'12 Bulls

Thriller of a game! I liked the grit for the comeback and Booz looked pretty good IMO. I'm not worried about the offense, since defenses are farther along at the beginning of seasons.

Korver needs to get his rhythm back...otherwise say goodbye to those minutes.
 
bwin MVP for December: Nikola Mirotic, Real Madrid
December 2011 may go down in history as the month that Nikola Mirotic completed his upgrade from prominent role player to a bonafide ace. The Real Madrid forward has long been seen as a promising talent, hence his choice as the 2011 Rising Star Trophy winner. But in four games in December, Mirotic dominated like never before in leading his team to a perfect record with wins over three other Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 teams to clinch first place in Group C and a No. 1 seed in the Top 16 Draw. For his outstanding performances in leading his team to outstanding results, Mirotic has become Euroleague Basketball's choice as bwin MVP for December. In a month that saw the Whites go through upheaval with injuries as well as players coming and going, Mirotic remained solid as a rock and he led the team in both scoring and rebounding. Among those performances, he recorded his first career Euroleague double-double, set career highs in index rating, scoring and steals and earned weekly MVP honors for the first time. His 18.5 points per game in December have come with uncanny shooting accuracy – 16 of 25 two-pointers (64%), 8 of 13 threes (61.5%) and 18 of 20 free throws (90%). Moreover Mirotic averaged 6.8 rebounds per game even though only once before did he ever grab more than 7 rebounds in a single Euroleague game. The level of play Mirotic displayed in December is reserved for the true elite and this month may signify that Mirotic has officially reached that status.

The bwin MVP of the Month honor is now in its eighth season. Although statistics and performance index ratings are taken into consideration for the award, they alone do not determine who is honored. The winner is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team's performance. The award for December was decided based on the four regular season games that all teams played between Wednesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 22, the final date of the regular season. Euroleague Basketball partner bwin is the sponsor of the MVP of the Month award. Just as the best Euroleague player each month combines performance and leadership for success, so does bwin's sponsorship communicate its conviction to be the best betting brand in European basketball.

Mirotic and Madrid opened December in second place in Group C heading into a pivotal road game in Milan, Italy, against EA7 Emporio Armani in which the young forward was to duel one of Europe’s leading power forwards, three-time Euroleague champion Antonis Fotsis. After 40 minutes, Mirotic amassed 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double, Fotsis was held scoreless in a game he started for the first time in over five years and Madrid went home with a 65-72 victory. A week later Madrid hosted Maccabi Electra in the Spanish capital in a showdown for first place. Mirotic took charge from the start with 12 first-quarter points and 10 more in the second as his team raced ahead en route to an 88-64 victory. He finished with a career-high 26 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting plus 8 rebounds, an assists and 3 steals en route to a performance index rating of 33, which earned him Week 8 bwin MVP honors. Week 9 featured a chance to wrap up first place in Group C against Partizan mt:s. And Mirotic against came out ready with 8 first-quarter points as Madrid went ahead for good and rolled to a 101-83 victory. His final line was 21 points with just 2 missed shots and 10-for-10 shooting from the charity stripe plus 8 rebounds. A Week 10 matchup against Anadolu Efes was for protocol only, but with the chance to attack the rims at Sinan Erdem Arena, the site of the 2012 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, Mirotic came ready. This time Madrid trailed early, so Mirotic scored 7 of his team-high 16 in the third quarter – including the game-tying basket – as the Whites rallied for a come-from-behind 66-75 victory.

Mirotic finished the regular season as Madrid’s leader in free throws made (33) and second in points scored (126), rebounds (43) and fouls drawn (31). It is interesting to note that despite his brilliant December, Mirotic ranks among the top 20 in the Euroleague this season in just one statistical category: performance index rating, where he is 19th with an average of 14.9 per game. Two things can be deciphered from that. One is how great of an all-around contribution Mirotic makes to winning. The second is that in the weeks and months to come, it is safe to expect to see his name climb higher and higher on all lists. Mirotic will soon get a chance to celebrate his new award when he receives the bwin MVP for December trophy at a Top 16 game in Madrid.
 
Greatness within reach for the Bulls
By Michael Wilbon
ESPNChicago.com

The encore has to be more difficult, right?

You don't just order up a season better than one that produced the league's best record, its Most Valuable Player and its best coach. Unlike opening day a year ago, the Chicago Bulls are big whoop now, no longer able to operate for stretches of time under the radar. They have notice this time, the withering defense, the uncommon depth, the superstar throwback who takes blame but not credit.


With Rip Hamilton coming to Chicago, the Bulls add a fourth member to their own Big 3.
It makes sense -- in a world where a single unexpectedly good season often leads to presumption and self-absorption, then to backsliding -- that the Bulls just might take a step in the wrong direction this season; except that on the eve of the franchise's most anticipated season opener in 14 years there's not a single poser or slacker or fool or knucklehead in the bunch. They appear more purposeful and dutiful than last season. They're still doing what the coach tells them to do, still deferring to the ego-less 23-year-old superstar, still coming to work every day like an ambitious high school sophomore trying to make the varsity.

And that is why there can indeed be an encore. Yes, the Bulls can be better this year than last. It's not just that they brought back all the players of consequence, but that Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, Omer Asik and the MVP, Derrick Rose, are all 26 or younger and each should be a better player this season than last. Rose, improbable as it sounds, may make the biggest jump of all because he's willing to expand his game and his role while paying little if any attention to the traditional trappings of superstardom. Rose wants to be a better passer, to increase his assists, to be a better leader. So he will.

In a league in which half the players find coaching equal to criticism, Rose is happy to hear Tom Thibodeau tell reporters of one place he can/will improve.

"Sometimes you beat 'em with the shot, sometimes you beat 'em with the pass. Any time there's two on the ball there should be easy offense," Thibodeau recently said of Rose when he's facing double teams.

To help Rose take that next step, the Bulls made probably the most significant move any good team made after the lockout when they acquired Rip Hamilton, giving Rose the person who will help "beat 'em with the pass." It took two minutes of watching Hamilton in the preseason to realize he's perfect for what the Bulls do, what they need.

As Thibs reminded reporters of Hamilton, "he's seen every defense there is and he knows where the holes in most defenses are."

Hamilton's great in transition, in large part because he can run your fool head off, and once he beats you down the court, he can finish. Hamilton can create shots for others and is probably the second-best passer on a team that has Noah and Carlos Boozer, which is saying something. Having a polished offensive player makes it easier on Rose, Deng, Boozer and even Kyle Korver. It's like adding a 15-game winner to a pitching staff; everybody else can breathe a sigh of relief and settle back into a spot more conducive to the team's success. Rose simply shouldn't average 25 points this season. His scoring should drop to, say, 21 points per game or so and his assists should rise, to something like 9-plus per game.


Center Joakim Noah is one of several building blocks on the Bulls' roster.
The Bulls' starting lineup, with Hamilton in it and Rose looking to distribute the ball a bit more, is more complete than that of the Heat or the Knicks, and more athletic than that of the Mavericks or Lakers.

And let's face it; this entire season for the Bulls (and probably the next three or four) is about staying ahead of the Celtics, Knicks, Pacers and 76ers, and catching or pulling ahead of Miami. It's Pistons-Bulls from the 1980s/90s all over again, and yes, it's likely to be that difficult to break through. (Remember, the Jordan-Pippen Bulls lost to Detroit three consecutive years in the playoffs.)

That doesn't mean they're facing a similar fate with Miami. The compressed season is going to tax the Heat in a way that should reward the Bulls' depth. Most coaches simply don't trust more than seven or eight players. Mike D'Antoni, for one, is going to have to adopt an entirely new approach to the way he plays his reserves or Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, neither a spring chicken, will burn out before the playoffs. Health could be the No. 1 factor in how the league shakes out. Keeping his starters rested shouldn't take any major adjustment, although Thibs is going to have to watch the minutes he plays Rose and Deng.

"Last year we played 10; we're gonna do the same thing this year," he said this week. "Virtually every time the bench was given extended minutes they responded."

The bench, at least to start the season, probably isn't the biggest area of concern. That would be Boozer, who during the playoffs was a disappointment to say the least. But the notion that the Bulls should use their amnesty clause on Boozer was absurd. He needs to get back to his usual form, not get out of Chicago. Boozer showed up for camp in much better shape than a year ago, is healthier than he was at any time last season, and begins this season knowing that playing for Thibs isn't a whole lot different than playing all those years for Jerry Sloan. Being pushed by Gibson, a superior defender, every day isn't a bad thing for Boozer either.


Derrick Rose and the Bulls will likely have to get through Dwyane Wade's Heat to make the Finals.
Of course, every up-and-comer struggles initially with expectations, their own and those of outsiders. Thibs is trying his best to cut this off at the pass. He's telling his team repeatedly, "This year's team is going to be different. Last year has nothing to do with this year. We have to reestablish who we are." To that end he also is constantly reminding his players they cannot "jump ahead" to the playoffs, a legitimate worry when a team has gotten so close to playing for a championship and would love nothing better than another chance to replay that conference finals series with Miami.

Presuming relative health, a preposterous supposition now more than ever, the Bulls can play their way into that chance again. The temperaments of Rose, Thibs, Noah and Hamilton fit the underdog role much better than being the favorite, which the Bulls were when the postseason began. This season, as it begins, is going to be tilted toward Miami -- whether the Heat can win 50 of 66 games, whether LeBron and Wade have figured out what to do in fourth quarters. The Bulls, in terms of league-wide attention, will be back in the pack, behind the improved but still overrated Knicks, the battle for Los Angeles, perhaps even the storyline of whether the Mavericks can repeat.

But back-in-the-pack in terms of attention suits this Bulls team, the better to play with the proverbial chip on the shoulder, the better to play with the same kind of nightly purpose that characterized last season and will be necessary to dethrone Miami in the Eastern Conference. For the first time since the last Michael Jordan-Phil Jackson-Scottie Pippen team of 1998, the Bulls begin an NBA season with greatness within their reach.
 
Hopefully we can keep it up tonight, gonna take a nap so i can stay up
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Rose shot very well, Lou did his thing
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im not wirried about rip at all, he will play better. Kyle better worry about getting any minutes at all if Ronnie is going to be hitting that mid range this year
 
Originally Posted by CasperJr

Can't kill korver and give rip a pass I'm just saying.

  
Click to expand...
not sure how you can compare the 2 but ok. rip was in foul trouble most of the game korver was !*%%+%% useless all around.
 
Game an hour away! I love being able to get excited for games. The anticipation/build-up until game time is awesome, reminds me of when I was a kid. I'm off work this week, but hell will ensue (busy season) January-March. I will at least have games to look forward to on late nights by following the box score haha. Let's hope for a cleaner performance today, we were pretty sloppy yesterday.
 
Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Originally Posted by CasperJr

Can't kill korver and give rip a pass I'm just saying.

  
Click to expand...
not sure how you can compare the 2 but ok. rip was in foul trouble most of the game korver was !*%%+%% useless all around.
Click to expand...


I'm talking to the people that was giving a pass to rip for his shooting then in the same breath kill korver. But Both are rhythm shooters so that's how I can compare them.
 
Im sick of Taj Gibson and Korver. Taj might be one of the dumbest players in the NBA.

David Lee looking like a damn HOF'er
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Bulls got worked over tonight but at least tried to come back 
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No sweat..remember people, even the '96 Bulls lost 10 games. Bulls need to pull together and move on. ALOT of lackluster D and off target shots tonight. I know we're a MUCH better team than this 
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What is with our team and the bay? I'm not expecting us to destroy them, but we are the better team and they stay outplaying us.
 
Originally Posted by AntBanks81

What is with our team and the bay? I'm not expecting us to destroy them, but we are the better team and they stay outplaying us.
Click to expand...


pimp.gif
 
defense was not there... rose didnt look assertive... overall just was not there tonight even though we knew beforehand it was going to be rough going back to back and playing at GS.
 
holy f

sat courtside behind chi and f

they didnt give a flying f what was going on
besides coming out flat, they kept that flat whatev emotion for the entire game

lost a bunch of bets post halftime to ppl i was sitting next to, didnt welch, but this squad needed some fire tho

cant come out 2x lookin like shughaoneyicetea

/get right boys befoe you get home...
 
Originally Posted by AntBanks81

What is with our team and the bay? I'm not expecting us to destroy them, but we are the better team and they stay outplaying us.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I thought when I looked up the game results.  Glad I didn't stay up to watch the game. 
 
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