Anyway, the Bulls started their season. I'll break into full thoughts later, but first I attempted another running diary. Again I failed as I had driven 600 miles and spent 4 nights drinking before the opener. Not a smart idea but here's where I ended up with.
Bulls Opener Running Diary 10/28/08
The start of the NBA season has prompted me to do another Bill Simmons-esque running diary. I have no idea what happened in the preseason, other than Derrick Rose dropping 30 points once. I’m excited to see how he plays (and if he starts) and how he gels with my boy, Tyrus Thomas. If I don’t get a big season out of Tyrus this year I’m not going to be happy. I’m also interested to see how this Vinny Del Negro guy is gonna work out as a coach since I don’t know anything about his coaching style. With that said let’s get this thing going.
7:37 During the starting lineups I learned that Austin Croshere is on the Bucks. This must make Sean very happy. Meanwhile the Bulls have a new introduction video montage for the season. You’d think they finished a lot better than just the 9th best record in the league if this was all you’d seen of last year.
7:40 Christ, this really drawn out. And I’m very disappointed in some of the Luv-a-Bulls. Their talent level has dropped a little. (or the camera man sucks at life)
7:43 Thankfully, the Bulls kept the traditional video tribute and the Alan Parson Project’s “Sirius” for the starting lineup intro. Maybe that other video was a one-time deal. The Bulls are running out a starting lineup of Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, Thabo Sefolosha, and Derrick Rose. Gotta say I’m a huge fan of this lineup. It’s about time Thabo gets his due. And of course, I’m very happy to see Noah, Hinrich and Gordon all starting on the bench.
7:48 F-Bomb. I want to quit already. Rose turns it over. And Redd scores for the Bucks. That sucks.
7:51 I see Derrick Rose hasn’t worked on his free-throws since
7:53 I have to admit. Rose may have had some jitters early. But he’s handling the ball well. And he also picked up a steal on the defensive end.
7:57 Tyrus has a couple of boards, an assist and a made free throw. I’m also seeing Derrick Rose really push the pace when he gets a chance. I’m liking this. By the way, Bulls lead 13-9 about halfway through the first.
7:59 A pretty nice lob from Deng to Tyrus gets wiped away because the ball was in the cylinder. Bogus call. But still good things from this lineup (minus Thabo picking up 2 quick fouls and getting yanked in favor of Hinrich).
8:06 We’ve hit a little boring stretch, and my exhaustion from the weekend is starting to sink in. It feels like I’ve hit a wall and I’m starting to second guess my decision to do this. It’s currently 17-13 Bulls as Andrew Bogut is kicking their ass right now. Deng however seems to have life in his legs. Half of what he’s doing isn’t counting right now, but he looks better and sharper than this point last season. Maybe he’s earning that contract.
8:11 Tyrus missed a shot after a good move inside, but is showing a lot of hustle and forced a jump ball. I like that. He’s a freakish athlete if he’d go hard every game. (By the way, he won the jump… are you surprised I’m not. His legs are spring loaded)
8:15 First quarter is over. Tied at 26.
8:18. Noah is in the game. I’d rather not watch. I truly hate that man. I’m very disappointed Roy Hibbert decided to eff up his draft status and go back to school. If he ends up being good for the Pacers this year I’m going to go nuts as I really wanted the Bulls to draft him in ’07.
8:24 I’d say the Bulls bench looks like shit. But that might be insulting to shit. They’re boring, inefficient, feature Joakim Noah, and are now losing to Milwuakee. At least Tyrus is out there and he picked up another nice assist.
8:30 Tyrus hits an open jumper to tie the game at 34. Then he follows it up with a nice drive. During the replay I learned he was in the top 3 in the league in the preseason in blocks and rebounds. That’s good to know. He missed another free throw though (now 2-4) and only has 4 points.
8:34 I’m not observant. I just noticed that Johnny “Red” Kerr isn’t announcing. I don’t know if this is permanent or not. I sure hope it isn’t. I don’t mind Stacey and the other guy, but Kerr tied it together.
8:41 Eh, I’m bored. This game has been moving pretty slow since the beginning. It’s now tied at 41. I’m falling asleep and actually really need a shower and a shave. I think I’m calling this update complete. I know this one sucked a little, but now that NBA is in full action with the NHL and NFL already rolling along you can expect a few more updates.
Ok, sound good. The Bulls won the opener, then embarrassed themselves at Boston, and are in the process of embarrassing themselves at home against Memphis (in the first half as i type this) tonight. The starting lineup looks god awful over the last 2 games. Missing shots, turning it over, basically not caring.
Kirk Hinrich seems to be a sulky, whiny, little bitch when he doesn't get his way, (i.e. get to start)
Someone is going to have to get traded when Hughes comes back b/c the Hinrich/Gordon/Rose/Sefolosha/Hughes backcourt clusterfuck is not gonna cut it.
Tyrus Thomas has shot the ball like a blind-retarded midget and would probably be better served by attempting to shoot full court shots. He'd probably make the same percentage.
Ben Gordon has looked worse than Tyrus. He sucks. I really didn't want him to come back. He dribbles forever, shoots often and erratically, and worst of all is taking the ball out of the hands of the only bright spot.....
Derrick Rose. Thank God for him. I strongly believe he'll be the best player from this draft within a few years, but I really didn't think he'd be so good so early. He can get into the lane at will, and if he learns to knock down that mid-range jumper he'll be near unstoppable.
Shifting gears over to the ice now.
I've missed alot of the Blackhawks games on tv recently as I've either been out of town, forgetting to watch, or enthralled in episodes of the Office or something else.
However, I've been to 2 of my 10 games so far.
I'm not going to bother recapping the game against Phoenix as that was back on Oct. 15, and that seems like forever ago.
But Oct. 25, was the marquee game on my schedule. The Dee-troit (SUCKS) Red Wings. This game was off-the-charts fun.
-The Hawks set an attendance record.
-The bags of douche behind my $15 seat in the standing room only area paid $20 (score one for me)
-Did I mention DEE-TROIT-SUCKS? Because it was heard often. And loudly.
-There was alot of scoring. 5-5, so I saw my first ever overtime. Followed by my first ever shootout.
Granted the Hawks lost, but it was insanely fun, and shootout losses are still with a point. So who the hell cares, I had fun.
Well, that'll wrap up my sports update. Tomorrow I should be back with final thoughts on tonight's Bulls game (probably will skip a Hawks recap since I only caught part due to the Bulls- but the Hawks did win 4-3 in a shootout) and a recap of the Bears game.
