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It was a woeful, oh-no-here-we-go-again first half for Doug McDermott Tuesday in the Bulls preseason opener. McDermott was zero for five and scoreless, missing all his three pointers. Could it be that he only could play against summer league talent?

McDermott wasn’t losing faith quite yet, but they’d all seen his shoulders sag too often. Jimmy Butler wasn’t having any …

No one called it Freddie-ball yet. But the Bulls Tuesday seemed to be having a ball in a 105-95 preseason opening win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

“You’ve got the freedom to shoot it when you are open,” said Jimmy Butler, who had 23 points in 25 minutes and was matched by Doug McDermott with 23 points, McDermott’s all after halftime. …

Yes, Mrs. Lincoln. But other than that, how did you like the play?

It was a productive first day of Bulls practice Tuesday morning under new coach Fred Hoiberg.

Yes, other than that.

“That” was once again Derrick Rose’s luck turning bad.

Rose sustained, according to a statement released by the Bulls later in the afternoon, a left orbital fracture …

The Bulls certainly hope it becomes an era, and presumably Fred Hoiberg does as well. It basically began Monday with the opening of Hoiberg’s first training camp as Bulls coach, media day interviews and team meetings.

After a summer of visiting with all the players at their homes or training facilities, like with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah in California, …

The Bulls are putting the band back together. But will it be able to hit the high notes?

That’s the big question as the Bulls, according to league sources and published reports, agreed Wednesday to contracts with their new Mr. Fabulous, Jimmy Butler, and fellow sole man Mike Dunleavy.

Teams are not permitted to discuss or officially sign contracts with …

No need to beware of Razorbacks bearing gifts, except perhaps if you’re the Bulls opposition.

Wearing a dark suit with a red bow tie, a red Bulls baseball cap and delivering three boxes of doughnuts (the traditional morning duty for rookies), Bulls first round draft pick Bobby Portis Monday announced his arrival in Chicago, both symbolic and hopeful.

“I’ve always …

“While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.”

— Maya Angelou

And so the Bulls’ 2014-15 season ends with arguably their worst loss of the season at the most vital time, the closeout game of the conference semifinal against rival LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who defeated the Bulls 94-73.

It perhaps sets back the Bulls …

And then there was one, or as the Bulls hope, two more games.

“I feel like we’re a confident group of guys,” Jimmy Butler insisted late Tuesday night in a subdued Bulls post game locker room after Cleveland’s 106-101 win to take a 3-2 lead in the conference semifinal series. “We like the chances we have; obviously we’ve got to …

There are a lot of great stories in these NBA playoffs, which are as wide open to produce a champion since perhaps anytime in the late 1970s. Here comes Memphis and the Clippers and even Washington, and few are going to dismiss anyone.

There was the Boffo Buzzer Beater weekend with Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce and LeBron James as the …

This one really hurt for the Bulls, Sunday’s 86-84 Cleveland Cavaliers victory to even the conference semifinal series at 2-2.

Not because LeBron James beat them with a 21-foot corner buzzer beater on an inbounds play with 1.5 seconds left after a frantic Bulls rally from six behind with two minutes remaining.

“It was a tough shot,” agreed Derrick Rose, …