Derrick Rose has been patiently waiting for an ankle on the mend. Against San Antonio, Derrick had to just put it out of his mind and play as hard as he could play for as long as he could go. Coach Vinny Del Negro wanted to keep a close eye on Derrick Rose’s minutes, but he ended up playing 33 minutes in what was his first game in almost a month’s time.

Chicago Bulls 92 San Antonio Spurs 85

This was a huge victory for Chicago and probably not too irritating of a loss for San Antonio, although San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich was not too happy with the effort. All Coach Popovich could do was admire the effort of the Chicago Bulls.

Deng got no argument from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who saw his team follow up Wednesday’s win against New Orleans with a dud. Except for Tim Duncan (28 points, 16 rebounds), the Spurs didn’t give much of a fight.

”Chicago just did a great job out there,” he said. ”They had more guys come to compete than we did. We had one. They deserved it, and I’m happy for Vinny.”

Deng (17 points, nine rebounds) led six Bulls in double figures. He shot 8-for-13 and was one of the few Bulls who had any sort of offensive rhythm throughout.

source

Derrick Rose chases down a loose ball with a bad ankle

Luol Deng, by the way, was one of the walking wounded for Chicago as he was coming off of a lower stress fracture that had him sitting around for 6 months. If the Bulls are going to do anything at all this year it will involve Luol Deng putting together a potential All Star season. That is what Chicago has been hoping for since they drafted him. Maybe with Derrick Rose around to set him up, Luol can at least approach that level.

Tyrus Thomas Free Agent

Tyrus Thomas checked in with 10 points in the third quarter to help the Bulls winning cause. The Bulls have been unable to come to terms with Tyrus Thomas and he will become a free agent at the end of the year.

The Bulls will have significant salary-cap space available for the summer of 2010, and aren’t inclined to reward Thomas with an extension like his 2006 draft classmate, Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) (five years, $65 million). The Utah Jazz also signed forward Paul Millsap(notes), a second-round pick in 2006, to a new four-year, $32 million contract this summer.

Thomas, 23, was the fourth overall pick three years ago, and has steadily matured and begun to show signs of fulfilling his vast promise. Forman has maintained that Thomas, a 6-foot-9 power forward, is part of the franchise’s core group with Derrick Rose and Luol Deng.

source

This move may anger many Bulls fans that yearn for the days of Michael Jordan and don’t like to see any young talent walk out the door. Tyrus was a key with Deng and Rose to the Bulls future.

On this night Bulls fans will just have to put it all aside and be happy with a victory over Tim Duncan and the powerful San Antonio Spurs.
Image: Zuma Press

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The Bulls in London. Kind of sounds like some Warren Zevon, only he sang about the werewolves in London.

This time it was the Chicago Bulls playing out one of David Stern’s fantasies, a game of NBA basketball in London. The game was played proper and even though the Jazz had a go at it, they could not quite get it done. There was no stampede by the Chicago Bulls, just a game winning shot by rookie James Johnson on a fade away from the baseline.

And then Warren Zevon sang about the game.

James Johnson was an Excitable Boy to be sure even though it was a meaningless exhibition game. He had 18 points in the game. Luol Deng, recovering from a stress fracture in his leg also had 18 points in the game. Deng has a connection to London.

NBA: Stern wants regular-season game in London

Luol Deng (FSY), who was raised in London after his family fled war-torn Sudan, impressed early and finished with 18 points at sold-out O2 Arena. He left the game in the third quarter and didn’t return.

source

The game was not meaningless to David Stern, who sent Lawyers, Guns, and Money in order to attempt to secure a regular season game in London. Nobody is sure if that was accomplished, but the Lawyers sure scared everyone.

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Kobe is flat out a great scorer

The Bulls have got to be wondering what they were thinking.

Hold on to Luol Deng and pass on Kobe Bryant?

Luol Deng. Now how many votes for the All Star team did he get? Hmm, there was that one from his mother. And that one from his agent.

Oh well, Luol is going to be great, right? Right?

Kobe is great and has been since the day he stepped on the court.

GM Mitch Kupchak should get more credit for not pulling off any deals.

Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports has compiled some first half of the season awards with the MVP being one of them. Let’s look at Adrian’s awards choices and why he feels that way.

Your intrepid author’s comments will be in italics.

Most Valuable Player: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Sometimes, there are superstars due to win the Most Valuable Player Award. It is the year owed them. No one wants to hear this, but it’s true. Kevin Garnett has an MVP trophy. So does Dirk Nowitzki. Steve Nash has two. Once Shaquille O’Neal left, Bryant was considered an unworthy candidate because the Lakers were still losing. source

Adrian goes on to support his argument, by stating that LA winning in the West is far harder than Kevin Garnett winning in the East.

He also states that LeBron will win several MVP’s but this is just not the year for him to get support from his team.

It will be a great MVP race. Not like in past years where you arguable could have just handed the trophy to Shaq every year. In fact, it got to the point that someone had to get smoking hot to take the trophy away from Shaq.

For the first half of the season you have to go with Kobe.

Least Valuable Player: Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

He has stopped going to the rim, stopped risking life and limb and declared his new four-year, $62 million contract fit for a suburban jump shooter.

Have never understood why Rod Thorn thought the Nets could win with a 6′ 4″ ball hog that played no D.

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics

Adrian brings up what could have happened with a healthy Greg Oden.

Kevin Durant is instant star power in a franchise that is floundering. He will be a star for his entire career and hopefully will leave town to play for franchise intent on winning.

Oden has the power to bring back the true center into the NBA. But at this point, Greg is just potential and Kevin is doing it.

Rookie Bust: Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls

no one can live with the insubordination that he showed with assistant coach Ron Adams prior to getting a two-game suspension in mid-January. Maybe his chatter will be entertaining when he’s considered a good player, but until then, Noah needs to grow up.

Just be glad you are not a kid in an adult world where everything you do is told to the media and printed the next day or shown on the internet. Noah will make it in this league. He will mature as well.

Executive Disaster of the Year: Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks

This is a career achievement award for Thomas. Kevin McHale has been a different disaster, but he does have a blossoming young star in Al Jefferson, No. 1 picks and cap space on the way. Odds are, he’ll do nothing with it, but at least you know Thomas has no chance with the constitution of his team.

All the Isiah Thomas stuff just stuns me. As a long time Piston fan it is so hard to fathom.

Did Isiah ruffle feathers as a Piston? Absolutely.

Did Isiah turn people off, in spite of his cherub smile and youthful energy? Absolutely.

Did Isiah move beyond all that and get the job done? Absolutely, positively.

Try two rings as the team leader of a franchise that had no belief in itself for decades.

And, like now, Thomas told everyone that he would do it!

Let me leave you with this thought, no matter how ludicrous. What if the Knicks start to win?

Adrian gives us some other awards, so be sure to check them out!

NBA Basketball Fan Question What other MVP candidates are out there?

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If Andrew Bynum keeps it up, hmm, maybe we can win it all

This one is tough to figure out. Maybe you can explain it to me.

If there are any ardent Laker followers, then please leave a comment and explain to me how this group of Lakers can be playing so well.

Phil Jackson must own a lot of mirrors, because it appears he is doing it with mirrors.

Then again, love him or not, Kobe Bryant is special and may just be carrying the Lakers to greater glory. The Lakers are 9 – 3 in December.

The Lakers beat the Suns in the Christmas special NBA game.

The score was Lakers 122 Phoenix 115.

You have heard me expound on the proposed trade of Kobe to Chicago and how Chicago should pull out all the stops to get Kobe. Well, how does it look now with Chicago sinking in the sun and firing Coach Skiles, meanwhile the Lakers are on a roll?

It was rumored that there were two obstacles in the Chicago deal at various points of negotiations. One was Luol Deng of the Bulls and the other was Andrew Bynum of the Lakers. Both teams were ardent about not parting with their young talent.

It appears that Bynum is starting to pay dividends for the Lakers.

Bryant, who complained about a lack of talent around him, has gotten plenty of help recently, especially from the 20-year-old Bynum, who shot 11-of-13 in outplaying Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire.

Bynum left to a roar of approval from the Staples Center crowd of 18,997 and a hand-slap from Bryant with 11.5 seconds to play. source

The victory was a particular pleasure to the Lakers, because the Suns have knocked them out of the first round of the playoffs the last two years in a row. The Lakers need to know they can beat the suns. It is all about confidence.

Kobe NBA records

Kobe is starting to break into the NBA record book.

Bryant, who became the youngest player ever to reach 20,000 career points Sunday in New York, moved past Tom Chambers into 30th place on the career list with his 31st point of this game, which came on a corkscrew jumper that gave the Lakers a 102-95 lead.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can the Lakers overtake the Suns for the Pacific Division?

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You talking to me?

The Bulls are going no where in the NBA this season.

That means you have to blame someone.

They did. They fired the coach, Scott Skiles.

Oh, it was going to happen sometime anyway. Scotty is too fiery to last too long with any pro team. He probably should be coaching in college where a coach can really rule over the team.

When you have Scott’s attitude and your team begins to lose, you will begin to lose your team. It is part of the package in NBA Basketball.

You hire Skiles as a coach and you get better, like with Brown. He’s smart and demanding. Those are good things. He sees the game more quickly and clearly than most coaches working today. He has a plan and a system of play that’s appealing to watch. He emphasizes the right things: defense, teamwork and accountability.

I’d recommend Skiles to just about any team in the NBA.

Like Brown, he tires of his players, in part because his standards are so high. source

It was not all Scott

Scott was not the sole problem in Chicago. Scott gave his all and wore out his message, but the Bulls have problems beyond Scott Skiles.

First there were the failed expectations of the Ben Wallace deal. Ben was on the downhill slope of his career and fit perfectly into the Pistons roster. Chicago thought it would work for them just as well. It didn’t.

Then there were some major gaffes by the GM John Paxson.

There were no major acquisitions in the off-season. Instead, the most notable moves were the ones the Bulls did not make — contract extensions for Ben Gordon and Deng and a blockbuster trade for Kobe Bryant.

And Deng finally acknowledged the negotiations and trade talk may have weighed down the team.

“I keep saying the whole idea that the contract thing isn’t a big deal with me, but it’s getting to a point where I don’t know,” he said. “It’s not like I came in and said I’m not going to play hard. It’s a life-changing decision. When I made the decision, I decided that I’m just going to play. It became part of it because that’s what people kept talking about. We struggled and they kept coming up.” source

They had better think about getting Kobe, because things just are not working as they are now.

Scott explodes through college

Scott played his college ball at Michigan State University and you never saw a guy fuller of spit and fire than Scott. He was linked to some drinking problems in his junior year and had other problems with cocaine and weed before that.

His college coach, Jud Heathcote, came to Scott and asked him if he would prefer to redshirt and not have to face all the hostile fans, while court dates and stuff were going one. Jud reasoned a lot of it would die down in a year.

Scott said no. Bring it on. And bring it on they did. Opposing fans were merciless and booed and chanted at him in every arena. All Scott did was play out of his gourd.

Scott ended his career as All American, Big Ten MVP, Big Ten Scoring Champion, and All time scoring leader for MSU.

Scott has always been me against the world.

NBA Basketball Fan Question What should the Bulls do now?

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Jordan and Kobe, old Bull and future Bull?

Ok, ok, Lamar had a good night and the Lakers took down the Bulls. So what?

Lamar had 17 points and 16 rebounds. Good for him, no knock on Lamar.

But you know, nobody cares about that, because tomorrow Lamar goes back to being an undersized center or an inconsistent power forward.

You just want to know the latest Kobe rumor.

Hey, did you hear Kobe is going to…

Meanwhile, Kobe was slowed down a little.

Slowed by a groin injury, Bryant scored 18 points but was a non-factor for long stretches against the team he targeted as a possible destination during the offseason.

“Everybody’s contributing and playing well,” Bryant said. “It makes the game fun.” source

Why Kobe should be a Bull

Ok, here is the beef. The Bulls are 8 – 14 mired in the basement of the Central Division. And let’s face it; the Central is loaded with solid teams. In other words, the Bulls may be going nowhere.

Now LA is having a pretty good season, but they are not strong enough or deep enough to go anywhere in the playoffs.

Now you have your facts. So what is holding up a trade of Kobe to the Bulls?

Deng dang ding a ling dang

The Lakers want Luol Deng. Is Luol Deng going to rescue the Bulls? No, he is not.

Is Deng such a good young player that you have to hold on to him? Not for the right opportunity to improve.

Think of Kobe and Ben Gordon sharing that backcourt for the Bulls and the defensive mindset brought by the Bulls by Coach Scotty Skiles and former Piston Ben Wallace.

Gentlemen, the Eastern Conference has room for a strong Bulls team to do some playoff damage.

Kobe too risky?

Chicago has been praised so much for their careful rebuilding of the franchise that they seem incapable of pulling off the big move. They are caught up in their carefulness, if that is even a word. Chicago would be afraid to use that word, because it might not be a word. Too much risk.

Chicago Bulls, you need to trade for Kobe now!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Would you trade for Kobe, if you were Chicago?

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Ha! The rumors were flying and Kobe was to be a Bull.

Not going to happen.

That is, if you listen to Jon Paxson, GM of the Chicago Bulls.

“There’s not a deal done,” he said Thursday. “There’s not going to be a deal done.”
Paxson said they discussed “parameters,” but the sides “never got down to the nuts and bolts of it because there was never a deal to be done.”

Paxson’s comments came a day after a flurry of rumors. Speculation picked up Wednesday, with one report saying the Bulls, Kings and Lakers were discussing a three-way deal that would bring the superstar to Chicago.

That scenario had Paxson sending Ben Gordon and a signed-and-traded P.J. Brown to Sacramento, with former Piston Ben Wallace of the Bulls and Ron Artest of the Kings heading to Los Angeles. Paxson dismissed the rumor, saying a deal involving Brown would send the Bulls over the luxury tax threshold. source

Hmm, where there is smoke there is fire, right? Especially in California these days. Luxury tax is not going to stop this deal or any other deal for Kobe.

Seems more likely that the Bulls would lose both veteran big men for Kobe at a time when the Lakers might have a hard time demanding top dollar for him.

The rumors won’t stop and we love rumors.

According to the Chicago Tribune one of the many trade rumors involving Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers this week, included the Phoenix Suns, who wanted to gauge the Bulls’ interest in trading Thabo Sefolosha and other considerations as part of a package to send Bryant to the Bulls and likely Shawn Marion to the Lakers. source

Hmm, the Suns would strengthen the Lakers with Marion? Doubtful.

Here is yet another trade rumor.

Lakers vice president Magic Johnson said the deal isn’t going to happen.

”A deal can’t get done because they won’t include [Luol] Deng,” Johnson said Tuesday on TNT. ”And without Deng, a deal can’t get done.” source

No Deng, no deal. Well, deng it all, what is it going to take?

Today, Kobe is still a Laker.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who do you think will land Kobe?

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Nobody loves me

The rift between Jerry Buss and Kobe Bryant grows ever wider until it appears like the Grand Canyon.

Kobe must go!

How do you do that when he has a no trade clause, a huge contract, is getting up there in NBA years, and worst of all is displaying a definite attitude problem.

Would other teams want to take on the Kobe act of defiance? Few would find it easy to turn down such an offer. Unfortunately, only the Bulls, Mavs, and Suns are on the table right now.

The owner has destroyed Los Angeles’ leverage on a possible trade, delivering an unmistakable message to the Bulls and Mavericks: Don’t bother throwing Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki in possible packages, because it’s become clearer that a peaceful co-existence of Bryant and the fledgling Lakers is less and less likely. source

To decode that message, Kobe’s trade value is dropping because he will become a free agent soon enough and the Lakers are not going to be a place where Kobe wants to stay. So why trade when you can just pay?

Jerry Buss seems to be at the end of his rope.

Maybe Buss was still livid enough with Bryant for calling him an “idiot” over the summer, but turning a peaceful training camp into a circus again because he wanted to tell everyone that he was willing to unload Bryant gave No. 24 a chance to re-cast himself as a victim, and check out of practice – if not his locker – for the week.

The most logical and most often named team to acquire Kobe’s services is the young, make that, oh so young Bulls. Being so young it is hard to evaluate if the core they have is enough to win a NBA Championship.

So far, they don’t know if this core can become a champion. Maybe Dallas knows it can’t win as currently constituted; after all, there’s a body of evidence building that says so. What if the Bulls do trade away Deng, along with a Tyrus Thomas and a Thabo Sefolosha and Bryant does start to have serious trouble with those aging knees? The Celtics had no choice but to trade its young players for Kevin Garnett. They had nothing to lose. But the Bulls? If the Bulls re-sign Deng and Ben Gordon to extensions, they have a contender for the next decade.

Mitch Kupchak somehow comes off all innocent in this debacle.

After GM Mitch Kupchak couldn’t pry Dwyane Wade in the Shaquille O’Neal trade, how could the Lakers now justify working deals with Dallas or Chicago that don’t include the best players on those teams, Nowitzki and Deng?

Even now, Kupchak doesn’t have the best returning player from the Shaq trade in his employ, Caron Butler, because he somehow moved him to Washington for Kwame Brown.

Let’s face it Kobe, you are history.

NBA Basketball Fan Question What team would be the perfect fit for Kobe?

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