Holdin' The Rope

Eastern Conference Semifinals Game Four, Bulls-Heat: Running on Empty, Not a Station For Miles

2013-05-13T21:25:00.002-04:00

Chicago Bulls 65, Miami Heat 88--Heat lead series 3-1

On the heels of another dramatic contest ultimately ending in a loss--albeit much closer than the disaster that was Game Two--the Bulls limped into Game Four needing a win; otherwise, Game Five would likely be nothing more than a prolonged death knell for this 2012-13 season.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Miami jumped out to an early 13-4 lead, as the Bulls started off ice cold, going 2-for-13 from the field. Luol Deng was deemed "active" for the game, the latest stretch of what it means for one to be "active." If Deng could be described as "active," in spite of all the news of his post-spinal tap complications, then those of us who are otherwise healthy are superheroes, according to the relativistic continuum of NBA player health designations.

And yet, despite a first quarter in which the Bulls shot 27% and the Heat shot 59%, they somehow managed to enter the second frame down just 21-15. As we have come to know very well this season, the Bulls have turned the execution of the "awful quarter that ends with being down by only that much" into an art form, insofar as such a thing can be considered art.

Marco Belinelli was called for his third foul early in the second, meaning that Rip Hamilton would enter the game for the first time since his three-minute showing in Game Six against Brooklyn. Whether he was in the "dog house" or not, it has gotten to the point that Hamilton entering the game is just one more sign of the dire times for the Bulls, personnel-wise.

Following a nice extra pass from Nate Robinson on the wing, Hamilton hit an open trey from up top, and on the following possession, Taj Gibson went up strong at the basket, completing a traditional three-point play. In short order, the Bulls had cut the lead, which had ballooned to 13, to seven, and the United Center crowd exhibited its first sign of life.

This ephemeral momentum was quickly snuffed out, as LeBron returned from a brief trip to the bench to send home a theatrical thunderdunk after a Bulls turnover.

Luckily, the Heat were not particularly careful with the ball, committing eight turnovers with several minutes still remaining in the first half. On the other hand, the Bulls were not able to capitalize, and continued to remain down by 7-12 points. Excluding their 6-for-6 mark from the line, the Bulls had produced just 21 points through 21 minutes of play. A point a minute is good if you're Fielding Yost, but isn't necessarily a sustainable basketball strategy (unless you happen to play in the Big Ten).

It was not a well-played half for either team, but a poorly played half for the Bulls is a far different concept than the same from the Heat. As such, the Bulls took an 11-point deficit into the second half. Chicago shot just 27%, scoring at a clip of just 0.79 points per possession.

The early stages of the second half didn't exactly presage a Bulls comeback. Nate Robinson remained without a field goal, beginning 0-for-10 on the night (0-for-5 from three). There is simply no way the Bulls can or will be able to keep a game against the Heat with Nate shooting like this, especially on a number of pretty decent looks.

Steve Kerr started to talk about the Bulls looking to be out of gas, which certainly seemed to be the case. Whereas the Bulls couldn't do anything with Miami's carelessness with the ball, it seemed as if the Heat took advantage of every Bulls miscue, usually with a dunk or layup in transition. The game was in danger of slipping away in earnest, if it hadn't already done so.

A 17-footer from Wade upped the lead to 58-42 at the 3:10 mark of the third. Really, "macabre" is likely the only word with the descriptive capacity to sum up the Bulls' offensive performance to this point. Chicago had made just 13 field goals to Miami's 25, and was down 16 despite more than doubling up the Heat in trips to the line.

The only hope that remained was that #GoodNate would emerge from the phone booth in the fourth quarter, but even that was wishful thinking of unrealistic proportions.

A Norris Cole buzzer-beating trey added insult to injury, as the Bulls went into the fourth down 17 despite the Heat having only scored 61 points of their own through three quarters. This was not an elimination game, but the level of play and the understandably lifeless UC crowd made it plainly obvious that the ensuing 12 minutes would be the last played on the W. Madison hardwood this season.

Having watched this Bulls team all season, I wasn't quite ready to dismiss all hope, no matter how statistically insignificant that hope may have been. The Bulls have tested our limits of credulity all season, but limits are limits for a reason. As the Bulls stumbled through the fourth quarter, it was clear that a final surge would never come. Unlike Game Three, this contest was only vaguely semi-competitive from the start, and it never appeared that the Bulls had enough to make things interesting.

With tonight's defeat, the Bulls are one loss away from elimination. Barring a minor miracle, Chicago's season will come to an end Wednesday night in Miami.

While this was by no means an unexpected outcome (especially under the circumstances), elimination stings due to the simple fact that we won't be able to watch this team do what it does again until late October. On the bright side, the next time the Bulls take the United Center floor, they will (hopefully) be led by Derrick Rose once again.

Eastern Conference Semifinals Game One, Bulls-Heat: Welcome to Miami

2013-05-06T21:58:00.002-04:00

Obligatory

Chicago Bulls 93, Miami Heat 86--Bulls leads series 1-0 (!)

After improbably pulling off a Game Seven victory in Brooklyn Saturday night, the Bulls enter the Eastern Conference Semifinal round playing with house money. With Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both out again, in addition to Derrick Rose's continued absence, expectations are not exactly what they were the last time these two teams squared off in the playoffs.

Nonetheless, the Bulls have played the Heat close, even without Derrick Rose, having split four regular season meetings this season. Of course, the playoffs are a different animal, especially with the Heat being well-rested after easily dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks in four, and the Bulls grinding their way through seven trying games against Brooklyn. With this in mind, an enveloping fog of unease pervaded upon the lead-up to Game One, and rightfully so; there are no moral victories in sports, but if the Bulls managed to keep the first game of this series close, then maybe the vague notion of a competitive series could become a reality.

The Bulls gained possession on the opening tip, but neither squad was able to get on the scoreboard in their respective opening trips on the offensive end, starting a combined 0-for-5 from the field. A nice move to the rim from Noah put the Bulls on the board first, however, at the 10:15 mark. Jimmy Butler extended the lead to 4-0 from the line after drawing a blocking call just outside of the restricted area.

Neither team was exceptionally sharp in the opening minutes, but given each team's opening round, this was perhaps not unexpected. The Heat continued to misfire from the field, starting the game 0-for-7 from the field as the Bulls built an early 8-2 lead.

Despite the auspicious start, Nate Robinson began this one 0-for-4 from the field with some questionable feeds to Chicago's big men; this would have to change if the Bulls were going to make this any sort of game. On the bright side, it was a quiet, low usage quarter for Lebron James, who was 1-for-2 from the field for two points well into the first frame. James seemed content to facilitate in the early stages, but Jimmy Butler was also doing his part in forcing that decision-making.

Norris Cole countered a quintessentially Nate spin move into a banked jumper with a buzzer-beating floater of his own, and the Bulls took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, a 9-0 Miami run early in the second erased the positive feelings of the first quarter in just over a minute of play, giving the Heat their first lead of the game. Even more worrisome was the fact that James did not contribute a single point during that Miami outburst; it was only a matter of time before he, too, hit his stride.

That never happened, however, as LeBron finished the half with two points on 1-for-6 shooting. The Bulls defense picked it up after Miami's big run, taking the two teams into the half tied at 37, making for a tremendous first half showing for the shorthanded Bulls.

Early in the third, LeBron attempted and made his first trey of the game, tying the game after a three from Nate Robinson. Even so, every minute that ticked by without a big push from the Heat was a microscopic and incremental victory for the Bulls, for whom "hanging around" was the order of the day.

Answering a transcendent coast-to-coast drive for a score from Noah --and a Boozer dunk shortly thereafter-- Dwyane Wade started to heat up, with back-to-back scores at the rim of his own. While LeBron idled at 2-for-7 from the field, Wade shot an excellent 6-for-12 from 12 points, a discouraging stat line for the Bulls given that Wade had not played since April 25 (or Game Three of the opening round).

Another Wade bucket in transition gave the Heat a 55-49 lead with just over four minutes left in the third; with 16 minutes left for LeBron to finally get going, it felt like the game had the potential to slip away from the Bulls before the final frame began.

The rusty vessel that is the 2012-13 Chicago Bulls began to creak under the Miami surge, but the final seconds ticked off the third quarter and the Bulls found themselves down just 62-58. A productive quarter from Nate Robinson, who scored 13 of the Bulls' 21 third quarter points, helped keep the rusty bucket of bolts afloat.

Finally, LeBron began to assert himself early in the fourth, scoring the Heat's first six points of the final frame. As they had done all game (and all season), the Bulls continued to plug away, keeping it close while simultaneously appearing to be on the precipice of collapse. It is an exhausting way to play, to be sure, but the Bulls have turned it into an art form, an uncomfortable yet dazzling Cirque du Soleil of basketball.

The Bulls were down one with just over seven minutes to go, but a pair of LeBron and-1s, the sort that make you just resignedly throw up your hands, extended the Heat lead to seven, again pushing the Bulls near the precipice.

Once again, the Bulls rallied with a 7-0 run to tie it at 76; with around five minutes to go, the game was no longer about "hanging around." The Bulls had a legitimate shot to win it, even briefly taking the lead after a Butler corner three.

With under two minutes to go and the game tied at 86, Nate went to work on Mario Chalmers, going between his legs and nailing a jumper to give the Bulls the lead on his 21st and 22nd points of the game. Despite a no show from Carlos Boozer, big performances from Butler and Robinson carried the Bulls this far. Now, they needed to finish.

Wade misfired on a questionable three, allowing Nate to go to work again; he refused the screen, forcing LeBron to retreat, and then blew by Ray Allen for two in the lane.

On the ensuing defensive possession, LeBron drove left and was way off on his mid-range jumper. The Bulls collected the rebound, and the Heat eventually sent Robinson to the line with 24.6 second left (where he went 1-for-2).

LeBron attempted a three from Burkeland and missed. The death knell never came, and, preposterously, the Bulls pulled out a victory in Game One, 93-86. Whatever happens in Game Two, the Bulls got their road win, and now hope for the return of Deng and Hinrich.

Nate Robinson et al ask you: Are you not entertained?

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 6, Bulls-Nets: I Have A Bad Feeling About This

2013-05-02T23:02:00.000-04:00

Chicago Bulls 92, Brooklyn Nets 95

I wasn't able to take notes during the first half of this one, so I'll just go ahead and skip right to the second half (this is the NBA after all, so that's probably a fair thing to do every time).

Nonetheless, the Bulls, again with Kirk Hinrich, have up a whopping 60 first half points, with Deron Williams scoring 14 on 5-for-9 from the field. For all of the criticism Hinrich took throughout the system--some warranted, but most of it not--it's pretty well obvious by this point that the Bulls were going to have a rough go of it without him on the defensive end. Every defensive set begins with on-the-ball defense, and when you don't have your most effective player executing that role, the rest of the defense will struggle.

The Bulls took a 60-54 deficit into the second half, which reminded me of the Michigan-Kansas game for the simple fact that it felt as if the Brooklyn lead could and probably should have been much greater than it was.

To make matters worse, the Bulls were also without the services of Luol Deng, so it was encouraging to see them drop 54 in the first half. Still, the second half would be a struggle to keep up and continue to find enough production to stay with the Nets.

Nate Robinson buried a trey to open the second half, cutting the lead to three, but the Nets quickly built it back up to eight in the ensuing minutes.

Later in transition, Robinson attacked the rim and dished to an open Marco Belinelli in the corner, who nailed the three to cut the Nets lead to 69-68. Luckily for the Bulls, it wasn't an exceptionally well-played quarter for either team, but Chicago made enough plays on the defensive end to keep the game from getting away from them before the final frame.

The scraptastic Bulls took a four point deficit into the final quarter, and the two teams continued to engage in trench warfare through the first five minutes, scoring eight points apiece.

Despite the Bulls' inability to tie the game up for the first time since late in the first quarter, they did do an admirable job of locking down on Williams and Brook Lopez in the second half; they scored a combined one point through the first 18 minutes of the second half. Williams scored his first second half points at the line at the 5:24 mark of the fourth quarter.

Although the Bulls were ahead in the series, the sense of desperation was palpable as the contest entered its final five minutes. Robinson buried a long jumper to cut the lead to two with under five to go, but a Lopez jam at the other end once again pushed the pendulum back slightly in Brooklyn's direction. The game felt like a Big Ten contest, in which a two possession deficit might as well be an insurmountable hill to climb.

A Belinelli trey with just over two to go cut the lead to two once again, as the Bulls looked to steal a win in a game they were trailing for most of the time. Unfortunately, Andray Blatche hit an acrobatic spinning jumper at the other end, but the Bulls again cut it to two. On the next defensive possession, Noah swatted Blatche's shot from the left side, but failed to connect on a strong drive to the rim. The sequence ended with a loose ball foul on Carlos Boozer, his fifth, forcing Nazr Mohammed into action (Taj Gibson had already fouled out).

Blatche went to the line and misfired on his first attempt. The United Center crowd, standing, couldn't coerce him into a second miss. With 32 seconds to go, the lead was now 93-90.

The Bulls opted for two, hitting Mohammed for an easy bucket at the rim. Chicago couldn't get the Nets to hit Blatche on the ensuing sideline inbounds, but a trap of Deron Williams did force another timeout and allow for another opportunity to do so.

The Bulls succeeded this time, but Blatche, a 69% free throw shooter during the regular season, buried both free throws with aplomb amid the din.

The Bulls' final possession began with Nate Robinson dribbling around, falling, and a pass being deflected out of bounds off of a Brooklyn player. On the inbound, Robinson found Belinelli for a good look in the corner to tie, but he shot it long and Noah stepped out of bounds after corralling the ball.

In a fortuitous sequence, the Bulls forced a jump ball situation, with Noah going up against Williams. Alas, it didn't matter, and the Bulls never got one final shot. The Bulls fell, 95-92, and the series moves back to the Barclays Center, tied at three games apiece.

And so, the dreaded Game Six loss at home came to pass. After having been up 3-1 in the series, it's difficult to imagine the Bulls having one more win in them. Then again, it's not as if this Bulls season hasn't been a ceaseless paved with surprise after surprise, loping along clunkily but endearingly.

Nonetheless, unless Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both suit up in Game 7, we may be left channeling our inner Denny Green.

Bulls-Nets, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game No. 3: Hold On

2013-04-25T23:13:00.001-04:00

Chicago Bulls 79, Brooklyn Nets 76--Bulls lead 2-1

The Bulls and Nets entered the United Center tonight tied at a game apiece on the heels of a pair of vastly different games in Brooklyn. In Game One, the Bulls were simply overwhelmed, but Game Two was a 2012-13 Chicago classic, a symphony of raw exertion and grit.

In this one, the early going resembled Game One, as the Bulls turned it over three times in less than two minutes of play and found themselves down 13-2 by the 7:37 mark. The turnover total for Chicago ballooned to five before the halfway point of the first. Meanwhile, the Bulls couldn't throw it into Lake Michigan, starting the game 2-for-8 from the field.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Deron Williams had eight points (5/5 from the FT line) through just over six minutes of play after scoring eight all game on Tuesday. Luckily, Williams cooled down and the Bulls rattled off an 14-0 run, taking a two point surplus into the second after having been down 12. All in all, it was a tremendously ugly first quarter, as the Bulls didn't start hitting until the last few minutes and the Nets stuck with the outside shot even as it didn't fall (Brooklyn didn't score a basket in the first quarter's final 6:25). Then again, it's not as if "that was an ugly quarter" will be an infrequent saying during this series.

The Nets continued to lob airball after airball, which negated the fact that the Bulls weren't lighting it up either. However, Taj Gibson absolutely posterized Kris Humphries off of a pick and roll to the put the Bulls up 26-20, a dunk that was basically a way scaled down version of MJ's throw dunk from the end of Space Jam.

Things were getting so bad that I wondered if the Nets might have more luck blindfolding themselves and using the Force when rising to shoot. The Nets were an unbelievably awful 6-for-32 from the field through 18 minutes of play, good for 19%.

The Bulls did very well to recover, generally outworking the Nets and taking shots much closer to the basket. At the same time, the Nets' incompetence was just amazingly comprehensive. A Jimmy Butler interception in the back court led to a wide open layup for Kirk Hinrich, who happened to still be under the basket, a play that capably summarizes the state of affairs for the Nets in the first half.

The Bulls took a 41-34 lead into the break after Gerald Wallace hit a trey at the buzzer. The Nets finished the half just 9-for-40 from the field, or 22.5%. The Bulls weren't exactly covering themselves in glory either, having shot just 41% (1-for-6 from three).

Clearly Luol Deng drank the Secret Stuff at the half, because he came out firing early in the third, scoring nine points in the first four minutes, extending the Bulls lead to 14 in seemingly an instant.

The Bulls continued to lock down the Nets in the third, as Brooklyn finished the quarter still not shooting better than 30% for the game. Meanwhile, Deron Williams was still just 4-for-12 from the field; a more productive game than Game Two, yes, but far from as good as the Nets need him to be.

The fourth continued mostly like the rest of the game --minus the first four or five minutes-- had, until the Nets rattled off an 8-0 run late, cutting the Bulls lead to 77-72. With the ball in the final minute, Joakim Noah dribbled the ball off of his leg and out of bounds, giving the Nets the ball with 29.7 seconds to go and a five point deficit, creating the first moments of anxiety in quite some time.

The Bulls couldn't grab the defensive rebound at the other end, leading to a Lopez dunk. Chicago would head to the line after the Nets fouled again, sending Nate Robinson to the line with 10.7 seconds left.

Nate spun the ball around his back and missed the first one short. He spun it again, and swished the second, giving the Bulls a four point cushion.

Deron Williams cruised down the heart of the lane for a relatively uncontested layup, and the Nets then sent Joakim Noah to the line for a pair of clutch free throw attempts. He missed the first to the left, making the second an absolute must have.

Fortunately, Noah calmly nailed the back end, giving the Bulls a three point lead with 4.4 seconds left and a foul to give.

On the final possession, the Bulls attempted to foul Joe Johnson but didn't get the call. Johnson swung it to C.J. Watson in the corner, who, fittingly, airballed what would have been a game-tying trey at the buzzer.

Once again, this game won't go down in the annals of basketball as a shining example of quality basketball, especially from Brooklyn's end, but the Bulls did what they needed to go to get the win. The Nets were content to plug away from outside all game, and the Bulls were more than willing to oblige them. The Nets finished the game having shot just 34.6% from the field, with Deron Williams once again having a poor outing despite scoring 10 more points than he did in Game Two (5-for-14, 18 points).

It wasn't an efficient night for Luol Deng (9-for-23, 21 points), but his scoring output combined with Carlos Boozer's 22 points was more than enough to down a Brooklyn team that looked like a Big Ten team trying to shoot on the Kohl Center rims.

Although the Bulls made it uncomfortably close near the end, a win is a win. This series is far from over, but tonight was one big step on the road to the conference semifinals. If the Bulls win this series, I don't think they'll do it in five, but a win on Saturday would certainly make that outcome a possibility, especially if the Nets continue to play like they have post-Game One.

Bulls-Nets, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game Two: The Importance of Being Gritty

2013-04-22T22:55:00.002-04:00

Chicago Bulls 90, Brooklyn Nets 82--Series tied, 1-1

Luckily, I didn't get around to writing anything about Game One of this series, which is a good thing given the fairly disappointing outcome. The Bulls aren't 100 percent --Joakim Noah only managed to grit out 13 minutes-- but you would have liked to see a closer game given the Bulls' nice regular season mark against the Nets.

Noah said he would give it a go again tonight for Game Two, but it was unclear how much a factor he could possibly be, particularly given the pesky nature of a plantar fasciitis injury. I'm writing these first couple of paragraphs before the game has started, but the unfortunate reality seems to be that the Bulls are going to have to win this series largely without significant contributions from Noah. This is a shame given the season he's had, but it's not exactly unexpected when a player is forced to play the minutes that Noah has. So it goes.

In any case, the Bulls came into tonight with the opportunity to even the series before heading back to Chicago for Game Three on Thursday. It wasn't pretty early on, but through just over three minutes of play the game was tied at 2-2: progress! Noah got the start and was playing hard, as usual, but you could pretty obviously tell that he was not 100 percent. He started his evening with a miss in the paint on a relatively challenging running layup and also failed to connect on a mid-range jumper from just past the free throw line extended.

The next few minutes continued to resemble a poorly played, out of control JV game, but the Bulls somehow found themselves up 10-6 heading into the first timeout. The Nets were blocking Bulls shots, crossing them over and throwing down monstrous dunks, but the Bulls held on to 20-17 lead heading into the second, a huge improvement over the 25-14 deficit they took into the second frame of Game One.

Marco Belinelli pitched in some strong minutes in the second, hitting a 23-footer and then back-to-back strong finishes at the rim for six points in the second quarter's first half. Unfortunately, Brook Lopez caught fire, scoring eight second quarter points. Old friend C.J. Watson buried a buzzer-beating trey to send the Bulls into the half with a 47-46 lead. It was not the prettiest half of basketball, but it was exactly the sort of game the Bulls needed to play.

The Bulls defended the boards, turned the Nets over nine times and held them to a modest 46% from the field in the first half; some combination of that would need to continue if Chicago was going to eek out a victory.

Chicago jumped out to a hot start from the field, extending their lead to 57-50, all while Deron Williams sat at 0/6 from the field through almost halfway through the third. Both teams continued to be generally dreadful in the half court, but a 7-0 run, mostly in transition, gave the Bulls a 12-point lead, their largest of the game.

The Bulls won the third frame, 22-11, positioning them perfectly for a ~~fourth quarter collapse~~ chance to even the series with 12 more minutes of solid play. The Nets, of course, countered with an 11-4 run of their own to start the fourth. A thunderdunk from Noah stemmed the tide, and he added a truly spectacular offensive rebound, saving the ball from going out of bounds and leading to an open Robinson triple.

After another Noah bucket in the paint, the Nets rattled off another big run, an 8-0 stretch in just over a minute of play. The Bulls had clearly played a much better game to this point, but a poor final four minutes would have certainly sent the Bulls back to Chicago down two games.

The Bulls gritted out a 6-2 run in response, while Brooklyn threes continued not to fall at the other end; the Nets were an atrocious 4/22 from beyond the arc with about a minute to go in the game. To make matters even better, a Noah block was reviewed and Chicago was eventually awarded possession. With 52 seconds to go, it became hack-a-Bull time.

The Bulls only split their first three trips to the line, but Brooklyn continued to flail around aimlessly on the offensive end, not really threatening to make the Bulls sweat.

Again, this was far from aesthetically pleasing, but that's how the Bulls are going to win games. A hot shooting start from Hinrich (he started 4/4 but finished 4/10), solid contributions from Belinelli, Boozer and Deng, and a lockdown defensive effort on Deron Williams was just enough to push the Bulls to victory on this night.

It's probably asking too much to expect Williams to go 1/9 from the field again in this series, but it was encouraging to see the Bulls stick around despite the Nets' stretch of highlight reel play early in the game.

Joakim Noah hit the upper limit of his assigned minutes cap (25), and was 4/8 from the field with 10 boards. Fortunately for the Bulls, Noah will have two days to ice that foot before these two teams hit the United Center floor on Thursday.

No, the Bulls don't have championship aspirations this season, but that does not mean this isn't a team worth enjoying. Tonight was vintage 2012-13 Bulls basketball; we'd all like to see Derrick Rose out there, of course, but this iteration of Bulls basketball is fun to watch in its own way.

The formula is simple and not quite as elegant as it once was, but that's okay with me, just as it's been all season.

Game No. 14, White Sox-Blue Jays: Tank In Toronto

2013-04-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

With the Bulls heading to the playoffs soon (and likely no advancing further than the second round) and the NHL playoffs beginning in two weeks, I'm hoping to have more time to focus on the White Sox and, yes, Michigan football offseason minutiae. I'm still working out a summer schedule of sorts, but, as always, whatever happens, happens.

In any case, the White Sox have struggled since I last wrote about them, when I visited the Cell for the second game of the season, back in the halcyon days when the Sox were 2-0.

Now, Robin Ventura's club sits at 5-8, having been swept by the Nationals, dropping two of three in Cleveland and losing yesterday's contest against some guy named Mark Buehrle. You may have heard of him at some point. The White Sox got to this Buehrle character in the first inning, but quickly relinquished the lead in the second frame after a Maicer Izturis home run. The Jays held on for a 4-3 win in the end.

Today, Josh Johnson took the mound for Toronto, whose last appearance saw him get shelled in Detroit; he exited the game after just four outs.

Naturally, the White Sox went down 1-2-3 in the first inning, with Alejandro De Aza recording a strikeout for the eighth time in his last nine games.

For the White Sox, Dylan Axelrod took the mound, his third start of the season. Axelrod did provide a solid performance on April 6 against Seattle, recording the win, but didn't fare quite as well in Washington. giving up seven hits and six earned runs in 3.2 IP.

On the bright side, Axelrod started the game with a K, getting 2B Emilio Bonifacio on some breaking stuff, the fourth pitch of the AB. Axelrod did give up a sharp single on the next at bat, but managed to get out of the first unscathed.

Adam Dunn struck out to start the second, but the White Sox started some trouble after a Konerko single and a Gillaspie walk. With a runner in scoring position, I'm pretty sure the White Sox are contractually obligated to not get said runner home. Viciedo struck out, but on the next AB Ramirez ripped a hard single to center. Unfortunately, Paul Konerko was forced to stay at third, leading to a bases loaded situation with two outs for Hector Gimenez.

Gimenez quickly went down 0-2; it appeared that the Sox would come away empty-handed once again. He did eventually strikeout, but not before J.P. Arencibia failed to corral a Johnson pitch in the dirt, allowing Konerko to come home.

Axelrod appeared to be on the way to another solid inning before Colby Rasmus launched a knee high fastball over the outfield wall, tying the game at one Rasmus's fifth of the season). He recovered in the third, however, with his first 1-2-3 inning of the game.

Arencibia started off the bottom of the fourth with a single, but Axelrod pitched into two straight fielder's choices. For the third out, Alexei Ramirez produced one of the nicer (if not the nicest) web gems of this young White Sox season, a diving, full extension catch on a sharply hit ball.

The Sox' failure to get more than a run in the second inning started to loom large; upon going 1-2-3 in the 6th, Johnson had retired the last 10 Sox hitters he'd faced.

Once again, Axelrod appeared to be in the clear in an inning, only to get burned. With two outs and a 1-2 count, Axelrod served up a meatball to Arencibia, who launched the second Blue Jays solo homer of the game. It truly was a shame, but such is baseball: mistakes don't always kill you, but they very often will.

Axelrod started to unravel, giving up two straight singles. A sharply hit ball to short led to a fielder's choice and, mercifully, the end of what was beginning to look like a disastrous inning for Axelrod. The White Sox went into the final third of the game down 2-1.

"Come on fellas, we need some runs. Let's do this," Hawk said to start the top of the seventh. I think I detected a barely audible sigh at the end of that exhortation.

As if on cue, Konerko launched a shot over the left field wall, his third long ball of the season. The White Sox couldn't add to that, however, because scoring runs in any way other than solo homers or off of wild pitches would be unseemly.

Hector Santiago relieved Axelrod to start the 7th, tossing a perfect 1-2-3 inning. After the White Sox failed to put anything on the board in the 8th, Santiago returned and got the first two batters out before Venture made the call for Matt Lindstrom, who would face Arencibia. Lindstrom got ahead in the count and eventually forced Arencibia into a harmless infield flyout, sending the game into the 9th at 2-2.

The White Sox began the 9th with two straight walks (Dewayne Wise pinch ran for Dunn). Gillaspie went on to strike out, but you'll never believe what happened next: Dayan Viciedo showed great plate discipline, fought back from a 1-2 count, and launched a double into left center field, scoring Wise from second. WHAT IS THIS FEELING I DON'T EVEN.

To make matters even better, Konerko tagged up from third and blazed a trail home, beating Rajai Davis's throw from right field, extending the lead to 4-2.

Addison Reed took the mound in the 9th, looking for his fifth save in as many opportunities. Reed got himself in trouble right away, putting runners on the corners before recording an out. A sac fly cut the lead to 4-3, but the Sox were now a double play away from victory.

After battling Rajai Davis for a few pitches on a 1-2 count, Reed got him to lineout to left field. Reed then closed the door, getting Izturis to flyout meekly, also to left field.

Although the White Sox made a thus far struggling Josh Johnson look quite good, it's encouraging to see them pick up a close win with some clutch hitting. Ignoring a pair of mistakes, Dylan Axelrod has pitched two solid starts out of three this season.

The White Sox move to 6-8 on the season, with two more games in Toronto before they finally return to the South Side on Friday.

Notes:

Paul Konerko was 3 for 3 on the evening, including a solo homer. He also walked once.
Jeff Keppinger batted 0 for 4, seeing only 14 pitches.
Hector Santiage retired all five batters he faced, throwing 15 of his 20 pitches for strikes.

Game No. 81 Recap, Bulls-Magic: Magic Cures What Ails You

2013-04-15T21:20:00.003-04:00

Chicago Bulls 102, Orlando Magic 84

The Bulls entered tonight having squandered any momentum that win against New York could have possibly generated; since then, the Bulls have lost two straight, putting them a game behind Atlanta with two games to go. A Chicago loss and an Atlanta win tomorrow night would seal the Bulls' playoff seed at the 6 spot, meaning a tough first round opponent in the Indiana Pacers.

As such, a game like tonight's, against a quite frankly horrid Orlando Magic squad, was one that a team with even a modicum of hope for any sort of playoff run should win. Jacque Vaughn's Magic team entered tonight with a 20-60 record, second to last in the Eastern Conference and the second worst mark in the entire league (they're only one game better than last place Charlotte).

Fortunately for the Bulls, both Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson made their return, albeit from the bench and under a minutes cap.

Orlando jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead, but a Hinrich trey from the straight away and a beautiful backdoor dish from Carlos Boozer to Jimmy Butler allowed the Bulls to pull within two; on the next possession, Boozer faced up and hit his patented jumper to tie it at 9 four and a half minutes in.

The Bulls' defense was far from lockdown in the opening quarter, but the Bulls were able to capitalize on some easy buckets in transition situations and off of turnovers. Chicago entered the game tied for second to last in the league in points per game (93.1), but the Magic weren't far ahead, ranked 24th with 94.3 ppg. Of course, this is the NBA, where games aren't won or lost in the first quarter, or even the second or third.

Nonetheless, the Magic finished the first quarter with a shooting percentage of 47.6%; to the Bulls' credit, however, that number was hovering around 55% with just a few minutes left in the first quarter, so the defense tightened up a little bit. Chicago took a two point deficit into the second quarter, but, on the bright side, Noah and Gibson entered the game late in the second, logging their first minutes in some time.

Unfortunately, Noah picked up three quick fouls in just 4-5 minutes of play, with his third coming just over two minutes into the second quarter. A couple of minutes later, Rip Hamilton also picked up his third, putting the Bulls in an awkward situation very early in the game.

Upon an Orlando 24-second violation, Neil Funk mused that sometimes "you just have to wonder what Orlando is doing." An appropriate comment given that particular possession, and yet, the Bulls were still down four.

The offense was much harder to come by early in the second, as both teams combined for just nine points in the second frame's first five minutes. A 5-0 Bulls run gave them a 29-28 lead just past the halfway point in the second.

The Bulls offense start to hum down the stretch in the second, with four buckets from Boozer and Luol Deng from within 10 feet (three of them layups) and two more treys from Hinrich. Deng added another three for good measure, and a foul on a Jimmy Butler alley-oop dunk attempt sent the Bulls into the break up 49-37. Despite a shaky first 18 minutes or so, strong halves from Boozer (12 pts), Deng (14 pts) and Hinrich (3-for-3 from three) gave the Bulls a sizable cushion as the first half drew to a close.

The Bulls came out in the second and immediately found Marco Belinelli on the right wing, who nailed a good look from three to put Chicago up 52-37 in front of what appeared to be a mostly empty Amway Center. Chicago was 6-for-7 from beyond the arc at this point, the same Bulls squad that entered the game ranked 21st in the league in three-point shooting percentage (35%). That might have more to do with the Magic than anything else, but it still counts on the score sheet just the same.

Hinrich rained in another three with just under five minutes to go, giving the Bulls a whopping 68-45 lead. As I sort of hinted at earlier, it was only a matter of time before the Bulls overwhelmed the Magic. It is a good sign that this process began in the second quarter as opposed to the fourth, where even a team as poor as the Magic can sneak away with a win if you let them hang around.

Things were going so well that Nate Robinson --NATE ROBINSON-- was passing up open three pointers late in the third. On one possession in the third quarter's final minute, Robinson received the ball up top, an open look there for the taking, but chose to swing it to Butler in the corner (who buried the trey). Of course, Nate made up for this with a technical foul, just to prove that he had not in fact been possessed by altruistic spirits of some sort.

With both the Blackhawks and Sox on right now, there's probably not much use in talking about the fourth quarter. Orlando was only able to cut the lead to 16, but the outcome was never in question. Unlike Chicago's Nov. 26 collapse against Milwaukee, this Orlando team did not quite have the same, well, everything, basically. Actually, current Magic starter Tobias Harris was in fact a starter for the Bucks back then (Beno Udrih was also in Milwaukee then), but they clearly did not have enough residual magic (did you see that?) to topple the Bulls on this occasion.

Chicago rolled into Orlando this evening with reasonable expectations for a comfortable win. Unlike some other contests against the dregs of the league, the Bulls took care of business, keeping their hopes for the 5-seed alive.

Atlanta will take on the Toronto Raptors tomorrow at home before their Wednesday trip to Madison Square Garden. The Bulls will likely still need to win on Wednesday against Washington in the United Center, assuming Atlanta doesn't drop both of its remaining games (especially considering that the Knicks have nothing left to play for at this point in the regular season).

Regardless, tonight's performance was a much needed boost of confidence for a Bulls squad that had lost four of its last five.

Game No. 78 Recap, Bulls-Knicks: Clean Sweep

2013-04-11T23:15:00.003-04:00

Chicago Bulls 118, New York Knicks 111

Luol Deng came out and hit an elbow jumper to start the game, but the Knicks were quickly able to jump out to an 8-2 lead less than two minutes in. How, you ask? Of course, via the dreaded three-point shot. As I mentioned earlier in the preview post, the Knicks shot a disgusting 20-for-36 from three on Tuesday, and they started this one with two from the left side, one from Shumpert and Felton each.

Unlike the matchups in MSG, it was the Knicks who jumped out to a big early lead, 11-2 by the 9:10 mark, forcing a Thibodeau timeout. It was not an auspicious start for the Bulls.

Out of the timeout, starting "center" Chris Copeland nailed another trey, extending the lead to 14-2. Meanwhile, the Bulls had missed their next five shots after the aforementioned Deng make.

The Knicks finally missed their first shot of the game at the 7:37 mark, but the Bulls offense could not keep up at the other end. A trey from Pablo Prigioni at the 5:58 mark --forcing another Bulls timeout-- gave the Knicks their 23rd point six minutes in. Small sample size and all, but through just over six minutes of play, the Knicks were scoring at a clip of 1.94 points per possession.

Luckily, a quick 10-0 Bulls run brought Chicago a step away from the precipice of First Quarter Blowout City. After going down 23-6 halfway through the first, the Bulls held the Knicks to just seven points the rest of the way. Entering the second quarter down 30-23 was just about as close to "winning" a quarter as a team can get while being down seven.

On the not so bright side, the Knicks continued their sharpshooting ways early in the second, with a long two and a trey on consecutive possessions from Raymond Felton, and another trey from Copeland a couple of minutes later. Although it was only 15 minutes into the game, the Knicks were outshooting their three-point shooting percentage from Tuesday, having shot 7-for-11 from beyond the arc (64%). No matter how many times the Bulls would rally back, there is no way the Bulls could win this one with the Knicks shooting so many relatively uncontested threes.

A few minutes into the second, Mike Woodson was forced to roll with a four guard lineup, with Copeland as the only big. This is where you start pining for a healthy Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. Done pining? Okay, let's move to the next graf.

After a 3-for-3 start from the field, Carmelo Anthony went on to miss 11 straight, which probably had somewhat to do with the Bulls' ability to get back into the game relatively quickly. Also, the Bulls got some solid bench production, with six points from Rip Hamilton (yes, he still exists) and seven from Nate Robinson.

The Bulls cut the deficit to two at one point, but a 7-1 run by the Knicks --that included technical fouls on both Anthony and Robinson-- brought the lead back up to eight. I'm not sure what was said, but the Nate tech took the wind out of the Bulls' sails for a moment, especially on the heels of the Melo tech.

Despite a disastrous first six minutes, the Bulls went into the half down just 59-54, powered by a 57% mark from two and 25 combined second quarter points from Robinson and Hamilton. The Bulls' D was not good in any respect, but I'll take 54 points in a half from an undermanned Bulls squad any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The second half began not unlike the first. New York started the third quarter on a 14-4 run, extending the lead back to 73-58 and back into the nebulous border region separating the vaguely salvageable situation and Blowout City, USA.

Carlos Boozer committed his fifth turnover early in the third, out of seven total Chicago turnovers. On this night, Boozer was incapable of dishing out of the double team, which made things easy for the Knicks whenever the Bulls fed him the ball.

On the defensive end, the Bulls continued to look completely clueless on the pick and roll, leaving Copeland open over and over again, a failing for which Copeland made the Bulls pay. Halfway through the third, he was only 3-for-10 from the field, but all three of his makes were from beyond the arc (where he was 3-for-6).

None other than Jimmy Butler came through to give the Bulls a spark, grabbing back-to-back steals and slamming home two breakaway dunks, cutting the lead to 11. Still, it was exactly the sort of thing the Bulls desperately needed, as they weren't going to outshoot the Knicks from long-range.

This wave of momentum was momentarily interrupted, as J.R. Smith shot faked his way to the rim for an easy two out of the timeout. However, the Bulls rallied to score the next eight points, cutting the lead to five once again near the end of the third. A Robinson corner trey in transition with 2.8 seconds to go miraculously sent the Bulls into the final quarter down just 82-80.

A quick check on the Anthony/Smith "high-usage, low efficiency" barometer: through three, they were a combined 17-for-42 from the field, good for just 40%. Good, good.

Starting the third, a Boozer two and a Hamilton three gave the Bulls their first lead since the beginning of the game. The crowd woke up and Chicago's defense had picked up a notch or two since the beginning of what at this point was a 21-3 run (!).

Nate hit a big trey, but on the next possession attempted a no-look lob pass to Rip Hamilton on the break, resulting in a turnover and an easy New York two at the other end. But, that's Nate, and this is what he does *insert Eminem Chrysler ad soundtrack*.

Good Nate returned a few minutes later, pitching in a two and a big trey to give the Bulls a seven point lead with 6:16 to go. Again, the Bulls would not have been in this position if not for the combined +35 from Hamilton and Nate off the bench. The duo had 39 of the Bulls' 97 points at this juncture; sometimes I think this Bulls squad is literally made of adamantium.

Nate next two treys didn't fall, however, and the Knicks managed to whittle down the once nine point deficit to just two with under two minutes to go. The next Bulls offensive possession would be crucial. A Felton shoulder to Nate noggin sent the latter to the line for two, where he got a fortunate bounce on the first and calmly sunk the second.

The Knicks again cut it to two and Jimmy Butler failed to convert in the lane on the ensuing offensive possession. In a scary moment, the Bulls left Jason Kidd open for three, but his shot was off the mark. Again, though, the Bulls failed to put the game away, and the Knicks had the ball with 18 seconds left and the chance to tie or win it.

Melo received it up top and immediately drove right, drawing a Butler foul. He swished the first, and then the second, tying the game at 105 all. The Bulls now had their turn at the final possession.

Deng drove right and launched an off-balanced shot, through some contact, off the glass that was just too strong. With 1.5 seconds to go, Carmelo's attempt at a game-winning dagger was off the mark. Naturally, this game had to go to overtime.

---

The Bulls jumped out to an early four point lead after a big Nate and-1 and a Deng trey.

A tremendous sequence of Butler defense on J.R. Smith led to, of course...a Smith technical foul! I bet you didn't see that coming. Or maybe you did, because you were watching the game and already saw these things I am writing about.

Once again, Good Nate drove to his right and flew by Iman Shumpert for an easy finish off the glass, giving the Bulls a seven point lead with 1:36 left. Another strong drive for a layup from Deng just about sealed it up.

For the second time in the past month, the Bulls saw an opponent come into the United Center with a long winning streak and said bastante. Things looked grim early, as the Knicks looked like they were simply continuing their impeccable performance against the Wizards on Tuesday.

But, as always, the Bulls were resilient. Also, despite the occasional case of brain melt, Nate Robinson played like the John Lucas III 134.0 that he is, scoring 35 points on 10-for-18 shooting, just one shy of Melo's 36 (on just 13-for-34 shooting). Yes, Nate Robinson was the best player on the floor in a game featuring Carmelo Anthony.

For a regular season with exactly zero Derrick Rose minutes, this sure has been quite the ride. The victory puts the Bulls a half game ahead of the sixth place Hawks, with one fewer loss. With four games to go, the Bulls will need to continue this sort of play if they are going to avoid a first round matchup with an Indiana team that gave the Bulls all sorts of problems this season.

Nonetheless, a sweep of the best Knicks team in many, many years is no small feat, and is simply further proof (not that you needed any) that the Bulls can beat any team in the league despite a whole mess of injuries and a bench full of tumbleweeds.

Game No. 78 Preview, Bulls-Knicks: On Fire

2013-04-11T09:01:00.002-04:00

Chicago Bulls (42-35) vs. New York Knicks (51-26)

The Bulls and Knicks meet tonight for their fourth and final meeting this season, a series which has somewhat surprisingly been dominated by the former this season. Chicago is 3-0 against the Knicks, who recently locked up the division title and have a magic number of three for the No. 2 spot in the East, with Indiana hot on their heels. The Knicks have been beset with all sorts of injuries all season, but they still have much to play for down the stretch before the playoffs begin.

Thibodeau's squad notched a close victory at the UC back on Dec. 8, and you of course probably remember the two thumpings the Bulls delivered in the Garden (both which ended up looking vaguely close on the box score).

Both teams are riddled with injuries at the moment, so this matchup will not exactly represent both teams at full strength, let alone even 75% of their full capacity. Regardless, it is an important game for both squads, as the Bulls are also looking to hold on to the 5-seed in order to face Brooklyn in the first round, a much better matchup in my mind than a date with the Pacers.

At this point, there's no need to run through the roster for a fourth time this season: you know these Knicks. On Tuesday, the Knicks went with a starting five of Martin-Anthony-Prigioni-Shumpert-Felton; unfortunately for the Knicks, Kenyon Martin was the latest guy to go down in Tuesday's game against the Wizards. He, Tyson Chandler, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace will all likely be out for this one (although this is just me doing some early morning speculating as I write this).

As such, the Knicks will be even more thin at the front court than they've been in past matchups. The Knicks are apparently close to signing James Singleton, who sounds like a Kenyon Martin approximate of some sort, but I'm not sure if that will be done in time for tonight's game. According to Frank Isola, the Knicks will likely have to cut someone (i.e. Kurt Thomas) to make this happen.

In any case, the song remains the same. The Bulls will need to be physical with this Knicks team, which has struggled with that brand of play against the Bulls in their previous triumvirate of matchups. As you are likely aware, Carmelo Anthony has been channeling Spike Albrecht of late, averaging an insane 40.6 ppg in the month of April, including 50- and 36-point outputs at Miami and at Oklahoma City. Not only has Anthony's jersey sales topped LeBron's, his MVP star may be rising past the latter's after it dipped somewhat in the middle of the season.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, with Joakim Noah out and Taj Gibson currently listed as day-to-day, there might not be much opportunity to take advantage of the boards as the Bulls have done against New York in the past. I don't think the Bulls can count on cracking the century mark in this one as they did in the two games in MSG. This will be one or lost by, you guessed it, defense and probably Jimmy Butler getting close to duplicating his career night on the offensive end against Toronto.

The Bulls are on a two-game skid, ending a long winning streak against the Pistons and dropping the aforementioned game in Toronto on Tuesday. As we've seen all season, there is no reason to do much extrapolating from this sort of thing: the Bulls have been known to lose to poor teams only to turn around and beat one of the league's best shortly thereafter (and vice versa). There's no reason to expect the Bulls to not put up a fight, especially at home.

However, if the Knicks somehow manage to go 20-for-36 (55.6%) from three again, as they did on Tuesday, this one will of course be pretty ugly. In their previous matchups, the Knicks have shot 35%, 31% and 50% from three against the Bulls. If Chicago's defense can allow something close to the first two matchups, they'll be in business.

As always, forcing Anthony and J.R. Smith into high-usage, low-efficiency outputs will be the name of the game, as well as being mindful of the always dangerous Steve Novak corner three.

The simple "100-point rule" applies tonight: the Bulls haven't cracked the century mark since their March 27 victory against the Heat. If the Knicks manage to score 100+, turn out the lights. I don't think they will, but I once again don't think the Bulls have enough juice to pull one out against a Knicks team playing its best ball since its early season run of dominance. But, I've been wrong many times before, and it's not like the Bulls didn't somewhat recently end the Heat's prolific streak.

Bulls 87, Knicks 93.

Game No. 2, White Sox-Royals: Errors and Long Balls

2013-04-03T18:55:00.000-04:00

Fouad Egbaria

Chicago White Sox 5, Kansas City Royals 2

Hey, how about a little baseball? As with everything else around here, I can't promise this will run every day or anything, but some writing is better than no writing, especially with my Michigan stuff mostly going up at Maize n Brew these days.

Anywho, I had the chance to take in the Sox' second game of the season this afternoon, coming after the always annoying post-opening-day-day-without-a-game. On an exciting note, this was my first trip to the Cell in many, many years (i.e. the early 2000s). So, it was nice to be back, even if the park was depressingly empty. But, hey: 1:10 p.m. on a Wednesday? What can you do.

Jake Peavy took the mound for the White Sox and came out in vintage bulldog fashion, striking out five of the first six Royals he faced, all five going down swinging and looking generally like fools.

In the bottom of the second, Adam Dunn made up for a poor opening day by smacking the first pitch into the right field stands, a 431-foot home run shot. Interestingly enough, Tyler Flowers knocked one out of the park on the first pitch of the next inning as well, making this two games with two homers for Flowers. At this rate, Tyler Flowers is on pace to become the most decorated athlete in the history of Western civilization. My guess is he won't keep up this homer per game pace...let's see if this bold prediction holds up.

Although Peavy did bring the good stuff today, his outing wasn't without its troubles, namely due to the defense behind him. In the third, a Three Stooges-esque little collision between Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo led to the former dropping what should have been a fairly routine out. The error was charged to Ramirez, but it seemed to me that Ramirez waved Viciedo off early off for the latter to have gotten out of the way. But, in the end, the ball's on the ground, and that's not good. This would become a trend.

In the same inning (after an Alex Gordon flyout following the aforementioned shenanigans), Viciedo mishandled a ball in left field that allowed Chris Getz (GO BLUE) the opportunity to score with ease, tying the game at 1-1. The top of the third of this one was one to forget.

Luckily, Chicago's home run offense kept churning on, this time with Viciedo hitting a two-run home run, bringing in the walked Adam Dunn in the process.

After a quiet fifth inning --in which all three Sox struck out swinging-- Gordon started the sixth for the Royals with a double. Two ground outs later and Gordon crossed home, cutting the lead to 4-2. Peavy gave up another double, this time to Mike Moustakas, but he managed to get out of the inning and complete his 107-pitch outing having given up two runs and four hits.

Jesse Crain relieved Peavy, and the defense once again faltered. Dewayne Wise, entering the game at left for Viciedo, simply dropped a catchable ball down the line, allowing Hosmer to reach second. I'm not sure if the sun was in his eyes or what, but the Sox were quite lucky all these errors didn't come back to bite them.

Crain then gave a single to Lorenzo Cain, he rang up a big punchout against Jeff Francoeur. Robin Venture then brought in Donnie "I'll be here all week" Veal, who faced a pinch-hitting Miguel Tejada (yes, he is still around). Veal walked Tejada in four pitches, loading the bases with one out. Things were looking grim, but a Veal managed to get Gordon to fly out and Matt Lindstrom (in his White Sox debut) entered the game, also getting Alcides Escobar to fly out, ending the inning.

In the bottom of the 7th, Luke Hochevar relieved Ervin Santana. Alexei took advantage, knocking, you guessed it, another dinger over the newly de-memorialized outfield wall. The insurance run proved to be unnecessary, but hey, fireworks retailers have families to feed too.

Matt Thornton relieved Lindstrom with one out in the 8th and proceeded to get two easy outs, paving the way for an Addison Reed save situation in the 9th, his second in as many games. I doubt Bobby Thigpen's 1990 saves mark of 57 is in any serious danger, but you couldn't have really asked for a much better start to the season from Reed.

Reed rattled off a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th to end the game, sending the White Sox to 2-0 on the season. A few notes:

The White Sox still haven't scored a run of the non-HR variety this season. So, yeah: same old White Sox.
Gordon Beckham walked once but struck out twice.
De Aza saw 22 pitches on the day after seeing 21 on Monday.
New 3B Jeff Keppinger is batting .125 thus far this season on eight at bats. He's struck out once and has yet to draw a walk.

Denard Robinson Q & A in the NYT

2013-04-03T02:30:00.002-04:00

You've probably seen this already, but oh well. It's a fairly boilerplate set of questions and answers, but this part was of interest (other than the sexual orientation question, which he answered just about exactly as you'd expect him to):

Q. Your nickname is Shoelace because you play with your laces untied. Will you be superstitious or feel uncomfortable if the team that drafts you makes you tie your laces?

A. I am a little bit superstitious. But you know what? I can’t afford the fine. I’m not well off. So I will be tying my shoelaces if they want me to tie them.

In the end, this is trivial --except for people like me and you-- but it is also somewhat saddening. NFL, why do you potentially (i.e. probably will) have to ruin everything that is fun and good?

(Source: Adam Glanzman)

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Michigan to the Final Four

2013-04-02T21:31:00.004-04:00

It's been over 48 hours now, and it really hasn't sunk in yet. Michigan is going to the Final Four.

I wrote about this and the enduring incredulity over at Maize n Brew today:

The NCAA tournament is a strange concentrated series of staccato blasts, short weekends of fevered action moving faster than Time itself. Hopes rise and they fall, expectations collapse and are born anew. It is sport on a subatomic level, each game meaningful on an elemental level. March Madness is like staring the supernatural in the face, not unlike the Sodees in Escanaba in Da Moonlight. You see what you see and sometimes you just can't believe it. Sometimes you even go crazy, waiting for that first buck. You're 43 and wondering: when?

To be quite honest, growing up watch Michigan basketball during the Ellerbe and Amaker eras, I never thought this day would come; but, here we are.

Game No. 70 Recap, Bulls-Heat: Rasputin Strikes Back

2013-03-27T22:53:00.003-04:00

Bulls 101, Heat 97

The Bulls came out firing, jumping out to an 11-2 start in the game's opening minutes, causing an Erik Spoelstra timeout at just the 9:02 mark of the opening quarter. Obviously, the rest of the game would not continue this way, but it was encouraging to see the Bulls come out strong, hitting some shots and getting to loose balls.

Carlos Boozer was in on the early hot start, helping to extend the lead to 13-2 with an offensive rebound and a solid conversion from about 10-12 feet. Unfortunately, a quick pair of LeBron threes cut the lead down to 13-9.

However, with some more hard work on the offensive glass, Boozer forced Udonis Haslem into his third foul of the game, just 5:15 into the contest.

The Bulls were putting on a beautiful display of spacing and ball movement early on in the game, supplemented by some opportunistic defense at the other end. Chicago was shooting very well early and cleaning up some of its misses; although the glass half empty thought would be "this won't continue," again, at least it happened at all.

Deng nailed another trey near the 4:00 minute mark, and the game was starting to remind me of the Bulls' two trips to Madison Square Garden this season.

Thanks to a pair of absurd Nate Robinson floaters near the end of the quarter, the Bulls entered the second up 32-22 despite 13 first quarter points for LeBron. Then again, the Heat aren't necessarily new to being down early in games as of late, so the Bulls could not afford to ease off even a tiny bit.

Fortunately, they didn't in the second, keeping their double digit lead for most of the quarter. Nate did his decidely Nate thing, and various other Bulls pitched in on the offensive end. Boozer had some trouble finishing around the basket in the first half on a couple of different occasions, but he otherwise had himself a nice half, going 5/10 from the field for 10 points.

The Bulls outworked and outplayed the Heat in the first half, dishing out 15 assists to Miami's five. A staunch defensive effort on a Chris Bosh shot attempt in the closing seconds of the half sent the two teams into the break, the Bulls up 55-46. Something something end the streak something something.

In the third, the Heat drew closer, this time down just five, 57-52, less than three minutes in. It felt very close to gut check time for the Bulls, who could have begun to fold once Miami threatened to tie it up.

Nazr Mohammed should come in for praise here, as he hit the Bull's first jumper of the half in addition to picking up an offensive board and a defensive one that drew Haslem's fourth foul. No, starting a 35-year-old Nazr Mohammed will never be ideal, but he has been sneakily effective at times. Like Kurt Thomas of the Knicks, sometimes that old man game is better than you think.

Despite a highlight reel alley oop from Deng to Butler, dunking over a hapless Bosh, the Bulls went into the final frame up just 69-68. On the bright side, after 13 points in the first quarter, the Bulls held LeBron to just 11 in the second and third combined. Progress! Also, despite a 1/10 start from the field in the third, it is nice that the Bulls were not only still in the game but up one, no less.

The Bulls would need to continue being physical in the paint and not allowing Miami any easy buckets, whether in transition or the half court. Regardless, entering the fourth in the upper 60s is a win for the Bulls, who simply cannot keep up given the state of the active lineup.

A 6-0 run by the Bulls, capped by Birdman derping an open dunk and Butler finishing over him at the other end, gave Chicago some breathing room. Still, it was difficult not to hope for the lead to grow a decent bit before the final four of five minutes, as we've seen the Bulls collapse down the stretch due to a lack of playmakers vis-a-vis the opponent.

An aggressive take by Hinrich in transition gave the Bulls a 80-73 lead with six minutes or so to go, a make sandwiched by two Deng treys. It was a somewhat lethargic third quarter, but the Bulls' outside shooting was coming to life at the right time. Now, it was all about getting stops.

LeBron baited Hinrich into driving past him on three consecutive (I believe) possessions, leading to three straight blocks and a lot of consternation. STOP DRIVING KIRK AHHHH. Well, with just over two minutes to go, Kirk drove, found on the wrap around pass at the baseline, who then swished it to give Chicago a 94-85 lead with 2:18 to go.

A pair of Miami buckets cut the lead to just five with over a minute to go, which might as well not have been a lead at all with LeBron looking to go into heroball mode after the flagrant foul situation with Boozer several minutes earlier.

Big buckets from Boozer and Robinson essentially sealed up the win for the Bulls, sending the Heat into foul mode.

The Heat entered the United Center and lost tonight for the first time since Feb. 1. It seemed unlikely after the Heat tied it up in the third, but the Bulls continued to fight and scratch and do all the things people scoff at because of irony and Internet sarcasm.

The Bulls have notched some solid wins against some solid teams this season, but this one, without the service of Noah, Belinelli, Rose and Hamilton, easily comes in as the best victory of the year. Obviously, a Bulls team with all those guys is a completely different squad, and it's difficult to extrapolate based on this game how they'd do at full strength, but...either way, it's hard not to get excited after wins like this.

An excellent performance from Deng, Butler, and, yes, Boozer, powered the Bulls to victory while short-handed against a team on an insanely prolific streak. Who knows how the rest of the season will unfold, but tonight was one of a select few regular season games that will be remembered for years to come.

Northwestern hires Duke assistant and former Glenbrook North Spartan Chris Collins

2013-03-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

There you have it. Northwestern is set to hire Duke assistant Chris Collins, per basically everyone on the Internet, less than two weeks after firing longtime head coach Bill Carmody. Here's Jeff Goodman reporting the above:

Duke associate head coach and Illinois native Chris Collins will become the next head coach at Northwestern.

Collins met with the Northwestern administration on Monday and a deal is expected to be finalized on Wednesday. Collins will continue to coach withthe Blue Devils until they finish the postseason.

This was not unexpected, and, on the surface, it all makes pretty perfect sense. Collins is from nearby Northbrook, Ill., from a high school (Glenbrook North) that has produced players like Jon Scheyer. Insert verbiage about new blood, the ability to recruit the area, "Northwestern is basically Duke waiting to be unleashed," etc. etc.

To be honest, this seems to me like if Michigan had hired Brady Hoke back in 2007, i.e. a slightly early homecoming. Collins has been an assistant at Duke since 2000, and was also an assistant under Tommy Amaker for a couple of seasons. However, he's never been a head coach; is it better to hire a guy with Collins' profile (local guy, yada yada yada) or make a play for one of the countless mid-major guys out there? I'm obviously not privy to the details of Northwestern's coaching search, but I suppose we shall find out in the coming years. It's entirely possible that Northwestern felt that it wouldn't be able to snag a guy like, say, FGCU's Andy Enfield.

Whatever the case may be, the Wildcats needed some change. Carmody's efforts can't be discounted, as he left Northwestern basketball in better shape than he found it despite never being able to cross the river into tournament land.

A quick Rivals search shows that there aren't any Glenbrook North college prospects on the current squad. The question is, can Collins recruit outside of the Evanston/north suburbs? As always, it will be a tough road, but it doesn't hurt to have coached under Coach K for over a decade while also having Doug Collins for a father.

Game No. 70 Preview, Bulls-Heat: Have You Heard

2013-03-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Chicago Bulls (38-31) vs. Miami Heat (56-14)

8:00 ET, ESPN

So, due to school, the Hawks and Big Ten basketball, the Bulls sort of fell off the radar here. Such is life. It's hard to believe that tonight's tilt is the 70th game of the season, but here we are.

The Bulls have been the basketball manifestation of Rasputin this season, suffering all manner of injuries and seemingly deadly blows only to continue to trudge along, seven games above .500 and fifth in the Eastern Conference, currently slated for a winnable first round series against Brooklyn.

Derrick Rose is still gone, and it seems fairly obvious to everyone that he won't be suiting up this season. Richard Hamilton has done his best Martin Havlat impression, having not played since Feb. 26. Taj Gibson missed 10 games with a sprained MCL, but mercifully returned to the lineup last Thursday against Portland. Since his return, he's averaged 12.3 ppg in three games. Needless to say, he was missed.

Kirk Hinrich did return against Portland on March 21 after having missed seven straight, but he's shot a horrendous 5/24 from the field in his first three games back. He was a -10 in Sunday's win in Minneapolis, and Robinson rightfully got 10 more minutes despite Hinrich getting the starting nod.

The Bulls will still be without Rose and Hamilton, and Marco Belinelli will be a game-time decision after missing the Minnesota game on Sunday. Joakim Noah, who has missed the last two games with a case of a return of that pesky plantar fasciitis, will also be a game-time decision.

If Belinelli and Noah can't go, the Bulls' chances of ending the 27-game Heat winning streak are slim. If they go, I'm saying there's a chance. The Bulls are 1-1 against Miami on the season, beating the Heat in Miami on Jan. 4 but getting thumped at the United Center on Feb. 21, 86-67.

In case you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that the Heat are on a bit of a streak. Their last loss came on Feb. 1, which is fairly ridiculous. However, their upcoming stretch comes against some opponents with a pulse, so if they are going to lose it might as well be now; why not Chicago?

There's not much need to go through the standard personnel rundown. LeBron James is not from this planet, and is sure to be this season's MVP, an award he will probably win [*Sandlot voice*] for-ev-errrr. He's averaging 26.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg and 7.4 apg. LeBron is a basketball cyborg, sent to us from Cyberdyne to terrorize the National Basketball Association. Good luck, Luol and Jimmy. Hoping your team prevents LeBron from getting into the lane is like trying to stop a speeding locomotive.

As always, here's the Deng-James player comparison (sample size caveats do apply, given these teams have met only twice):

Elsewhere, Dwyane Wade has missed the last two games for the Heat and might be out for this one [update: he's playing]. Ray Allen continues to come off of the bench to drain threes in your eye (43% on the season); Mike Miller starts at the SG spot in Wade's stead.

The Heat have had a few close calls during this stretch, including a 98-95 victory at Cleveland (sans Kyrie Irving). I mean, they have to lose eventually...said every other team in the last six or seven weeks.

If Noah can go, which I doubt will happen, the Bulls have a shot at doing some work on the offensive glass against a team with a defensive rebounding percentage of 72.8%, putting them in the bottom third of the league. Otherwise, it all depends on whether or not Boozer can nail some jumpers, Deng can pitch in something while having to check LeBron and Nate Robinson doing his best 2011-12 John Lucas III against Miami impression.

On the bright side, the Bulls have showed some fight, winning their last two against division leader Indiana and at Minnesota after having previously lost six of their last eight. The Pacers game was yet another Big Ten-esque clash, with a combined 38 points from Noah and Boozer powering the Bulls to to a win on a night when Nazr Mohammed not only started but played 31 minutes. To his credit, he did score 11 points and grab seven boards, which I would be lying if I said that I didn't think he would reach those numbers in an entire season with the Bulls.

But, as they say, next man up. Injuries or not, the Bulls have proven they can beat the Heat without Rose on the floor, but that doesn't mean it will actually happen.

At full strength, I'd actually feel pretty good about the Bull's chances, even if we're talking 2012-13 "full strength" (i.e. everybody but Rose). Even if Noah and Belinelli sit, I would still like Chicago's chances against a Wade-less squad. LeBron is great, but can he do it against Chicago by himself?

The answer to that question is, well, of course he can. There are a lot of injury-related hypotheticals tied to this one, but one team has LeBron and the other doesn't. Play this game ten times without Wade, Noah and Belinelli (and Hamilton and Rose) and the Heat probably win six of seven times out of ten.

Bulls 89, Heat 93.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: FGCU Eagles

2013-03-26T11:33:00.001-04:00

Source: Fouad Egbaria

Once again, I took a brief look at a potential Michigan opponent in the next round (should the Wolverines advance); this time, I put in a few words on the 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, this year's Norfolk State if Norfolk State had won another game after knocking off Missouri last season.

Anywho, here it is. We're still many hours away from 7:37 on Friday, so fill your mind with useless sports knowledge.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Indiana Recap

2013-03-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Michigan finished the 2012-13 regular season with a mark of 25-6 (12-6); yes, that Big Ten mark is inferior to last year's by one game. Sure, this year's Big Ten is better than last year's, but isn't college basketball just funny sometimes?

Anyway, here is my recap of Sunday's gut punch of a loss, at Maize n Brew as usual. Every single loss Michigan took this season stung in its own way, perhaps all magnified by the fact that they were relatively few in number.

Nonetheless, what would ordinarily be hailed a wildly successful regular season ended with an anticlimactic thud, as the Wolverines enter this weekend's Big Ten Tournament in Chicago with the 5-seed and a Thursday matchup with, yes, Penn State.

To Chicago we go.

One Week

2013-03-08T12:18:00.002-05:00

State Street, Chicago

Of course, there's one little thing to take care of before that. Before they can see the red of the Red Line, they'll be seeing Indiana's crimson on Sunday...preview will be up at Maize n Brew at some point tomorrow. I say "one week" instead of "six days" because, yes, I'm hoping for that first round bye. That would be nice, wouldn't it, because we know who awaits if we land the 5-seed. It seems strange to be even somewhat worried about a potential matchup with a conference cellar dweller when you root for a top 10 team, but this is where we're at. College basketball, man.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Michigan State

2013-03-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

So, I won't lie, I've been a little disappointed that I haven't had much time to post much of anything here in 2013. With a break coming up in a couple of weeks, I will have a decent chunk of free time to get this thing going again.

Also of note: thanks to being a Big Ten student again (YEAH #B1GCATS), I am planning on being at every session of the Big Ten tournament here in Chicago. I'll do my best to provide some real, actual coverage of this, doing some journalisty things like video, pictures (probably take from the 300 level of the United Center) and general updates, Michigan and non-Michigan alike. Either way, it should be a fun time, assuming the Wolverines bring yesterday's defensive intensity to the Windy City.

Speaking of, I recapped yesterday's rematch against the Spartans over at Maize n Brew, as usual. Michigan is now 8-5 in its last 13 games, so to say that things have been just a little up and down this past month would be somewhat of an understatement when juxtaposed with that 16-0 start.

Regardless, whether you're beating Northwestern by 28 on Jan. 3 or Michigan State by one on Feb. 3, a win is a win. The share of the regular season title is out of reach unless Indiana gets upset by Ohio State on Tuesday, but a pair of wins to end the season would do wonders for Michigan heading into postseason play.

Even on the heels of a tremendous victory such as this one, it's hard not to look back and think about what could have been (see: @Wisconsin, @Penn State). Luckily, there's still a great deal for which to play.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Michigan State

2013-02-15T00:54:00.004-05:00

I've been a little negligent of late when it comes to linking my Maize n Brew stuff here, which is probably for the better given the recent stretch. Even Mr. Kurtz is all "man, that stunk," and he was the guy who said "the horror, the horror." So, you know things have gotten pretty real.

Oh well. Anyway, here's my post from yesterday, in which I talk about the Michigan State game and what it means (if anything) going forward:

No, all is not lost. These sorts of things happen, especially when you've been confronted with the schedule that Michigan has in the last 10 days. The good news is that the most difficult portion of the schedule is behind Michigan now. The recently completed 4-game stretch, without looking into this further, has to have been the toughest such stretch in the country thus far. To recap, Michigan: 1) lost a tough one at Indiana despite getting ambushed at the start 2) gritted out an OT victory against Ohio State at Crisler, aided largely by Tim Hardaway Jr.'s sharpshooting 3) lost in OT at the Kohl Center after a ridiculous Ben Brust shot to tie it and 4) got blown out at the Breslin Center to cap this mini-campaign through the Sahara-esque portion of the greater journey.

The only fun thing about writing that post was the title, which I'm still patting myself on the back for. Good job, me. On the bright side, Michigan should have an opportunity for a nice, cathartic blowout victory on Sunday, back in the friendly confines of the Crisler Center. If everything goes according to plan, it will be like a like nostalgic trip to the early portion of the conference schedule, when everything was great and Michigan was invincible and clearly never going to lose a game ever.

Sentimental Education

2013-02-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

If I can make it there/You know, I'm gonna make it just about anywhere

Youth is an inherent facet of the college game. It is rare to find a team with a starting lineup stocked with upperclassmen; when such teams are to be found, they are typically either a mid-major or not very good.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that Michigan was busy dominating all comers in Manhattan and declaring themselves kings of Brooklyn for a night. In between passive-aggressive glances and cigarette drags, area hipsters spoke in hushed tones of Spike Albrecht and his underappreciated work "Four Minutes, Goodbye Appalachia." Those were simpler, rawer times, before all this corporatized, uptight Big Ten stuff.

In a sense, that is what a nonconference schedule is: a formless sea of conflicting interpretations built on an untenable framework of nothing, by and against nobody you've ever heard of, not unlike an indie album. The Big Ten, on the other hand, is an ordered symphony, at times crashing, at times serene, but thematically consistent and often linear in form if not in plot. If not linear, then its general direction is typically clear: forward, like natural selection adapted to the hardwood.

That's not to say that the former can't be nice; the non-conference schedule surely was just that. Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michigan's cavalry of steely-eyed freshmen led Michigan to an unbeaten mark and, more importantly, the promise of something beyond what many of us --myself included-- had ever had the fortune of witnessing on the hardwood.

Michigan has taken trips to Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana thus far (Northwestern too, I guess--#B1GCats!), all problematic places to play, and has come away with decidedly mixed results in a season that has otherwise been historic in every way. I don't mean to dismiss everything else to date, but wins against some of those teams aren't worth writing home about vis-a-vis any sort of Big Picture, which may not even exist in the world of college basketball in terms of results. In the span of 40 minutes in March, the Big Picture can become just another mundane piece in the colossal jigsaw puzzle that is your average college basketball season.

Although I have realized over the past year or two that the losses don't really hit me like they used to, there was still a lingering bitterness Sunday. Perhaps it was the lofty No. 1 ranking, perhaps it was the opportunity to grab Michigan's biggest regular season win in some time, perhaps it was the chance to do so against a superb Indiana team, in that hall of mirrors in Bloomington no less, where every corner reveals a distorted and bizarre view of the very self you thought you knew before entering.

It should be noted that the season promises to be a great one, and that the end is not near. Michigan will win many more games, and I think it is safe to assume that at least a few of those games will take place in some probably sparsely attended venues in March.

Other than Michigan's occasional tendency to devolve into an NBA-style heroball game (which, to be honest, I'm not necessarily against despite its inefficiency), perhaps it was the mortality of two of Michigan's youth-belying freshmen, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas. Oddly, Mitch "CRUNK" McGary, he of the frenetic game and spontaneous shrug-inducing bursts of "Did I do that?" strength, has been the most consistent of the three insofar as his particular game is concerned.

Again, this shouldn't be construed as me sounding the alarm, pushing the panic button, or whatever such phrase you may prefer. Rather, it's part of an overall narrative that is obvious but was somewhat buried by Michigan's pristine start.

Like the divine right kings of old, it's hard to conceptualize your fallibility when you're strolling down Atlantic Avenue with a crown on your head and asphalt covered in rose petals in your wake.

It's even harder to imagine when placed in the context of Michigan basketball as a whole. The moment has finally come, the resurgence, the return, and how could it be but linear and unstinting? Unfortunately, that is not and will not be the order of things, for college basketball, like football, subsists on chaos, pointed statistical variances and home crowds seemingly unleashed from the bowels of Hell.

Robinson III, he of the No. 1 ORtg in the Big Ten, looked like just another athlete on Saturday. Of course, it's not exactly hard to understand why. Indiana is very good, Assembly Hall is a place so fearsome that you can momentarily forget your own name amid the din and, most importantly, GRIII is just a freshman. The high-flying 360 dunks would seem to defy the laws of space and time, but one cannot outjump youth.

Similarly, Nik Stauskas (NJAS), he of the Big Ten's No. 6 ORtg, is even more prone to bouts of freshmanitis, given his perimeter-oriented game. After all, the rims do get smaller on the road, and I won't wait for scientific inquiry to prove this fact. On Saturday, our favorite Mississaugan went just 3/10 from the field and 1/5 from beyond the arc. That will happen.

Even Trey Burke, the heart and soul through which this team draws its every breath, is a mere true sophomore. For all his brilliance, we would do well to remember that he is still very much learning what he can and cannot do, what he should and shouldn't do.

With trips to Michigan State and Wisconsin still on the docket --in addition to home dates against Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana-- there is still room within the amorphous bubble that is college basketball to explore. College basketball is like writing; you don't always get it right, and it is often glaringly so when that is the case.

On the bright side, it can be a self-correcting mechanism in this way. Unlike seasons gone by, it isn't as if Michigan failed at OSU and IU and didn't have the means to answer back, or, pre-Beilein, didn't know how to. In both games, Michigan rallied back and even had the chance to win despite stretches of frazzled play. Now, Michigan has the pieces to beat anyone, but the challengers are numerous and the divine right that seemed a mandate within the boundaries of the five boroughs has become far from unassailable, if it ever was that to begin with.

Ohio State. Wisconsin. Michigan State. On a practical level, this upcoming stretch will help to determine Michigan's tournament seeding (Big Ten and Big Dance) and the level of assistance it might need to bring home another regular season conference title, preferably unshared.

Thematically, there is much more at stake, for Michigan's freshmen and non-freshmen. The next three games will begin to reveal just how far-reaching this sentimental education can be, for the players and fans alike.

Game No. 46 Recap, Bulls-Nets: Gravy, No Gravy

2013-02-01T22:00:00.001-05:00

SOURCE: karlnorling

It's been a while since I wrote something here. I wish I had more time to do so, but oh well.

Bulls 89 (28-18), Nets 93 (28-19)

Anyway, since my last post, a lot of things have happened. The Bulls went 8-3 after that last win on Jan.11 against the Knicks. Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli hit tremendous game-winners against Toronto and Boston, respectively. Jimmy Butler started a bunch of games (plus tonight's) and basically turned into Michael Jordan. I never exaggerate. Thibs's Bulls have also been playing some stifling defense, holding opponents to under 90 in their last seven outings.

Now that you're all caught up, let's talk about tonight. The Bulls were without the services of Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah due to various injury issues. This necessiated a starting lineup of: Nate-Rip--Gibson-Deng-Mohammed. Although the Nets had cooled off of late, it was a bit much to ask for a win with such a de-clawed (de-horned, I suppose) lineup.

The Bulls had a rough go of it early on, struggling to get much of anything done on the offensive end. Nazr Mohammed contributed four points during his first shift, i.e. more than quadruple season average. Chicago went down 18-8 at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter, but a Deng layup and a pair of Deng free throws (after yet another masterful rebound plus pass from Jimmy Butler) cut the lead to six.

The Bulls were clearly trying to gain their bearings offensively; on D, they were doing just fine until the last two minutes. A Gerald Wallace layup late in the first, where he turned the corner on a pick with Deng unable to impede his progress and a couple nice plays from MarShon Brooks extended the lead back to 12.

Otherwise, it was your standard, lukewarm NBA first quarter. This being the NBA, it was back to a two-point game by the 5:00 mark of the second, with the Bulls down just 31-33 after a Gibson thunderdunk.

Neither team was shooting particularly well at all, but 9-9 from the line for the Bulls --compared to 2-6 for Brooklyn-- helped mitigate that a little bit. It was shaping up to be a game with a final score resembling the matchup on Dec. 15: low-scoring and kind of ugly.

The Bulls took the lead after some classic NBA "ball movement" around the perimeter, concluding with a Deng corner three. Additionally, Deron Williams limped off the floor after landing funny on Brooklyn's previous offensive possession.

Despite not covering themselves in glory early, the Bulls rallied back and competed, as they always do on the road.

Halftime Stats (Bulls 42, Nets 41)

Bulls PPP: 0.94

Deng: 4-11, 13 pts, 3 rebounds
Gibson: 4-9, 8 pts, 2 blocks
Belinelli: 2-3, 9 pts, 4 assists

Nets: PPP: 0.99

Lopez: 5-10, 11 pts
Evans: 4-5, 5 rebounds, 8 pts
Williams: 3-7, 7 pts

Early in the third, Taj Gibson uncorked an even thunder-ier thunderdunk, prompting all the Brooklynites in the crowd to roll their eyes and mention how they knew about Taj before he became mainstream.

The Barclays Arena transformed into Technical Foul City --would-be indie band formers, you can have that name for free-- with Gerald Wallace picking one up while backing down Hamilton, followed by Thibodeau and Hamilton himself picking up techs of their own a few minutes later.

A Keith Bogans (remember him?) corner three gave Brooklyn the lead again halfway through the third, 54-53. Speaking of the extremely foul-happy Bogans, King at one point in the third described him as "running around out there like Edward Scissorhands." I don't know why there are people that dislike Stacey (as usual, I think people just enjoy complaining), but he is tremendous, period.

It was a rough quarter for little Nate Robinson. He took a tumble trying to save a ball on the sideline, he missed a couple of attempts around the rim and took at least one bad shot that I remember. It was definitely a Bad Nate quarter when it came to producing his own offense. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the five, count 'em five assists he dished out in the third. Way to go, Nate. Sharing is good.

Also, he drew a foul in the closing seconds, nailing a pair of free throws to give the Bulls a 67-63 lead heading into the final quarter.

The lead was very quickly squandered. At just about the 7:00 mark, our old friend C.J. Watson nailed a trey to give the Nets a four-point lead, 77-73, forcing Thibs into a full timeout. The Bulls had played well for most of the game, barely even looking like a team missing three starters. At this point, it was beginning to look like one of those games where it would inevitably slip away down the stretch for the Bulls. A long Butler jumper clanking off the rim on the ensuing possession did not inspire much confidence in the contrary.

An Andray Blatche layup made it a seven-point Brooklyn lead. On the next possession, Deng badly missed a three from the wing. By any account, it has been a tremendous season for Bulls team beset with injuries, not having the central cog that makes it all go and key players racking up a truly insane amount of minutes in the process. That said, when the Bulls have lost, it has typically gone something like tonight.

The game was far from over, though. A foul on a Butler dunk attempt cut the lead to five with over four minutes to play. A minute or so later, Nate did his thing, driving hard down the heart of the lane and finishing to cut it to 83-80. Unfortunately, with a chance to tie on the next possession, Blatche coerced Nate into a bad turnover.

Naturally, Joe Johnson hit a killer of a three after a great stretch of defense on the next possession, but Taj answered back with yet another dunk. The Bulls played another tough possession of D, resulting in a huge loose ball foul that sent, of course, Nate Robinson to the line. This is nothing new: Nate might not always make the right play, but you can't deny that his heart isn't in it.

Blatche backed Gibson down for the slowest and-1 ever on the next possession, but, once again, the Bulls answered back, with a nifty Belinelli shot off the glass in the lane. With time running out, the Bulls badly needed a stop, but a Kobe assist from Williams extended the Nets lead again. After spending much of the game beating back the Nets possession by possession, the Nets were more than happy to reciprocate in the fourth.

With 31 seconds to go and a five-point deficit, the game was probably over. Deng converted 1/2 on a trip to the line, but things got interesting when Gerald Wallace threw an awful inbound pass, leading to a Deng layup.

The Bulls eventually fouled, yes, C.J. Watson. He nailed the first one, and then the second.

It's unfortunate to see that shiny road record take a hit, especially with the injury situation, but this game was more encouraging than disheartening. There's not much to say other than: a) it happens, you can't expect to out-DO YOUR JOB everybody no matter the injury circumstances and b) hey look Hawks-'Nucks, this is a veritable buffet of sports!

The Bulls need to be ready to bring it once again, as they head to Atlanta tomorrow night to face a Hawks team that has won four of its last five, and beat the Bulls handily in their last visit to Philips Arena.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Purdue Recap

2013-01-25T09:34:00.001-05:00

(HT: mgovideo)

Here it is, as usual. Michigan wins 68-53, moving to 5-1 in the conference and 18-1 overall. Excellence is good, quoth Henne.

Michigan takes on the enigmatic Illini in Champaign on Sunday. Assuming Michigan doesn't get full on Paul'd (which, given the trolly nature of it is probably better spelled PAWLLLLLL'd), that should be another win for the Wolverines.

Either way, this is fun. I promise I'll actually post something of substance in this space at some point in the near future...school, man. Get outta here, school.

Game No. 34 Preview, Bulls-Knicks: King of the Hill, Top of the Heap Pt. 3

2013-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Chicago Bulls (19-14) @ New York Knicks (23-12)

So, here we are again. Despite the Knicks' somewhat surprising season (I actually had a feeling they'd be pretty good, but not this good), they've struggled against the Bulls, dropping a game in both Chicago (Dec. 8) and more recently in New York (Dec. 21). In case you forgot, this happened the last time these two teams met:

Good times. People were forced to go on timeout and many bad words were said. This just about sums up the New York perspective of this particular game:

(HT @TheKnicksWall)

The Bulls ambushed the Knicks with a 14-2 start and continued to lay it on as the game went on. Only at the end, after all Noah, Chandler, Anthony and head coach Mike Woodson did the Knicks mount a comeback of sorts that made the final score look much closer than the game actually was.

Chicago's aggressive defense frustrated the Knicks' potent attack, which, based on following several Knicks folks on Twitter, does not seem to be an uncommon approach for teams looking to beat the Knicks this season.

Due to a lack of time, this preview will have to be a little shorter than normal. For the standard personnel rundown, check out my preview from the Dec. 21 contest.

Anyway, things are a little different this time. Raymond Felton, who had been struggling mightily with his shot anyway, is out with an injury. Marcus Camby seems to have re-aggravated his plantar fascia injury last night in Indiana. This does not resonate as a huge blow on paper, but it does put a dent in New York's frontcourt, which often struggles when Tyson Chandler isn't around to patrol the floor and/or shooting laser beams out of his eyes.

Also of note, Rasheed Wallace is still out, so no change there. Speaking of Sheed, read this.

Since their 15-5 start, the Knicks have been thoroughly mediocre of late: they've gone 8-7 in their last 15 and come into tonight with a two-game losing streak (on the heels of a two-game winning streak featuring a thumping of San Antonio and a high-scoring W in Orlando).

The Knicks took a tough loss against the similarly physical Boston Celtics, which you probably know about solely because of the post-game come-at-me-bro between Carmelo and Kevin Garnett. Last night, the Knicks got thoroughly Big Ten'd by the Pacers, an 81-76 defeat in which Carmelo was a DNP due to a one-game suspension stemming from the aforementioned incident.

Combined with the fact that tonight is the back end of a back-to-back for the Knicks, New York's less than stellar performance this week should at least allow for a solid shot at another win in Madison Square Garden for the Bulls. The Bulls didn't exactly look impressive themselves on Wednesday against Milwaukee, faltering in the fourth quarter after a big early lead (history, it repeats itself) en route to a 104-96 defeat.

"Luckily," this game is not being played at the United Center. The Bulls have thrived on the road this season, having picked up big wins at MSG and against Miami more recently. Can they do it again? It comes down to this:

J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony combined for 55 points the last time these two teams met, but on a mediocre 19/45 from the field (42%). High volume, low efficiency. This is the formula, but it is easier said than done. Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler did a masterful job containing and frustrating Melo last time; Melo will likely look to come out shooting coming off of his suspension, so they will need to bring a similar effort.

Simply put, the Bulls starters need to get close to matching their shooting efficiency from the last meeting. Even Kirk Hinrich had an incredible performance, shooting 6/8 (4/5 from 3!) en route to a 16-point night and yet another underwhelming showing for Felton.

Transition, transition, transition. The Knicks' transition game losing a bit of zip with Jason Kidd running the show, but everyone knows that he is still capable of Jamie Moyer-ing his way to some nifty assists on the break. As always, the following chain applies: good shots=fewer long rebounds=fewer transition opportunities for the oppoent=fewer soul-crushing Steve Novak corner threes, terrifying J.R. Smith thunderdunks, etc.. The Bulls got demolished in transition Wednesday night, so you can be sure this was a point of emphasis in practice yesterday for Tom Thibodeau.

Prediction? The odds are against the Bulls shooting the lights out like they did last time, and the odds are also against Carmelo Anthony being as relatively inefficient as he was on Dec. 21. In any case, with both teams coming off of ugly losses (for vastly different reasons), I think the energy will be high on both sides. With the Knicks' resurgence, this rivalry has easily vaulted into first place for me as a Bulls fan. Nothing will ever bring back the sheer intensity and venom of the 1990s, but that doesn't mean this still can't be a great rivalry. Unfortunately, I have a hard time picturing the Bulls reprising their first performance in MSG. The scoring will be much lower this time, and I'm envisioning the standard script: a tough game throughout marred by a lack of big plays down the stretch by the Bulls. Bulls 92, Knicks 99.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Nebraska Recap

2013-01-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

As usual, here's my recap of last night's 62-47 win against Nebraska, available for viewing over at Maize n Brew for the low low price of $0.00. As The Boss would say, "you ain't a beauty but hey you're all right."

Michigan makes a visit to Columbus on Sunday for what should be the first real test of the young conference season.