Chicago Bulls 2010-2011 Season Recap

Now that the Chicago Bulls season has come to a close, I won't say that this team overachieved but lead my the youngest MVP in league history, The Chicago Bulls exceeded all expectations by finishing with the best record in the NBA going 62-20. Going into the season the Bulls were supposed contend with Orlando, Boston, and Miami but not surpass them. The object was to avoid Boston or Miami until the Eastern Conference Finals meaning land the one or two seed.

On that note mission accomplished but after last weeks heart breaking defeat by the Miami Heat at the United Center, the Bulls now must address the missing piece in their lineup which is a scoring shooting guard to compliment Derrick Rose. Towards the end of the season and all through the playoffs, Derrick Rose was our primary scorer and point guard. As a result, teams forced the MVP to take bad shots which resulted in rare losses for this ball club.

Jokim Noah must work on his offensive game this off-season. If Noah comes back an explosive offensive weapon, that means trouble for the Miami Heat. Taj Gibson must continue to be the spark off the bench providing occasional double-doubles. Carlos Boozer must learn to play above the rim and pretty much must learn how to move his feet and play defense overall. Boozer should not lay the ball up when he's underneath the basket he must learn to finish strong like Blake Griffin.

Along with the Executive of the Year, MVP, Coach Tom also collected hardware by winning the Coach of the Year. The defensive minded Thiboodeau made sure less isolation ball was played and more team defense was played. As a result other than the Miami Heat, the Bulls team was the best defensive team in the NBA which lead to a ton of transition points scored. Keith Bogans made all defensive second team but must drastically work on his offensive game this off-season. Once Kyle Korver learn how to create his own shot rather than going through screen, he'll become an unstoppable weapon on offense. At this point the only advice I have for Omar is to remain healthy but once healthy, he must improve his defense if he want to become a dominant force at the center position.

If this core group stays together, I see a minimum two championships out of this group but first they must acquire  a legit shooting guard.

Bulls Best in East????

With the loss to the New Jersey Nets tonight the Boston Celtics are now tied with the Chicago Bulls for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat and Orlando Magic will continue to beat each other up in the South Division, The Celtics have the experience but are beginning to show their age which is why the young Bulls lead by the leading MVP candidate Derrick Rose will play in the NBA Finals this year.

During the beginning of the season many projected the Celtics, Heat, or Magic to contend to Eastern Conference supremacy (including myself) but none of the "experts" projected the Bulls to be the Beast of the East. Will they reach the NBA Finals this year remains to be seen but I can tell you why they'll finish with the best record in the East.

Other than the Chicago Bulls, the NBA Central is full of teams that will participate in the NBA Lottery. Currently the Bulls are undefeated in their division and should remain that way the rest of the season. The point guard is the most dominant position in the NBA today but the Bulls have the best of the best lead guard in Derrick Rose who'll most likely win the MVP award this year. Rose's scoring, assist are up this year and has even become more of a vocal leader along with his improved jump shot.

Improved front court: If Derrick Rose is the MVP than Jokim Noah is the most improved. Noah's scoring and rebounding has increased every year and would have been an All-Star if not for his hand surgery. Carlos Boozer is the much need low post scoring we've been missing since Elton Brand. Taj Gibson has shown glimpse of stardom and occasionally gets double-doubles. Lou Deng is the "veteran" of this young core that provides the scoring Rose doesn't. Kyle Korver is the new John Paxton, Steve Kerr (you get the picture).

Their lack of a legit scoring guard will become a problem deep in the playoffs but should be enough to finish with the best record in the East....GO BULLS!!!!!!

What Basketball has taught me so far....

With the big Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers game headed this Christmas at the Staples Center, we would have completed two months worth of NBA ball and with college basketball just about wrapping up non-conference play, here's what I've learned..

• Kemba Walker is the best player in college basketball and a future lottery pick. The UCONN Huskies are the surprise of the Big East. With a fast start, they're not ranked in the top 5. It starts and ends with the Bronx PG.

• Kyle Irving should stay in school because a 3 guard lineup with Austin Rivers-Kyle Irving-Seth Curry is flat out scary.

• Illinois is my Final 4 sleeper but a bad loss to Illinois-Chicago then again to Missouri now  make me wonder going into conference play are they the best Big 10 team in the state.
• Speaking of Illinois teams in the Big 10, this is finally the year Northwestern does play in the big dance. 

• Unless the Miami Heat land a point guard via trade, they will not represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. 

• Don't count out the former champions Spurs & Celtics. Both teams have a lot of miles on them but they're both off to a great start. Let's hope their health holds up come playoff time. 

• The Dallas Mavericks are making a strong case that they're not only the best team in Texas, Western Conference, but in the NBA. Other than Tyson Chandler, no other Maverick is committed to defense.

• Dirk, Amare Stoudamire are the biggest impacts on they're team and have a strong case for MVP but the trophy belongs to Derrick Rose. 

• The new NBA rules are terrible and the Lakers are still the best team in the NBA...they're just bored until the playoffs. 

Problems with the Miami Heat???

With the hype that the fans and media pretty much gave the Miami Heat the NBA Title before the season began, somebody forgot to tell the rest of the NBA that they must play the games. The new Big 3 are currently on a two game losing streak (both home losses) to the Utah Jazz and tonight to the Boston Celtics.

 When Pat Riley put this team together, he forgot to include a solid point guard, center and bench. This unit will have their share of blowout victories (like they did against Orlando) but their lack of not having a lead guard and bench will be the main reason this team will not win an NBA Title unless they address those issues. Deron Williams made a case why he's one of the best point guards in the lead but dictating the pace of the game. Tonight Rondo added 16 assist and the Heat were not able to control him. Chris Bosh is doing double duty playing the 4 & 5 positions and his stats are not worth $100 millions only averaging 15 pts 5 rebounds. Other than Rondo tonight, the Celtics bench ran the floor the entire night out playing the Heat bench.

How can the Heat win...the new Big 3 needs to restructure their deal so Pat Riley can afford more quality players. Mike Miller will help once he returns but he's not the solution. 

Eastern Conference Supremacy

 With Shannon Brown re-signing with the Champs along with the addition of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Theo Ratliff, the Lakers will waltz through the Western Conference and make their fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. Their opponent remains to be determined as the Eastern Conference has reloaded. The Celtics, Heat, Bulls, Hawks, and Magic will beat each other up all season long but only one will face Kobe in June. Let's take a look at the contenders:

Atlanta Hawks: Swept by LeBron James the past two years the Hawks will most likely get swept this year as they have not imporved their roster during this free agancy period. Re-signing Joe Johnson was huge but a team full of wing players and an aging point guard will result in this team not representing the Eastern Conference.

Chicago Bulls: Not since Elton Brand traded to the Clippers the Bulls answered their low post answers by signing Carlos Boozer who should provide 20 points 10 rebounds at best. Chicago missed out signing JJ Reddick but added Kyle Korver for long distance shooting and Corey Brewer who's a defensive minded shooting guard. With the best young point guard in the League and Noah improving every year the Bulls should be the third or fourth best team in the East at best. CJ Watson is the backup point guard but I'm not sold on him.

Orlando Magic: Adding Chris Duhon finally give Jameer Nelson the quality backup he's needed since Rafer Alson. Re-signing JJ Reddick along with the addition of Quentin Richardson gives the Magic long distance shooting. If Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis have another disappearing act as they did against the Celtics, don't expect the Magic to return to the NBA Finals. Hopefully Superman learned some offensive moves from assistant coach Patrick Ewing.

Miami Heat: The winner of the 2010 free agency period appears to be the best team in the Eastern Conference.....on paper. The addition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh along with resigning Dwayne Wade spells trouble plus an increase in ticket sales. An extremely week bench means the three superstars will work extra hard for all 82 games. The addition of Mike Miller and the experience of Juwan Howard and Eddie House helps but not that much. Remember Wade and House are the only player on this team with championship rings.

Boston Celtics: The Black Irish are my predictions to win the  Eastern Conference. They're the only team that can play in the all-star game and legends game the same day. Adding the two O'Neals (Shaq & Jermaine) is a huge upgrade over the loss of Rasheed Wallace. Shaq will start until Kendrick Perkins returns but if he and Jermaine can play 20 minuets a game would be huge. Rondo will continue to run the team but this might be the last run for the future hall of fame line up of Shaq, KG, Pierce, and Allen.

NBA Finals Tied 1-1...Coaching Moves

The Boston Celtics get their wish which was a split in the Staples Center. Ray Allen set an NBA Finals record  with 8 3-point buckets made and Rondo is turning into a regular Jason Kidd by getting triple doubles every other night. The Laker front-court of Gasol & Bynum have played great thus far but without another scorer to backup Kobe (meaning step up Larmar Odom) this series might not return to Los Angeles. At this point, Rondo is the MVP of the Finals so far.

Congrats to Monty Williams on landing the New Orleans Hornets coaching gig. I remember watching Monty Williams at Notre Dame plus he was also a solid pro. For the past 5 season, Coach Williams was the assistant coach for the Portland Trailblazers...good luck in the Big Easy.

My Chicago Bulls finally land a new head coach which is defensive minded guru Tom Thibodeau. He's been the mand behind the Celtics defense but I hope he can coach offense as well and is not a Jeff Van Gundy clone.

Reports are Tom Izzo will be the next coach of the Cavs but his is all speculation and if I were Izzo, I'm not leaving Michigan State whose teams is good enough to compete for the 2011 Final 4 with Kalin Lucas returning. Unless LeBron stays in Clevaland, Coach Izzo should stay in East Lansing.

Celtics - Lakers in Trouble?

Don't prepare for the Lakers-Celtics finals just yet. Monday night in Boston, the Black Irish could not send Superman and the Orlando Magic fishin' just yet as Rajon Rondo was finally outplayed at the point guard position by his counterpart Jameer Nelson. The Big 3 for the Celtics along with Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis are the Magic's version of the "Big 3" but the key to this series starts and end with the Nelson vs. Rondo battle. Paul Pierce missed two 3 point shot under a minute to play but the biggest question is why didn't Ray Allen take that final shot. If the Magic win a pivotal game 5 tomorrow, expect this series to got the distance.

The Lakers took the Suns lightly and now find themselves tied 2-2 against Phoenix. The Stoudamire & Nash combination was ok but the bench for Los Suns were the deciding factor tonight. Kobe Bryant is probably giving his teammates a good lashing as he was the only offensive force for the defending champs. Phil Jackson's crew is only .500 on the road but great when playing at the Staples Center.

I'm still predicting a Celtics-Lakers finals but it's just taking a little bit longer.

NBA Conference Finals

I'm off to Cleveland, OH for the weekend hopefully I get a chance to visit Progressive Field and watch the Indians play the Reds. The NBA Conference finals resume this weekend in Phoenix and Boston and when I return to Chicago on Monday both the Celtics & Lakers should have a 3 - 0 lead.

A Laker-Celtics finals would be a ratings bonanza for ABC but this current Lakers have revenge on their minds as they were defeated by these same Celtics for the crown back in 2008. This time around I don't see anybody stopping Kobe Bryant as he and Derrick Fisher capture championship ring number 5.

Wizards Win Lottery - Conference Finals Recap

Congratulations to the Washington Wizards for winning the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery tonight in New Jersey. This team's 2009-2010 season was not a good one by dealing with the death of longtime owner Abe Polen, trading the core of their team (Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendon Hayword, and Deshawn Stevenson), followed by the season long suspensions of Javaris Crittenton for gun play. The upside for this franchise is that this team is young and now have the opportunity to draft John Wall or Evan Turner. The main question is with this young team do they draft Wall then trade Agent Zero who has a monster contract that no owner wants to touch. My theory is that the Wizards buy him out then let Arenas pursue other interest with another ball club then start fresh with John Wall as their point guard for the future. Wizard's assistant coach Sam Cassell will make sure John Wall learn the lead guard position from an NBA champion guard.

Game 1 of the NBA conference finals are complete as the Lakers and Celtics were both victorious. The Phoenix Sun could not find an answer for Kobe Bryant who dropped 40 who also made Grant Hill fall off this crossover. I'm not upset that he missed the floater but he still should have converted. The almost highlight of the game was Shannon Brown almost dunking over Michigan State alum Jason Richardson but took off too early. I was also very impressed with Derick Fisher's defense on Steve Nash after getting abused by Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams in the previous series. Game two is tomorrow at the Staples Center.

Boston Celtics took a 2 game to zero lead over the Orlando Magic tonight down in South Florida. At one point the Magic had a one-point lead but KG hit a key fade away shot over Dwight Howard (good defense...better offense). After a smart foul on Vince Carter by Paul Pierce which was his sixth, Vince had the opportunity to but his club up one with less than a minuet but the former Tar Heel had a Nick Anderson moment and missed both free throws. At the end, Orlando had to go the length of the court but Jameer Nelson missed a half-court 3 to send the game to overtime.

Both series are over and I'm already prepared for a Celtics-Lakers Finals.

LeBron'sFinal Home Game?

Many expected (including myself) predicted the Cavaliers would defeat the Celtics today then finish the series Thursday in Boston. LeBron James never got started taking only 14 shots which resulted to Cleveland losing 120-88. The highlight of the game was a double crossover that Rondo displayed which had Rasheed Wallace in stitches.

At this stage in his career Shaq should not be the team's leading scorer when LeBron is on the court. Once again Mo Williams continued to get exposed defensively by his counter part at the point guard position. Derrick Rose is the first round now Rondo's turn. They are passing him around like foreign currency. If Cleveland looses Thursday we know Danny Ferry will not return O'Neal, most likely fire Mike Brown, and probably loos LeBron James via free agency.

Like my Chicago Blackhawks, this is the best chance for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win a world championship. The last time the Cavs had this good of a team to win a title was 1989 but their season ended by The Shot. 

Chicago Bulls Gone Fishin'

Before I blog about teams that have gone fishin' for the summer J.R. Smith just pulled off an incredible dunk in the 4th quarter which is probably on YouTube about now. Now...the Bulls, Heat, Bobcats have all started their summer vacations with Chicago and Miami losing in five games while the Bobcats got swept by the Orlando Magic.

Last night The Chicago Bulls lost by 2 points to the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-84 which was probably the last game for Vinny Del Negro. If Jerry Reinsdorf paid attention he would clean house by firing John Paxon, Gar Foreman, and Vinny Del Negro. But since coaches are always the first to go Del Negro will probably be relieved of his duties by the weekend. Jokim Noah & Derrick Rose displayed that they're the new blood in the NBA with Derrick Rose potentially being the best point guard east of Steve Nash. When the real season begins July 1st, I hope Mark Jackson or Byron Scott is the Bulls coach and my team lands Wade, Stoudamire, Bosh, or Boozer. The future is bright for the madhouse on Madison.

The Cavaliers move on into the next round to face the Black Irish aka Boston Celtics. With Kevin Garnett healthy again, expect this series to go the distance but this time the Cavs moving on the Eastern Conference Finals. The winner between the Hawks or Bucks series will most likely get swept by the Magic in that round (Young Money aka Brandon Jennings in my Rookie of the Year). Side Note: Before the Hawks/Bucks game tonight Jamal Crawford receive his well deserved 6th man of the year trophy.

Weekend Recap

Let me start off by saying I'm not a fan of hockey but I did watch the USA/Canada Gold Medal game and I'm disappointed and proud of the young USA Hockey team. Now back to the show............

I'm know I'm wrong for typing this but I'm rooting against the Nets. I want them to set the all-time record for most losses in a season. The Celtics must have went out the night before and came in a the crack of dawn because they forgot to bring their "C" game against New Jersey. The bench of the Boston Celtics alone can destroy the New Jersey Nets starting five. My Chicago Bulls keep showing mix signals by defeating the Portland Trailblazers on Friday night then last night losing to the Lottery bound Indiana Pacers. Playing to the level of your competition will not work in the L.

Speaking of playing to the level of the competition, Fighting ILLINI pretty much punch it's ticket to the NIT after a bad loss at home to Minnesota 62-60. I've said this before but for the ILLNI this season, it's whatever but next season pencil in Illinois as a top ten team with Lenord Myles, Mike Davis, Jereme Richmond, Brandon Paul, and Demetri McCamey with Crandle Head and DJ Richardson coming off the bench.

The nation's top two teams suffered losses this weekend as well as Kansas fell to Oklahoma State and Kentucky lost to Tennessee. Bottom line, Kentucky and Kansas will still be seeded #1 two weeks from today. Side note: Good for Sherron Collins calling John Wall a little boy. I hope these two teams meet in the finals.

There is plenty of basketball to watch this week (especially college ball) so I will see you guy later.

TOMORROW IS A GOOD DAY TO HOOP!!!!!!