The AP reports: With Andrew Bogut ailing, Dan Gadzuric had a big game off the bench. The seldom-used center had 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, and fellow reserve Charlie Villanueva scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Milwaukee Bucks over the Chicago Bulls 97-90 Wednesday night… “We made our run, we just weren’t able to sustain it,” said Gordon, who finished with 22 points… Derrick Rose, who had 18 points and nine assists along with five turnovers in 43 minutes, thought he was hit on the play.
Category: Chicago Bulls Blog
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Dec 2: Sixers 103, Bulls 95 OT
The AP reports: Andre Miller scored nine of his season-high 28 points in overtime Tuesday night and the Philadelphia 76ers ended their four-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Andre Iguodala added 25 points and Elton Brand had 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Sixers avenged a loss to the Bulls two days ago in Philadelphia. Derrick Rose led Chicago with 24 points and Ben Gordon added 18. Tyrus Thomas had 14 points and 13 boards.
Rookies of Month: Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo
The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 28) through November.
Rose is ranked first among all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring average (18.4), assists per game (6.0) and minutes per game (38.0). He has scored in double-figures in all but one game and has led his team in scoring six times and in assists 13 times. He became the first Bulls rookie since Michael Jordan, in 1984-85, to score 10 or more points in the first 10 games of his rookie season. His nine assists in his NBA debut tied for the second-most by a No. 1 pick in his pro debut since the common draft began in 1966.
Mayo leads all rookies in scoring with 21.9 ppg, the highest scoring average for a first-year player since Allen Iverson (23.4 ppg) in 1996-97. He ranks in the Top 10 among rookies in seven major categories, including scoring average, minutes, assists, steals, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and is the first rookie to have four 30-plus point games within his first 17 career games since Allen Iverson (five) in 1996-97. In addition, Mayo is on pace to become just the fifth rookie since the 1996-97 season to average over 39.0 minutes, joining LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Shane Battier.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month were Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Miami’s Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, Milwaukee’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, New Jersey’s Brook Lopez, Portland’s Rudy Fernandez, Sacramento’s Jason Thompson and San Antonio’s George Hill.
Nov 30: Bulls 103, Sixers 92
The AP reports: Derrick Rose seems unfazed by the rigorous NBA schedule. In the final stop on a seven-game, 12-day road trip which began Nov. 18 in Los Angeles against the Lakers, the 20-year-old No. 1 overall pick in the draft still had plenty of energy. Ben Gordon scored 21 points, Drew Gooden had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls rallied from an early deficit for a 103-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Rose contributed 18 points and 10 assists and reached double figures in assists for the first time this season. Reserve Larry Hughes had 16 points for the Bulls (8-9), who won for only the third time in 10 games on the road… Elton Brand had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Thaddeus Young added 17 points for the reeling Sixers, who have lost four straight to fall to 7-10. Andre Miller had 15 points and 10 assists, and Willie Green chipped in with 12 points.
Derrick Rose crossover owns Andre Miller
At the end of the third quarter in Philadelphia, Chicago Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose unleashed a crossover on 76ers point guard Andre Miller that was so nasty I was forced to replay it 15, maybe 20 times.
Despite playing way off Rose, giving himself tons of time to react, Miller was owned so badly he actually fell down. And it wasn’t a fluke fall. He got crossed, badly. Tape up those ankles.
With the 76ers up 55-50 and the quarter about to end, Rose had the ball up top in three-point range, jab-stepped a few times to test Miller’s reaction, drove right using his right hand, then at the free throw line shifted to his left and went right down the middle of the paint. Miller got crossed so badly he toppled to the floor.
Rose got right to the rim and put up a short finger-roll. A goaltending call was made on Samuel Dalembert, who swatted it a bit too late, so Rose got credit for the bucket.
See the video clip and fan discussion, and post comments of your own.
–Jeff
Nov 24: Bulls 101, Jazz 100
The AP reports: Even when he missed, Derrick Rose was on target. The Chicago rookie tied his career high with nine assists and accidentally set up Larry Hughes’ game-winning shot as the Bulls beat the Jazz 101-100 on Monday night, giving Utah its first home loss of the season. With Chicago trailing 100-99, Rose took an 18-foot jumper that bounced high off the rim and right to Hughes, who beat the buzzer and the Jazz from 22 feet away. “We needed that win and we didn’t care how we got it,” said Rose, who scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter… Mehmet Okur had 26 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who outscored the Bulls 30-19 in the third quarter, but didn’t have enough to hold off Chicago down the stretch… Drew Gooden had 18 points and Ben Gordon scored 15 for the Bulls, who improved to 2-3 on a seven-game road trip… Paul Millsap had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his second start for Boozer before fouling out with 1:18 left in the game.
Nov 23: Nuggets 114, Bulls 101
The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and the Denver Nuggets rallied for a 114-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night… Anthony was struggling with his jumper, shooting less than 30 percent over his last four games. However, he finished 6-of-11 from the floor on Sunday, including a big 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter. He also had 13 rebounds and a season-high eight assists. “Melo was great,” said Chauncey Billups, who finished with 21 points and eight assists as the team moved to 8-2 since his acquisition… Ben Gordon scored 28 points for the Bulls, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers. He also hit all nine of his free throw attempts. Gooden finished with 21 points as the Bulls lost for the ninth time in 10 visits to the Mile High City… Derrick Rose finished with 15 points, including a dazzling move in the third quarter where he flew down the lane, faked going to the left side of the basket, brought it back to the right, avoided Anthony’s block attempt and put it in, eliciting a gasp from the crowd.
Vinny Del Negro keeps it positive
The Bulls have been sorta somewhat OK so far this season. With 5 wins and 7 losses they have the potential to improve a bit and eventually become a .500 squad, which by their recent standards would be a big success. The Bulls bright spot in 2008-09 has been the great play of rookie point guard Derrick Rose, who has star quality.
Former Bulls coach Scott Skiles has a reputation of saying whatever is on his mind, which from a media and fan standpoint is terrific, because he creates lots of good conversation thanks to blunt honesty. That’s no longer the case with the team’s new coach, however. The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports:
Vinny Del Negro has demonstrated one constant, sometimes maddening, behavior so far this season. The first-year Bulls coach absolutely refuses to criticize his players in the media. This is quite a change from Scott Skiles, who was brutally honest when describing the state of the team. One often-repeated story is Skiles’ response when asked what Eddy Curry could do to improve his rebounding numbers. “Jump,” was the reply. Of course, some of Skiles’ comments helped escalate the turmoil last season when the Bulls went in the tank. He probably figured he was on the way out when he offered the “Tyrus Thomas has never run the floor once” rant during last year’s circus road trip… Del Negro will talk about what the team as a whole needs to do better. But when asked about poor individual performances, the coach tends to point the finger at himself.
I remember one day in New York when Eddy Curry was a fairly new member of the Knicks, and local NY reporters were trying to get coach Skiles to say something positive about the big center. Skiles wouldn’t bite. I thought that was terrific. More coaches need to be like him and Warriors coach Don Nelson in the “tell it like it is” department.
–Jeff
Nov 19: Blazers 116, Bulls 74
The AP reports: When Greg Oden entered to a standing ovation, the Blazers had a 23-7 lead. Oden didn’t wait long to contribute, dunking 21 seconds after coming off the bench. Playing 17 minutes, the 2007 first overall draft pick had 11 points, 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Oden played in Portland’s season debut in Los Angeles, then missed the next six games because of a foot injury… Brandon Roy scored 20 points to help Portland improve to 6-2 in its last eight and 7-5 overall. Chicago has lost four of its last six to fall to 5-7… Oden overshadowed the performance of Joel Przybilla, who scored a season-high 14 points and had nine rebounds and three blocks.
Nov 18: Lakers 116, Bulls 109
The AP reports: Pau Gasol scored 24 of his season-high 34 points in the first half, Andrew Bynum added 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, and the Lakers rebounded from their first loss of the season with a 116-109 victory over the Bulls on Tuesday night… The Lakers scored 64 points in the paint, with Gasol shooting 14-of-21 and Bynum going 5-of-10… Kobe Bryant added 21 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Lakers (8-1), who had three full days to contemplate a 106-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons… Jordan Farmar added 12 points for the Lakers and Lamar Odom had 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks before fouling out with 8:30 remaining… Rookie Derrick Rose led Chicago (5-6) with 25 points and nine assists while committing just two turnovers. Ben Gordon added 23 points and Aaron Gray had 11 for the Bulls, who are winless in four road games.