Chicago Bulls Blog

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.

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.

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.

How long before Vinny is most senior coach?

And down goes Sam! Down goes Sam!

Yes, and it's now three and counting as Toronto coach Sam Mitchell was fired Wednesday, already the third NBA coach to be slam dunked just over a month into the season.

I don't even do my first leaguewide power ratings until 20 games in because I always felt you need 20 games to get a feel for a team to have credibility for just writing about it.

I guess not if you run the team.

So who's next?

Likely Reggie Theus in Sacramento, perhaps any day now despite losing two of his top players from last season in Ron Artest and Mike Bibby in deals and top scorer Kevin Martin out with an ankle injury all season.

Odds on Theus: 2-1.

Mo Cheeks, Philadelphia. Odds. 2.5-1.

The 76ers, even beating the Bulls Tuesday, looked on the brink of mutiny. Samuel Dalembert barely played after what seemed like some sort of verbal altercation in a huddle. Andre Iguodala appeared to be ignoring Checks commands in taking some shots and plays and Elton Brand seemed frustrated by the whole mess.

Marc Iavaroni, Memphis. 3-1.

The only thing that could save him is ownership not wanting to spend any money, even to promote new defensive assistant like Kevin O'Neill, which would cost something. But the fans, the few there, have been chanting for Iavaroni to go and a column in the local newspaper Wednesday had players responding to whether the coach was good enough. Never a good sign.

Randy Wittman, Minnesota. 4-1.

You never know what Kevin McHale might be thinking or planning, but this season is a disappointment already after much hope with some draft day maneuvering.

Mike Dunleavy, Clippers. 5-1.

Again, the cost of letting him go probably would be too prohibitive as he's also GM and on a long deal. But he's clearly at odds with big free agent addition Baron Davis and has put together a potentially combustible group that only means trouble with Davis, Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph, and Ricky Davis.

How much longer before Vinny Del Negro is among the most senior coaches in the league?

First this season to go was P.J. Carlesimo in Oklahoma City, and that really was just delayed from the end of last season when management was ready to leave P.J. in Seattle amidst internal and external dysfunction. It was just that the team also was such a mess, which rarely matters when it becomes him or me: GM or coach.

So next it was Eddie Jordan in Washington despite being the only Eastern coach outside Detroit to make the playoffs the last four straight seasons and despite starters Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood not playing. Tensions were said to have developed between Jordan and GM Ernie Grunfeld, and the two were said hardly to be communicating, though they seemed to leave on cordial terms with Jordan on contract through the 2009-10 season.

And then Wednesday it was Mitchell despite having a contract running through the 2010-11 season.

Maybe their economy is better up there.

This one was coming from the day GM Bryan Colangelo took over.

Colangelo made some tweaks and the Raptors became one of the big turnaround stories of the NBA in 2006-07, which was good for Colangelo as he was named Executive of the Year and escaped the long, impressive shadow of his father, Jerry, who now runs the USA Basketball Olympic effort after a brilliant run in Phoenix.

But it also was bad for Colangelo because he couldn't fire Mitchell, whom he inherited, as Mitchell was named Coach of the Year.

Colangelo, coming out of the Phoenix system, wanted to hire either Mike D'Antoni or Marc Iavaroni, the latter now coaching in Memphis, though who knows for how long, and D'Antoni in New York. After all, if you fire the Coach of the Year, you better have an even better season with your new guy.

Too much pressure. So it was an uneasy truce between the two.

But the Raptors stumbled out of the gate around .500 as big offseason acquisition Jermaine O'Neal was predictably hurt. All Star Chris Bosh, who has become one of the sought after free agents for after next season, was said to be growing frustrated, and it came to a quick end after the Raptors were blown out by 39 in Denver Tuesday night as Colangelo came in to dump Mitchell and put in Canadian Olympic coach Jay Triano for now.

"This is a difficult but necessary step the franchise must take," Colangelo said. "We appreciate all that Sam has done for the organization, applaud him for his successes and wish him nothing but the best with his future in basketball."

With an unemployment rate of 10 percent now among NBA coaches, much higher than the national average, perhaps we'll see David Stern before Congress soon seeking a bailout.

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.

What! The Bulls lost to THAT 76ers team?

Make no mistake. And don't listen to what they said. This was a bad loss for the Bulls Tuesday, 103-95 in overtime at home to the Philadelphia 76ers after more than two weeks away from the United Center.

The 76ers, one of the preseason teams to watch, are virtually unwatchable. They play in ragged spurts, defending on occasion, which is impressive when they do it, but then grow disinterested for long stretches, which, like the Bulls win in Philadelphia Sunday, enabled the Bulls to breeze back from trailing by 16 in the second quarter. The 76ers seem to spend a lot of time yelling at one another, perhaps to wake them out of their occasional torpor. This time it seemed like Samuel Dalembert, playing 12 minutes, as the 76ers, despite a huge size advantage, went to a smaller lineup to try to combat the Bulls, seemingly playing to the Bulls strength. Philadelphia, curiously, continued to put non-playmaker/non-shooter Andre Iguodala on top of the floor to make plays. That enabled the Bulls to come from seven down with under three minutes left and tie the game in regulation when Iguodala, despite 25 points, blew the 76ers last five regulation possessions. It included  a pair of turnovers and a crazy pass to Andre Miller for a long, last shot that fell way short while Elton Brand stood around apparently wondering, "Am I still playing with Jeff Sanders?"

The 76ers, then apparently realizing Miller and Brand were a much better two man game, relied on that duo to pull away in overtime as the Bulls reverted into too many of those quick jump shot misses.

"We had far too many turnovers," noted Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro of the team's 24, including six each from Derrick Rose and Drew Gooden.  "They were definitely more aggressive than we were.  We just did not move the ball well enough and did not execute well enough, and they were a step faster than us tonight for whatever reason."

But despite it all, it could be a huge game for the Bulls if, indeed, they found Tyrus Thomas.

Yes, Tyrus! That's what you're supposed to do.

OK, Thomas put up the occasional 18 footer you put your head in your hand about, like the one with 1:47 left and the Bulls down five that pretty much put it away. Andres Nocioni, all game at his Good Noce/Bad Noce best, did follow with a three. But Iguodala rainbowed in a wild looking three, after which Drew Gooden, with an uncharacteristically poor offensive game of late as the 76ers smothered him, perhaps symbolized what went wrong as he floated along the baseline to attempt a three while Rose stood inside and did grab the miss, but couldn't convert the follow.

"We had so many opportunities to get this game," said Rose, who led the Bulls with 24 points.  "We were down several times and got back in it.  We just did not take advantage."

Though perhaps Thomas finally did.

Thomas had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in the kind of performance the Bulls imagined when they drafted him and fans have been pining for while Thomas mostly did things that only brought him time on the pine.

Hey, he is still just 22.

Thomas scored the points to tie the game with 17 seconds remaining in regulation by diving at the basket-as we're always yelling for him to do and he did relentlessly Tuesday-and slamming in a Rose miss. Even Thomas' offensive foul with 40 seconds left in regulation and the Bulls down two wasn't bad since he went hard to the basket, the 76ers playing small helping, obviously.

But this seemed no fluke. Thomas swished two free throws for the Bulls first points of overtime after missing on a dunk. He rebounded Nocioni's miss to open the overtime to give the Bulls a second chance at an important overtime lead.  Thomas gobbled up a loose ball and was fouled and made two free throws (six of six overall) to bring the Bulls within three with four minutes left. And in the second quarter when the Bulls were making their comeback, Thomas was on the floor and contributed a resounding followup slam of a Larry Hughes miss.

But what I was most impressed with was when Rose drew his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, again with Miller suckering him in with a head fake and jumping into Rose, which always is called on the defender in the NBA.

"Andre Miller is very clever and he had a very strong game tonight," noted Del Negro of Miller's 28, though on nine of 26 shooting and nine in overtime. " He has been around.  He knows the tricks of the trade."

Rose seemed to grow frustrated and began to argue. It was Thomas, who usually is lost in some moody far away place in games, who began to comfort Rose, walking him away from trouble and giving him a soothing palm of the head.

The next thing you know Tyrus will be rolling in for slam dunks the way Tyson Chandler does with Chris Paul.

Rose can make that play, and sometimes you scratch your head watching the Bulls wondering why some non scorer like Joakim Noah is in the pick and roll with Rose and clearly doesn't want the ball. Defenses hardly respect Thomas, which is why he gets all those wide open 18 footers.

But if he could get into a two-man game with Rose and dive to the basket instead of circling out to the perimeter as he usually does, the Bulls lack of a big man will not seem so acute. Yes, Chandler has perhaps five inches on Thomas, which makes a difference. But the way Thomas can jump there are all sorts of possibilities.

Will he get it? Stay tuned for Wednesday's game in Milwaukee.

Tuesday's loss denied the Bulls a chance to get to .500, and despite the 24 points, it was a learning experience game for Rose with the six turnovers and his first foul trouble of the season as he drew his fifth, again falling for a Miller fake, and had to leave the game with 5:43 left in regulation and the Bulls down seven after Rose had just scored five straight points.

"Miller is a good point guard," said Rose.  "He got me in foul trouble.  It got to me a little bit.  It got me out of my game.  He definitely got to me a little bit. I need to concentrate a little more, make crisp passes.  I had a lack of focus so I just have to go out tomorrow and do a much better job.  At least we get to play again tomorrow."

Rose had been driving Miller nuts again with moves blowing by Miller as Miller was defending like they hadn't covered the ice up in the United Center.

But Miller attacked back. Still, the Bulls survived with Rose out as Hughes went to the top of the floor at point guard instead of Ben Gordon, which the team needs to do more when Rose is out. Gordon got six consecutive free throws on a drive, a loose ball foul and a foul on an offensive rebound. Yes, li'l Ben was hitting the boards and had eight, second most to Thomas.

Rose returned and the Bulls closed regulation with seven straight to tie the game on a Rose drive and one of two free throws, a layup off a Gordon pass as Gordon earlier actually whipped a beauty to Rose for a score, two Gooden free throws after he dove for the basket and was fouled as the defense collapsed to Rose with 1:15 left and then Thomas' followup slam dunk to tie. Thomas just a few seconds earlier had batted away a point blank Miller layup that would have given the 76ers a four-point lead with 53 seconds left.

"We fought," said Gooden.  "You cannot ask for any more than that.  We were down seven with three minutes to go and most other teams would have folded at that point but ultimately we did not get it done."

Del Negro went with Nocioni over Luol Deng down the stretch and in overtime, and as the good (play) book says, Noce giveth and taketh away. He had that three in overtime that was the team's last gasp and harassed Iguodala into a mess of bad plays at the end of regulation. But then he inexplicably dropped off Iguodala to double on Miller 20 feet from the basket with three minutes left that enabled Iguodala to dunk for the 76ers last points of regulation.

As a coach, you have to go with what you believe will help you win in the game, though the Bulls also have to get Deng playing at a high level and at opportune times to develop some sort of core or foundation. It hasn't happened yet as Deng is averaging 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and one assist in 27.8 minutes per game since returning from injury four games ago.

Again, the Bulls fell behind early with a plethora of turnovers and rather uninspired play, though teams usually say the first game home after a long road trip can find some lethargy.

Especially after the way the 76ers seemed to yield so easily Sunday.

"I worry," Del Negro said before the game. "We found a way to win some games on the road, so all of a sudden we beat Philadelphia and can get complacent. You've got to keep your focus and take nothing for granted."

I have no doubt that was Del Negro's pregame speech.

And then trailing by 16...

When the 76ers are aggressive defensively, they are a good team, as they were in the first quarter, overplaying the Bulls guards and Gooden and the passing lanes. That's when you have to go to some pressure release plays and back door, but the Bulls didn't. Fortunately for them, the 76ers lost interest in the second quarter and committed nine turnovers, mostly unforced, as they say in tennis. The ball thus went into the Bulls court, Nocioni had a good run with three scores and Hughes again was economical and effective on offense, getting the Bulls within three by halftime.

But the 76ers finally must have gotten rosters passed around again and realized Elton Brand, with 22 points and 14 rebounds, was on the team and began using him inside again instead of wildly racing around and firing isolation jumpers.

"We faltered a little bit, but we stayed,"  said Brand  "We're a work in progress. Gooden really hurt us at our place, so we really wanted to take him out of the game.  They have a good bench.  Nocioni comes in and he starts scoring. We tried to limit their possessions in the paint, but Derrick Rose... He's a heck of a young player and he got in the paint at will."

Still climbing uphill after opening the fourth behind 67-61, the Bulls finally tied it on that last Thomas follow at 90.

Now, it will be worth it if Thomas follows it up with a few more like Tuesday.

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 end Circus Trip by making 76ers the Clowns

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Aw, what the heck. Why not?

Because after Sunday's impressive, wider-than-the-final-margin 102-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bulls are 8-9 after a respectable 3-4 "circus" road trip. And now facing those same slumping 76ers at home Tuesday, the Bulls start a stretch of eight games against some of the poorest teams in the NBA with only the New Jersey Nets among those eight even having a winning record. They're now 9-7 after winning in Phoenix Sunday night.

Are we talking 45 wins with this team? Dare we say more?

"Thank god that circus trip is out of there," said Drew Gooden, who was crucial Sunday with 20 points and 12 rebounds in dominating the inside matchups with Samuel Dalembert and big time free agent Elton Brand. "We have some winnable games coming up. We are (heading in the right direction). We had a tough early schedule. We came out of our circus trip with a decent record. We got out on the road and showed competitiveness. We're a team competing for a playoff spot and will be in the playoffs."

The Bulls sure looked like it against the 76ers, whom many even predicted would win the Eastern Conference this season after the team's strong finish last season and adding Brand.

But the 76ers are now 7-10 and sliding, not only losing an early 15-point lead against the Bulls Sunday but coming off being blown out in Boston and losing badly to Charlotte. Brand has been ordinary, and the Bulls were sharp in taking advantage of Brand's lack of great postup size by putting taller players on him, collapsing in a zone defense often with double teams on Brand and forcing Brand to pass the ball outside to a poor perimeter shooting team.

The Bulls got starring performances from Gooden, Derrick Rose with 18 points and 10 assists and Ben Gordon with a team high 21, including a scorching stretch to open up the third quarter when the Bulls pulled away and effectively ended a close game.

Gordon popped on top of the key for a jumper to begin the second half, had a three as Rose dropped off a pass as he was penetrating ahead of Gordon and Gordon added a second three as he lulled Willie Green to sleep dribbling between his legs from the right wing and casually fired off a three. It gave Gordon 11 of the team's first 17 points in a quarter to take a nine point lead after the 76ers led 55-52 at halftime. The Bulls went on to a 31-11 third quarter and game over 17-point lead after three.

"We can't lose by twenty in a quarter," lamented Brand, the other Bulls overall No. 1 draft pick, which was in 1999. "You have to step it up. The last two games in a row the guys came off the bench and took it to us. You can't let a team shoot 53% from the three-point line. We need to get some set defenses and get a spark off the bench."

I don't know, but without a quick turnaround, which I don't see with a 76ers team that seems lifeless, I'd say Mo Cheeks might not last more than a few more weeks with the team playing this way and the 76ers 28th in the league in attendance.

No one's coming and few on the team look like they care. It's a fatal combination.

I thought the Bulls coaches did an excellent job of taking advantage of the 76ers weaknesses, and 52.1 percent Bulls shooting made it look easier. Good shooting always does, and we shouldn't forget the beleaguered Larry Hughes, back on the bench for Luol Deng, but with an efficient 16 points on six of 10 shooting and four of six threes.

I thought Hughes didn't want to shoot in the first half when he came in,  going more than six minutes without even attempting a shot. So I figured an imposter was in his uniform and called security. Hughes even passed on that full court throw in attempt at the end of the first quarter with a second left when the Bulls in bounded the ball after a Brand jumper. Perhaps to keep his shooting percentage above 40.

Deng again was fairly invisible despite being back starting and had eight points and just seven shots. But this time Hughes mostly waited patiently in the corner for Rose to find him and was hitting his shots in an efficient 24 minutes.

"Overall I thought everybody contributed," said Del Negro. "We went out there with 26 assists (on 38 baskets) and shooting over 50 percent. I thought we were active in zone and even with man. There were a few turnovers that were unfortunate for us, but overall I thought it was a solid game. I think by us spreading out the basketball the way we did, we were really consistent with our effort in the zone and we got in transition. They missed a couple of easy shots and we took advantage of that. Before you know it, we had a little bit of a lead. Great win for us, no question. It'll be nice to get back home. Another great road win for us."

The Bulls fell behind by 15, 41-26, early in the second quarter in a game which that kind of thing is almost inevitable. On the road, but coming home for three days, it's a lack-of-energy type game. But the 76ers couldn't take advantage and close out the Bulls early as Gooden kept them in the game in that second quarter with aggressive post up and hustle moves.

"As of late, I'm getting the trust of coach (Vinny) Del Negro and they are going to me in postups and I am producing for (the team)," said Gooden. "They are becoming more familiar with me, my spots where I like the ball, Derrick Rose. It's been new to them and new to me, but we are starting to produce."

The team's strategy was sound, however.

The Bulls recovered from that punch in the face as the 76ers ran out for fast break baskets early. That was the primary success of the 76ers late run and early playoff scare of Detroit last season. The Bulls transition defense was lazy early as Del Negro called a timeout less than three minutes in after Thaddeus Young scored after a Deng miss. It made Deng look bad as it happened a few times in the first quarter, but traditional transition defense-which assistant Johnny Bach endlessly lectured on in the Bulls championship years-requires the guards on top of the floor getting back after deep shots when they are not involved. Deng was being left hanging out by his teammates, and I assume that was Del Negro's message.

It didn't begin to take until into the second quarter as Deng again looked rusty with some turnovers, though it seemed the coaches tried to put in some movement plays for him.

Those quick shots and early turnovers early didn't allow the strategy to take hold, though it would later.

There's one huge flaw in the 76ers acquisition of Brand.

With a post scorer like that, you need shooters, and the 76ers perimeter is awful.

If you wonder what happened to Deng, take a look at Andre Iguodala, taken right after Deng in that same 2004 draft. The Bulls were deciding between the two and opted for Deng for his versatility and potential growth. It's been criticized, especially of late, with some saying they should have taken Iguodala. Iguodala, like Deng having signed a big extension this past summer, is averaging 13 points and shooting 26 percent on threes as their shooting guard now.

Despite a huge size advantage, he tried to post up Gordon several times early and failed without much post game. Iguodala isn't a good perimeter shooter, and now with the 76ers playing through Brand and the middle not open, Iguodala has faltered and looks to have given up at times or might be resentful and pouting for being pushed out of the primary offense.

The Bulls took advantage of those weaknesses by going often to a match up zone, sagging to crowd Brand and letting their shooters take shots. Though they could be arrested for identity theft to suggest they were shooters. With size on Brand like Joakim Noah or even Aaron Gray, Brand was ineffective inside though he could pop out against the slower Gray. He did have 21 points and 12 rebounds, but little true impact. The 76ers also tried to go early through Samuel Dalembert, but he is an awful finisher with the ball.

So once the Bulls woke up and stalled that fast break and began holding onto the ball, it was a Bulls run. A stampede, almost.

Rose, whose 10 assists marked his young career high, turned in perhaps the highlight of the game by sprinting after Andre Miller on a fast break late in the first half. Miller had gotten the ball after a Deng turnover and Miller was so far ahead of the defense he was gliding toward the basket. Rose came up from behind and well over the rim and blocked the ball into the stands. A stunned Miller looked back with one of those "Where did he come from" expressions.

Rose followed that-and I don't think he hates Miller-with one of those ankle breaking drives that let opponents know he's for real. I recall Allen Iverson as a rookie in Philadelphia lining up Michael Jordan like that and crossing him over in what then was considered heresy. Miller holds no such stature, and Rose lined him up with about 10 seconds on the clock and the floor spread and whooshed by with Miller calling for new ankle braces.

"We played well at moving the ball a bit more and finding the open person," said Rose. "We're playing team basketball and that's what it's all about. We didn't get ratted when they (Sixers) got up on us. We stayed in control and made sure we ran our plays to be effective."

Still, the Bulls trailed at halftime, but they were now making it a game.

The 76ers opened the second half with an Iguodala three that missed (good idea, there) and then turnovers on their next three possessions as the Bulls were going in and out of that zone and apparently baffling the 76ers. They scored on two of their first 12 possessions in that Gordon run.

And then all sorts of wild stuff happened.

Gordon ran a pick and roll with Noah and got Noah a beautiful pass rolling in, though Noah would miss both free throws. Gooden out scrambled three 76ers for a loose ball and Gordon got a drive and two foul shots out of it. Tyrus Thomas, with his most productive outing on this two week trip, dove for the basket on a double team of Rose and got the pass and was fouled. Hughes stayed patient in the corner waiting for two swing passes and hit an open three and after a Royal Ivey miss, Rose ran out with Gordon as no one got back for the 76ers and Gordon lobbed a hot air balloon pass to Rose, who went and got it above the rim and slammed it in for a 17-point Bulls lead.

"That's been a flaw of ours coming in on past road trips," said Gooden. "We'd let it slip in the third and not even being there in the fourth. I think it's something we wanted to get better at. Tonight we showed it. Closing out and keeping the pressure on the road in the third quarter in games. This probably was our best performance thus far."

The 76ers then missed their first five shots coming out in the fourth quarter with Thomas throwing in a nice block, not that the 76ers seemed to care, anyway.

Like Bill Murray said in Stripes, "It's party time!"

Perhaps it will last longer than we anticipated.

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.

Rookie does it again! No, not that one.

Do you think you'll get tired of this watching Bulls games? Rookie point guard. Just amazing. Driving down lane around and over much bigger guys, the unlikeliest of passes to set up teammates, deceptively strong with remarkable spring in his legs.

So when the Bulls played the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday, once again Derrick...

What? What?

Not Rose. Not the Bulls future Hall of Fame. He's not in yet? It seems we put him there most game nights. Not that rookie?

It seems in the Spurs pull-away 98-88 victory over the Bulls Wednesday, someone named George Hill from IUPUI (that's right, as we say in Indiana, oooh-e-pooh-e) had 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points in 29 minutes with the Bulls version of centers putting up little resistance while Manu Ginobili had 15 points in 18 minutes, and the highlight play of the game, in his second game back from ankle surgery. Ben Gordon led the 7-9 Bulls with 23, Drew Gooden had 20 points and 12 rebounds and the other rookie point guard, Rose, had 10 points, six assists and six rebounds.

Oooh-e-pooh-e is the regional campus of Indiana U. and Purdue U., and I don't recall many basketball players from there, or at least coaches who deserved probation. So how serious could they be? But this Hill guy, who was the 26th pick in this year's draft, is pretty darned good.

I'm not fully sure which this is: Spurs clever management and scouting to get Manu Ginobili in the second round, Tony Parker at No. 28 and now Hill, or Gregg Popovich's superior coaching. It's wonderful to watch Popovich's subtle in game adjustments and see how much they do, and how much they did Wednesday to bother the Bulls, who seemed to have control of this game with a nine-point lead with just over five minutes remaining.

That's pretty much when the game began to turn, and head quickly downcourt with no one from the Bulls chasing.

"I thought we played well, pretty well for the first three quarters," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "We ran out of gas a little bit as their high screen and roll affected us as well as their penetration as we settled for too many jump shots and got out of rhythm for a little bit. But you have to give them credit for their defensive effort on some of those things. Our guys fought, we turned the ball over too much in the second half and gave them too many penetrations to the glass for easy attempts but overall the guys battled now we just have to get some rest and get our legs under us a little bit We had a nice lead and they made a couple of adjustments. The boys got a little fatigued out there and they got us back on our heels as we would turn it over, they would get transition and some easy scores. Then seeing they were up, we weren't able to get the momentum back."

That is coach speak for, "What the heck happened out there? Did they blow my coach of the month award?"

What happened is the shots stopped falling for the Bulls, and the Spurs, 8-6, did some nice things to help the Bulls to that result.

Gooden was killing the Spurs with his little pop out jump shot and Gordon was taking advantage of the game plan against Rose, which is go under the screen and trap him. So Rose spun the ball back to the top, where it was being rotated to the right corner where Gordon was making the Spurs pay with threes and drives, a 9-0 run putting the Bulls ahead 65-56 midway through the third.

The Bulls had been losing Ginobili constantly, though with him being limited in minutes, it appeared the plan was just to let him score to tire him out. Late in the first quarter and into the second, he had a masterful sequence of a ball fake past Larry Hughes and Gordon for a score, again by both as the Bulls defense this season pretty much ends after the last midcourt steal attempt, a followup score and a three.

Actually, I liked what Hughes was doing...until later.

He waved Tyrus Thomas to where to pass a ball, suggesting Hughes was trying to fit into the offensive flow, though Thomas apparently either ignored him or didn't understand and fired off a shot. He was out soon with his usual eight minutes while Joakim Noah managed to hang onto 12 minutes now that the game was back at sea level.

Hughes later helped on a drive by Roger Mason Jr., the former Bulls second rounder (see, Jerry Krause knew), and prevented a field goal, though, as I suggested all this unselfish play apparently went to his head.

The Bulls were still hanging onto a 69-66 lead as Gooden rolled in on a pass from Rose and scored. But after Ime Udoka tied it with a three, it was Hughes gone wild: corner three, miss. Udoka another three. This was the play of the game as Ginobili, still maybe the most fun player to watch now that the Suns have turned Steve Nash into a mannequin, went left and then back to his right and then left again and throwing a hook pass across court to Udoka.

Then it was Hughes all the way across court from right to left and shooting back to the right and missing an eight footer. Duncan fouled, but missing both. Gordon with a nice pass to Luol Deng for a score and then Hughes a good 18 footer on another Gordon pass.

Then it was Ginobili past Hughes and fouled for two free throws and Hughes with the I'll-show-you turnover in going back at him. Then Manu with another drive as Hughes was called on a reach in for two more free throws and Gordon losing the ball dribbling to try for a last shot.

You could feel the game slipping away for the Bulls, and then Andres Nocioni threw it overboard to open the fourth.

Nocioni, who had a memorable nine-minute stretch in the game, drove and thought he was fouled when he caught his own miss. So on defense as Hill ran out Noce chased him down and hammered him for a flagrant foul, after which Noce argued with Joey Crawford, never a good idea. It was against the Spurs where Crawford's career almost ended in his long feud with Duncan as Duncan accused Crawford of wanting to fight him-I'm sure Duncan made that up that because he was scared and knew Joey would KO him with one punch-and Joey was suspended. Joey doesn't back down. So technical for Noce and three free throws for the Spurs and now the Bulls are down by eight and the individual fest is on.

Hunter shoots a jumper. Boo. Rose misses. Luol Deng with 10 points off the bench with a hard drive for a score, which was the Bulls only score in the first seven minutes of the quarter. Yup. Game, set, match.

Gordon miss. Hughes miss. Kurt Thomas blocks Gordon. Gooden turnover. Gooden miss. Gooden miss again.

This is when Popovich is at his best.

The Spurs weren't great in the first half, especially against Gooden, so in the second half the defense changed. Now as Gooden went to move and put the ball down, a defender was there. Depending on which way he moved, it was a different defender.

"The game is like a chess match with a great coach like Coach Popovich," acknowledged Gooden. "He always makes adjustments in games and we have to be able to cover everything he throws at us. When the Spurs started to take away my shot, I rotated the ball when it came to me. We keyed on it every time and we made the right play but we didn't capitalize by making the shots we needed."

I'd say the Bulls didn't react near quickly enough.

Also, the Spurs did a nice job with Rose, who played 40 minutes, but came out with 3:15 left in what is now the official Bulls surrender action.

Teams all are playing Rose now to go under the screen and trap him. He's made jumpers and can beat doubles, especially light ones. What Popovich is terrific at is identifying the weakest defenders and putting them in screen rolls. The Spurs always had success against the Suns doing that to Steve Nash, and again they did it with Rose. It's also a good tactic to keep the other team's best player in motion and getting him tired and beaten up. Then the Spurs bring in the punisher as Bruce Bowen got on Rose in the fourth quarter. Bowen isn't-and never was-particularly quick. But he is a fabulously annoying defender who is the master of the NBA face guard. So everywhere you go, Bowen is there waving a hand in your face, bumping you, roughing you up. It's NBA 101 for rookie point guards.

This was also at a point where the Spurs backup point Hill (for injured Tony Parker as they start shooting guards Mason and Michael Finley for now) was a mountain for the Bulls to climb.

Now that's some clever writing there, don't you think?

With the Bulls down 79-73 after that Deng basket, Hill hit a jumper on top. Then he got Deng on a switch and put the ball in high off the backboard. Then he drew two defenders and passed back to Thomas for a jumper and then crossed over Rose and Gordon to score again to make it 87-73 Spurs.

"I think that's why they chose me to be here," said Hill.  "I compete. I don't give up on things and I try to defend to the best of my ability no matter who is in front of me.  I'm up to take the challenge. I just go out there and play basketball.  It doesn't matter if you're a first-round pick, second-round pick, or the last pick...you made it here, so you are here for a reason.  I don't take anything for granted...I respect everyone.  I like to step up to the challenge though."

So as we continue it was: Gordon miss. Rose turnover as pass to Gordon bounces off him and out of bounds. Turnover Gordon. Yes, at 16 down even with the Spurs failing to score on four of five possessions with Duncan and Ginobili off the floor and now with about five minutes left, as Dandy Don would sing in Texas, the party's over...

"In the key moments of the game we didn't make the right plays to extend our lead or get back into the game," said Gordon. "We gave them what they wanted on offense and we didn't make adjustments. We were good on the fast break for a while but after they eliminated that and started hitting their three pointers, it really hurt us. Even though they didn't have everyone healthy, they were still good and got back into the game with three point shooting. We lost more than we won, I wouldn't consider it a successful trip."

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.

Playoffs! Playoffs! Playoffs?

This was after the Bulls 104-91 win over the Indiana Pacers on the last game of the home stand before the current Western Conference trip. I was still writing, and my old buddy from the Tribune, K.C. Johnson, was leaving.

It's a change for me writing for the Bulls.com web site and a pleasant one, though I find myself taking longer. No more newspaper deadlines. K.C. had to send his story as soon as the game ended and then had just enough time to gather a few quick quotes and insert them in his earlier story. It's the bane of newspaper writers, deadlines only getting tighter with growing circulation and production difficulties. Without such deadlines any more, I tend to spend more time around the locker room after the game, chatting with players and coaches and the occasional agent, the kind of contacts you need to get a more complete picture of the team.

So I was typing away a finger at a time (K.C. uses all 10 so goes more quickly, anyway), and as he passed by he said, "Could this team be better than we thought?"

The Bulls had just gone to 5-5, and now at 7-8 heading into San Antonio Wednesday before a three-day holiday break, they seem to be defying most expectations.

Where playoffs seemed like something Jim Mora would laugh about a few weeks ago, the way the Bulls have played this season with resolve and spirit despite not getting much from players counted upon like Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, and the way they've remained competitive with only bad losses in Boston and Portland and perhaps Los Angeles, it suggests this team could well make this season more interesting than anyone imagined.

It also helps that much of the Eastern Conference is in some form of rebuilding or retooling or retreat.

Boston? Terrific. Cavs? Playing great with LeBron the easy early favorite for MVP. Magic? Reasonably good and a certain division winner, though the Bulls scared the mouse pants off them down there earlier this season. Pistons? They're getting Antonio McDyess back, as expected—wink, wink—though no one should be fooled by that. They recognized the end with this group is near and the deal for Allen Iverson is with the idea of being a major free agency player in 2010 as Rasheed Wallace's contract expires after this season as well. They should be a playoff team, but Iverson changes everything they did because they were a man movement and ball movement team and now have a guy who drives the ball all the time. They're quite vulnerable. I see the Hawks with Josh Smith's return ahead of them now.

And then what? The Raptors are bickering about how to play with Jermaine O'Neal breaking down already. The 76ers have been mediocre despite adding Elton Brand as it's changed their style as well and their successful running game from last season has slowed. The Nets have been a surprise because .500 is considered a surprise for them.

The Wizards already fired their coach. The Bobcats are a mess. The Heat is even smaller than the Bulls and with no defined game. The Bucks and Pacers are playing in fits and starts. The Knicks blew up their team to wait for LeBron.

Whereas I thought the Bulls preseason could be on the edge of the playoffs, probably ninth and perhaps eighth with some bad fortune for other teams, it's difficult now to see more than four and perhaps a fifth team guaranteed the playoffs in the East. From being one of three or four teams fighting for eighth, the Bulls have played like they should be in the group with Philadelphia, Toronto, Miami, Milwaukee and New Jersey going for one of the last three spots.

Yes, it helps to have a star, and no matter how much most of us said Derrick Rose should be the No. 1 pick and he'd be a great player, no one saw this coming so fast.

Rose had 23 points and eight assists in that Pacers game, a dozen points in the third quarter when the Bulls took control. Rose has been, according to the statistics website 82games.com, one of the league's most productive players after halftime, seventh in scoring in the third quarter, when teams come out looking to control a game.

Rose trails just James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, John Salmons and Richard Jefferson. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Rose averages 6.5 points in the third quarter and 4.3 in the fourth, scoring almost 60 percent of his points after halftime.

Rose also is shooting 35 of 39 on free throws after halftime, almost 90 percent, truly remarkable for a rookie, especially one who came with the knock that he wasn't a good shooter and had messed up some clutch free throws in the NCAA championships.

It's hasn't only been Rose, though it's been the little men.

Larry Hughes hit that wonderful game winner in Salt Lake City Monday in another one of those 1998 Michael Jordan nightmares for Jazz fans. He is averaging 18.3 points the last three games on 46 percent shooting and eight of 16 on threes. We know Ben Gordon has his difficulties with defense and ball handling, but in those 82games.com ratings, the Bulls point guard and shooting guard positions are ranked in the top five in the league.

Yes, and then there's Rose, who took over down the stretch in both Western Conference wins. He had the last four field goals against the Warriors and five of the last seven. Against the Jazz, he scored the last four, including still another spectacular drive through the defense, before Hughes' game winner off his miss.

Vinny Del Negro has adjusted and played small to emphasize the team's strengths and he's had the team playing hard despite some minor sniping from some players. Credit them as well for being able to put that aside, which the team often did well with Scott Skiles when they were that team greater than the sum of its parts we so admired. They seem to be trying, which is a good start.

And as K.C. left that night, I offered, "It helps to have a great player."

Yes, folks, that was a real behind-the-scenes conversation. And who says we don't have in-depth basketball sessions?

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 walk off with a win as Jazz exclaim 'Oh Guard'

Now that was positively Jordanesque. No, not Larry Hughes' 22 footer as time ran out to give the Bulls a 101-100 victory over the Utah Jazz. Though it was a terrific shot and better recognition and good fortune as Hughes recovered Derrick Rose's miss off the back iron, pump faked C.J. Miles and nestled a win into the basket.

“I’ve never had a walk off," Hughes said. "That’s no time on the clock, doesn’t give the other team another chance. I’ve hit some game winners, but never without any time on the clock."

But, hey, we've got to get past the Michael Jordan comparisons for Rose. There hasn't been another yet and I still don't see one here or coming along.

So perhaps that last three minutes for Rose was more Bird-like or Kobeesque or reminiscent of Oscar or West or Barry or Magic.

The kid took the ball down the stretch, like he did in last Friday's win at Golden State when he scored the team's last four field goals and five of the last seven on the way Monday to a team high 25 points and nine assists, and made just about every play: Drive past Mehmet Okur, who led the Jazz with 26, to make it 93-92 Bulls. Drive from the top (I think the Bulls ran the same play 18 straight times, a high pick and roll) and foul for two free throws and Bulls lead of 95-94. Drive and scoop to put the Bulls back up 97-96. Drive across lane and pushing one in from nine feet as he's slipping crossing the lane to put the Bulls back up again 99-98.

No, the Bulls didn't stop the Jazz, even though they were missing Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring. The Bulls don't stop much of anyone anymore, especially on this Western Conference trip in which the five opponents are shooting a combined 50 percent with the Lakers 47 percent being the lowest. The Bulls have become one of the league's poorest defensive units, 16th in opponents' field goals and 24th in points yielded.

But that's not who they are anymore. They are an open the court, drive the ball and try to get the occasional runout, find Rose team. They're third in the league in shooting free throws at more than 80 percent, easily the best in franchise history. If you are going to play the game the Bulls do now, mostly small with more attacking thanks to Rose, you better make the free throws, and they are this time.

See, no one could coach that before Vinny Del Negro.

Okur and Kirilenko had dunked previously, and when Okur missed a 20 footer and Miles put the ball in after a rebound from Ronnie Brewer with 11 seconds left for a 100-99 lead, it looked over. The Bulls didn't call time out, but this time it wasn't a rerun of that loss in Orlando earlier this month when Del Negro skipped the time out and Ben Gordon ended up with a forced attempt into Dwight Howard.

This time, as he had been all fourth quarter, Rose drove into the middle after scoring eight straight, but his shot hit back rim and came to Hughes, who finished with 16 points on an efficient 10 shots. Hughes, as we know, usually isn't the most reliable shooter. But he'd made two of three threes in this game, and we know he'll shoot the ball. Sometimes it looks great, and this time it was.

“I just knew I had to get it up, got some space, and was able to get a good enough look to knock it down," said Hughes, noting clock malfunctions in the arena all game kept players guessing on time. "It felt pretty good. I definitely gave it a chance. I wasn’t going to shoot it short."

Still, it was another breathtaking finish thanks to Rose, who in both wins certainly bailed out the team and had his share of highlight moments, like his full court drive through every Jazz defender to close the first half and give the Bulls a 53-45 edge.

Now, a 2-3 mark on this trip looks pretty good with a decent chance to get one of the next two in San Antonio Wednesday with Tony Parker out and Manu Ginobili just returning and Sunday in Philadelphia as the 76ers are just 7-7 after losing to lowly Charlotte Monday.

Give Del Negro some credit here.

No, it doesn't appear he's going to match strategy with Hubie Brown or Alex Hannum. But his player-friendly ways seem to be something of a balm for this Bulls team that could have exploded. They're 7-8 with Kirk Hinrich out three months and Luol Deng just back Monday, but clearly not ready to play as he moved stiffly around the court for two points in 16 ugly minutes.

"It’s a terrific win for us," said Del Negro. "Our guys hung in there. Derrick (Rose) made plays down the stretch. I thought our bench in the second half really helped us a lot, gave us a big boost so our stars could get some rest. But it was just an overall really good team effort. Everybody contributed, did their role and we made plays. Both teams were going back and forth at the end. We got the last shot, and Larry (Hughes) was in the right spot and pulled up and hit it. We were just trying to get Derrick in isolations and penetration. He was making plays."

They got a wild night from Andres Nocioni, who was being beaten on defense and picking off his own teammates when the Jazz hit the Bulls with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 87 with 3:47 left. Then Nocioni came out of the timeout with a jumper and frustrated Paul Millsap, whom he'd been pounding on as Millsap had 21 points and 10 rebounds, into a foul and made both free throws. Millsap is the Jazz' best interior defender, and it was his fifth and he was soon to foul out before Rose made three more successful assaults on the basket.

The Bulls don't have much inside presence, though Aaron Gray had another nice stretch, this time for about the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter as among his eight points was a back to back baby hook and tip in and a nasty put back when he seemed to push Okur out of bounds without a call as the Bulls took an 85-79 lead with about six minutes left.

He had been running that high screen roll every play with Rose, though wore out soon after that score with a lazy pass out of bounds for a turnover and was replaced by Drew Gooden. Gooden had another solid offensive effort with 18 points and six rebounds, though he is a little small to fight off the big size inside. Gooden has made up with it on this trip with a nice pop out game that bothered the Jazz' interior players.

The Bulls finally made the adjustment of putting someone who could make a shot in that pick and roll or pick and pop play instead of Joakim Noah or Tyrus Thomas, who often run out to set those screens. Why? No one is passing to them.

Noah did show some exceptional energy running out to congratulate Hughes as his winner went in with Hughes offering, as usual, little expression.

But it was the most animated the often morose Bulls bench has been in some time.

Noah had six points and seven rebounds, four offensive, in 16 minutes mostly in the first half as he again wound down quickly and signaled to the bench with three minutes left in the first quarter to get him out of the game. And apparently to emphasize that hauled up a wild shot after he'd raised his hand to be excused.

Meanwhile, it seems as if Rose has one of those super charged nickel hydrogen batteries that power the space stations.

The kid just keeps going and going, offering little or no expression, and as the game grows tighter and more demanding, he is willing to—heck, wants to, demands to—take the ball and the responsibility.

It really is the most rare trait in sports.

Guys like Jordan and Tiger Woods and Reggie Jackson and Kobe and Bird and Tom Brady and Joe Montana have that. There were always guys around who could jump higher and shoot better and throw farther and hit a ball farther and straighter. But they were the ones who could do it when it was needed most and when everyone was watching to see if they would fail. They did, but they always came back and wanted it again because they were sure the miss was an aberration.

It seems like that with Rose, who with a seeming nonchalance simply takes over. There's no fuss or braggadocio, just a man going to work. Ben Gordon will try to do that, but he doesn't have the athletic moves or that first step quickness and jumping ability like Rose, who can get to the basket seemingly anytime he wants and past multiple defenders.

“We needed that win and we didn’t care how we got it," offered Rose casually, as usual. "We just wanted to come out of here with just a victory. (I) missed the shot and Larry gathered it and he’s been in this situation before and he just shot the ball. We left on a good note and this won’t do nothing but help us.”

This was a Jerry Sloan team, after all. And while it was devastated with injuries and down its two best players, it's always a tough team and was 9-5 without a loss this season at home.

The Bulls got the Jazz into their game most of the time, the Jazz falling into more individual play and jump shots as the Bulls pushed the pace. The Jazz got little resistance at the basket and shot 51.4 percent and ran out on 19 Bulls turnovers for a 21-4 fast break margin. The Jazz did have 30 assists on 43 field goals, far better than the Bulls, who still shoot too many individual jumpers. The Jazz generally is disciplined and forceful, but they could not find space in front of Rose.

“We gave them too many opportunities," lamented Sloan. "That last shot that they made, we kind of fell asleep a little bit, they came up with the offensive rebound and buried us. There are always a million things you can think of, but the bottom line is they beat us at the last second. It just takes one play to beat you.”

Good win. Great last shot. Remarkable young player.

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.