“We switched coverages. We did different things. We made some adjustments. We have to get back to controlling the game from a points standpoint.” – Vinny Del Negro
Amen and Amen. It’s great fun to see Ben Gordon pouring in shots and putting up some gaudy point totals. It’s fun to watch Salmons and his crafty scoring. To watch Brad Miller hit mid-range jumpers. But no team deserves to win a game where they allow 90 points in just 3 quarters, as the Bulls did against the Raptors on Sunday.
Quick aside- if ever any team needed a no-nonsense, kick ‘em in [...]

Games (4-1)

@WAS W 101-99 – The Bulls won a close one against the Wizards, avenging their earlier loss in Washington in front of Barack O’Balla.  It shouldn’t have been this close, but whatever– they won.  Something Vinny did in this game really pissed me off.  Ben Gordon was red-hot in the third quarter, basically leading the Bulls comeback and opening up a 7-point lead.  Vinny then decided to go with Hinrich for a long stretch to start the 4th (8:02 to be exact).  Not to say that Kirk isn’t fine, although the Bulls were -4 during that stretch.  Gordon was [...]

The Bulls smoked the Heat to move into the a tie for the 7th seed in the East. But I’m not ready to freak out just yet. Maybe Sam Smith is though. In his recent blog at Bulls.com, Smith had this to say:
“Could this be the start of something big? You are starting to get that feeling with the Bulls, who dominated the Miami Heat Thursday, 106-87, to win for the sixth time in the last seven games and ninth of the last 10 at home and move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of the [...]

Pip’s Tips…the prescience of Pip with the ferocity of the fan.
#1 Vinny Del Negro voiced his concern over Luol Deng’s absence because “It hurts our flexibility. Guys have to play extended minutes”. But with DRose on the bench and Tim Thomas playing all of 4 minutes and change due to back spasms, Gray, Roberson and Linton Johnson were all DNP-CDs.
Pip’s Tip for Vinny: don’t say things just to say them and don’t send mixed messages.
Pip’s Tip for Pax: why do you sign these guys if they are not going to play at all? Certainly there are other players out there [...]

Linkin’ Ain’t Easy…but somebody gotta do it.

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With Luol Deng still feeling discomfort in his leg, Coach Vinny Del Negro said that he may be done for the season.
“It could be [season-ending],” coach Del Negro said Monday. “You just don’t know how it’s going to react. We don’t want him to come back and really seriously injure himself. He’s still got discomfort and pain.
Del Negro also added this about Deng, who has been out since February 28th:
“Luol has the ability to give us a lot at both ends. It hurts our flexibility. Guys have to play extended minutes. When we get in foul trouble, it’s an issue.”
I’m [...]

“John Salmons has it stuck on automatic!” We’d be hearing that early and often if Jim Durham was still calling Bulls games.
I just love watching this guy play. He’s smart, crafty and cool as the other side of the pillow so poised. He must dig being a Bull because his season averages have gone up since arriving from Sacramento — and those were already career highs.
It’s only 15 games, but Salmons is averaging career highs in:

MPG 37.4
FG% .518
3P% .419
FT% .873
REB 5.1

I think we finally got Luol Deng. It’s John Salmons. And Luol Deng is? Maybe Eddie Robinson.

Games (2-1)

vs. Boston W 127-121 – You’re not seeing things, the Bulls actually scored 127 against the Celtics.  Of course, they were missing KG and his ferocious defense, but it was still a big win.  John Salmons went off for 38 points and is fast becoming the Bulls primary scorer.  Miller also came up big against an overwhelmed Celtics frontcourt, putting up 21 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists.  As great as those numbers are, the numbers that tell the real story in this game is that the Bulls had 25 assists and just 10 turnovers.  When they take care [...]

Linkin’ Ain’t Easy…but my bracket still looks good so here comes the love.

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I was just skimming through some players’ stats last night looking for Salmons’ numbers for a short post I did on him over at NQTC, and I stumbled on something I hadn’t really messed around with for a while: splits.  After staring at a number of the Bulls’ splits, I realized there was some good information there (and by good I mean basically useless due to small sample size, but funny and interesting).  So without further ado, here are some random stats that you never knew:
Ben Gordon: Did you know Ben Gordon likes to pass the ball significantly more on [...]