Archive for the ‘Chicago Bulls’ Category

Best laughs — Joakim Noah dancing or DeAndre Jordan dunking on an unsuspecting reporter?

Posted by Trey Kerby under Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Score Video on May 21, 2013

It’s silly video showdown time. Here’s your your first option — Joakim Noah vibing out to “Pump Up the Jam” with some bros and lady bros.

Or choice two — DeAndre Jordan combining memes while dunking on ESPN’s Charissa Thompson.

Personally, I’m going with Joakim Noah, but that’s mostly because he’s the best and watching him dance has been a longtime source of enjoyment for me. Get that oil. (Also, I am kind of am worried that Charissa Thompson might have a concussion.) Let’s hear your pick in the comments, but please include a thorough explanation for your choice.

(via Deadspin/Reddit)

10 Comments

A personal ranking of all 15 Bulls teams since their last title

Posted by Trey Kerby under Chicago Bulls on May 16, 2013

joakim-noah-going-to-dunk-on-paul-pierce-haha

The Bulls’ season is over now, but since I really liked this team, I’m not going to just let them fall by the wayside. Instead, I’m going to use this occasion to rank every Bulls team since their 1998 title while providing off-the-dome things I remember and why I did or didn’t like a certain team, all while doing minimal research because this is more about truthiness than facts. It’s my internet and I’ll rank if I want to.

1. 2008-09 Chicago Bulls
Record/Results: 41-41, lost to Boston Celtics 4-3 in first round of playoffs
Memorable Players: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, John Salmons, Andres Nocioni, Tim Thomas
Good Things I Specifically Remember: Somehow winning the draft lottery. The Bulls traded for Brad Miller (and John Salmons) the day before my birthday, while ridding themselves of Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden at the same time, a.k.a. the best thing that has ever happened to me. Trading Larry Hughes away the day after. The entirety of that first round playoff series, but most especially Game 6 when Joakim Noah dunked on Paul Pierce while simultaneously fouling him out. Derrick Rose’s rookie year.  The first good Joakim Noah season. Getting John Salmons post-trade deadline, when he is at his absolute best. Ben Gordon’s eight threes against the Heat, and all of his huge clutch shots in the playoffs.
Bad Things I Specifically Remember: Driving to meet up with Eamonn Brennan, only to have my wife call me because she was hospitalized, which meant I watched Game 5 from an emergency room. The stupid debate about whether or not the Bulls should re-sign Ben Gordon at the end of the season.
One Word Subjective Feeling About Season: Exciting.

2a. 2010-11 Chicago Bulls
Record/Results: 62-20, lost to Heat 4-1 in Eastern Conference finals
Memorable Players: Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Keith Bogans, Kurt Thomas, C.J. Watson
Good Things I Specifically Remember: Having the No. 1 overall record in the NBA. Derrick Rose winning MVP. The arrival of Tom Thibodeau and his defense. Kurt Thomas leading the team in scoring for a game. Winning Game 1 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Joakim Noah continuing to beef with Cleveland even after LeBron had left. Being a legitimate title contender. Scottie Pippen getting a statue in the United Center. The beginning of a rivalry with the Pacers. The beginning of a bigger rivalry with the Heat, largely thanks to Joakim Noah saying they’re “Hollywood as hell.” Joakim Noah switching from bun to topknot.
Bad Things I Specifically Remember: Keith Bogans starting every game at shooting guard. Essentially being swept out of the Eastern Conference finals once the Heat figured out how to bottle up Derrick Rose. Feeling like the Bulls might have blown their one chance to win a title during the LeBron-Heatles era. The Pacers hitting the Bulls in the head all the time.
One Word Subjective Feeling About Season: Euphoric.

2b. 2012-13 Chicago Bulls
Record/Results: 45-37, lost to Heat 4-1 in second round
Memorable Players: Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler, Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Carlos Boozer, Nazr Mohammed, Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson
Good Things I Specifically Remember: Nate Robinson doing all kinds of Nate Robinson stuff. Marco Belinelli hitting a surprising amount of game-winners. Breaking the Heat’s 27-game winning streak. The 3OT win against the Nets, spurred on by Nate’s crazy fourth quarter. The Bulls somehow having two All-Stars. Jimmy Butler becoming a real player, then Jimmy Butler getting mad respect from everywhere. Finding out Jimmy Butler is basically a cowboy. Joakim Noah finally being recognized as one of the best big guys in the league. Winning Game 1 of the second round in Miami. Basically a team full of folk heroes after a bunch of guys on one-year contracts — Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed — ended up making huge plays in the playoffs.
Bad Things I Specifically Remember: Talking about whether or not Derrick Rose will return all season. All those mystery losses to bad teams while playing at the United Center. Every injury imaginable in the playoffs. Luol Deng having a spinal tap. Endless minutes for every player not named Carlos Boozer. The Bulls deciding not to bring back Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer because of money, then still having this season be the first the paid the luxury tax. Scoring 65 points in a playoff game.
One Word Subjective Feeling About Season: Weird.

4. 2004-05 Chicago Bulls
Record/Results: 47-35, lost to Washington Wizards 4-2 in first round
Memorable Players: Kirk Hinrich, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Antonio Davis, Adrian Griffin
Good Things I Specifically Remember: Deng and Gordon rookie years. Ben Gordon beating the Knicks on a buzzer-beating floater. Ben Gordon winning Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the first rookie ever to do so. The first Bulls playoff appearance since the Jordan years. Tyson Chandler’s first good defensive season. Andres Nocioni took about a thousand charges and I think it was during this season that one of my buddies started a Facebook group called “Andres Nocioni is the best thing to come out of South America since cocaine.” Pretty solid offensive season for Eddy Curry. Always though Gordon and Deng wearing Nos. 7 and 9 was pretty cool. Finishing 47-26 after an 0-9 start.
Bad Things I Specifically Remember: Adrian Griffin playing all the time. So many Jannero Pargo shots. The Bulls occasionally running their offense through Othella Harrington. Seeing Tyson Chandler try to create off the dribble. An 0-9 start.
One Word Subjective Feeling About Season: Scrappy.

5. 2011-12 Chicago Bulls
Record/Results: 50-16, lost to Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 in first round
Memorable Players: Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson, Omer Asik, Taj Gibson, Brian Scalabrine, John Lucas III, Rip Hamilton
Good Things I Specifically Remember: The White Mamba factor. Rip Hamilton seemed like a fine signing at the time. Mike James not having a name on the back of his jersey. The time John Lucas III almost had a triple-double in his first career start. Being the No. 1 seed in the East with Derrick Rose being out a lot of the season. Omer Asik becoming good. Derrick Rose not dancing at the All-Star Game. The invention of Joakim Noah’s finger guns celebration.
Bad Things I Specifically Remember: Derrick Rose blew his knee out. Before that, Derrick Rose was banged up the whole season. It was the lockout year. Rip Hamilton was hurt all year, was still old all the times he was healthy. Carlos Boozer painted his hair on. John Lucas III getting jumped over by LeBron James. C.J. Watson passing to Omer Asik in the final seconds of Game 6 of the first round, which left Asik to brick a couple free throws, which led to the Bulls being eliminated from the playoffs by an eight seed. Ironic Scalabrine cheers.
One Word Subjective Feeling About Season: Deep

Read the rest of this entry »

21 Comments

Video: ‘Where Are You, Derrick Rose?,’ a poem

Posted by Trey Kerby under 2013 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls, Score Video on May 15, 2013

He’s on the bench in street clothes.

(via Kevin Mayer)

6 Comments

Benny the Bull is America’s favorite sports mascot

Posted by Trey Kerby under Chicago Bulls, Mascots on May 15, 2013

benny-the-bull-flying

Anytime mascots get brought up on TBJ, I’m always quick to throw my hat in the ring for Benny the Bull. And while that may seem like a homer pick, I truly believe Benny’s the best in the business. He’s funny, his head is both silly and mischievous, he can dance his clip-cloppity hooves off and — most importantly — he is always doing something. Seriously, if you’re at a game where Benny’s at, whether it be Bulls or All-Star, he is legitimately always messing with somebody, climbing on something or just generally mascotting all over the place. He never stops. It’s awesome.

But now we can finally put this argument to rest because the people have spoken. From Forbes:

Benny the Bull, who’s been entertaining fans at Chicago Bulls games for more than four decades, keeps a killer schedule that goes way beyond the Bulls’ 41 home games a season (or more like 50 including the preseason and playoffs). Benny does 250 events a year, from appearances at Chicago businesses and charities to private parties.

The work ethic and the athleticism he displays during game breaks at the United Center have paid off: Benny stands as this year’s most popular sports mascot. That’s the word from The Marketing Arm’s Davie Brown Index, which is based on a survey of public perception of celebrities and their influence on brands. For mascots, the DBI measures popularity by the following criteria: Awareness, likeability, attention-getting, photo-friendliness, interaction and fun. Fans were also asked if a given mascot happened to be his “absolute favorite” or “one of my favorites.”

Benny led the pack in pure likability and gets more photo requests than any other mascot in sports. His ascension to the top is something of an upset, moving against this year’s anti-NBA trend. Perhaps the trampoline-bouncing, slam-dunking hoops mascots are starting to become old hat: past favorites like the Phoenix Suns’ Gorilla, the Denver Nuggets’ mountain lion Rocky and the San Antonio Spurs’ Coyote are nowhere to be found this year.

Boom. There it is. Forbes, you guys. Indisputable champion of the mascot game.

And really, the choice seems pretty obvious.

How many mascots would do this sort of thing? Maybe a lot, but only one has. And that one is Benny the Bull, America’s favorite sports mascot. No coincidence.

(via Chris)

5 Comments

Video: Rip Hamilton gets ready to play basketball while playing basketball

Posted by Trey Kerby under 2013 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls, Score Video on May 14, 2013

Well, when you’ve played 11 seconds in the past six months, I guess it would be a pretty big surprise to get first half playing time. Nonetheless, this was a lot of fidgeting with his mask and a lot a lot A LOT of spandex showing while Rip ran around having no idea what to do on defense. Glad he finally got everything figured eventually. That headband over the mask is crucial.

P.S. Rip Hamilton tucks his jersey in to his spandex.

(via Oskar Jamtander)

2 Comments

Luol Deng cannot eat solid food, Thibodeau says ‘we’ll see’ about him playing Game 4

Posted by Trey Kerby under 2013 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls on May 13, 2013

luol-deng-looking-sick

At this point, talking about the Bulls’ injuries is passé, like considering Cameron Diaz an up-and-coming actress or using Cameron Diaz as a simile. But sometimes, you read something Bulls injury-related, happen to operate a basketball blog and just have to pass it on. This is one of those times.

From the Chicago Tribune:

“I did some individual work (Saturday) and I started throwing up a little bit. I couldn’t finish the workout,” Deng said. “I tried to practice (Sunday) and the same thing. I just warmed up and couldn’t get through practice. My body, my system is not reacting well to anything I’m doing right now.”

And also this.

Deng said he’s having trouble eating solid food and has regained only two of the 15 pounds he lost.

“Just because you get a spinal tap doesn’t mean (the flu) goes away,” he said. “I had that and then the reaction to (the spinal tap). It just sucks, man. It’s not like an injury where you can just play through it and it slows you down a little bit. It’s just one of those things where, not even basketball-wise, just doing regular stuff is hard.”

Oh, and also this.

Deng attended Game 3 but said he watched from the locker room because he didn’t want to cough on teammates.

OK, so just as a baseline, here is the situation — Luol Deng had some strain of the flu that presented with viral meningitis symptoms, which led to a spinal tap that caused him to lose 15 pounds, still has him unable to gain weight or eat solid food, and has him avoiding his teammates so that he doesn’t cough on them, which might lead to them going through the same thing. Also, all of this started happening less than two weeks ago, which is basically no time in flu land.

And that’s exactly why this part is so bonkers. From a different Chicago Tribune article:

Deng has yet to practice since experiencing serious complications from a spinal tap.

“He’s still not feeling well so we’ll see tonight but most likely out,” Thibodeau said. “He really didn’t do much.”

And this from the first one:

Indeed, Deng continues to sound doubtful for the remainder of the series, even though he admitted he talked to Thibodeau about giving “five or 10 minutes or whatever to give these guys a little break.”

So the guy who lost 15 pounds in like six minutes and who cannot be around his friends because he might cough on them is still getting a “we’ll see” from his coach because said coach would be OK with him giving “five or 10 minutes” to give some of the other players “a little break.” This is insanity, and that’s before getting in to the part where Deng is still dealing with multiple injuries. Deng didn’t want to be around teammates because he doesn’t want to cough on them, but the Bulls are still trying to figure out if he can play in a game. Madness, but also maybe a weird sort of biological warfare.

Kudos to Deng for trying to play through something that sounds absolutely terrible, but maybe it is time to just chill and shut it down for the season. That’d pretty much be the antithesis of how the Bulls have handled injuries this season, but when a guy can’t eat, gain weight or breathe without worrying about infecting his entire team with an illness that causes all these things, it might be worth shutting him down for the remainder of the season. I didn’t get in to medical school and am therefore not a doctor, but I’d say being sickly, weakened and injured is a pretty solid reason to start the summer early.

5 Comments

Video: Nate Robinson got his own ‘We Are All Watching’ ad

Posted by Trey Kerby under 2013 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls, Score Video on May 09, 2013

This is how you know you’ve made it — when the NBA tailors one of their current ad campaign’s ads to you because you’ve been playing so well and doing such amazing things that they just can’t help but promote you. That’s legit baller status. I haven’t been this proud since Joakim Noah got his own “Where Will Amazing Happen?”. Way to go, Nate.

8 Comments
« Older Entries