I hate watching baseball....

I can't watch ESPN anymore. I thought game 4 was bad. This hurts about 50x more. I don't even want to write this, but I know I'd be letting the 4 readers down if I didn't.

Derrick had another 25 point performance, but took the blame as to why they didn't win. He didn't make the shots or make the right decisions down the stretch to win. Yeah he had a bad game, but his team didn't help him out. He said he wasn't tired during crunch time, but maybe the rigors of the regular season and going deep into the playoffs took a toll on his body. The Bulls' big men, with the exception of BigSexy (who hasn't played a single minute in about a month), were a no show. Boozer had ZERO lift and was missing bunnies at the rim and/or getting an invite to the Heat's block party. Jo was pretty bad on offense with his running hook shots. Taj didn't register a point. The above picture may have affected both of their games. Deng was in foul trouble late in the game, and he couldn't be as effective on defense. Somehow Thibs ran out of timeouts at the end of the game for the second time this post season. All this compiled with some suspect decisions from the refs, the Bulls were able to have a double digit lead and shit the bed down the stretch. Ugh. Absolutely gutted.

I know the Bulls exceeded everyone's expectations this year. I know once Jo went down in the regular season, I thought the Bulls would be no better than a 4th seed. But once the playoffs started I was thinking championship all the way. Maybe I was spoiled by the 90's. When I was a kid, every time the Bulls made the playoffs they won the whole thing. I didn't think the same thing with those Hinrich led teams because they didn't have the talent. But we had the MVP, the COY, the deepest bench in the league, and the #1 defensive team. And I know that with the exception of DWade and MAGIC Johnson (My Ass Got Infected, Coach....maybe a low blow right there, but I'm emotional, sorry I'm not sorry) pretty much every player goes through some sort of heart break before they win. Maybe I made the mistake thinking this year was different. I started the season thinking the Bulls weren't as good as the Heat, then went to believing we could beat the Heat in a 7 game series, then went to knowing that we weren't as good as the Heat. As I said before, I know DRose is only going to get better. And with the way they went out this year, it will drive him to work on his game this off-season. But the rest of the team has to make the jump to get better just as Rose did this year. Or GarPaxDorf needs to make a call to Otis Smith and steal D12.

Kyle Korver Punk'd the Bulls

I don't even know where to start. Last night was probably the third most depressing day of my life. Honestly, I didn't think that the Bulls inexperience deep in the playoffs would affect this squad. Apparently, (and shockingly not for the first time)
I was horribly wrong. Game 4 followed the template of the previous 2 games. Bulls started out shooting poorly but were still in it because of their defense and they were even up by 11 at one point. But the pressure in the 4th quarter to close out the game was too much for the Bulls. All that stuff about the Heat not being able to close games is pretty much null and void seeing as they did it to Boston and now the Bulls. Derrick had 23 points (8-for-23, 4-for-13 in the first half) and had his third bad game in a row. Boozer had his 20-and-10 but was a disaster on defense. Joakim was somehow making all the plays no one expects him to (running the break in transition and making good decisions with the ball) but not converting on plays that he should (the majority of the time when he has the ball). Deng had a decent game scoring 20 while chasing LBJ around the whole game. If you heard that Rose/Deng/Booz went off for 20 a piece (and Bogans scored 6), you would probably have thought that the Bulls won. NOPE.

The Bench was almost non-existant. AsikAndDestroy has been destroyed. Taj was a non-factor and played 10 minutes. CJ kept us in the game in the 2nd quarter scoring 6 points (maybe even got us the lead at one point) and did a good job when Derrick needed rest. Not so much when sharing the back court with Derrick. RonRonJuice played great D and hit hit a few big buckets. The dude even hit an open 3 bomb to cut the lead down to 1 in OT. RRJ got a majority of the minutes down the stretch because Kyle Korver is pretty much ineffective. He has turned into Carlos Boozer from the first round series. Seems like he's lost confidence in himself, and maybe Thibs has too. If he isn't scoring buckets and stretching the Heat's defense, he's about as useful as a poop flavored lollipop.

MIKE MILLER??? SERIOUSLY??? You haven't played a meaningful minute all post-season and you decided to get it poppin' in game 4 of the ECF? If it isn't Udonis Haslem, its an overrated white shooting guard (who Steve Kerr apparently believes is one of the best rebounding guards in the league). Wade pretty much sucked the whole game except when he unleashed his inner Dikembe Mutumbo in OT (without the unintentional comedy). Bosh didn't throw up a 30 spot, but he still knocked down almost every shot and got to the line when he wanted. LBJ did everything. Scoring points, getting his teammates easy shots (especially when the Bulls were slipping on banana peels, how did they not see them?!?!), making a living a the the free throw line, and guarding DRose.

The Bulls looked tired and way over their head down the stretch and in OT. DRose was trying to put the team on his back and was trying to do too much. Can't blame him because his teammates weren't helping all that much. I think Reggie said that maybe he has lost confidence in his teammates, and it seemed that way. DRose couldn't adjust when LBJ started guarding him. I didn't mind the first step back fade away he took because it looked like he had the separation, just didn't knock the shot down. The 2nd iso against LBJ to end regulation was not so well executed. Going into OT, I thought the Bulls had a great chance to win. They should have won in regulation, but that should have drove them to get it done in OT. Instead they started the extra period with wasted possessions 2 out of the first 3 times down the court. The Heat capitalized on those turnovers converting them into fast breaks and easy points. The Bullsoffense lost all rhythm and they looked like they didn't belong there. They looked very tired and played like it too. But that will happen when DRose doesn't get a blow the entire 2nd half and OT. Jo was playing very hard on the defensive end was dead tired by the time he jogged down to the other side. Deng had been guarding LBJ the entire game. Not good seeing as the Bulls were supposedly the "deepest" team in the playoffs. The Bulls have learned just how important possessions down the stretch are and that they can't be wasted (and at the very least not turned into points for the other team).

The Bulls hadn't lost 3 games in a row all season. But they didn't have to play the Heat 3 games in a row. The Heat are the better team and they are playing like it. I know Derrick will get better in the next few years, but my fear is that his supporting cast has peaked. Jo and Taj need to get better offensively or GarPaxDorf need to figure out how to turn them into Dwight Howard.

Where's the panic button????

The Bulls front office took a risk at the trade deadline by not trading for another scorer. It could pay off for the team down the line because finding great defenders like Taj and Omer is harder than finding shooters. But it looks like right now, that decision is somewhat hurting the Bulls. Other than Rose and Boozer, the Bulls' offense was almost non-existent. Rose had 20 points, but it seems like he still had a bad game. The Heat are doing a great job of throwing double teams at him and getting the ball out of his hands. The Heat are willing to make someone other than Derrick beat them, and right now that plan is working. Derrick is still having a hard time getting to the rim, not getting many attempts at the FT line (3-for-3), and the Heat are forcing him into some bad decisions. Boozer showed up and dropped 26 and 17, but it seemed like he could have had a 35 and 17. He missed a lot of bunnies and even some easy and-ones.

Despite their offensive woes, game 3 was almost deja vu from game 2. The Bulls weren't producing offensively but their defense was keeping them in the game. It seemed like it would get ugly in the 3rd, but the Bulls got stops and some easy points and they were only down 3 going into the 4th. It was then where the lack of offensive weapons hurt the Bulls. Thibs inserted Korver to try and space the floor, but that didn't work out so well and hurt the Bulls on the defensive end. The Heat were 50% from the floor and it seemed like they were going in from anywhere and everywhere. A couple of those shots were near the end of the shot clock and those can be demoralizing. The Bulls would be playing perfect defense and LBJ or Bosh rise up with a few seconds left and a hand in their face and knock it down. Its the playoffs and that's what needs to happen. Unfortunately its going down for the other team and not for the Bulls. It's scary that LBJ only had like 10 shot attempts in the first 3 quarters and then turned it on in the 4th. He was fine facilitating and getting his teammates good shots and then woke up from his shooting slumber at the end of the game to close it out. Even though he wasn't scoring until the end, his effect on their offense was tremendous. Needless to say, its easy to sit back and facilitate when you're passing to Wade and Bosh instead of Bogans and Noah.

It's crazy that the Heat's roster is pretty much a 7 man rotation, while the Bulls are throwing out 10 guys every night. But a majority of the Bulls rotation aren't great two-way players. Rose, Boozer, and Korver are great offensively (usually). Where as Noah, Taj, Omer, Brewer, and Bogans are best on the defensive end. Deng is really the only guy who plays both ends well. The Heat's best players can play both ends (Bosh is serviceable on defense) and because there are 3 of them, 1 or 2 of them are on the court at all times. Its games like these that make me running for the panic button. Thibs will make sure the adjustments are made and Derrick can't have another bad game. Boozer needs to keep rolling and the defense has to be there. One can't expect the Heat to be shooting out of their minds again.

That was ugly...

Shooting 34% from the field, 16-for-26 from the charity stripe, 3-for-20 from beyond the arc, -4 in rebounds, and Derrick shot 7-for-23. That is Khloe Kardashian ugly right there.

The Bulls looked bad from the jump. They couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but their aggressive rebounding and defense were keeping them in the game (par for the course). As the 1st quarter went on, their defense got stronger and they even finished the 1st up 26-19. You would think that if their rebounding and defensive energy stayed up, their offense would eventually catch up. Well, it turns out they left their offense back in game 1 and the Heat defense showed up. Not a good combination. The Bulls were throwing up bricks from everywhere and anywhere. They even missed 10 shots from the stripe when no Heat player could bother their shot. Check this link from hoopdata.com to see how bad the Bulls were from each spot. The Bulls got a lot of their offense in game one from second chance points from beyond the arc. Those second chance attempts just weren't going down in game two. One of the 3 shots they hit was a 3/4 heave from Deng and another was from Korver in transistion. The Heat were giving Derrick a hard time getting to the rim and when he got there he couldn't finish (2-for-11 from inside 9 feet). A lot of his points came from his outside jumper which as of late, wasn't really going down for him in the past 2 series. Deng started out the first half well with 9 points but finished the game with 13. Korver's shooting woes are still plaguing him which only highlights his inability to defend. Everyone knew that LBJ and Wade weren't going to be held to 33 points again. They came back scoring 54 in game two. They were very influential in the 3rd quarter as they forced the Bulls into bad shots and turned turnovers into fast break points. Udonis Haslem was able to "out-Taj-Gibson" Taj Gibson. He was grabbing offensive rebounds, getting loose balls, creating 2nd opportunites, getting dunks, and hitting jumpers. Steve Kerr was pretty much nominating him as the best power forward in the NBA. That's a stretch for the poor-man's TajMahal.

Even with all this offensive garbage going on, down 11 points at one point, the score was tied at 73-73 with a little more than 7:00 left in the game. Taj and Asik played great defense and were getting the majority of the minutes in the 2nd half. Just like game one, they were causing problems in the paint, altering shots, grabbing boards, and even playing great after switching out on the perimeter. But the Bulls were only able to muster 2 points for the rest of the game. TWO POINTS IN SEVEN MINUTES. Ugh. Derrick tried to carry the team but his shots weren't falling. No one else on the team could help him out and be the second scoring option. All in all it was bad. Very bad. On the other end, LBJ put the team on his back and went on a one person scoring rampage in the last few minutes to close the game for good. Gotta admit, I was a sad man after this game. As bad as the Bulls were, they could have taken the game in the last few minutes. The Bulls gotta shake this one off and come to play on Sunday.

DWade, Welcome to the Taj Mahal

Couldn't have asked for a better result after game 1. The Bulls have put together two great games that were filled with suffocating defense. It looked kind of dicey in the first couple minutes. The Heat ran out to a quick couple fast break points after Bulls turnovers, and it looked like it had the makings of a long night. The Bulls were able to turn it around and turn up their defensive pressure from there.

Deng, Bogans, Brewer, and at some points Rose did a great job individually when they had to guard LBJ/Wade. Further more, the second line of defenders (Booz, Noah, Asik, Taj) did a great job of
clogging up the paint and cutting off those driving lanes that LBJ and Wade strive off of. Even the Bulls' bigs had success when they were switched onto LBJ/Wade on screens. Jo had a big block on Wade and Taj/Asik had a few good defensive sequences when they were switched onto LBJ. The LBJ/Wade combo went for 15 and 18 points respectively and the Heat as a team scored 34 points (LBJ had 5) in the 2nd half. At one point, TNT showed a replay of one of the Heat's huddles during a timeout. During said break, Spols is screaming to his team something along the lines of how they can't beat the Bulls defense with isolation plays. And in a shocking turn of events, on the very next possession we see LBJ pound the ball at the top of the key for most of the shot clock, tries to drive into the paint, sees a bunch of white shirts, and misses a jump shot. Way to listen LBJ. The Bulls will have to figure out how to not let RuPaul go off for 30 points. Jo was a little over committed to LBJ on some of those screens which let Bosh roll to the rim free for a dunk/layup. That being said, if the Bulls can contain the other 2 stars to under 35 points combined and shut down everyone that isn't a Heatle, go ahead and let Bosh get his.

The Bulls' size in the paint and depth off the bench was very troublesome for the Heat. The Bulls owned the battle on the boards to the tune of +12 and pulled down 19 offensive rebounds. Those offensive boards led to 31 second chance points (compared to 8 for the Heat). The Heat pulled down 58% of the available defensive rebounds. Eww. The length of our bigs was too much for the Heat to handle. LBJ said in a a post-game interview that the second chance points were "demoralizing". I was hoping he'd cry. It's well known that with all the cash spent on the big three, putting a team around them would be difficult. Their lack of depth on the bench was exposed as no one other than the big three scored in double digits, Chalmers came close with 9 points. Asik had a 2 dunks and Taj, well, um, he had 2 of his own. If you haven't seen either yet (and I don't know why you haven't) they're at the end along with a special treat for Omerica. Reggie Miller's reactions were just not as good as what Stacey would have done with those calls. CJ did a good job of backing up Rose with 5 assists and Brewer had 8 points including a poster dunk of his own.

The Bulls offense was effective, but not stellar. It's a good thing when they can score 103 points shooting just north of 40% because their defense is so damn awesome. Rose had a good night with 28 points and 6 dimes. Deng chipped in 21, Noah with 9, and Boozer with 14. Boozer got a lot of his points around the rim with put-backs and dunks. He wasn't able to get his outside game or his low post game going. He didn't really demand the ball in his spots which was a little disheartening. Deng as able to score in a variety of ways, shooting from the outside and driving in the paint which was good. Especially since he outscored his counterpart. The Bulls' willingness to share the ball and confidence in their teammates definitely showed as they had 23 assists compared to the Heat's 11. Next game isn't until Wednesday because of Oprah. Go Bulls.





Link to Omerica's girlfriend:
http://www.terezowens.com/chicago-bulls-backup-center-dating-miss-ohio/

And what looks to be AsikAndDestroy doing a little wine-and-dine at the Signature Room
http://www.terezowens.com/chicago-bulls-center-omer-asik-with-miss-ohio/

"This is it, don't get scared now..." - Kevin McCalister

The Bulls finally vanquished the pestering Hawks in stunning fashion. They played suffocating defense with great offensive efficiency. Bulls shot over 50% from the field and had 20 more assists than the Hawks. JJ/JCraw shut down again for under 30 points combined and J-Smooth/Horford were throwing up air-balls almost every other possession. Also didn't hurt when Teague went down with the wrist injury. He clearly wasn't the same after he returned.

Derrick scored 19 points and only needed to hoist up 14 shot attempts because he got offensive help from errybody. Deng chipped in 13, Noah 11, Gibson 10, and Boozer with, um, 23 points. Not only did every shot he hoist go in, but it seemed like none of them even touched the rim. Splash city. I can't expect that to happen all the time, because frankly he hasn't proven that he can do that every night since the postseason started. But if he can do that at least once in the Miami series that'd be great. The bench mob came to play once again. RonRonJuice/TajMahal/Omerica shut the hawks down and Korver was able to hit a couple shots. Hubie Brown was at half-mast just talking about how awesome Omerica is. He would have thrown a MVP vote Asik's way if he could.

And now for the series that everyone wanted. Bulls v. Heatles. Good v. Evil. Navy Seals v. Bin Laden. The Bulls swept the Heat 3-0 in the regular season series by a combined 8 points. Those games mean nothing right now because as the Bulls learned in these first 2 series, the playoffs are a whole different animal. LBJ didn't play in one of those games and RuPaul went 1-18 in another. Both DWade and LBJ missed shots at the end of those games to tie or win the game. This is the leagues best offense going against the leagues best defense. Break it down...

Starting Five:
The Heat have no problem finding offense with the likes of LBJ, Wade, and RuPaul. It will be interesting to see how they try to crack the Bulls #1 defense. Like the Hawks, the Heatles like to run a lot of isos. Deng and Bogans will have their work cut out for them for sure. On the other hand it will be interesting to see how the Heat will guard DRose. Derrick will obviously be able to blow by Chalmers or Bibby. It's how Miami's help defense reacts that should be looked at. The Heat's defense isn't shabby and they have the speed and length on the perimeter. Boozer and Noah should be able to dominate the paint where as LBJ and Wade will be able to handle the outside. The match-ups are intriguing and there I don't see a clear cut advantage. I'll probably regret this. Advantage: Heat

Bench:
Bench Mob vs. The Miami D-League squad. The caveat for spending all that money on the big three was that their surrounding cast is not good. James Jones can drop bombs from behind the arc and Chalmers is a serviceable guard. Other than that the Heat can throw out Mike Miller, Juwan Howard, Eddie House, or BigZ. Not exactly fearful of that bench line-up. The thought of Korver having to guard Wade or LBJ gives me panic attacks. But hopefully he will step up and spread the Bulls offense like he did all year. Taj and Omer are holding their own in the paint right now and RonRonJuice will be part of the defensive platoon. Totally pumped for BigZ v. Omerica. Advantage: Bulls

Coaching:
This isn't close. Spolestra does not hold a flame to Thib's coaching chops. Spols is a 15 year old kid that was handed the keys to a Ferrari. As much as the Heat seem like they are behind their coach, they aren't. Not with Pat Riley looming over Spols' head, ready to escort him to the guillotine if he doesn't take the Heatles to the finals. Spols had that media slip up during "Crygate" and looked overwhelmed with the pressure of managing this rag-tag group of all-stars and junior varsity players. Advantage: Bulls

Intangibles:
Hopefully the Bulls can cut down on the turnovers and win the battles for loose balls. The Heat thrive on scoring off turnovers and transition baskets. LBJ and Wade dunks can shift momentum like no other. The Bulls are finally a clear cut underdog. They weren't completely comfortable with being the favorite in the first 2 series. Derrick played with a chip on his shoulder all year when he said "Why not me" about winning MVP. I expect the team to embrace that attitude during this series and play up to their competition. The Heat still have the pressure of winning that has been building since LBJ told the world where he was taking his talents. The Bulls crowd should be as rabid as ever and The Madhouse will be off its rocker. The Miami bandwagon fans that show up halfway through the first quarter (wearing all white obvi) don't hold a candle to the Bulls fans. Advantage: Bulls

Prediction:
The Heat just beat the Celtics in 5 games and acted like they just won the Larry O'Brien trophy. Good for you, the Celtics are old and Rondo played with one arm for 2 games. Both teams know the gravity of this series and have been probably looking forward to it all season. No lie, its going to be an absolute war. I think its going to be very physical probably a lot of people getting T's and maybe a flagrant or two. The Bulls need to play their asses off on the defensive end, DRose probably needs to go off for 38, and Deng/_____ need to have a couple good scoring nights. I'm sensing that I will be going through a roller coaster of emotions throughout the series. Bulls in 7.

Thor Review

Who's ready for non stop super hero movie action?! Eh. 3 super hero movies coming this summer (Thor, Capt. America, Green Lantern). Thor is the first. Quick summary. Thor is the son of Odin. Odin is the ruler of a far away land out in space that is super advanced in technology and magic. Thor is given immense power by his hammer, Mjolnir, (myol-neer) Basically Thor is a god with a sick ass weapon.

To the movie. Odin is getting old and about to pass his crown on to his son Thor. Everyone loves Thor cause he is a badass and super dreamy. Odin is a bit worried cause his son acts like Lebron and hangs out with his own super best friends. Thor gets angry, makes some mistakes, and Odin tosses his ass to earth, which apparently is prison, shoot he ends up in New Mexico, not exactly Detroit or Newark. Super smart scientist Nat Portman finds him, Thor tries to regain his power, and they fall in love. Of course we find out Thor was setup, his buddies come to save him and Thor does a 180, redeems himself, and blows shit up. Fin.

Basically I didn't like this flick. My first problem is the love story. Thor and Nat Portman fall in love in like 4 mins of film time. Puhhhhlease. Weak ass story, no reason for it, and totally unbelievable, which is saying something since it was easier for me to come to terms with the whole alien God thing. So there's that. Next problem is the production value. The special effects are good and all but the town they are in couldn't be more obvious as a movie town. Fake walls, fake streets, fakey mcfakness . Come on now, you spend 60M on EFX then skimp on the cheap stuff.

The movie has a couple good actors in Hopkins, Portman, and Rene Russo but none of them really do much for me. Portman is fine, the others are hardly on the screen. My boy Stellan Skarsgard is in it, love that guy, he plays Martin Vagner in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, coming next summer from Sony Pics.

ANYWAY. This isn't an every mans super hero film. People can relate to Spiderman, and Iron Man, and the like cause they are human and happened to be played by really good actors. In comes a hero from space played by a guy who is all hot body and no Shakespeare. Yeah, not so much Marvel.

I give it two Cushes outta five. If you really want to be in the loop for the Avengers movie, go check it out, otherwise pass and see it on HBO or Netflix.

Go Bulls

Captain Omerica: The First Avenger (From Turkey)

Who would have thought that Thibs had the cohones to ride the hot defensive hand of RonRonJuice/TajMahal/Omerica? For a guy who is known to go with the same rotations from game to game, it was surprising to see him not be so stubborn. Overall, the Bulls played a balanced game. Deng got things popping off real nice in the first quarter and played well throughout on both ends. He started off slow in the 2nd half, but got things going later. Lt. Deng had a good bounce back game from his poor showing in game 4 and put up 23 points. Bogans had an 8-0 run by himself to put the Bulls ahead by double digits in the first quarter and played great D on JJ. Boozer had a decent game (11 and 12) but still had a few idiotic moments. Thought he was gonna get a T after head bobbing after a dunk, and he threw a elbow to J-Smooth's jaw after a dunk. Jo had a rough night all-around. He didn't have the aggressiveness and intensity and it seemed to carry over to the rest of his game. He ended up with only 6 rebounds and 0 points. DRose had another great game. He was aggressive going to the rim and got to the line frequently. His decision making on was spot on and he was able to get Boozer, Deng, and Taj involved. Still not hitting outside jumpers with great frequency, but putting up 33 points (on 24 FGA's) and 9 assists will make you forget that. With the line up that Thibs put out in the end of the third and fourth quarters, he had to carry the offensive load. Mission accomplished.

Teague is no longer playing under the radar. The dude is pretty much a poor man's 2008 Derrick Rose. JT pretty much got to the rim off the pick-and-roll when he wanted. Almost makes me wish CaptainKirk wasn't injured. News flash: his quickness is a problem for the Bulls. J-Smooth had an okay game, but wasn't able to dominate game 5 like he did in game 4.

The first stint of the bench mob was brutal. Their offense was brutal and unable to score. Korver was exposed as a defensive liability in the only 4 minutes that he played (zero shot attempts). Meanwhile Pachulia was keeping his team in the game by knocking down every shot and getting some timely putbacks. With a couple minutes left in the third, Thibs inserted Brew/Taj/Omerica and they didn't come back off the court. The Brewer/Deng/Bogans wing combination were able to stiffle JJ/JCraw for 15 and 2 points respectively and Taj/Omer worked hard inside. Omer has learned how to protect the rim without fouling and Taj can roam. Omer's numbers may not be pretty (0 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block). But it was his defensive presence that made the difference. His +8 was better than both Boozer and Jo's combined (+4 and +3 respectively). Taj was perfect from the field in the fourth quarter. He was able to make his own shot on the post, and Derrick was able to find him open at his favorite spots on the court to knock down those jumpers.

In these playoffs, its been obvious that the Bulls need another scorer to help out Derrick. Their defense has been able to win them some games and Deng has usually been a reliable 2nd option. Last night Taj was able to be that other option down the stretch which was huge for his confidence and the team's success last night. The Bulls won't be able to hide Korver on the bench because of his defensive liabilities every game. He is too important to the spacing on the Bulls offense, especially when he knocks down shots to close games.

Trick or Treat?

In my opinion, the difference between game 3 and 4 was the Bulls' effort and energy on the defensive end. In game 3, the Bulls' stifling D not only held JJ/J.Craw to 17 points combined (2 in the second half) but it also led to easy buckets at the other end. DRose putting up a career high 44 points doesn't hurt either, but it seemed it wouldn't matter either way as the Hawks shot themselves out of the game. The Bulls are hard to stop when they are shooting lights out (Korver had 11 points and 3-for-4 behind the arc), cleaning up the glass (+9), and playing lock down defense. The Bulls' energy was high from the get-go as Larry Drew called a timeout :49 into the game after 2 quick Bulls buckets. Derrick set the tone early by knocking down jumpers, aggressively getting to the rim, and getting to the free throw line. Besides another good game from Teague on the offensive end, the Hawks clearly had nothing to look dejected throughout the game and were never in it from the beginning. They are notorious for mailing it in when they get behind early during the regular season.

Game 4 was a different story. Neither team was able to pull away early, but when the Hawks started out hitting 7 out of their first 9 shots you knew it was going to be a rough game. Derrick was able to get to the rim and the free throw line, but he wasn't knocking it down from outside. As good as the Hawks were hitting from the outside, the Hawks were getting more points in the painted area than they have all series. That can be attributed by the smarter play by Josh Smith. He still took some awful shots (you could hear groans from the crowd), but he kept those down to a minimum. Instead he was aggressive taking the ball inside and making good interior passes for easy baskets. JJ was back to his old self filling up the bucket, Horford was getting easy baskets, and Teague was also getting his own shots at the rim (3 of the Hawks starters had 20+ points, eww). Even with all that going on, and the Bulls shooting poor from the field (Korver stunk up the joint), the Bulls were still in the game going into the last 4 minutes. The Hawks ended the game on a 16-4 run which was marred by DRose taking some rough shots (almost all of them), Bennett Salvatore missing a foul on Rose from behind the arc, and Thibs doing his best VDN impression by losing track on how many timeouts he had left. The Hawks quickness and energy down the stretch was higher than the Bulls and it looks like everyone but DRose was cashed (even though he played every minute in the 2nd half). It sucks because maybe if DRose had some offensive help from someone else than Boozer (read that again), the Bulls win this game. Deng had maybe his worst game of the series (-9), Noah was nullified, and Korver was out of HotSauce. Taj had a decent game with 9 points, 4 blocks, and 2 steals (awesome open court steal from Teague) in 13 minutes. Oddly he also had 0 rebounds in those 13 minutes he played. Omerica had his best game of the series also playing 13 minutes scoring 3 points, grabbing 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Boozer had a good night on the offensive end as he was hitting his jumper for most of the night and had a big play to get the Bulls final lead of the night at 78-76. It sucks that the Bulls have to go back to Atlanta but I'm not hitting the panic button yet. The Bulls had a mediocre game and the Hawks over achieved. Josh Smith can't keep playing at a high (intelligent) level and I expect Thibs to make sure the lapses on the defensive end don't happen Tuesday night. Hopefully DRose won't have to put up 30+ shots again.

It's gonna get "Derby" this weekend

Chet and some of the staff are going to be on assignment this weekend at the Derby.  We shall be residing in the infield and probably getting faced.  I plan on personally taking down atleast a bottle of woodford reserve tomorrow because im awesome like that. not really.  The real purpose of our trip down there is to get our friend Perry Mason wasted for his bachelor party.  This has proven to be a difficult task for years now and we plan on getting this done for the first time in what has to be 10 years.  Not since we were 16 and on the stroller, or having an assorted liquor night has the gagermon taken heat. Anyways......here are a couple picks for the weekend.  Brilliant Speed if its rainy is free money....his mutter was a mudder. For some reason I am unable to embed the video of kramer....please refer to youtube.  also, perry mason's totally awesome dad who is known as the jamaican will be in the infield with us probably losing his sh*t.  It's gonna be classic.  I would bet all the chips on Brilliant Speed though if its raining......Toss the favorite or anyone who has odds less than 10-1.  its just not cool and favorites almost never win....The best horse almost never wins the derby, the field is huge.  The best horse name in this race was "Uncle Mo" who i would have bet on even though he went anorexic over the past year....other than that.....just pick 3 names out of a hat. and bet a tri box. Do it. congrats to Perry Mason.  I will be back with a recap of everything that is kosher next week......also, look for more frequent posts in the near future from chairman chet.  I have been slacking, but Im working for the first time in what feels like years so my apologies to our loyal readers.....which we have about 10 of.

I guess that was an improvement...

The reason behind why the Bulls won game 2 is two-fold; 1.) JoNoah and 2.) the Bulls owning the boards. Joakim was everywhere the Bulls needed him to be. He dominated the glass on both ends of the court and was able to come up with some huge put-backs on missed jumpers. His stat line of 19 points and 14 boards doesn't reflect his effect on the defensive end. The game plan to defend JJ and JCraw was to aggressively clog up the lane and show help when ever they ran an iso. Jo was a huge part in that as he was sagging off of Horford or Smith which led to one of them getting a pass and putting up a bad shot (mostly Smith, he was stinky). The Hawks as a team shot only 34% from the field (Bulls not much better at 39%) and JJ/JCraw were held to 27 points. Secondly, the Bulls were +19 in rebounds. Its good when the Bulls are getting many second shot opportunities and taking them away from the Hawks.

DRose had an okay game. He did score 25 points, but it was off of 27 shots. Furthermore he was 1-for-8 from behind the arc. Those need to start falling in order for the Teague to stop going under screens and sagging off him. Otherwise they'll just close the driving lanes that Derrick thrives off of so much. He did get to the rim more than game 1 and actually got to the charity stripe in game 2, so that is an improvement. He also had 10 dimes but with 8 turnovers, so those kind of nullify each other. He says that he is still confident in his shooting and those are shots he normally makes. Is his ankle bothering him? He for sure isn't letting anyone know if it is. Boozer had another similar performance with 8 points and 11 rebounds (one turnover, shocking). He is blaming it on his turf toe injury and I'm sure that it is indeed hampering his offensive ability and allowing Josh Smith some highlight-reel blocks (J-Smooth isn't getting much on the offensive end chucking up bricks). I guess we'll just have to live with it as long as he limits his turnovers and gets 10-and-10. The bench mob had a rough go at it. CJ was taking too long to get into sets and it led to a couple bad shots with the shot clock running out. Korver had a poor shooting night but was a +11 (compared to Bogans +1). Even if Korver is shooting poorly, he still spreads the floor and doesn't allow the defense to sag off Derrick so much. Might need to give more minutes to HotSauce. Taj had a decent game and was a +7, hes going to have to produce a little more and help pick up Boozer's slack. The Bulls certainly aren't winning pretty games. But they won and that is all that matters right now. Game 3 is Friday night in the ATL, hopefully the Bulls can keep owning the boards and keep JJ & JCraw to under 30 points collectively. Lord knows Josh Smith will still be there taking bad shots.

Will the real MVP please stand up?

Okay, I get it. Derrick Rose is the nicest most humble MVP ever. He gave a great speech and thanked his mom. It was all very heartfelt and he said all the right things. That being said, none of that matters anymore. Rose and his teammates lost convincingly to a team that they previously gave a thrashing to the last time they met. The Bulls got off to a very slow start going down by 10 points early during a DRose shooting stretch of 0-for-7. Honestly, I didn't think the Bulls would relinquish the lead once they got it in the 3rd quarter. But they were unable to do the same things they did against this team during the regular season. Derrick had ZERO attempts from the charity stripe and the Bulls couldn't control the glass. Another thing was that the Hawks (and especially Teague) executed a decent defensive game plan against Derrick. The Hawks were sagging off the pick-and-roll and not allowing The One to attack the basket aggressively, daring him to hit shots from the outside. DRose had no problem during the regular season proving his critics wrong about his outside game, but he wasn't able to keep the Hawks defense honest by shooting 2-for-7 from the land of plenty. When he was actually able to get to the rim, DRose was only able to hit 4-of-9 and somehow was never fouled on any of those attempts. Maybe the refs were waiting for him to actually get the MVP trophy. Was his ankle hampering him from playing his usual game? I couldn't tell you because he's been practicing every day so it doesn't seem like it. The cherry on top of this sundae of brutality is that JJ and JCraw were making EVERYTHING. Their quickness and sharp shooting was absolutely killing the Bulls and Thibs had no answer. Most of those jumpers were of the "ill-advised-fade-away-with-a-hand-in-your-face" variety. This was just one of those nights where they were making everything (JJ was 5-for-5 from behind the arc), and the Bulls were mediocre. JJ is good, but not good enough to put up 34 points every night. For some reason Thibs refused to double him. They need to get the ball out of his hands and into the those of his less talented teammates. Deng was our best player offensively, but even he couldn't keep JJ from filling up the stat sheet. Boozer played better than he had been recently (not hard seeing what he was playing like a couple days ago) and scored 3 straight baskets during a Bulls run. The bench mob surprisingly saw a lot of time together in game 1. They initially began the Bulls comeback in the 1st half and played a bit in the 2nd half. It was good to see them perform well, but Thibs may have rode them a little too long.

I'm not hating on DRose because he is obviously THE reason that the Bulls are in this position in the first place. But If the Bulls are gonna win this series, he needs to be the best player in the series. We'll see tonight if the Bulls are able to get out of this rut of slow starts and get Derrick going early. It's obvious he needs to be more aggressive and get to the rim or get fouled on his way there, the question is if his ankle will allow him to. His decision making needs to be on point on the pick-and-roll and he needs to be able to knock down the outside jumpers. I hope JJ doesn't have another night where he is making everything from everywhere, but you never know. The Bulls let one slip after Thibs got his individual trophy, hopefully the same thing doesn't happen now that DRose has his.

Fast Five Review

Too Fast. Too Furious. Who's ready for the summer movie season? Ready or not it is upon us. Get ready for 5 months of explosions, monsters, robots, super heroes, and formula comedies(looking at you Hangover 2.) I really think this is the summer people get their fill of super heroes. Thor, Capt. America, Green Lantern. Yay!

On to the review. This isn't your Pankiw's Fast & Furious movie. Those of you who pay a little bit of attention to these flicks know its pretty much tons of geared out gear head gear porn. This movie is less that and more mainstream action with car chases. The ending is just nonsense. To bring you up to speed. Dom(Vin Diesel) has just been broken out of prison by Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster. The super elite team of super agents have been hired to track him down and bring him in. Hobbs(played by the Rock) is all piss n vinegar going after the group. So everyone ends up in Rio, Dom decides to pull one last job(riiiiighhhhtttt, until the next movie) and then everyone goes their separate ways. Of course to do this impossible job they need to bring everyone back from the old movies cause the mission is CRAZY. Explosions, poop jokes, and a billion car crashes latter everyone leaves without a scratch on them.

There are a billion plot holes in this movie, and I swear at one point the Rock was thrown through 3 walls, smashed in the face 10 times, in a car crash, and shot. But is no worse for wear after its all said and done. If you can look past that sort of thing the movie is enjoyable. Hot local, good action, one liners, and even a dose of Ocean's 11 in there. This movie is very watchable even if you haven't seen any of the other ones, in fact it would be the only Fast and Furious I would every recommend to anyone, its just a solid popcorn flick. And for those worried about the asain dude from Tokyo drift, its cool, hes back because this a prequel to that horrible movie.

Lil Hollywood insider note. Vin Diesel is apparently a dbag. Shows up late, doesn't know his lines, and thinks he is a big deal. Word is the Rock showed up on set in shape, and 3 times the size of Vin. Knew his lines, was kind to the crew, and generally set the tone. Vin got all butt hurt and tried to get in shape at the last minute, which shows in the movie, he is mostly arm shots and yelling. Lil Carlos Boozer in his game really.

I give Fast Five 3 and half Cushes

Welcome to the ATL

In a shocking turn of events, Thibs won COY. That’ll happen when you slap 21 wins on a team that finished 41-41 last year. He may want to thank DRose for his new piece of hardware. As Thibs will most likely say, this isn’t the piece of hardware that he is ultimately trying to obtain. It’s obvious that he and the rest of the team are gunning for the Larry O’Brien Trophy (worst trophy and worst trophy name in sports?), and the Atlanta Hawks now stand in their way. The Bulls played this team three times in the month of March and won the regular season series 2-1. The Hawks stole the first game by coming back from a 17-point deficit in the second half and the Bulls blew them out of the gym the last two games #HealthyAndConfidentCarlosBoozer. Lets break this series down.

Starting Five:

The latest word is that CaptainKirk is doubtful for the series with an injured hammy. Hinrich is by far the Hawks’ best perimeter defender and with him out, DRose will pretty much have free reign and will be able to do whatever he wants on the court. For Derrick, getting to the rim should be, as Stacey King would say, “easy cheese”. Deng has been a stalwart on both ends of the court all season and its good that both he and Derrick got these extra days of rest. Joakim is looking like he is back in form and is no longer plagued by injury. After a negative MRI, Boozy is still not practicing. Hopefully Carlos can get out of this funk and gain some confidence in this series. Hawks will throw JJ, Horford, Josh Smith, and Jason Collins at the Bulls. JJ has no problem filling it up and Horford has a good inside game. Look for JJ to take advantage and drop a bunch on the smaller Bogans, but the Bulls defense should be able to not let anyone else hurt them. We may even see JJ guard DRose a little as the Hawks try to throw a bigger guard at him. Advantage: Bulls

Bench:

The Hawks have last year’s 6^th man of the year Jamal Crawford at the Bulls off the bench. The guy could definitely deposit the ball in the hoop, but has more holes in his defensive game than a fishing net (could be worse than Boozer believe it or not). Besides J.Craw, the Hawks have Zaza Pachulia (the Jeff Foster of this series), Dominique Wilkins’ nephew Damien, and the former #2 overall draft pick Marvelous Marvin Williams will also come off the pine. Thibs proved in the Pacer series that he shorted up his bench rotations. HotSauce, TajMahal, and RonRonJuice will see most of the minutes. BigSexy and CJ will see some minutes due to foul trouble, but not many (although I would love to see Omerica and Zaza exchange Eastern European pleasantries #AsikAndDestroy). Korver is playing well and Taj came up huge in the last series, hopefully that will continue. Tough call here, but I’m giving the Bulls the slight edge because Zaza ,Marvin, and ‘Nique’s nephew are a pu-pu platter of stink. Advantage: Bulls

Coaching:

Both coaches are in their first year, but as everyone knows Thibs has been in the league for a lifetime. Larry Drew was able to develop a great game plan against D12 and the Magic, but I don’t think the same strategy will work for him against DRose. Plus Thibs just won COY, the man is on a roll. Advantage: Bulls

Intangibles:

The Bulls showed in the first series that they weren’t going to retaliate hard fouls with hard fouls of their own. The Hawks may take a page out of the Pacer playbook and make Zaza and Jason Collins their own goon squad and try to take Derrick out of his game. The Hawks’ roster isn’t filled with the same type of gritty, “blue-collar” players on Indy, and this plays into the Bulls hands as they lost the battle for those 50-50 balls against the Pacers. Advantage: Push

Prediction:

The Hawks’ plan against D12 was to play him straight up man-to-man. They were willing to let him score inside as long as they locked down their perimeter players. Implementing that strategy against DRose would be a mistake. Unless Hinrich comes back, Jeff Teague on an island by himself guarding Derrick would be an absolute nightmare. The Hawks offense is mainly isolation, which plays right into the Bulls hands. The Bulls D should be able to clamp down on that. Look for the Bulls to learn a lot from the first series by mainly not turning the ball over as much. Bulls in 5 if Boozer shows up, Bulls in 6 if CaptainKirk shows up.