Bullish Thoughts

With the 16th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls have selected James Johnson, a 6'8", 200-pound power forward from Wake Forest.

Here's what Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! Sports had to say:

 "Here's what to like about Johnson. He's a big athlete from Cheyenne,
Wyoming, of all places. He says if the NBA doesn't work out, he'll give
give mixed martial arts a try (he was a junior champion back home). And he supposedly talked so much trash to Chris Paul during summer pickup
games at Wake Forest, that CP3 didn't want New Orleans to draft him. At least he's interesting."

And here's ESPN writer Chad Ford's reaction:

 "The Bulls have wanted Johnson for a while. He's a good athlete who can play the 3 and the 4 on both ends of the floor. His game needs to
develop, but when he gets going, he's something. He reminds me a little of Chicago's Tyrus Thomas in one way -- he'll play great one minute and have his coach pulling his hair out the next. With Thomas on the trade block, Johnson may ultimately be his replacement."

The Bulls' frontcourt just got a big bigger, which is good, but if Johnson has as much difficulty finding consistency as Thomas, this could prove to be one frustrating pick.

The past few days have been quite active and exciting for the NBA, topped by Shaquille O'Neal heading from Phoenix to Cleveland.

The Chicago Bulls, however, have been inactive thus far.  After an active and successful trade-deadline frenzy this season, will management pull the trigger on more excitement today, Draft Day?

Here are some questions for you:

1) Who should the Bulls take at pick 16 tonight?

2) Should the Bulls keep Ben Gordon?

3) Should Kirk Hinrich and/or Tyrus Thomas be dealt?

Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls' stud point guard, has come under a hot lens of scrutiny as of late.

On Wednesday, news out of the University of Memphis told of a certain Memphis basketball player from the 2007-08 Final Four team who had apparently used a fake SAT score.

This player is reportedly Rose.

Then on Thursday, someone at the Chicago Public Schools said that one of Rose's grades had been changed from a "D" to a "C" during his final semester at Simeon Career Academy.

Details on the possible reprecussions are cloudy, but this certainly seems to put a blemish on Rose's otherwise stellear rookie season.

Let's hope these murmurs of wrongdoings aren't true.

But let's also accept the fact that where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

How do you cope with losing a tough, possibly historic first-round playoff series?

If you're Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, you head to a beach and hang with a topless chick.

Yeah, sure, he had a pretty good season for the Bulls, but he looks pretty goofy in these photos.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Noah is one of the top five goofiest looking players in the NBA - and I'm not just talking about physical features.  Dress style is included in that assertion.

The others?

Michael Ruffin, Brian Scalabrine, Hedo Turkoglu and DJ Mbenga have to be candidates, right?

Your thoughts.

The Chicago Bulls were unable to finish off the defending champions in a tough Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

The Bulls held Ray Allen to 23 points and Paul Pierce to 20 points, but were done in by their own poor three-point shooting (7 of 24) and their inability to guard against the Celtics' three-point threats.  That's right - we're talking about Eddie House and Brian Scalabrine, who combined for 6 of 7 shooting from downtown.

While Ben Gordon continued to make a case for a big contract this summer (33 points), John Salmons (12 points on 3 of 12 shooting), Tyrus Thomas (4 points) and Brad Miller (9 points) failed to offer much support.  Chalk that up to some tough Celtics defense.

This was a series to be remembered.  It had some historic moments, for sure, and Bulls fans have much to be grateful and hopeful for.

Here's to an offseason that builds on a strong finish to this 2008-09 campaign.

Go Bulls.

Three overtimes.

Stitches, blood and physical play all over the place.

A jaw-dropping game 51-point from Ray Allen.

A 3-3 series that doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

What more could you ask for?

This series went from "great" to "incredible" tonight and a Chicago Bulls victory made it all the more savory.

There's so much to talk about - Brad Miller's redemption, Derrick Rose's redemption, Kirk Hinrich/Rajon Rondo scuffle, John Salmons' big shots, Allen's unbelievable shooting...

Comment on all this and add to this list below.

Game 7: here we come.

Go Bulls.

Paul Pierce single-handedly beat the Chicago Bulls in yet another thriller last night, giving the Boston Celtics a 3-2 series lead.

Game 5 seemed to almost fall into the Bulls' lap: Ray Allen fouled out in the fourth quarter, the Celtics were getting nothing from their bench and Kevin Garnett was still sidelined.

Ben Gordon put on a show once again, but Pierce refused to lose.  His clutch shots were contested just about as well as they could have been

The most haunting stat of the night?

0-2.

Those were Brad Miller's missed game-tying free throws at the end of overtime.

The Bulls have the solace of knowing that they're coming back home.  Let's just hope they aren't getting drained emotionally from all this incredible drama.

Prediction: The Bulls even the series in Game 6.

Go Bulls.

After about a day of reflection on the Chicago Bulls' absolutely fantastic victory in Game 4, the buzz is still in my head.

I have one simple question: Where does that game rank among the all-time greatest Chicago Bulls playoff games?

There isn't much to complain about after that stunning victory.  The Bulls showed some serious heart, Ben Gordon is proving to be the team's playoff hero, and just about every player stepped up in some way, in some big moment.

Though the Boston Celtics played more of their bench players, they got disappointing production from them.  The Bulls on the other hand got big help from Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller.

The hobbling Celtics did just about everything they could and should have and got big games from their three stars (Rajon Rondo, by the way, is asserting himself as a true superstar - that's right, superstar), but still couldn't fend off the frenzied Bulls, who look hungrier for the second round.

The series is far from over, and the possibility that Gordon might have to miss Game 5 does not bode well for the Bulls.  Nevertheless, the Celtics' pride has to be shaken and the defending champions look very vulnerable.

If Gordon plays at even just 80 percent in Game 5, the Bulls have a great chance at taking another one in Boston.

All this without Luol Deng...

Go Bulls.

Not much to say about this one.

The Chicago Bulls should not have lost this one - and not by this much.

The Bulls lost Game 3 to the Boston Celtics 107-86, in a game that was never really close.

A 1-0 series lead has suddenly turned into a 2-1 deficit.

The Bulls had the momentum and they should have had the confidence, but maybe that was the problem.  They looked like a young team that relied too much on their accomplishments in the first two games, the shortened bench of their opponent and the ability of their fans to carry them through this game.

The Celtics' depth is drastically diminished with Kevin Garnett and now Leon Powe out of the lineup, but the Bulls appear unprepared to take advantage of this.

Game 4 should be the Bulls' to lose.

Ladies and gentlemen: this is a series.

Ray Allen hit the game-winning three-pointer over Joakim Noah's extended hand to win Game 2 for the Boston Celtics, 118-115, ruining a 42-point performance by Ben Gordon, who was absolutely brilliant.

Rajon Rondo came back from a nasty fall in the second quarter and finished the game with a triple-double: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists to go along with five steals.  He outshone Derrick Rose, who finished with 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Chicago Bulls, as the Celtics did a much better job of clamping down on him.

With the series now tied at 1-1, and as the Bulls now get to play on their home court for games 3 and 4, coach Vinny Del Negro has to be encouraged.  They were incredibly close to taking the series back home with a 2-0 series lead.

If they young Bulls played this well in front of the Boston crowd, they could very well play even better on their home court.

I underestimated the Bulls youth as an advantage, the defensive prowess of Noah and Tyrus Thomas around the rim and Gordon's value to this squad.

My initial prediction of a 4-1 Celtics series win is still intact, but I'm far less confident about it.

Look for the Bulls' bench (mostly Brad Miller) to continue its strong play.  If the Celtics don't get more from their bench (who scored just nine of the team's 118 points tonight), they are in serious trouble.

But with Rondo and Allen seeming to have found their grooves, if Paul Pierce, who has been relatively unimpressive thus far, joins them, their team's bench production might not matter as much.

The Bulls can't rely on another outstanding shooting performance from Gordon to carry them through the next game.  Their strong interior defense must continue, and they must mute at least one of Boston's Big Three (plan B).