The Game High

4th Quarter Anti-Collapse in Cleveland

A fourth quarter comeback victory on the road against Lebron?  Surely you jest.  But tonight's heavy weight title match of coaching prowess between Jim Boylan and Mike Brown came up in the Bull's favor 101 - 98.

Joakim Noah logged 40 minutes of play tonight and singlehandedly contested Cleveland's final two shots.  First, he altered a driving fade away shot by Lebron.  Moments later, he ran out from under the basket to close out on Daniel Gibson's last second three point attempt.   Two misses later, the Bulls walked out with an improbable victory.

Trailing by as many as 17 points, the Bulls caught fire in the 3rd quarter and finished the fourth quarter with a 24 to 13 point advantage.  The rare display of offensive potency lead to a 53.5% shooting with 40% on threes. 

Welcome to the NBA.  Where Eastern Conference basketball happens.

Bulls Resign Charles Oakley For Final 10 Games

There really isn't any other choice, is there?  If this season is going down in flames, why not make it entertaining?  This Bulls team has struggled so mightily, both on the court and off, that the masochist in me wants to see how far we can push the envelope of insanity. 

Just turn on the microphone, sit back, and enjoy the fireworks.

Signing Oakley to the Bulls roster would be the equivalent of GM John Paxson tossing a live hand grenade into the Bulls locker room.  At 44 years old, the Oak Tree still thinks he can play. 

While Oakley might not start for the NBA's "All-Crazy" team, he's definitely coming off the bench.  And I couldn't think of a better mentor for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.  If you're going to fued with fellow players and coaches, then you better learn from a master.  Plus, he once appeared in a music video for Hootie and the Blowfish, at least according to Wikipedia.

As a much needed bonus, Oakley would administer old-school beat downs to any team that dared put on a slam dunk fest during a game (see last night's game in Philly).

His Mike Tyson-esque post-game interviews would be classic.  Back in 2001, Oakley was fined $50,000 for criticizing Tim Floyd following a franchise-worst 53-point loss in Minnesota.  Imagine what he'd say about Jim Boylan and his 4th quarter, lead-killing lineups.

C'mon Paxson, let's make this happen.

Sam Smith Condescends the Blogosphere

We sports bloggers are a deplorable lot, laying on couches in our ragged clothes, staring into our televisions, and pulling bong hits from plastic honey bears before typing up some half, no fully, baked post.

Floyd taking a break from his sports blog.

Just ask Sam Smith, for he is not blogger, as he so proudly declares in his latest mail bag.

"I am not a blogger! OK, it's time to explain this. I have expressed my opinion about blogging before and I'm told got considerable heat about it on the blogosphere. Though since I believe that is beyond Uranus, I had no idea where to find it."

While I have always enjoyed reading his columns for NBA league news and rumors, aging dinosaur journalists like Smith are increasingly belittling the bloggers of the world. 

Some of it might come down to ego.  Newspaper sportswriters typically have earned degrees in journalism and have invested a career's worth of time and energy for their voice, their thoughts, to be communicated to the world in print.  The internet gives everyone a voice now, so anyone with any idea or insight on sports can be heard.  There's also the complete freedom to write anything without fear of being fired.  For the traditional sportswriter, it must be a difficult adjustment to this reality.

Ironically, Smith's columns have become more outspoken or blog-like in recent years.  So he can condescend all he wants, but the influence of sports blogs is clear. 

Shamrock Shake Dreams

Woke up this morning in a brain fog of watered-down green beer and shamrock shake residue.  But overall I felt pretty happy considering the Bulls fired Jim Boylan on Sunday, with John Paxson assuming head coach duties for the remainder of the season.  Wait a minute... Damn you, lucid REM state dreams!

In reality, Trib columnist Sam Smith is calling out Nevade 7-footer JaVale McGee as a possible sleeper pick for the Bulls.  Oh hell no.

Pulling the covers over and going back to dreamland...

Substitution Patterns Doom Bulls

Jim Boylan's game strategy, now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago

Apparently, an 18-point lead, at home, against the 76ers isn't enough for the Bulls when their coach is Jim Boylan.  Leading 88 -70 early in the 4th quarter, the 76ers blew past the Bulls for a 110 - 106 victory.  That's a 40-point quarter if you're doing the math. 

Preceeding the 4th quarter collapse, the Bulls had built their lead with the play of Thabo Sefolosha, Ben Gordon, and Joakim Noah.   However, when Noah picked up his 4th foul near the 3 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, to the bench he went, never to return.  After hitting key jumpshots all game, Thabo wore a bewildered look as he took a seat during critical stretches of the 4th.  Meanwhile, Ben Gordon was nowhere to be found on the court, with the Bulls struggling to gain any continuity on offense.

So for the better half of the 4th quarter, Boylan shit out a lineup anchored by Drew Gooden at center and Kirk Hinrich running an ineffective point.  With no shot blocking presence for the Bulls, the Sixers penetrated at will to get fouled or kicked it out to drain open threes.  On offense, the Sixers trapped Captain Kirk on all the high pick-and-rolls, forcing Hinrich into several turnovers and the remaining Bulls into poor shots.

Despite some dubious officiating, the Bulls still gave this game away.

The 76ers smelled Boylan's stench of a strategy and knew the game could be stolen:

"Going into the fourth quarter, the Bulls' coach tweaked his lineup a little bit from the first half," 76ers forward Reggie Evans said. "He didn't play [ Aaron] Gray; he played the kid from LSU [ Tyrus Thomas]. They went small ball."

Another inexcusable loss.

Only 108 Days to the NBA Draft 2008

If you ask any Bulls player, they'll tell you how much they prefer to be in the NBA playoffs instead of the NBA lottery. Even if it's in the 8th seed against Boston, participating in playoff games is always more valuable than watching them from your couch. At least that's what the players reason.

In previous seasons, I would agree. Collectively, the Bulls were a younger (and hungrier) team that benefited from the playoff experience. Players learned the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the regular and post-seasons: the intensity, the traditional half-court gameplay, the refs... And after each post-season elimination, the Bulls had a clear idea of how they needed to improve in the off-season. The NBA playoffs, if anything, exposes all the strengths and the weaknesses of a team.

This season, the core Bulls are a year older (seemingly less hungry) and the only player who might benefit from the playoff experience is rookie Joakim Noah. However, after attending Florida and winning consecutive NCAA championships, I doubt he'd learn much more. And unlike previous seasons, we don't need the playoffs to tell us where the Bulls need to improve. After 63 games, we all have a pretty good idea.

The greater benefit to the Bulls, and to Noah, would be a high draft pick in the NBA lottery. In an ideal world, the Bulls would do everything in their power to draft Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, assuming he enters. Whether trading up to grab Rose, lucking out with a top 3 pick, or acquiring a veteran point guard (slim pickings), the Bulls desperately need a pure guard to distribute the ball and defend against the taller PGs in the league.

One outstanding NBA Mock Draft site, currently has the Bulls pegged in at the #9 pick and taking Russel Westbrook from UCLA. The Bulls need to do better than that.

108 days and counting...

A Vast Collection of Iron Men

At least these guys might be worth something in a few years.

So much for that winning steak.  The Bulls eradicated any momentum gained from their previous two victories by laying a giant turd on the court in Boston.  Every player on the Bulls did their best to absolutely abuse the rims, clanking iron repeatedly en route to a woeful 31.8% shooting percentage.  On the other end, the Celtics put 6 players in double-digit scoring.  And with that, the Celtics easily dispatched the Bulls 116 - 93.

The Bulls starters went 12 - 42, Drew Gooden was ejected, Kirk Hinrich vanished again in 20 minutes of playing time, and the Celtics outrebounded us by 20 (55 - 35).

With the Bulls already down 20 at halftime, Stephen A. Smith lambasted the effort of the Bulls players.  The commentators calling the game for ESPN repeatedly questioned the Bulls energy and committment to the game.  The only Bulls player with a consistent effort on both ends of the court was Joakim Noah.

The final score could have been much worse.  The Bulls consistently jacked up shots early while displaying an aversion towards rudimentary defensive tactics such as preventing layups.  The Boston crowd was so bored that they gave a standing ovation to PJ "The Tin Man" Brown, who made his first appearance for the Celts.  Another ovation was in order when Brian Scalabrine drained a 3 from the sidelines in the final seconds.

When you let the other team put up three 30 point quarters and you respond with three 20 point quarters, it's a recipe for disaster.  The Bulls cookbook doesn't have any recipes... ah, I can't even complete this analogy.

Nocioni Delivers Vintage Dunk

Until there were 9 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter of the Wizards game, this post could have focused on a number of issues:

• The Bulls blowing a 20 point lead to a decimated Washington roster.
• Giving up a 20-1 run in the 3rd quarter.
• The consistently erratic substitution patterns of coach Jim Boylan
• Poor closeout defense on perimeter jump shots (yet again).
• The incessant banter from the sportcasting crew of Tom Dore, Johnny "Red" Kerr, and Stacey King.

But after Andres Nocioni dunked on Oleksiy Pecherov, none of that matters.  This was an epic dunk. Pecherov saw Nocioni was elevating, and turned around to avoid being a poster victim, but it was too late. Nocioni rode Pecherow like a rodeo cowboy on his way to the rim.

The one-handed dunk set the entire Bulls bench off into hysterics. The priceless reaction on Tyrus Thomas' face was a combination of "where-did-that come from?" and "that-dunk-was-so-sick-I-can't-even-look-at-it".

The Bulls eventually lost 97-91 in the kind of game that might serve as the back-breaker for the season. But the ridiculous Nocioni dunk made this frustrating loss somewhat easier to stomach.

Bulls Backcout Solidifying Under Hughes and Gordon

If medical waste can do it, then why can't the Bulls backcourt?

Over the last couple games we've seen Larry Hughes and Ben Gordon increasingly paired together in the backcourt. With Chris Duhon collecting DNP-CDs and Kirk Hinrich seeing more time on the pine, the supposed logjam at the guard position may be overstated.

This weekend, Larry Hughes will lace up against his previous two teams, Washingtion and Cleveland. If he continues to play efficiently and limit the bad shots, there's no reason to think he can't lock down the starting shooting guard spot by Monday.

The starting point guard position may fall into Gordon's hands with the declining play of Duhon and Hinrich. Gordon is a shoot-first guard, but his ball handling has improved this year and his turnovers are down. Pairing him with Hughes in the backcourt gives the Bulls legitimate dual scoring options in the backcourt, something this team has lacked all year.

If we've learned anything since the Cleveland trade, it's that Ben Gordon can play with anyone. Sharing court time with unfamiliar teammates in Hughes and Drew Gooden hasn't affected his scoring game. Meanwhile, Luol Deng is still trying to work himself back into the offense. Hinrich, unfortunately, just seems lost.

With only 25 games left in the regular season, it's showcase time for many Bulls players (Hinrich, Deng, Gordon, Duhon). Whoever deserves to be kept around next season looks to be determined over these next two months.

The Tallest Broadcaster Totem Pole in the Land

Here are the height measurements for the Bulls television broadcast team:

• Johnny "Red" Kerr, 6'11
• Tom Dore, 7'2
• Stacey "Burger" King,  6'11

Stacked end-to-end, that's twenty-one feet of pure broadcasting power.  Toss in 7'0 radio color man Bill Wennington, and we're talking almost a third of a football field. 

This has to be the tallest broadcasting crew in sports history.  Unfortunately for anyone who listens to Bulls games, you know that size doesn't always matter.