Chicago Bulls Blog – Page 84 – NBA Blog

Bulls lose to Kings despite 35-point lead

Monday night the Chicago Bulls had a 35-point lead over the visiting Sacramento Kings, but wound up losing the game 102-98.

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The Bulls were up 79-44 early in the third quarter and scored only 19 points the rest of the way, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Just when it seemed the Bulls (10-16) were getting things turned around — and Del Negro was safe for the time being — they managed a new low this season.

Some of the grim numbers:

– Besides scoring only 10 points, the Bulls were 2-for-10 from the field with nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

– They scored their last field goal with 10:15 left on an 18-footer by Kirk Hinrich for a 92-74 lead.

– During one stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Bulls committed turnovers on six of seven possessions.

– By contrast, the Kings (13-14) scored 33 points in the fourth, including 17 in the final 3:08.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports:

Vying for their second three-game winning streak this season, the Bulls instead suffered a complete collapse, losing all of a 35-point third-quarter lead in a stunning 102-98 loss to the Kings.

After a torrid start that featured season highs for points in a quarter and a half, the Bulls made just two fourth-quarter field goals and got outscored 33-10. Rarely has a laugher turned so serious so suddenly.

“We’re not good enough to take a minute off, let alone a half,” coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Derrick Rose’s driving attempt to tie with 7.9 seconds left fell woefully short, and Noah failed to exit a scrum with the rebound. Beno Udrih grabbed the loose ball and was fouled, making two free throws for the final margin.

Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports:

The Bulls (10-16) took control of this game right from the start and scored a season-high 67 points in the first half. They opened the third quarter with a 12-1 run to open the fateful 79-44 advantage.

At that point, the Bulls seemed to shut down and start thinking how many points they were going to score instead of doing the same things that built the lead.

The Bulls on Tuesday visit the Knicks in New York.

John Salmons must keep Bulls offense moving

Dan Cahill of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

John Salmons must keep Bulls offense in motion

After he was acquired from Sacramento last year, [John] Salmons came to Chicago and drilled every shot he took, or so it seemed. This year, Salmons jump shot has betrayed him, especially late in games.

When Salmons touches the ball on offensive, everything stops. Rose stops moving, Deng watches, Noah gets in position for a miss and the fourth player ties his shoe (or, watches someone on the other team tie their shoe). After seven or eight seconds of dribbling nowhere, Salmons will fire a bad shot or throw a bailout pass to one of his teammates, who has to hoist a desperation shot as the clock winds down.

Last night’s game was a perfect example. After Salmons went out of the game with two quick fouls, the Bulls offense moved better than it had all season. Rose was able to find wide-open teammates off the dribble-drive. When Salmons returned, so did stagnation.

Are you a Bulls fan? Express your opinion on the Chicago Bulls forum.

Bulls offense is struggling

The Chicago Bulls, whose super-scoring guard Ben Gordon is now with the Detroit Pistons, are struggling to put points on the board.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports:

The Bulls’ offense is so bad that the notoriously long-winded Hubie Brown, who was the color analyst forFriday’s game in Cleveland, ran out of talking points.

The Bulls’ offense is so bad that it rivals the above lame attempts at one-liners. Rim shot, please, indeed. Anything better than the boring, predictable high screen-and-roll and slow ball reversal that, lately, has resulted in air balls.

Let’s get the ugly numbers out of the way first:

The Bulls score 90.4 points per game, 28th in the league. They shoot 43.2 percent, 27th in the league. They rank 24th in 3-point shooting at 31.1 percent and only Utah and Memphis take fewer 3-pointers than the Bulls’ 11.8 per game.

The Bulls have surpassed 100 points and shot 50 percent just once in 18 games.

On the bright side, the Bulls (unofficially) lead the league in heavily contested long 2-pointers jacked from just inside the 3-point line.

Chicago has lost seven of their last eight games, and many of the losses haven’t even been close. A shakeup could take place soon if this continues.

Have an opinion? Share it on the InsideHoops Chicago Bulls forum.

Nets hire Del Harris as assistant coach

The New Jersey Nets have named Del Harris as an assistant coach, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. Harris joins Tom Barrise, John Loyer, Roy Rogers and Doug Overton as a member of Interim Head Coach Kiki Vandeweghe’s staff.

Harris, 72, joins the Nets following one season as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls were he helped first-year coach Vinny Del Negro reach the playoffs.

Prior to his time in Chicago, Harris was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks from 2000-08. During that time, Harris worked closely with Vandeweghe and Nets point guard Devin Harris. Harris brings 50+ years of coaching experience to the Nets including 30+ seasons in the NBA. As a head coach, Harris amassed a career record of 556-457 (.549) in parts of 14 seasons with the Lakers, Bucks and Rockets, reaching the playoffs 11 times. Harris received the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 1995 after guiding his Lakers to a 48-34 (.585) record, finishing third in the Pacific Division.

Harris also has international coaching experience as he coached Nets forward Yi Jianlian and Team China in the 2004 Olympics, where the team finished eighth out of a field of 12. He also coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico’s National Superior League (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships (1973-75).

Before entering the NBA ranks, Harris was the head coach of Earlham College from 1965-74 finishing with a 175-70 (.714) record.

The Plainfield, Indiana native attended Milligan College in Tennessee where he played four years of basketball with career averages of 18.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Victoria`s Secret declares Derrick Rose Chicago`s sexiest athlete

Here is some news that is not quite at the top of the importance ladder.

Bulls.com reports:

Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio will present Bulls guard Derrick Rose with his “Chicago’s Sexiest Athlete” award tonight at 8:30 p.m. at an event celebrating the winners of their “What’s Sexy Now Chicago” campaign.

Rose competed for the award against the Blackhawks Patrick Sharp and the Bears Brian Urlacher.

Additionally, the Bulls also won as the sexiest Chicago sports team in the ”What’s Sexy Now Chicago” balloting. The Bulls were up against the Blackhawks, Bears, White Sox, Fire and Cubs.

As editor of InsideHoops.com, I have no comment on this. I would, however, like to ask the Victoria’s Secret models to please stop callling me all at the same time. I only have time for three, maybe four of you these days.

Kirk Hinrich out 1-2 weeks with thumb sprain

Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich was examined this morning by Bulls head team physician Dr. Brian Cole and hand specialists Dr. John Fernandez and Dr. Marc Cohen of Midwest Orthopedics at Rush University. Their examination confirmed the earlier diagnosis of a left thumb sprain. He is expected to miss 1-2 weeks.

Hinrich this season is fifth on the Bulls in scoring with 8.9 points per game. He’s shooting just 36.8% from the field and an unimpressive 32.5% from three-point range, and only making 68.0% of his free throws. The guard is also getting 2.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists, in 28.5 minutes per game.

The Bulls are currently 6-8 this season.

Derrick Rose returning to form

Dirk Facer, for the Chicago Sun-Times, reports:

Derrick Rose is getting better. The injured right ankle that has slowed him since the preseason is on the mend.

Monday in Portland, Rose opened the second half by elevating over Greg Oden for his first dunk of the season.

”I really couldn’t believe it when I was up in the air,” said Rose, who said it felt great. ”It’s getting there. I’m getting a little bit explosive, so you’ll probably see more dunks in some other games.” …

In a loss to the Nuggets on Saturday, he scored a season-high 28 points. Over the last three games — all on the road — he’s averaging 20.7 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field (27-for-54).

We’re just starting to see the real D-Rose now. His early season games were more about returning from injury than shining like the young star that he is.

League-wide retirement of no. 23 jersey is unlikely

The AP reports:

LeBron James may persuade NBA players to give up their No. 23s, but a leaguewide retirement of Michael Jordan’s number seems unlikely.

James said on Thursday that he is considering switching his number next season and wants other players to do the same in honor of Jordan, the Hall of Famer who is often regarded as the league’s best player ever.

Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 and the NHL did the same with Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99, but that hasn’t been done in the NBA. Spokesman Tim Frank said on Saturday that ”retiring a player’s number is a decision that has been made by the teams” and not the league.

LeBron James may change jersey number

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Basking in the glow of a victory over the Heat, Cavs superstar LeBron James looked over at his idol sitting in the stands at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday night and made a command decision.

Out of respect to Michael Jordan, who sat courtside and watched James score 34 points, James said he is planning on switching his number after this season from No. 23 to No. 6. It just sort of came out, but it was obvious he’s been thinking about it for a while.

And James wants to lead a movement to get every player who wears No. 23 in the league to give it up as a tribute to Jordan.

It sounds like LeBron is still merely thinking of doing it, so it isn’t guaranteed to happen. And as for the move, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’m as big a Jordan fan as anyone else, and I definitely think of Jordan when I hear “23,” but years more of LeBron would also make me think of him, too. And I’m not sure that would diminish any aspect of Michael Jordan. It would just diminish the number.

Thing is, I’ve never been a big jersey number guy. Others care about it more. So to me it’s no huge deal.

And, of course, LeBron switching numbers would also result in a lot more new jersey sales. But let’s not think about that right now.

Tyrus Thomas breaks left arm

Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas suffered a fractured radius of his left forearm during a weight training session this morning at practice. X-rays confirmed the injury and he will undergo surgery tomorrow. The surgery will be performed at Rush, by team physicians Dr. Brian Cole and Dr. John Fernandez, and assisted by Dr. Mark Cohen.

Thomas is expected to be out four to six weeks. In four games (three starts) this season, the Louisiana State product has averaged 8.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 1.75 bpg in 21.0 mpg.

Currently in his fourth year with the Bulls, Thomas has appeared in 229 games (95 starts) and posted averages of 7.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.34 bpg and 0.82 spg in 19.9 mpg.

Have Bulls opinions? Discuss them on the InsideHoops Chicago Bulls forum.