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Derrick Rose may be the MVP, but Kyle Lowry is the better player in 2011-12 (Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE)

Each Friday, Pippen Ain’t Easy Fantasy Basketball expert Erik Ong from ‘Give Me The Rock.com’ gives his analysis from the world of fantasy.

Fantasy basketball doesn’t always mirror real life.

Is Kyle Lowry better than Derrick Rose? The knee-jerk, real-life answer to that would most likely be “No.”

In fantasy basketball, however, Lowry is better than Derrick Rose so far this season.

In a recent post I published in Give Me The Rock, I listed the top 20 point guards in fantasy basketball for the first month of the season (Dec 25 – Jan 25). I used our player rater, which rates players based on their performance across nine categories (PTS, REB, AST, STL, BLK, FG%, FT%, TO), in the Head-to-Head format. It uses per game averages and Continue reading this post »

Bulls 90, Pacers 95 – FINAL

The Bulls dropped their fourth game of the year Wednesday to the Pacers 95-90 (Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE)

CHICAGO — Last night the Indiana Pacers lost their first home game of the season. They were looking forward to making the Bulls feel that same pain as they traveled to the United Center Wednsday but Derrick Rose and company the them the ol’ Dikembe Mutombo and said no.

But then the Pacers remembered they could beat this team and acted on that.

Derrick Rose’s toe has been the subject of much speculation and debate this week as we saw his return after missing most of last week. In his second game back Rose helped the Bulls avoid letting the Pacers pull away witht he game early and then kept them in it.

“I will never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game. I can’t wait to play them again.”

-Derrick Rose on the 95-90 loss to Indiana 

Sound familiar? If it does that’s good because the skepticism about Rose’s toe was that he wouldn’t be able to operate at 100 percent. He has said he won’t be 100 percent for the rest of the season but he showed that doesn’t mean he’s not going to put put the same production.

Joakim Noah and Ronnie Brewer both posted double-doubles tonight in points and rebounds. But the troubling part was their Continue reading this post »

Chicago Bulls (16-3) vs. Indiana Pacers (11-4) Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

CHICAGO, IL– Chicago Bulls (16-3) vs. Indiana Pacers (11-4)

TV: Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Nat’l TV: NBA TV

Radio: ESPN 1000

Announcers: Neil Funk, Stacey King

Line: Bulls by 9.0

Injury Report/Inactives: CHICAGO — PG Derrick Rose (Toe/EXPECTED TO PLAY), SF Luol Deng (Wrist/OUT), Taj Gibson (Ankle/OUT),

INDIANAPOLIS — G A.J Price (Expected to Play), C Roy Hibbert (Expected to Play)

Key Matchup: Joakim Noah vs. Roy Hibbert

Last Game: Bulls beat Nets 110-95 , Pacers lost to Magic 102-83

Last Meeting: December 20, 2010 – Bulls 93, Pacers 85

Series History (Since 2002-03): Bulls lead regular season series 20-16; Bulls lead playoff series 4-1

Last Minute Preview: Of all the games in the Bulls four game home stand, tonight’s game against the Pacers is perhaps the most competitive game by far. The Pacers sit 3.5 games behind the Bulls in the Central and are looking to not only rebound from their first home loss of the season last night, but sucker punch the Bulls in what is becoming a revitalized rivalry.

The Bulls and Pacers had their heyday in 90′s when almost every time these two teams met it was a doozy. But as the talent on both sides went away the match ups were mundane to irrelevant. Now that both teams are on the up and up, both with young players and both with young coaches, the rivalry is starting to get tasty again.

Derrick Rose will be playing injured again tonight, something the Bulls should get used to. But the Pacers are a team that know what it’s like to have an injured Rose on the posit side of the hardwood and they really gave the Bulls a scare when they trounced them in the playoffs. It may have been for one game but it rattled the Bulls and that one loss stayed with them, letting them know how fragile they were against the Hawks and Heat without Rose.

Tonight the Pacers can continue where they left off, in a big spot game with huge ramifications that features an injured Rose. If Indiana can capitalize when they are handed opportunities, look for this game to be a thriller. The Pacers aren’t idiots: they know what they’re up against in Chicago and they don’t like being younger brother. Roy Hibbert is on a tear and is out rebounding Joakim Noah on a per game average 14 – 7.7 rpg.

That will be the matchup to watch. The Pacers are tired and one way that is proven to beat tired teams on a back-to-back is to liquify them in the paint. With Hibbert in the game, the Pacers might be able to counter that.

If nothing else it’s going to be a thriller and hopefully it’ll be a precursor to two other great games this year when these two teams meet.

Prediction:  Bulls 97,  Pacers 92

I had a chance to sit down with Indiana Pacers writer Tim Donahue from the ESPN True Hoops Network site Eight Points, Nine Seconds to chat about tonight’s big time showdown between the Bulls and Pacers. The Pacers are one of the rising teams in the NBA and are 3.5 games behind the Bulls in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division.

1. Before the season I said the Pacers were a team to watch out for. They have done a pretty good job of living up to the hype so far. If the playoffs started today the Pacers would be the third seed and they share the title with the Bulls of the only teams with undefeated home records. Tim why are the Pacers so good this year?

It’s a combination of a lot of things. Young Pacers like Roy Hibbert, Darren Collison, and Paul George are all playing at a higher level than last year, but bringing in David West and George Hill are huge roster upgrades. West gives Indy a second player at or above Danny Granger’s level, and George Hill is as good as anybody coming off the bench in this league.

Besides the talent upgrade, both West and Hill have brought leadership and experience from winning situations. This was in scant supply last season, so when things got tough, the team fell apart. This year’s squad is much, much more stable, and it’s probably more talented than any roster the Pacer have had since perhaps opening night of the 2005-2006 season.

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2. The Pacers just over took the Bulls as the league’s best per game average rebounding team. Roy Hibbert is a bit of a monster ranking tenth in the league in average rebounds with 9.9 per game. Right now he’s outplaying Joakim Noah but is he the better player or is this a fluke? How important has Hibbert been to the Pacers success?

There’s no question that Roy Hibbert is playing very, very good basketball right now, probably better than Noah. But…I’d stop short of saying he’s the better player. They’re two very different players, so it is difficult put them side by side and make a choice.

Hibbert has been the most consistent Pacer this season, by far, and that has been instrumental in Indy’s success. The key with Hibbert Continue reading this post »

Luol Deng has a torn ligament in his wrist which will sideline him for some time.

CHICAGO — Luol Deng has been waiting for word on his wrist and that word has come down. It’s a torn ligament for Deng and wrist, an injury which will keep him out for the next few weeks.

There was speculation that Deng would miss significant time during this season, if not the whole thing when he was visiting doctors on Monday. He won’t miss the whole season but is injury is significant. The reason Deng won’t miss the whole season is he is electing to not have surgery and instead play through the pain.

“When it happened, I knew it was something serious”

-Luol Deng on his injury

The reason for the severity of the speculation yesterday, most notably here, was because Deng’s injury is similar to the seemingly minor injury that Joakim Noah suffered last year that ended up costing him 10 weeks of the season.

That won’t happen to Deng but he most likely won’t be 100 percent for the rest of the season. That will make the Bulls top two players this year less then 100 percent for remainder of the season.

“I feel that without the surgery I will be fine. I just know what I can and can’t do with it.” Deng said. “I think I will be very effective out Continue reading this post »

Richard Hamilton scored his 15,000th point Monday night.

CHICAGO — He is best known for his years (and championship) with the Detroit Pistons, Richard Hamilton made NBA history on Monday as he hit the 15,000th mile mark. Hamilton scored his 15,000th career point on his way to a 22 point night.

Hamilton has now joined the names of LeBron James, Steve Nash, Micheal Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but the feat is largely being over looked by the NBA media.

I’ll tell you this, I can take five minutes to give Hamilton more then a tip of the hat for sticking around the NBA and being consistent enough to score 15,000 points in his career. It’s a feat I’ll never be able to say I have accomplished and Hamilton now can.

Rip City, as he’s called, began his career with the Washington Wizards but it wasn’t until he went to Detroit that he became a household name (and face). However, Hamilton’s career year in Free Throws cam in his final year in Washington.

But after his arrival in Detroit, he was part of the revival of Pistons basketball. Teamed with Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace, the Pistons won the NBA Championship in just two years with Hamilton. He wasn’t the sole contributor but it’s easy to argue that without him the Pistons don’t win that title.

Besides that ring that Hamilton now has also began to establish himself as a solid contributor for the Pistons. He hit career highs in rebounds per game and assists per game in 2004-05 as well as career highs in field goal and three point Continue reading this post »

Luol Deng may not need surgery to repair his injured wrist, but will miss time

CHICAGO — A day after Bulls fans woke up to grim news about Luol Deng, the clouds have parted and it seems that the worse case scenario won’t be the case at all.

At least it doesn’t appear so anymore.

Deng injured his wrist in Saturday’s win and missed Monday’s win over the Nets. Deng had X-Rays done on Sunday as well as a re-evaluation on Monday. The X-Rays, as reported on Monday, were negative. Deng was in attendance for the Bulls win on Monday sporting a splint on his wrist, a wrist which was heavily bandaged.

“I’ll be okay.” Deng said with a laugh.

The news was grim yesterday, and there was speculation as to how long Deng would be out (look up the word folks if you can locate a dictionary). The reason for this was last year’s seemingly minor injury to Joakim Noah who then ended up having surgery and missing 10 weeks of the Bulls best season since 1997. If Deng needs surgery, and in combination with the shortened season, he may miss significant time this season.

‘‘Lu is an old-school guy,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said Monday. ‘‘He came in and said: ‘My wrist is injured. I think I’ll be fine. I’ve got a couple of more doctors we want to talk to, and we’ll go from there.’ He said he’s able to move it and that it was feeling better today and that it’s day-to-day. I’m good with that.’’

Today the Bulls don’t believe that Deng will need surgery to repair his wrist but he is expected to miss some time. The question is how Continue reading this post »

Richard Hamilton scored his 15,000th career point Monday night in the Bulls 110-95 win over the Nets

CHICAGO — The Bulls saw the triumphant return of the league’s MVP to their lineup on Monday night as the Bulls to the Nets down 110-95. But it wasn’t Derrick Rose who stole the show, it was Richard Hamilton‘s 22 points that will be the shining achievement of the night.

Rip Hamilton scored his 15,000th point of his career on his way to a 22 point night that saw him add 10 assists to make it double-double just for the heck of it. The only question is why Rip played 42 minutes against the lowly Nets. The simple answer is Rip has been out with a groin injury and he needs to get his groove back. It’s safe to say that although it may have been a gamble, his 42 minutes were well spent on the court.

Rose also finished the night with 22 points as all of Chicago’s starters hit double digits. Rose played 36 minutes and if there was doubt as to why Hamilton was kept in so long coming off an injury, the same question hold equal validity when posed about Rose playing with and injury.

Rose claimed his toe was alright enough for him to play tonight and that was backed up by a flawless shoot around earlier in the day.

Joakim Noah got back to  his usual way s of gobbling up the basketball. He finished again with more points then rebounds. Usually this would be a bad thing given Noah’s shooting history, but he finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds Monday turning in a performance that wasn’t as ugly as the ones he’s been turning in.

Another aspect of the Bulls that was on fire on Monday was the Bench Mob. They turned in 25 of the Continue reading this post »

Derrick Rose says his toe will not be 100 percent at any point during this season.

CHICAGO — The bad news just keeps rolling in on Monday for the Chicago Bulls. On the same day that news broke that Luol Deng might be out for the entire season with a wrist injury, Bulls fans were enlightened on the injury to Derrick Rose but it wasn’t the news anyone wanted to hear.

Rose injured his toe against the Minnesota Timberwolves over a week ago, and is still nursing the injury. It has been called everything from turf toe to a sprain but one thing that has been confirmed, by Rose himself, is that it’s not going to heal anytime soon.

Rose admitted that the toe won’t be fully healed, and he therefore won’t be 100 percent, for the rest of the season. He went on to say that it’s his decision whether or not to suit up tonight and play, and that decision hasn’t been reached yet. Head coach Tom Thibodeau gave an update on his stance on the injury after Rose went through an entire shoot around session without much looking out of the ordinary.

“He did everything today,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Each day he’s been feeling a lot better. All the swelling is out. Of course he’s got to warm up tonight to see if he’s good. He’s coming along well.”

Rose may feel pressure to play given the injuries that are all of a sudden plaguing the Bulls. Both Luol Deng and Taj Gibson are out tonight and John Lucas III is a game time decision along with Rose. Joakim Noah is nursing an injury and C.J. Watson and Richard Hamilton both just returned form injuries that have kept them out for the better part of the season thus far.

The Bulls are on a streak without Rose going 4-1 without him dating back to the Wizards game last week. The original theory was rest Rose now at all costs to have him healthy for the post season but with the news that he won’t be healthy no matter what the question of
whether or not starting Rose is a good idea become relevant once again in a not so pleasing way.

Luol Deng is being re-evaluated for an injury that very well could sideline him for the remainder of 2011-12

CHICAGO — To start, the short answer to the headline question, at the moment, is a resounding NO, as was the case when the article was written.

Bur on Monday, at least early Monday, Bulls fans woke up to grim news across the board as Chicago is announcing numerous injuries that will keep starters out of the lineup for a while.

Derrick Rose is, of course, still nursing his turf toe/sprain but is making progress. But he has gone on record as saying the toe won’t be fully healed anytime during the regular season.

But the most devastating news comes in the form of Luol Deng now being in danger of missing the rest of the regular season. Deng had x-rays on wrist on Sunday and was re-evalutated by team doctors on Monday. Deng is downplaying the severity of the injury.

“I just got hit on it,” Deng said. “But it will be fine.”

Despite the x-rays being negative on Deng’s wrist, head coach Tom Thibodeau’s quote about the situation has a grim edge to it if read into.

“We’re disappointed for him that he’s injured because he’s put so much work into it.” Thibodeau said.

That can either mean one of two things. Either Thibodeau is merely saying he feels bad for Deng because right nw he’s one of the hottest players in the NBA and any missed time takes him off that hot streak. But it can also be interpreted as laced with the disappointment of knowing Deng’s incredible season has come to a grinding and abrupt halt.

When talking to Derrick Rose about the injury, he shared the grim sentiment that is quickly spreading throughout Chicago about Deng. As Nick Friedell put it, Rose sounded like a guy who knows he’ll be without Deng for quite some time.

Both Luol Deng and Taj Gibson will be out for tonight’s game against the Nets but the story is quickly becoming how injury-riddled this Bulls squad is becoming and how fragile it is without it’s two biggest stars. Tom Thibodeau is downplaying the anxiety about the Bulls depth and all the injuries too it.

“Actually it’s not that difficult because of the depth of the team,” he said. “Our second unit plays a lot, so if there’s an injury, the next guy steps up and we go from there. We got 14 guys on the roster that can all play.”