May 15th, 2013 at 5:18 PM
By Hunter FieldThe Chicago rolled into Miami a week ago to steal game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They gave hope to Bulls' fans that they could compete even with a depleted roster. Fast-forward three games and the Bulls have dug themselves a three-game hole, which LeBron James and the Heat helped them dig. Chicago will be fighting for their season tonight at 6 p.m. CST on TNT.
No one is giving the Bulls a chance to win this series. They are without too many key pieces in Hinrich, Deng and Rose, and their playing against the defending world champs with the league MVP on the other team. The odds are stacked against them, but they have proved time and time again that you can not count them out no matter the odds. Still, its scary that the Heat have played so poorly and handily won each of the last three games by an average of more than 20 points. Dwyane Wade is hurting and the entire Miami team is shooting terribly, yet here they are with a two-game cushion in the series.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 15th, 2013 at 11:33 AM
By Sports Media 101The NBA season is moving into its latter stages now, with the regular season having finished a month ago, and the remaining teams now competing in the playoffs for the chance to reach the NBA Final. However although there is barely a month of action left this season, there is still a lot of speculation and betting taking place about which sides are in with a good shot of taking the title this year – so for those who have not hitched their horse to a carriage, which teams represent a good wager for the NBA playoffs.
Well, if you go by the odds information available at the sports odds sites there is little question that the defending champions, Miami Heat, are the clear favorites to retain their crown. Despite losing their opening playoff semi-final match to the Chicago Bulls, you can get odds as low as 4/7 on the Heat to go all the way again this year. Given that the Bulls have odds of 40/1, it is clear that few expect them to emerge triumphant from this semi-final. There are teams besides Miami in the running though, and both the San Antonio Spurs at 9/2, and the Oklahoma City Thunder at 12/1 could be a good bet for those who want to go against the grain – with the concomitant chance of a bigger win and more bragging rights.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 13th, 2013 at 8:43 PM
By Brian SchroederThe Bulls dropped Game 4 of their second round series against the Miami Heat, falling into what seems to be an insurmountable 3-1 hole on Monday night. The season isn't quite over, but in all likelihood, this was the last home game of the 2012-13 season for the Bulls, who for better or worse, played exactly how we all knew they would when they eventually ran out of gas.
Nate Robinson, in particular, showed signs of wear, tear, and his proverbial tank running on empty, finishing the game without a point, missing all 12 of his attempts from the field. He also had 4 turnovers to cap off what was maybe his worst game in a Bulls uniform. To be fair to Nate, he probably wouldn't have affected the outcome even if he'd been hitting. Nobody had much of anything in this game. Carlos Boozer finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds on 3-14 shooting, and wasn't nearly as good as those numbers suggest. Butler, Noah and Belinelli rounded out the general bad night for the starters, combining to shoot 8-24 from the field. Rip Hamilton saw extended minutes, finishing with 11 points on 4-11 shooting. The team as a whole shot 26% from the field.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 11th, 2013 at 5:54 AM
By Peter OwenWatching the Bulls give multiple efforts on broken plays on both sides of the ball every possession is a joy to watch. It also is a good recipe to stay competitive.
But then comes the other facet – execution. The Bulls missed that badly.
With the game close entering its final stages, the Bulls had the Heat where they needed them: within a two possessions, with the ball and with a finite number of possessions left.
But the execution wasn't there. Four starters played more than forty minutes with Boozer playing 29. The effort was unquestionable with Bulls players rotating well and diving across the court for loose balls. Nate Robinson was in overdrive as he drove the lane and hit miraculous deep threes to get the United Center on its feet again and again.
But it came down to simple execution and the Bulls missed too many shots and took too long to get into their offensive sets. This problem was partially the cause of the game 2 meltdown and it manifested itself late in game 3.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 9th, 2013 at 7:12 PM
By Peter OwenFour years ago, the Chicago Bulls put out the following statement from long-time team physician Dr. Brian Cole:
"He [Luol Deng] has been restricted from high-level activity since February 28th. At this point, he will undergo 'active rest' meaning that he will be encouraged to challenge himself physically."
This was regarding Deng's ongoing struggle with what was officially termed a minor strain in Deng's leg. The team declined to have an X-ray done until after they had thrown Luol under the bus by accusing him of not trying hard enough to play (see the bold part of Dr. Cole's statement).
It would then be discovered, via X-ray, that Deng had a stress fracture in his tibia.
A broken leg.
The regrettable situation led to a point where Deng was essentially marginalized – by his team who to all intents and purposes labeled him 'soft' in the media, by his coach who left Deng standing in the corner on offense, barely more than a spectator, by fans who constantly chatted about his decreasing trade value and their wish to see him off the team.
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