Getting some real consistency out of them.  Thought that Joakim Noah played very well at the end of last year, but was set back this year with a couple injuries.
• Does not fall in love with the guys that he drafts.  Everybody istalked about in trade talks.  He just doesn’t want to make a bad trade.  Lots of times he talked about certain players, the trades made absolutely no sense to him.
• The Kobe Bryant thing came about from a youtube video where the Bulls got mentioned.  With Paul Gasol, the Bulls didn’t have the expiring contracts that Memphis wanted.  With Kevin Garnett, look at what Minnesota got for Garnett in Al Jefferson, and Paxson says he’d be pretty happy if he was them.
• Ben Gordon knows that Derrick Rose is a great point guard.  Gordon is such a unique player, he can help you win games by putting the ball in the basket.
• Would love to see the ball in Derrick Rose’s hands off of rebounds.  Thinks that they will be a better running team with some of the moves they made.  Thinks that it’s evolving, the mindset always looking for Derrick on the outlets and getting the other guys to run.
• The league changed the contact rules and that’s why you see so much of the screen and roll action because you really can’t do anything to contain a good point guard’s speed.  The mantra in the league office is freedom of movement.  The new game evolved from the game getting too physical and also from scoring going into the low 90’s.
• The Bulls will not be active in this summers free agent market.  Starting to position themselves to have some flexibility for 2010.  Hard to get the good players to leave their own team since they can make significantly more money with their own team.  Don’t see the great players moved that often.  Lots of it has to do with whether they’re winning.
• The Bulls still need an inside scorer.
• Thinks that Rose can be the go to guy.  Thinks the Bulls need more than one though.  Derrick’s getting that midrange shot because of his ability to drive to the basket.  It’s not a signature shot, but that little floater in the lane is effective for Rose.
• 72% of fans said No to question, “Should John Paxson resign as GM?”
• Paxson’s son Ryan told his mom that he was joining the marines before him.  He waited to tell John until after the trade deadline, and wrote down his intentions for his father.
• Most of the players who don’t get iit don’t have the right counsel around them.  Paxson is in the best interest of the players, but a lot of times the players think that management is out to hurt them.  There is a natural conflict between agents and management.  Some great relationships with agents.  Some not so great relationships with agents when things get unrealistic or you can’t do anything, things can get pretty heated.  The dollars have gotten so big and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
• Thinks that Mike D’Antoni felt a little bit underappreciated in Phoenix.  New York threw so much money at him, that we all would ahve taken that offer over night.
• Norm Van Lier was a unique character.  He was a tough minded, hard playing guy.  Listening to him was the treat.  He would tell it like it is.  It was all born out of that he wanted the Bulls to do well.  Just really sad that he went so unexpectedly.
• Johnny Red Kerr was sick for a long time.  Insiders knew how bad he was.  He lived every day and had a lot of fun.
• Paxson was only bothered by the booing at Johnny Red Kerr’s ceremony because of what the night represtented.
• Michael Jordan was once playing blackjack against the entire team on a plane trip.  John was betting like $5 while the other guys were betting big money.

The Sporting News is reporting that the trade that was made between the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings could be rescinded because of Drew Gooden’s groin injury.

Kings-Bulls deal in jeopardy?

We’ve had one deal rescinded when Tyson Chandler failed to pass his physical with the Thunder — might a similar scenario develop with the Bulls-Kings trade? The Sacramento Bee reported that Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie indicated that Drew Gooden has a groin injury that may be problematic in terms of the physical.

The Kings acquired Gooden from the Bulls on Wednesday in a seven-player deal that sent Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago.

Gooden’s physical is scheduled for tomorrow; he has been out with a groin problem since mid-January.

If the Bulls were not to make any other deals, and this one were to get rescinded, that would make for one really bad deadline for the Bulls.

If the Bulls have no other moves planned other than the Miller deal, it is probably a good thing that the Kings rescind this trade, as the trade by itself, leaves the Bulls in a bad financial situation for next year. But still, this would make for a disappointing deadline if the Bulls were to make no personnel changes.

Update: 1:19 PM

According to the Sporting News, the trade is not in jeopardy, and will go through.

The trade that sent Tyson Chandler to the Thunder in exchange for the expiring contracts of Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox has been rescinded.

Something that came up during Chandler’s physical caused the Thunder to re-examine the trade. After consulting outsiders, the Thunder determined that the best course of action was to rescind the trade.

This opens up two possibilities for the Bulls. First, it is often awkward for a team to have their players come back to them after being traded. The Thunder may look again to trade Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox to avoid this situation. The Bulls could look to the Thunder to unload Kirk Hinrich or newly acquired John Salmons for expiring contracts to help relieve the Bulls’ guard glut.

If the Thunders stand pat with their expiring contracts, they will once again become players in the Ben Gordon sweepstakes.

The Bulls could again inquire about Tyson Chandler. Prior to Chandler being traded to the Thunder, the Bulls rejected a trade of Drew Gooden and Joakim Noah for Chandler. The Bulls could now look at trying to pry away Chandler for a reduced price.

We will continue to update on the situation if the Bulls choose to get back in the hunt for Tyson Chandler.

According to an ESPN report by Marc Stein, the Oklahoma City Thunder are closing in on a deal for Tyson Chandler.

The New Orleans Hornets and Oklahoma City are closing in on a deal that will send center Tyson Chandler to the Thunder, according to NBA front-office sources.

Two sources with knowledge of the trade parameters told ESPN.com that the deal is likely to be completed later Tuesday.

Although the entirety of the package New Orleans would receive for Chandler was not immediately known, ESPN.com reported early Monday that the Hornets — who are looking to move Chandler mostly for financial reasons — were in talks with the Thunder on a trade that would net the expiring contracts of forwards Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox.

The Thunder also possess numerous draft picks to sweeten trade packages, including five first-round picks in the next two drafts.

It is a shame to see this one go through, as Tyson Chandler would have been a good fit for the Bulls if they were to acquire one of the scoring bigs, or even if they didn’t. The Bulls could have offered a packaged based around Drew Gooden’s expiring contract.

The Bulls are obviously trying to catch bigger fish than Chandler, and they need Gooden’s expiring contract to do so. But if they fail to catch one of these bigger fish, they will have let a great interior defender get by, who could have vastly improved the Bulls defense.

Chandler to Oklahoma City makes a lot of sense. He was a fan favorite when the Hornets used to play in Oklahoma City. If Chandler didn’t get traded to the Hornets now, there was a good chance they would sign him in 2010.

The good news, for Bulls fans, is that this trade effectively takes the Thunder out of the Ben Gordon sweepstakes this summer, as the Thunder will be on the hook for around $54 million when you factor in their first round draft picks and the salary cap will probably be around $59 million, at the most.