Chicago Bulls Blog

Bulls lose to Timberwolves and it's becoming habit forming

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

You remember that famous 19th century poem about the Bulls that started: "How do I lose thee? Let me count the ways."

That wasn't about the Bulls?

It sure seems that way as the Bulls Sunday figured out still another way to lose another one, this time 109-108 in overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves in one that really, really, really hurt.

"It's frustrating. It's very frustrating to lose that way," said Joakim Noah, who was as good as he's been with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. "Especially games we are capable of winning."

Though not quite good enough, especially on the defensive side where still another opponent had a season or career high, this time Al Jefferson, repeatedly backing down Noah for a season high 39 points.

"I don't even know what to say," lamented Noah. "I was playing as hard as I could. (Jefferson) just kept scoring the ball. He's just a great offensive player and we just couldn't slow him down tonight."

Again, the Bulls played hard, if not smart and efficient. With Drew Gooden still out, Tyrus Thomas leaving for a time with an ankle sprain and Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose iffy with the flu, the Bulls still had the game and let it get away. They led by 16 after a 20-4 start to the game as Minnesota missed its first 11 shots, and were up seven with under four minutes left in regulation and 97-93 with less than a minute left in regulation.

But the Bulls continued to allow Jefferson deep post position with only soft resistance when they double teamed, and when they came out of timeouts down the stretch, it usually was a simple drive or quick pullup jumper off a screen.

At the end for the Bulls, in both regulation and overtime, it was Rose, who had no miracles this time as he continued to show signs of the strain of this losing season with 18 points and seven assists but five turnovers.

"It's frustrating but we try hard to win games," said Rose. "The Toronto game we didn't try that hard, but this game we went out there and played."

It was all Rose all the time at the end Sunday, and perhaps it's too much to keep asking of the kid.

First it was Rose taking a high Noah screen and driving hard with just over a minute left. Rose drew Jefferson to him as well as he slipped by Sebastian Telfair and Noah came diving in for the follow and 97-93 lead. But Jefferson got deep again with Noah getting little help and scored easily.

By now it should have been more than clear Jefferson wasn't passing—one assist in almost 42 minutes—but the Bulls mostly stayed home. Rose then lined up Telfair again for the same play and drove, got a bit too deep and shot a miss high off the backboard. Jefferson again got deep, spun and missed with Rose offering a light double. Noah got a piece of the shot, but Jefferson put it back in with 23 seconds left for the tie at 97.

One possession. For a winner.

No way.

Rose dribbled down the clock and instead of going right went left to the elbow, where Gordon had just moved and brought his defender, Randy Foye, leaving Rose to force up a bad miss between Telfair and Foye. Miscommunication. Bad play. Not even a chance.

Geez.

Gordon, who led the Bulls with 23 and seemed to get his shot back with three of six threes, carried the Bulls to open overtime with a jumper and three for a 105-103 lead two minutes in. But Jefferson got deep again and scored and the Bulls couldn't convert despite four chances after three offensive rebounds, the final look a Gordon turnover as the Bulls did cut that total this time to 15.

Jefferson yet again got inside for a half hook score after Noah tied him up and the Bulls lost a jump ball. Luol Deng, with 22 points in a good offensive effort, cut inside on an Andres Nocioni pass was fouled, making both for a 107 tie with 1:09 left. Mike Miller, who has looked lost this season, missed on a wild drive and Nocioni was fouled on the rebound and made just one. Uh, oh. Bulls lead 108-107 with 43.4 seconds left.

Coach Vinny Del Negro had gone to his best defensive players, but Randy Foye, who was one of 10, beat Thabo Sefolosha for a layup and 109-108 lead.

The Bulls came out of the timeout with a quick Gordon jumper from the left corner that missed. Minnesota went to Jefferson again, and this time he did pass as Deng came quicker with the double, and Miller missed badly again, setting it up for still another game winning attempt by Rose with 13.1 seconds left.

Rose took a handoff from Aaron Gray and circled right, but got caught between Telfair and Jefferson. Stopped in the lane and with his back to the basket, Rose wheeled on his pivot foot but shot too hard. Gray tipped and missed and Deng slashed in and seemed to get a piece and tipped, but Jefferson batted it out.

"That ball was kind of teasing me a little bit," said Jefferson. "I wanted to knock it out but it was still on the rim, so when it came out I just tapped it. Thank God it worked out the way it did."

Nocioni went to get the ball, but lost it out of bounds to the Timberwolves. Game.

"The execution just was not there," said Del Negro. "(Rose) didn't keep his dribble. We have worked on that. Derrick came off and he had to make a play. He wasn't able to do it, picked up his dribble and it cost us. We had a couple of tips at the end but were not able to convert."

Fifth straight loss. Record 18-27 and now with six more in a row in the Western Conference.

"I took both shots (end of regulation and overtime)," said Rose. "The first one (was) way too long. The second one I thought went in, but it rimmed out. Yeah, that's what I did. I thought I had an outlet but I didn't. I knew the time was going down so that's what made me shoot the shot."

The Timberwolves have been playing well and actually have the league's best record this month at 9-2. And the Bulls competed hard again, if not always efficiently and intelligently, the only poor stretch those last six minutes in the home loss to Toronto Friday when the team appeared to give in. But those kinds of episodes have been rare.

"Well, we played hard," said Deng. "We've got to play smarter. We were definitely playing hard. We just didn't make stops. I think we've got to look more on defense and start making stops. We just didn't get stops."

The problem, as it is with any team, is effort has to produce results at some point, or everyone begins to give in and point fingers. The Bulls may be nearing that point after a tense week with general manager John Paxson's comments about being disappointed about the season interpreted by some to be a rap on Del Negro and Del Negro and Gordon then getting into a somewhat public argument over a fine. An accumulation of little things can lead to big things.

"Obviously the in-game situations have been the problem and that was the case tonight," said Del Negro. "We couldn't convert down the stretch in regulation, and then in OT we had a couple of plays where we just couldn't get the ball in the basket."

And the Bulls moved perilously closer to being ahead of only Washington in the East.

It didn't look like it would be that way in a terrific start with Noah running the court, challenging shots and actually going to the basket aggressively, a true rarity.

The Bulls led 20-4 and 30-19 after one quarter. But Minnesota closed too quickly behind the aggressive play of Kevin Love, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds and dominated Thomas.

I think the difference in the game was Kevin Love and the second chance points," said Del Negro of Minnesota's 24-13 margin. "On the weakside glass, we had a lot of trouble."

The Timberwolves also got back in it with Rodney Carney getting 13 off the bench in running wild against Deng. Deng tends to have trouble with the athletic small forwards, like Carney, and one play was reminiscent of Wes Unseld as Love heaved a full court chest pass to a streaking Carney after a Deng miss and Carney slammed to get Minnesota within 37-35 midway through the second.

Game on.

On the next possession, Carney scored on a lob from Foye as Deng buried himself in a screen and Gray failed to help.

That's what everyone is talking about when they say the Bulls don't talk.

They are a notoriously bad team for on court communication, like noting coming screens or helping. Too many meld with screens rather than fighting through them, and the weak side help, especially when Thomas isn't active, is often missing. Deng also tends to lay off his man quite a bit in trying to help in forming something of a zone, but Minnesota took advantage with corner shots and quick baseline action.

"We got off to a terrible start," noted Love. "In the second half we were a little slow but picked it up at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. Our second unit brought us back into the game and I thought we played great."

The Bulls led 55-51 at halftime when Deng mad a 20 footer at the buzzer. The game rocked back and forth a bit after halftime, and while the Bulls soft double teaming did little to bother Jefferson (they probably needed to double with a big rather than guards most of the time), the Bulls got hot toward the end of the third quarter, hitting 12 straight shots to lead 82-77 going into the fourth.

The Bulls ducked in and out of a zone early in the fourth, and Nocioni upset Jefferson and the 'wolves with some hard fouls, his specialty, that seemed to distract them some. The Bulls had every starter in double figures scoring to just Jefferson for the Timberwolves, and despite a miserable game of misses and turnovers for Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls looked in control as Rose drove for a three-point play with 5:11 left, the Bulls forced a 24-second violation and Gordon rose up around a screen right afterward for a 93-87 lead with 4:31 left. After one Love free throw, Thomas answered with two for that 95-88 lead with under four minutes left. Which the Bulls followed with three miserable possessions, a Deng jumper after dribbling too much, a quick Gordon jumper out of a timeout once again and Thomas throwing himself at the basket for a bad miss.

One more play. That's all the Bulls needed. Like in losses in the last few weeks to the Knicks, Spurs and Hawks. It never came. Only the lack of answers.

Small doesn't come up big for Bulls this time

You figured this "small ball" thing had to catch up to the Bulls at times, and it will continue to do so as it did here Friday with the Memphis Grizzlies jumping all over the Bulls, figuratively and literally, in a 103-96 victory.

The loss dropped the Bulls to 10-12 with a wakeup call to play the New Jersey Nets at home Saturday. While Friday was billed as a matchup of the two likely candidates for rookie of the year in the Bulls Derrick Rose (12 points and 11 assists) and the Grizzlies O.J. Mayo (14 points), Saturday's game features Rose and Devin Harris, the two point guards perhaps fighting it out for the last spot among the reserves for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

And once again the Bulls will find themselves looking up. Not drastically in the standings to the 11-10 Nets, but to a front line of several seven footers, whom the Bulls have little counter for but to hit those jump shots and run the fast breaks.

"You cannot go small all the time," acknowledged Larry Hughes, who continued his hot streak shooting with 12 points off the bench and a pair of threes. "You have to have the paint. It's where the game is won, low post scoring and rebounding. When you go small, it's kind of tough to control the paint. You allow teams to get to the free throw line, get second chance points when you have to double a lot of times. It's tough to go completely small."

Though Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro doesn't seem to feel he has much choice with his "bigs" of Drew Gooden, Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray and Tyrus Thomas.

Gooden did have 10 points and 13 rebounds, his third straight double/double after two poor shooting games. But Gray, Noah and Thomas played bit parts as the Bulls reverted to those three-guard sets with Luol Deng or Andres Nocioni at power forward and Gooden at center down the stretch.

Leading early in the game by 14 after a sizzling first quarter shooting exhibition by Ben Gordon of 18 points with five threes, the Bulls pulled within 83-79 with about 10 minutes left on a Nocioni three. But little Mike Conley snuck in for a rebound, one of a career high 10, and Hakim Warrick hit a short bank shot. Nocioni missed and Rudy Gay knocked in an 18 footer, part of his season high 29. Gooden countered with a nice inside cut for a layup, but Darko Milicic—yes, Darko with season highs of 13 points and 11 rebounds—spun inside for a score. After Luol Deng got himself loose for a reverse along the baseline after a miss, Warrick turned into Dominique Wilkins, bouncing around for a layup off his own miss on three consecutive possessions, 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Grizzlies pull away.

In all, the Grizzlies outscored the Bulls by a whopping 52-26 in the paint, and that was with the Grizzlies missing perhaps 10 layups.

"Give them some credit," said Del Negro. "Warrick hurt us. Gay hurt us. We didn't handle Milicic well in the post. We couldn't get good matchups against their lineups. I don't always prefer to play small. I felt we needed to go small and trick it up, but we couldn't handle their penetration. They were getting in the middle and breaking us down."

As we've heard before with this Bulls team: Live by the jump shot; die by the jump shot.

How it happened this time on defense with Gay leaping over Bulls like a young Dr. J was the difficulty you get in trying to squeeze through so often with small lineups. That said, I am not opposed to it with this group, though the question always remains if you give regular time to players like Thomas, Noah and Thabo Sefolosha, the latter finally getting six minutes after sitting out the last five games, do you end up with more production? Or do you run into quicker losses because they give you so little and your guards are your best scorers?

It looked that way as the Bulls built a 26-12 lead.

First Gordon and then Hughes were punishing and embarrassing Mayo, who couldn't stay with either and the Bulls kept picking on him to take that big lead.

But after leading 30-22 after one quarter, Gordon drew his third foul 35 seconds into the second quarter and sat down with 18 points.

"I was locked in and focused," said Gordon, who finished with 26. "After I got in foul trouble, I wasn't a big factor in the game. I kind of let my team down not being out there."

And give him this: You pick on his defense or ball handling, but when the guy is hitting his shot, there are few players in the NBA as deadly. You still need to score to win the game, and it would be difficult to see how the Bulls could score enough to win much with this roster and Gordon not playing.

I also enjoy Gordon's direct answers.

I asked him if he thought of asking Del Negro if he could stay in since he was hot.

"Yeah, but I knew he'd take me out anyway, so I didn't bring it up," said Gordon with a gentle smirk.

Actually, my favorite comic moment of the game was with Gooden checking in. He was standing in front of the scorers' table when one of the scorers said, "Dwight, can you sit down."

"You guys keep calling me Dwight," Gooden says. "It never changes."

So after the game I was standing with Gooden and asked him what that was about. He was a first round pick of the Grizzlies but traded a few months into his rookie season. He said everyone always got his first name wrong and called him after the infamous baseball pitcher. So as we're standing there, a local radio guy comes up and says, "Uh, Dwight, can I ask you a question."

"See, see," Gooden said. "I think it may be southern for Drew."

Anyway, the Bulls went south after Gordon went out, though not right away, leading 54-52 at halftime. The Bulls shot 53.8 percent in the first half with eight of their 54 points inside. Gordon, Hughes and Rose scored 48 of the Bulls 54 first half points. You knew that couldn't last.

From a tie at 66 with four minutes left in the third, the 8-15 Grizzlies went on a 15-4 run with Milicic and Marc Gasol scoring inside and Mayo and Gay hitting threes, and Warrick finished it off.

The Bulls tried playing zone on occasion, but didn't react well enough to contain penetration and were losing position for offensive rebounds. Given Memphis is a young team and young teams often cannot take advantage, the Bulls tried to front the post on Memphis' big guys, which required Gooden to come over and help behind. But too often that left a guard matched against Warrick or Gay and it was no contest as those guys were jumping over, throwing lobs and dunking in spectacular fashion, especially Gay, a stunning athlete.

Deng had 19 points and was as active as he could be gathering up loose balls and following misses. But he is in the unenviable position of playing against the most athletic players in the NBA at the small forward position and had huge problems trying to stay with Gay or Warrick.

"Gay and Warrick are as athletic as you'll find in the league," said Del Negro. "Their length definitely bothered us. We couldn't sustain anything after the first quarter and were playing catchup in the fourth."

Otherwise, it was a homecoming for Rose, who attended the University of Memphis and was tremendously popular here.

He was introduced as being from the U. of Memphis instead of from Chicago as he is introduced at the United Center and got a standing ovation from the Grizzlies largest crowd of the season.

"I have great fans," Rose said. "They came out and supported me and I love them for that."

Though the Grizzlies, one of the lowest drawing teams in the NBA, were aware as well and there seemed to be a little extra in their step.

“We knew what the people were coming for tonight, but we wanted to put a show on for the fans even though its Derrick’s homecoming," said Conley. "I thought we did a great job of not letting that get to us."

Rose's Memphis team was off playing at Georgetown, so they weren't in attendance, but Rose has become close with Mayo and the two talked. Rose said they stayed with one another in the summer in Los Angeles and Chicago and Rose said Mayo is his closest friend among the rookies.

They were matched up only occasionally, mostly on switches. But neither played a major role in the game, though it's perhaps more vital for Rose with the Bulls, especially when his teammates' shots stop going down. Still, Rose played more than 44 minutes.

"I didn't want to force up shots," said Rose. "That's not my type of game. I try to pass if guys are open and let someone else create and I can play off them.

"I felt like I was at home," Rose added of the appreciative crowd. "It felt good. It seemed like it was a Memphis game."

In more ways than the Bulls preferred.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

Wake up voters! Rose deserves All-Star nod

It's Thursday night here in Memphis. I'm looking forward to watching the Bears vs. Saints game but first, I had to catch up with Kevin O'Neill whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for the past twenty years. The man is a superb tactician and an excellent recruiter. He is an assistant coach here in Memphis and loves working with the young talent assembled by Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace.

I can't wait for Rose-Mayo round two! Rose had 26 against the Grizz at the United Center in round one. Here's my audio preview:

By the way, how can Rose be eighth... eighth in All-Star voting? Are you kidding me? Rose will be in Phoenix All-Star Weekend. He should play on Sunday NOT Saturday. Am I missing something? Eighth? An injustice to this young man.

I'm not sure how the Mayo-Gay combo will work out. Both want to be the first option and I'm not digging their body language especially during the Memphis vs. OKC game from the other night. I do like Marc Gasol. The kid is tough. Mike Conley is playing much better coming off the bench. Less pressure = more production.

The Vancouver for Memphis deal is one of the worst transactions in NBA history. The Grizz averaging a league low 11,685. They may get a bump Friday with Rose in the house but...

Boston now at a franchise best 21 and 2 after ripping the hapless Wizards by 34. Nine straight road wins for the Cs.

Utah beat Portland... Okur on a major roll.

The Bobcats without Bell, Diaw and Singletary played the Mavs tough, but lost by 5.

Here's wishing Cutino Mobley good health and a productive life for many, many years to come. He loved playing the game and it showed.

Check out Peter Vescey in today's NY Post. Knicks coach and former Suns employee Mike D'Antoni went off on his former club.

Trust me... the Bears will win the NFC North. Honest. I loved the drama of Thurday's game.

Baseball clearly has the haves and the have nots... the Yankees and Mets improved themselves and you know the Red Sox will do something of significance. Angels? Cubs? Stay tuned.

E-mail me your thoughts at cswirsky@bulls.com

Always a pleasure.

It's No. 1 versus No. 2 Friday when Bulls meet Grizzlies

Forget Oklahoma and Florida.

This is No. 1 vs. No. 2 Friday, and it's in Memphis and it's for the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

It's really not more than a two-player race for anyone who is paying attention.

The Bulls Derrick Rose and the Memphis Grizzlies' O.J. Mayo are the two top rookies in the Class of 2008, and no one is even close.

And not just because of the numbers of Mayo averaging 20.8 points per game and Rose at 18.3. After them, there's Miami's Michael Beasley third at 13.9, but usually not even a starter. Same with D.J. Augustin fourth and Russell Westbrook fifth. Mayo is setting rookie records now by scoring in double figures in every game this season, now 22 straight, while Rose is leading rookies in assists at 6.1 and Rose is fifth overall in the NBA among point guards in shooting, his field goal percentage a remarkable for a rookie guard 49.5 percent.

They are the class of the class. But who is better?

One game Friday won't matter that much, and I'm biased having seen every one of Rose's games. He'd have my vote for sure.

So I decided to ask another biased guy, Ron Tillery, the fine Grizzlies beat writer for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Ron's a Chicago native who covered basketball here and then in Seattle before moving to Memphis. You see a guy all season, and if it's close, as it is between Mayo and Rose, then you go with the guy you've seen.

So I wasn't surprised when Ron said he'd vote for Mayo, though one statistic Ron offered bolstered my case a bit.

The Grizzlies are 7-15 compared to the Bulls 10-11, which gives Rose a slight edge among voters given the way these things tend to go. But perhaps more telling is that the Grizzlies haven't won a game when Mayo was their leading scorer. I've watched the Grizzlies often because I wanted to see Mayo.

He is good. He's got an NBA game, an ability to go to the basket, create his own shot and space to get it off, all rare for a rookie, though Mayo hardly plays like one.

The problem I have with him, and why I think Rose should be way ahead of him in the voting, is Rose plays the tougher position, point guard. Though Mayo does handle the ball an extraordinary amount of the time, to the Grizzlies' detriment in the games I've watched, I believe.

It may have come to a head Wednesday night when the Grizzlies made a huge comeback to beat Oklahoma City (it is an advantage to play in the West these days with so many bad teams there compared with the East). In watching the Grizzlies, I've sensed a tension between Mayo and Rudy Gay for the ball and shots. And there was a bit of a blowup in the first half against the Thunder Wednesday when Gay had the ball on a three-on-one break and ran in and got fouled while not passing to Mayo. Mayo had some words with Gay, and in the fourth quarter when the Grizzlies made a comeback and took the game, Mayo didn't play at all while forgotten point guard Mike Conley scored 14 points.

Though there always are mitigating circumstances, like trying to come from behind when you are the team's scorer. This season, Mayo has averaged 16.7 points in wins and 22.7 in losses while Rose averages 19.2 in wins and 17.5 in losses. In watching Rose, I've seen that he rises to the occasion and looks to score more when the team needs it.

Many voters don't get to see most players more than a handful of times. And scoring and big games have a major impact. Mayo already has had four games of at least 30 points, a 20-point quarter and those marks set by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson for scoring in double figures as a rookie.

So, your case, Ron:

"I'm usually an anti-homer guy, and I would vote for Mayo," Tillery said. "Their numbers are relatively close, but in the end Mayo will score more. I think he'll shoot a higher percentage and will be better defensively."

Mayo is 40 percent on threes and 89 percent on free throws, both better than Rose, and Mayo leads in rebounds 4.2 to 3.8. Rose averages 6.1 assists to 2.6 for Mayo.

"More than that," insists Ron, "he (Mayo) will be more dynamic. He's already dropped 30 (four) times, 19, 20 in a quarter. The difference is the Grizzlies don't get a lot of exposure. But when a rookie evokes Bird and Magic, that's (special).

"You can't take anything away from Rose, but Mayo is slightly more dynamic," Ron insists. "Plus Mayo is doing it on a bad team…with teams paying attention to just him and Gay. His basketball IQ is sky high. He's very mature and makes most of the right decisions. He's got great court vision and can get his shot off against anybody. Plus he's deadly from the three and scores in a variety of ways, three ball, floater, mid range."

Mayo is undersized at shooting guard, and does have trouble with the big twos like Joe Johnson, though most do. Tillery says Mayo always is approachable, though tough on teammates when the team loses. Chris Wallace, the team's general manager, likens Mayo to a Dwyane Wade type player, though Mayo doesn't quite have the hops and long arms of Wade.

It's an impressive case, and one that could sway a lot of voters.

I'm not persuaded because, ultimately, I don't think you win with a player like Mayo as your top guy because I see him as too selfish and getting in the way of his teammates, and not explosive enough to overcome that with transcendent scoring like LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.

I like Rose better because of the position, his amazing ability to get wherever he wants on the floor like Chris Paul and an explosiveness at the rim I've never seen in the history of the NBA for a point guard.

I believe Rose could be a bigger scorer than Mayo if Rose chose to be. But I see him spending the majority of the game seeking out shots for his teammates. His defense isn't that good yet, though I believe he'll get much better. Rose is remarkably consistent and seems unaffected by the vagaries of the game. There's no statistic for this, but Rose seems to me one of those rare players who seems to know by instinct what the team needs to win the game. And his shot is much better than advertised.

It's Rose's first game back in Memphis, where he led the U. of Memphis to the NCAA championship game last spring, and final game between the Bulls and Grizzlies this season. The Bulls won the first somewhat easily in Chicago 96-86 in just the third game of the season. Rose had 26 points while Mayo had one of his poorest games with 16 points and five turnovers. Though neither said much about it, you can believe they were aware of the developing rivalry. You figure Mayo wants to make a statement this time.

The Grizzlies hoped to land Rose in the lottery, but when they didn't they pulled off a trade to get Mayo, whom they identified as the only other star in the draft. They look right on that for now.

So it should be a fun night Friday in Memphis, which I can't say I've had often. Though there was the time I went to Graceland with Bill Walton. I'll save that story for another time.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

Rose's possible All-Star bid begins with first voting

The first All-Star team voting returns were announced Thursday, and though Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose was eighth among East guards, he has a reasonable chance of being selected by the coaches among the reserve players.

It didn't help Rose's chances that Allen Iverson, who is having a poor season for him, was second in the East voting with a large margin over No. 3 Vince Carter. It seems unlikely the way the Pistons have played since trading for Iverson and Iverson's erratic play that the coaches would reward Iverson with another All-Star spot.

But Iverson is one of the league's most popular players among fans, so it's likely he'll grab that second spot for East guards. That works against Rose becoming the first Bulls player since Michael Jordan in 1998 to make the All-Star team.

But Rose's play, though it is somewhat lost on voting fans because he is a rookie, has impressed coaches everywhere the Bulls have gone, and it may come down to a choice between Rose and New Jersey's Devin Harris for that last guard spot in the East. Rose and Harris matchup for the first time this season at the United Center Saturday.

The voting has LeBron James and Kevin Garnett Nos. 1 and 2 among East forwards, as it should be. The Nets' Yi Jianlian, likely because of big votes from China, is third among forwards. He has no chance of being selected by the coaches as he is an average player. But should he pass Garnett into second, that likely would bounce Rose from the team, assuming Iverson doesn't fall out of the top two among guards.

The coaches have two so called "wild card" picks where they do not have to pick according to position. Thus, there may be only one center selected, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. Among East centers in the voting, it would seem only Al Horford of Atlanta or Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Cleveland seem to have a chance of being added by the coaches. It's more likely, though, the coaches opt for extra guards or forwards.

The obvious omissions not starting in the early voting are Boston's Paul Pierce and Toronto's Chris Bosh among forwards and among guards the Nets Vince Carter and the Hawks Joe Johnson. I'm assuming Ray Allen gets selected given the Celtics play and being defending champions.

That would leave two open spots.

Coaches usually like to go with players from teams with winning records, so the Magic might get another player, either Hedo Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis at forward. Likewise, Cleveland could get Ilgauskas. The Pistons, if they remain with a .500 or better record, could add Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince.

Danny Granger is in the top 10 in the league in scoring for the Pacers and is a possibility. Caron Butler also at 10th in the league in scoring, though the Wizards' record is poor and could hurt him and Antawn Jamison. Perhaps the Bucks Richard Jefferson if the team begins to win.

It's probably going to come down to record at the end of January when the coaches vote, and I'd say whomever between the Nets and Bulls has the best record, their point guard will be a first time All Star this season.

In the Western Conference, the first returns had the starters as Yao Ming, Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. They seem set except for the possibility of Carmelo Anthony overtaking Stoudemire in the voting.

The game is in Phoenix Feb. 15. Rose certainly will be part of the rookie/sophomore game, which is Feb. 13. No other Bulls but Rose was in the top 10 in voting at his position.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

Bulls show D'Antoni the run and shoot game

Start printing the playoff tickets? In outlasting the New York Knicks 105-100, the Bulls Tuesday moved to 10-11 on the season and into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Of course, that also likely would mean a first round playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics.

Only 61 games to go.

"It is a different team (from last season)," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro "We made some mistakes, (but) we were able to overcome that. Our guys hung in there."

And in some respects, it was playoff like at the United Center, with celebrities in the crowd in Vice President-elect Joe Biden and presidential advisor David Axelrod. The Knicks played a tight rotation of seven players and the Bulls just eight. There were six lead changes in the fourth quarter before the Bulls finally prevailed on a Larry Hughes three to break a 97 tie with 55 seconds left. Hughes then gathered in a fumbled rebound between Al Harrington and David Lee with 27 seconds left that gave the Bulls the valued possession and forced the Knicks to foul the game away.

Joe Biden attends a Bulls victory

"The last two minutes, for whatever reasons, we just didn't get any tips of loose balls," said former Bull Chris Duhon, who had 15 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in 45 minutes and has been a revelation for Knicks' coach Mike D'Antoni's spread floor game. "We had the opportunity to win this game but didn't capitalize on it. We were right there so I don't think fatigue was a factor. It's similar to when I was a rookie here. We were up five in the fourth and had the opportunity to seal the deal. We controlled most of the fourth quarter, but missed some shots, and defensive errors cost us the win."

And so the Bulls move on to 6-15 Memphis Friday with a chance to get back to .500 on the season, playing an eclectic group of small players in an open court, offensive oriented game that more resembles what D'Antoni played in Phoenix when Del Negro was also there as an assistant general manager.

It was mostly three guard lineups and perimeter jumpers again, and the Bulls had just enough to overcome a poor Ben Gordon shooting game (six for 18) as Drew Gooden again showed how vital he is to team success with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

"I felt like I was not playing up to par so I wanted to at least have energy out there tonight," said Gooden. "The scoring came within the offense. I knew I could present myself with rebounding and playing defense."

Though Aaron Gray actually played the old Bill Cartwright/Luc Longley role of getting the first possession and first basket and Joakim Noah showed some life in 19 minutes with four blocks and five rebounds, it is only Gooden who is able to provide an real inside offensive threat. When he was a combined one for 16 against the Bucks and 76ers last week, the Bulls lost both games. When he's failed to score in double figures or been out this season, the Bulls have lost six of those nine games.

But against the Knicks it's a bit easier for someone like Gooden to produce with New York's small, skinny lineup with David Lee at center and occasionally Jared Jeffries.

Against the Knicks, it's also a game of seeing whose shots go down, and the Bulls made a bit more as the Knicks shot an obscene 28 threes and made only six while the Bulls, at times, did get lured by the siren song of the high arcing, quick three, the seductress of the hardwood. She's beautiful when she makes twine music, but the thud can also be a desperate letdown.

The Bulls seemed in control of the game several times, ahead 38-27 in the second quarter, and again by nine in the third. But each time like they were mesmerized by the Knicks rollicking shotmaking, Gordon or Andres Nocioni or Hughes would fire off quicker jumpers without a pass or much offensive movement, only to see the ball kicking long and the Knicks running out to make a play.

"We did not share the ball as well as we can," said Del Negro. "We made plays down the stretch. Neither team shot the ball great. We found a way and I am happy with that. We can play a lot better. We wanted to get them off the three point shot. They still got them up. We were fortunate, especially early in the game, when they missed some that they usually make."

Perhaps typical, but ultimately not fatal, was the sequence midway through the second quarter with the Bulls up eight and the Knicks repeatedly missing layups. DePaul's Wilson Chandler, who is from DePaul, had one of his poorest games in obviously trying to impress the home folks and was two of 13 with five turnovers, taking repeated bad shots and unaware of game situations. Quentin Richardson, also from DePaul, had perhaps the highlight of the game at that point in the second quarter after Hughes took a quick three on top of the floor with his teammates in deep and no one back. Richardson took a lob left handed from Duhon and slammed the ball with ferocity, knuckles to forehead in what is generally regarded as the Blue Demon horned salute.

Still, Richardson was nine for 24 overall for 22 points and three for 10 on threes, perhaps strained as the Knicks Seven get little rest anytime, especially Duhon, who piled on another 45 minutes and seemed to tire badly down the stretch with two pullup threes that hit way short on the front rim, getting a shot blocked by Derrick Rose and two of his four turnovers in the last eight minutes.

"Al (Harrington with a game high 28) was great," said D'Antoni. "He's playing with a lot of confidence, but I think he got tired in the fourth. Once we get Nate (Robinson) back, and some of the others like Jared (Jeffries) getting his legs back, it will help the whole team. Overall I'm happy with the effort and what we did tonight."

Which was almost steal the game with a solid run to open the fourth quarter.

With Gordon dribbling into a 24 second violation at the end of the third quarter and giving the Knicks time for a Harrington buzzer beater, the Knicks pulled within 78-77 after three. They then opened the fourth quarter again catching the Bulls in major mismatches with Richardson or Jeffries scoring over Gordon and the Knicks taking a 92-87 lead with 6:41 left.

Earlier in the game, Rose, playing with his left elbow in a sleeve from that knife cut Monday (he supposedly was using a knife because it was a candy apple), likewise, found himself repeatedly disadvantaged at the core of the defense.

D'Antoni often is criticized for his teams' lack of defense, though I believe you can win in the NBA playing his style—assuming the players are good enough--and I still believe the Suns did with the championship in 2007 over the Cavs. If not, of course, for those unnecessary suspensions when the Spurs Robert Horry suckered the Suns into leaving the bench when Horry assaulted Steve Nash. No, the Suns didn't win, but averaging almost 60 wins for four years and a couple of conference finals still sounds awfully good. The Bulls would take that.

And D'Antoni can sure coach offense.

Though his Knicks are decimated and shorthanded by injuries and the recent trades and have had revolving personnel all season, the Knicks mostly seem to respond to game situations beautifully.

They almost instantly find mismatches on offense and exploit them like Chuck Daly at his best with the probing Pistons of Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. The Knicks simple pick and roll game got big guys inside frequently and often inexplicably with the smaller Knicks matching the Bulls in points in the paint.

I thought the Bulls guards should have dropped under on the pick and roll more and challenged Duhon shoot since he is, at best, a streaky shooter, and averaging more than 40 minutes per game. Give Duhon this: He never had much chance with the Bulls with the excess of guards and starting off defying the team when they wanted him to start his career in Europe. But when the team was collapsing on interim Jim Boylan on the Western Conference trip last February and several players were not playing, an injured Duhon kept going and almost single handedly fought off a potential losing streak with 34 points in beating a then good Golden State team. He would make his share of mistakes with the team afterward as his playing time diminished, but he remains a heck of a competitor.

"It was fun. I expected to get booed," said Duhon. "But they were pretty kind to me. It was fun to compete against those guys.The win would have been the icing."

On the candy apple, so to speak.

Rose played 41 minutes and had 15 points on seven of 11 shooting and seven assists, though it wasn't easy.

D'Antoni was ready, despite the notion his teams don't defend, with a nice plan on Rose. The Knicks mostly trapped Rose on the pick and roll, forcing him to move the ball as Lee pushed Rose and scrambled back. Which isn't much of a problem since the Bulls rarely can throw inside, other than when Gooden is there. But then when Gooden got going, the Knicks switched on various possessions, sometimes dropping off to play straight up and mixing in some traps so Rose didn't know what to expect.

But Rose's maturity is perhaps most remarkable as he never seems to hurry and almost always makes the right play.

Coming out of that timeout trailing by five, the teams traded missed jumpers, Richardson's missed three a potential dagger that didn't stick. The Knicks then trapped and Rose moved the ball to Hughes on top and he found Nocioni in the deep corner for a three.

"Nocioni hit a tough three from the corner," said Lee. "And Hughes hit the dagger at the end. I am disappointed and feel we should have won this game."

After Jeffries airballed a six footer, Rose pulled up and hit an 18 footer, Duhon lost the ball and Rose crossed over Duhon and went hard to the rim and scored a layup to put the Bulls back ahead 94-92.

But the Bulls went dry again with Hughes and Gordon missing long shots, though all three were good looks, while Harrington's three put the Knicks back on top 97-94 with 4:03 remaining. Chandler then stepped out of bounds in the deep left corner and Gordon finally hit that corner three he'd been missing to tie it at 97 with 2:51 left.

Chandler then missed a wild shot and a tip, Rose missed a jumper, Duhon came up short on that three and Hughes with 16 points and eight rebounds hit another big shot in what's been an excellent stretch.

"Larry Hughes hit another big shot in what's been an excellent stretch."

"It's always good to make them when it counts," said Hughes. "I'm not going to turn them (shots) down. I'm never going to turn them down. It's going to be one of two things: It's either going to go in or it's not. But as long as it's a good look and my teammates find me, I'm definitely going to take the shot."

Call it a philosophy, though it's working of late. Never regarded as much of a worker, it seems that Hughes may have gotten the hint here that he needs to get serious. His shot looks better and in more control than I've seen it in years, which suggests he is working on it and staying in shape. There's no doubt he's a talent. Everyone has always known that. But it's been, at times, about what he would put into it.

It's working for him and the team now, so it seems he'll stay where he is as the first guy off the bench and getting plenty of time in a short rotation.

Given that short rotation, Tyrus Thomas didn't play in a game that should have fit him with open court and small, quick players. Gray started again, though hardly a matchup fit against this Knicks team and style. He did a few nice things early in each half, sealing to get a score and wheeling in for another. But he wasn't quick enough to stay too long.

It should have been the kind of game for Noah, and he got in 19 minutes, his longest stretch in almost a month. Noah was especially active and effective to open the second quarter with a block on Richardson that Hughes saved falling out of bounds and two good defensive plays when the Bulls went out to their biggest lead of the game at 38-27. Though it's still painful to watch him even attempt a shot.

In the plus/minus statistics for the game, only he and Luol Deng with 16 points, most early again, were on the plus side, though Noah was pulled early in the fourth quarter after losing Jeffries on a switch for an easy layup as the Bulls then finished the game with their guard heavy lineup plus Gooden.

Still, in the last 10 years, the best any Bulls team has been after 21 games in 11-10. So, all in all, not bad, and we'll see where this goes.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

D'Antoni cuts to the chase. Rose just cut.

Mike D'Antoni is no different than anyone else. And not just because Stephon Marbury hates him, too.

No, D'Antoni admits he does occasionally have some of those "what if" thoughts, like what if he'd waited until the lottery and it was clear the Bulls had the No. 1 overall draft pick and perhaps the next Steve Nash in Derrick Rose and what if the Bulls wanted him to coach and what if...

"Everyone (has those thoughts). It's human nature," D'Antoni said by telephone. "But I'm very happy working where I am. I came in knowing the challenge. I'm not disillusioned. I don't sit around wishing I'd done something else. Now, if we could have gotten Rose...

(by the way, check out my Rose posting below about wacky injuries in sports after Rose accidently cut himself with a knife Monday.)

"I could see when he was on the (USA Basketball) select team (playing against the senior team)," said D'Antoni, an assistant on the gold medal winning USA team. "You could see he was going to be really, really good, a big time player, rockets for legs, quickness, explosive ability. He could get to the rim, a good kid. This was a guy who can't miss."

D'Antoni is at the United Center Tuesday with his New York Knicks, and it's not like he really misses Phoenix or the chance to go to Chicago. Despite being in the middle of the predictable New York dysfunction: Marbury in full pout and search and destroy (his team) seeking to be released, a major trade taking away his two top scorers in Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford apparently to get in position to make a run at LeBron James and other free agents in almost two years, one of the players coming in the trade (Cuttino Mobley) perhaps retiring with heart issues and injuries to supposed rotation players like Eddy Curry, Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries, D'Antoni still has fashioned a more competitive Knicks team than we've seen in years, more of a threat on any given night than circumstances would suggest.

"It is difficult because every coach wants things to run smoothly and win and all that," said D'Antoni. "But the players have been receptive and bought in. It's a good group of guys with good spirit. The locker room is alive and they want to do the right thing, which is good enough for now."

It was good enough for a home win over the Detroit Pistons Sunday and to give the Knicks a 9-11 record, identical to the Bulls. They are third in points scored, 29th in points surrendered and worst in opponent field goal percentage. But they beat the Jazz, Pistons and Heat and play with a giddy élan that is common in D'Antoni teams as D'Antoni seems to have revived Quentin Richardson and found a talent in Wilson Chandler, both from DePaul.

No one is quite sure what happened in the Bulls' pursuit of D'Antoni as D'Antoni accepted a job with the Knicks shortly after meeting with the Bulls management team. D'Antoni says he respects and admires Bulls managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf and just felt the New York job was a challenge he wanted to take a shot at, though he says he remains grateful for the Bulls interest.

Though D'Antoni's offensive seven-seconds-to-shoot system is often mocked by other coaches, D'Antoni is something of a power of positive thinking coach. He doesn't use a deep rotation and doesn't practice that hard. But his players are in condition and routinely compete. Though he's engaged in his most fierce verbal battles in the NBA with Phil Jackson, they are somewhat alike in their ability to appeal to players and produce results. D'Antoni is something of a mind over body guy. He gets guys to believe. That they are better than everyone says and can do more. You see elements of it already with the surprising Knicks.

Though much of it has been overshadowed by the ongoing L'Affair Marbury.

D'Antoni has been roasted in the New York media (who isn't) about his handling of Marbury, but D'Antoni makes no apologies, and it's unclear what he could have done differently. Ownership didn't want to pay Marbury off to go away, Marbury insisted on being around, and D'Antoni wanted to move on knowing Marbury wasn't in the team's future.

"It's like trying to put a square peg in a round hole," he said. "I hate the situation. I hate it for Steph. Could we have done something different? I don't know. I didn't know guys would get hurt, about Cuttino. If I knew that (when D'Antoni opened the season not playing Marbury) maybe we'd change. You try to make the best decision with the information at the time, and we did.

"I hate it for everybody," D'Antoni said. "The biggest thought was development, trying to build a team. We had Chris (Duhon), Nate, Jamal. To be honest, there weren't minutes there (for Marbury). We chose to go with three young core players. That was the decision and we went with it.

"To have the kind of year (you want) you need to start strong, have people healthy and get lucky," notes D'Antoni. "It's hard to have a Cinderella season when you aren't lucky. You've got to keep it together and make your own luck, but we are getting guys back and I feel we will make the playoffs. The players have bought in and are good, so it's not hard.

"I knew all along at some point there might be a disruption (because of a trade)," D'Antoni acknowledged. "If Mobley (could play), if Nate didn't get hurt. I thought it was a good trade (for now as well). So it is taking longer to adjust. But we'll muddle through."

Still, D'Antoni likes a lot of what he sees, especially Duhon, the former Bulls guard.

"I didn't look at last year," said D'Antoni. "For whatever reason, a lot of people there were down last year, not just him. I looked at two years ago and I liked him a lot. Coach K said he never gets tired and how he is a special person. He's been even better than I thought."

D'Antoni knows the critics will be out there, saying his uptempo system only worked because of Nash, but he doesn't worry.

"I do think it does work in the long run," D'Antoni says. "I never thought I'd come here and it would be all flowers and balloons everywhere. It would take awhile. I'm a basketball coach and I know that good teams win because of good players. It's been everything I expected here, a good practice facility, a terrific setting and the chance to develop a young team. The hardest thing is having patience in New York. I know there's no quick fix. They kept trying that and it kept getting worse. We as an organization have to have patience, accept the criticisms, not panic and do what we do and have faith in the end product and where we're going and not get caught up in the distractions. We're definitely cool with that."

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

Derrick Rose's knife injury is hardly the most unusual

I feel Derrick Rose's pain, though it seems he's fine and will play Tuesday with 10 stitches from inadvertently flopping onto a knife he said he'd had in his bed he was using to cut an apple. Of course, this is one problem Eddy Curry never had as you rarely suffer injuries eating Twinkies.

That was hard to resist, though I feel for Eddy as the Knicks are at the United Center Tuesday to play the Bulls and Eddy is out now at least until after the new year and perhaps all season with the complications from a knee injury and not having been able to play or work out this season.

"He can't get over the soreness in his knee," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said in a telephone interview. "It's a Catch-22. He has to work out hard to get on the floor, but the knee won't allow that. It's more like treading water. As soon as the knee gets well, we'll get him on the floor. We need his bulk and height. Physically, he needs the work, to get up and down the court hard, but he's not able to run."

I can recall plenty of $#^*&^%$# moments of my own trying to open a can or cut fruit and blood gushing everywhere and wondering why, I, too didn't go for the soft chocolate with the cream center.

"It was unfortunate," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "But we're happy it wasn't more serious. He should play (Tuesday). We'll see how he is. We're happy it wasn't worse. It was a real sharp knife and it just filleted him. He'll get the stitches out in about 10 days, so it should be tender. But he'll be fine."

Anyway, since it seems Rose is going to be OK, it's a good time, especially in the wake of this and NFL Giants' player Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg to consider some of the most embarrassing moments for the greatest athletes in the world, America's dumbest injuries.

There seemed to be more in baseball than any other of the major sports, and I can understand why. I remember former player and now ESPN broadcaster John Kruk saying famously one time: "We're not athletes. We're baseball players."

There was Monta Ellis' moped accident this summer, Vladimir Radmanovic snowboarding and hurt last All Star break and the Collins twins in Minnesota and Utah now, both injured, Jarron more seriously and still out, when the golf cart he was driving with his twin this summer flipped over. Of course, there was Jay Williams' horrific motorcycle accident, though one that goes down in NBA annals is Lionel Simmons, playing for Sacramento, going out for some time with wrist problems from playing video games too much.

The Bulls Drew Gooden when he was with the Cavs had his streak of 83 straight games broken by infected leg hair follicles. Kareem Abdul Jabbar once ruined a Bucks season punching out a basket stanchion. Then in Seattle Moochie Norris didn't play because he said he had insomnia and there was Cedric Ceballos, upset about something, leaving the team and saying he got stuck boating and missed the game.

The Cubs have had more than their share. There was Sammy Sosa's famous sneeze that injured his back. Kerry Wood, who had enough arm problems, was hurt getting out of a hot tub. There was Glenallen Hill, then with Toronto, who was famous for his fear of spiders, arachnophobia, and injured when he had a severe nightmare and got up and cut himself on a glass table.

One of the best was John Smoltz, sustaining burns when he ironed his shirt—while he still was wearing it.

I felt, also, for pitcher Adam Eaton who sustained severe cuts trying to open a DVD package. Hands up. Who hasn't done that on those ridiculous plastic seal wrappers?

I seem to recall Cubs outfielder Henry Cotto puncturing his eardrum when he was bumped by a teammate while cleaning his ears with a Q-tip. I can't recall the manager, maybe Don Zimmer, raging about they had trainers to clean players' ears.

There was Jose Cardenal taking off when he said his eyelids were stuck and Cubs reliever Mike Remlinger breaking his finger when it got caught between two reclining chairs. Moises Alou fell off a treadmill.

Wade Boggs hurt his back pulling on a pair of cowboy boots. The Mets' Bob Ojeda suffered a serious injury gardening and how bad was it to be in the Cleveland clubhouse when pitcher Chuck Finley came in with injuries after apparently being attacked by his wife. In baseball they always talk about Marty Cordova, then with Baltimore, getting overcooked in a California tanning salon and Joel Zumaya of the Tigers with elbow problems from playing the game Guitar Hero too much.

Dick Allen once sustained serious hand injuries apparently pushing a car uphill and his hand supposedly went through the headlights. Pitcher Kevin Brown was hurt wrestling with his son as there have been loads of guys hurt wrestling in the clubhouse injuries over the years. The Rangers' Oddibe McDowell cut his hand on a dinner knife. The Cubs Felix Pie—ouch—had a twisted testicle.

Milton Bradley had several, the latest while being held back by his manager and mangling his knee.

There was the famous Vince Coleman injury being caught by the tarp and some good ones in the NFL with Bill Gramatica tearing his ACL celebrating after a game winning kick and Brian Griese supposedly tripping over his dog. At least that's what he said.

So relax Derrick, and have a little laugh. You're hardly the first.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

Bulls win Run, Pass and Shoot competition over Wizards

It would be nice to be a good defensive team, but it's not going to happen for these Bulls. It would be nice to be able to throw it inside and get some scoring inside/out, which is considered the tested NBA formula for success. But it's not going to happen for these Bulls. It would be nice to get consistent perimeter shooting, but it doesn't really happen for anyone.

So you go with what you have and what you think is best, and it's what I've basically been saying about this Bulls team, which played, in effect, it's prototype game Saturday in defeating the Washington Wizards 117-110.

The Bulls scored a lot and got scored on. They shot well and couldn't do much against the opponents' shooting because they put their best players on the floor, who basically added up to an average height of about 6-5. But almost all can dunk.

Their strength is their offense and quickness. Their best players are guards and small forwards. So in quest of a victory after two disappointing losses to the losing 76ers and Bucks, the Bulls went small and outran, outshot and played not quite as poor defense as the Wizards.

This is your 2008-09 Chicago Bulls, a lot closer to the best of the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors than the best of the champion Bulls or this season's Boston Celtics.

Ready, set, score.

“The small line-up was more effective," said coach Vinny Del Negro of the group with Andres Nocioni at center and Luol Deng, Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose that opened up a 17-point lead late into the third and through the middle of the fourth quarter. "We need to get more commitment and consistency from our bigs. I just thought the guys who were competing and playing the hardest whether small or big was who we wanted out there."

And I cannot disagree, at least for the short term.

Joakim Noah was benched for Aaron Gray and didn't play. Tyrus Thomas made a five-minute cameo and missed a shot. Del Negro basically went with a seven-player rotation throughout the game, emphasizing ball movement and perimeter shooting, stealing not only a page but a volume from the Mike D'Antoni handbook.

D'Antoni and the Knicks are in Chicago to play the Bulls Tuesday.

Anyone ready for 158-139?

“They went small and we went small," said Luol Deng, with a second straight strong effort and team high 26 points. "That turned out great for us. We moved the ball real well with the small line-up. All the guys on the floor can make shots. When we do that, we are pretty tough to stop.”

The Bulls really were, especially with a season high 31 assists on 43 field goals. There were season highs in points, three-point shooting and matching a season best in Ben Gordon blocks.

Gordon had 21 points and seven assists, but he also made the best defensive play of the game, a face up block of Antonio Daniels as Daniels had a running start from the top of the key as the Bulls began a 19-6 run to end the third quarter and take an 88-74 lead.

Gordon caught the athletic Daniels (we thought) at the top of his jump and blocked the attempted dunk.

Gordon stopped as the Bulls ran out for another slashing Deng basket off a nice inside pass from Larry Hughes, who if he was in an audition for an eventual trade back to Washington was brilliant with 24 points, five assists, zero turnovers and five three pointers.

Gordon then did the Dikembe Mutombo finger wagging wave off, "Don't bring that weak stuff in here."

"I always wanted to do that," said Gordon, seeming to enjoy what he said in the preseason was likely his final season in Chicago. "I used to see Dikembe do it. I figured tonight was the perfect opportunity."

Daniels left shortly thereafter for the rest of the game with what was described a back injury.

We think he caught a severe case of Gordonitis.

The only thing missing was that noxious bell clanging we used to have in Chicago when Ben Wallace got his one block a week.

Yes, it was a night for enjoying things, and Del Negro did as well, quipping when he came out for his postgame media comments: “That was a pretty normal game for us, 31 assists and 52% shooting.

"Why are you laughing?"

It should have been a laugher because the Wizards, now 3-15, pretty much go through the motions of competing. They don't close on shooters or contest many shots, and just try to outscore you, which they can do with Caron Butler with 27 and Antawn Jamison with 23.

Like Friday in Washington when they came back and almost stole a game from the Lakers. Saturday they were trailing by 17 with about seven minutes left when the Bulls stopped paying attention. It was like that for Washington against the Lakers Friday when coach Phil Jackson went with his reserves the rest of the way and Butler missed a three to win it after being down 19 in the fourth quarter.

Del Negro was only playing seven guys, so there wasn't much bench to use. But up 15 with 5:54 left, Del Negro took Rose out.

So what had been a beautiful Bulls game of ball movement, cutting and hard screening became a one dribble and fire it up carnival: Gordon quick jumper, Andres Nocioni quick jumper, Gordon another force and now the Bulls were ahead 102-94. Timeout:

"Derrick! Get in there!"

So much for stealing some rest, though Rose, in the top 10 in the league in minutes played, went for 37, one below his average. It also was the kind of game Rose loves to play but probably will ultimately deny him an All Star spot this season. Rose had 15 points, eight assists, two steals—he always asks first after the game how many turnovers he had—and zero turnovers.

Players like the Nets' Devin Harris have become more shoot first guards piling up big points numbers, which generally sway All Star voters and coaches. Rose's way eventually will pile up more wins.

Coming out of a timeout with 3:45 remaining, Deng missed off a quick inbounds play and then Gordon missed a quick jumper. And, uh oh, it was 102-98 with 2:34 left as the Wizards scored on seven of eight possessions.

So who do you go to when you are desperate for a score?

Drew Gooden, streak buster? The guy one of 16 in the last two games? I guess Gooden was taking it literally that December is a cold month in Chicago.

Like I suggested with some fear the other day, "As Drew Gooden goes so goes the Bulls?"

Because even though he'll never score like Deng, Gordon or Hughes or play like Rose, he's really the only Bull now who can get a score inside as even with all the happy Saturday statistics, the Bulls were outscored by 10 inside.

And Gooden came up big.

He backed his way in strong and drop stepped in a layup and was fouled by Darius Songaila and made the free throw in the "Whew" moment of the game for the Bulls. Though Songaila knocked in a 20 footer in the next Wizards possession, Gordon found Hughes with the ball swinging against a finally trying Wizards defense and Hughes knocked in a three, then stole a Juan Dixon pass and was fouled and added a free throw on the runout.

“Larry has been consistent all year," said Del Negro. "He wants to compete. He wants to play every minute. He's one of my best defenders. He's got versatility and years of experience. He was hitting his shot and got us going early. He had a real solid game."

The nine-point margin with 1:24 left was breathing room enough even though the Bulls let the Wizards get two more threes and 10 points in the last 70 seconds. Fortunately, Washington seems to prefer to accumulate statistics rather than wins.

“It was nice to see the ball move," said Del Negro. "When they move the ball like that they make the game easy. That is why you shoot a higher percentage. As we get better at that, you see the benefit of making an easy basketball play and keeping the other team out of transition."

Gray also had a solid effort, even if you cannot count on him much for scoring—he took one shot and missed in 22 minutes—and when the Wizards went with a more perimeter oriented big man in Andray Blatche, Gray was getting caught trying to run out and committing fouls or giving open looks. That's when Del Negro went small, and though the Wizards went to Blatche and he scored twice quickly over Nocioni when Gray went out, it is, after all, Andray Blacthe and not exactly Tim Duncan for that much of a matchup disadvantage.

The Bulls took advantage the other way with Del Negro outmaneuvering Washington interim coach Ed Tapscott, scoring on eight of the next 11 possessions to end the third quarter and take control of the game as Nocioni popped out for a three and then cut in from the top for a score on a clever pass from Deng. Gordon hit a three, Deng continued his hard curling off screens and was open again for a score and was active on the boards in following up a Nocioni miss that drew the defense.

Oh, that Luol Deng.

“He was aggressive, he moved the basketball and only had one turnover," said Del Negro. "He rebounded and guarded well. He was aggressive and he was cutting to the basket well and our guys found him. This is a progression for Luol. In some of his slow games it was not just him. We needed to do a better job of getting him in the flow and I thought we did. His aggression of defense and being aggressive is his game. He played a lot of minutes but he was productive.”

It was a nice change from the Deng we'd been seeing this season who was trying to beat guys off the dribble, hardly his specialty, and facing up and shooting quick jumpers.

I thought Deng worked very well early off Gray setting weak side screens and Deng coming over them hard and diving to the basket, which he hasn't been doing.

"I was slowed down with the injury a little bit," Deng conceded of his ouchie hammy. "But now I'm feeling better. I'm just trying to take open shots. Definitely I'm more aggressive out there.”

The Bulls offense this season, whether because Del Negro was new or some of the players couldn't figure out what to do (and perhaps didn't play Saturday) was extremely basic with almost no weak side action, which is where an offense frees cutters and shooters. But Gray knows the game, and while he is slow, he seems to know where he is supposed to be to get in position for a screen. And with his body he is capable of delivering a jarring one.

I have held off saying it, but I may not be able to any longer.

Yes, yes, Aaron Gray is the Bulls best center.

There. Though I don't feel that much better.

Del Negro was the most experienced coach in Saturday's game, so I'm not quite sure what Tapscott was doing. But his best defender looked like JaVale McGee, who blocked three shots in the first 52 seconds and even put in a couple of drives, despite looking awkward on offense. Yet, he played just 11 minutes and wasn't in foul trouble.

The Bulls had to be glad to get him out of there. It also was a sign Del Negro has had it with Joakim Noah since Del Negro always talks about matchups, and Gray was hardly a matchup for the slender and athletic starting McGee. Who would seem to rival Noah. We assume he didn't play because he didn't know the plays or where to be. Like Noah?

Gray stepping out and screening on the side instead of the team's usual high screen action got Deng going and it was Washington 25-24 after one, though Washington primarily was shooting jumpers. The Bulls pulled ahead when Nocioni, with a new haircut in an anti-Samson (not Ralph) sort of strategy, cut his hair apparently to gain strength and broke his slump of failing to shoot better than 50 percent the last nine games. Nocioni was six for 11 for 19 points, his best output in three weeks.

Hughes then hit consecutive threes and soon added another as the Bulls were 11 of 20 on threes for the game as they went to 9-11 for the season.

But Washington finally got a slow starting Jamison going and took advantage of the Bulls smaller size as Jamison scored after four offensive rebounds on the same play. Though Gordon ran out to finish the quarter with a high banker for a 57-52 halftime lead. The Bulls outscored Washington 17-2 on fast breaks. We hope Obama does as well with Washington as the Bulls did.

The Bulls now are one of a dozen teams giving up at least 100 points per game, only two, the Suns and Nets, with winning records. It's not a way to win a championship, but the Bulls are not playing for one this season. They're trying to be competitive and win some games. It just may work.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

There was no Passing the Bucks this time for the Bulls

I am about to write one of the most frightening sentences in the basketball language.

As Drew Gooden goes, so goes the Bulls?

Yikes!

And this is not to blame Gooden for Wednesday's Bulls 97-90 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, though going one of 11 shooting Wednesday after zero for five shooting in Tuesday's overtime loss to the 76ers suggests if only Gooden could...

Wear glasses?

No, it was much more than Gooden, and it was starkly apparent against the Bucks as the Bulls "big" men—OK, tall fellas—of Gooden, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray combined for four of 18 shooting. That was 20 feet nine inches of front line players totaling eight points.

We don't expect that much offensively from Noah and Gray, though they did combine for 37 minutes and were dominated by Dan Gadzuric. This is not usually easy because I think "Gadzuric" in Latin means stiff.

But Gadzuric was a game changer in the second quarter that ultimately doomed the Bulls and pretty much dominated the entire Bulls interior.

"They were more physical than last time we played," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, referring to the Bulls 108-95 opener win over the Bucks. "Their front line is pretty big so we tried to go small to be more aggressive offensively and switch a lot of things defensively. We had some opportunities but couldn't come up with a few loose balls and didn't make the plays we needed to."

The Bucks, led overall by Charlie Villanueva off the bench with 23, including 11 on an assortment of rangy jump shots in the fourth quarter, and Richard Jefferson with 21, outscored the Bulls by 13 in the second quarter to take a 52-41 halftime lead, and the Bulls never again caught up.

They did pull within four after a fabulous Ben Gordon stretch to end the third quarter with 15 straight Gordon points. But Gordon had shot himself out, and forced a pair to open the fourth quarter and was pulled. Larry Hughes and Andres Nocioni each missed one and Nocioni in another undisciplined night trying to chase quicker players, added a turnover. Nocioni seems especially to be lost and frustrated, out of position often trying to defend outside. He had three fouls, two turnovers and one point against the Bucks and now hasn't scored in double figures in the last seven and nine of the last 11. He's shooting a career low 38.7 percent in playing a career low 23.7 minutes per game. It was the 10th time this season he's had two or fewer field goals in a game.

That opening fourth quarter dry stretch enabled the Bucks to regain control and an 82-72 lead, and then they held on against a Derrick Rose assault until the end.

And this is a point that's most difficult to analyze with the young point guard.

Rose had 18 points, nine assists and four steals, pretty good numbers for a point guard.

Gordon led the Bulls with 22 and Luol Deng added 21 in his best effort of the season on nine of 14 shooting and six rebounds, a positive sign for the team.

But Rose didn't really didn't seem to look to score until the Bulls had gotten down double digits again in the fourth quarter. At that point, he did about all he could to chase down the Bucks, and who knows what would have happened had he gotten a foul call as Gadzuric gave him an arm bar on a drive with 37 seconds left and the Bulls trailing 95-90.

Three point play, maybe? The Bulls hardly deserved this one with the Bucks much tougher and sharper. Winning it would have been misdemeanor theft. Del Negro was his most animated of the season in arguing that non call, perhaps not receiving his first coaching technical because maybe he was right.

The larger question, and maybe unfair, is how much can the team ask of Rose?

Especially given how much he's already doing as he again played a team high minutes, this time 43. It was Rose's third straight game of at least 40 minutes and fifth in the last sixth. Don't ask him. He never looks tired and seems baffled when he's out of the game over why.

Yet, you wonder also about the effect of all this.

You wouldn't mistake Bucks coach Scott Skiles for a subtle person but some of the things he does in coaching are, and one he did Wednesday which didn't really work, was aimed at Rose. The Bucks didn't aggressively trap or double team Rose to deny him the ball or make him give it up since they really don't have many good individual perimeter defenders, anyway. So what Skiles did was the old football tactic of pounding on them all game and perhaps at the end you get a mistake or short shot.

So every time on defense, the Bucks tried to run Rose into as many screens as possible to try to tire him. It's not easy with a wide eyed, excited 20-year-old, and it didn't seem to have much effect as Rose scored 10 of the Bulls 18 fourth quarter points with a pair of magnificent drives for three-point plays, and he didn't miss a free throw in the fourth.

On one hard drive with the Bulls trailing 93-85 with 1:55 left, Bucks guard Luke Ridnour tried to lean in to Rose to take a charge. Rose simply elevated above Ridnour, Rose's feet at about Ridnour's eye level as Rose finished the layup and drew the foul.

That Rose three point play and a previous one with 3:29 left was sandwiched around Hughes and Tyrus Thomas, who had a quiet seven points and two blocks, missing jumpers, Thomas' way off left and barely grazing the rim. Rose then missed on a drive that could have brought the Bulls within three with 92 seconds left, after which Gadzuric again grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled and made both free throws. That made it 95-88 with 1:08 left and too far to come back.

As for Gadzuric (this has to be the most anyone has mentioned his name in a positive way in a game story in his seven seasons), it was a remarkable effort. He had season highs in points (11) and rebounds (14, seven offensive) and tied his season high with three blocks. Some people even learned how to pronounce his name.

"I thought Danny G. came off the bench and really picked us up from an energy stand point and the way he played," said Skiles, who still apparently can't pronounce it. "I feel Danny has had a good year so far. He's played with energy almost every game. He's done something productive almost every game. I'm comfortable with Danny out there."

One time in that fatal second quarter for the Bulls, Gadzuric caught a Jefferson air ball and just backed Noah away from the basket and laid the ball in. Noah was much too weak to deal with him and Gray, who did have eight rebounds with five offensive and probably the most effective of the Bulls centers, was too slow to react. Gray makes nice passes on offense and gets into good position, being fundamentally sound and aware of the plays and situations. But he's usually unable to catch the more athletic players.

Veteran Bucks announcer Jim Pashchke likes to refer to Gray as "a slow Tom Boerwinkle."

It was evident in that second quarter as the transition defense failed again.

Gordon had trouble in the size match-up with Michael Redd, who had 13 points in 26 minutes coming back from injury. Twice as Deng got inside cuts for shots—the coaches seemed to be force feeding more plays to get Deng going—the backcourt players got caught when Jefferson ran out for a layup and a three.

The Bucks, effectively, won the game with the starts of the second and fourth quarters, opening the second 10-0 and the fourth 13-2.

"Our defense just didn't get the stops we needed to," said Deng. "We fought our way back. But if there was a big play or a big basket it wasn't from us. We almost felt like a few stops could have turned the game around but a couple big plays from them really changed that."

But here's the dilemma for Rose.

He essentially wants to be a facilitator, a classic point guard. But he's already the Bulls most reliable scorer.

Sure, Gordon can be unworldly, like in that third quarter stretch when he shot the team back into the game: Pop out 17 footer from Rose; past Redd for a an 18 footer, drive and fouled after nice ball movement and a pass from Rose to Gray to Gordon; 16 footer around a screen after a pass from Rose; one-on-one drive and high banker; 16 footer coming off a screen again on a Rose pass and then a Ben special dribbling out the quarter with the floor open and lofting in a 17 footer over good defense from Bucks defensive specialist Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who just came in to defend Gordon.

"In the third quarter we were able to bring it to within four points but we just couldn't maintain the momentum," said Gordon. "We fought hard but dug ourselves into too big of a hole at the beginning. We made our run we just weren't able to sustain it. We didn't play well. We didn't play together. It shows when we start to move the ball around good things will happen. We just have to continue to trust each other and believe in the system and that's just something we are struggling with right now for whatever reason."

Mbah A Moute seemed to have an effect on Gordon as the fourth quarter opened and Gordon went to the bench two minutes in after two misses.

It was a nice adjustment from Skiles, though you did wonder what took so long. Still, you saw some Skiles specials in the game, Malik Allen starting and hitting three jumpers on drive-and-kicks as the Bulls big guys couldn't make it out fast enough or switch, and some terrific interior screening on the weak side that pops out players for open looks or moves.

I loved one of those in particular when Villanueva got an uncontested layup when Andrew Bogut screened inside away from the ball and sealed and Villanueva was able to swoop around untouched to make it 50-39 late in the second quarter.

Which brings me again to the question that is most difficult to answer: How much should and can Rose do?

Rose seemed to spend much of the game obeying the game plan, finding his teammates. And it paid off in that wonderful Gordon run at the end of the third. Rose does plenty and averaging almost 20 per game as a rookie from that position is historic stuff in the NBA. But should he have started scoring earlier? Would it have made a difference? Or would it have affected him for the end of the game, when he has taken over and won some games for the team? And would it take away too much from the others? That's something Rose never would want to do.

It seems clear he spends the game, amazingly enough, monitoring his team and deciding when he has to be a playmaker or a scorer, rare for any player, especially a rookie.

Could he average 30? I'd say he could. Would it help the team? Who knows. It's the delicate balance of team basketball and the learning process going on for Rose and the Bulls.

Still, even with these two disappointing losses to fall to 8-11, it's a Bulls team playing competitively despite some obvious deficiencies. And just think of what 10 points from Gooden would mean.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.