Taking it Out

The Wizards were coming in off a  high note as they defeated the Bobcats in their previous game. But even more dangerous, they were facing a Bulls team that lost to the Heat. While the fatigue was there, the Bulls won this one by anger. Rose fired off right away to start the game. The Bulls led by as many as 22. The wizards briefly cut it to single digits,but then Korver got hot (finished with 17 pts on 5 threes). Rose then took over thee 3rd quarter and that was pretty much the end of the game. It's beginning to sound reprtitive in a good way that Noah and Boozer each had double-doubles. Noah was just 3 asts shy of a triple-double. The fatiigue showed in the defense and turnovers, but I guess Washington was more tired.

The Bulls get a day's rest and then face one of the best in the East in the 76ers. That could possibly be an Eastern Conference Semis.

Round 1

The Miami Heat won round 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals preview yesterday, but there were a lot of positives to take out of it from the Bulls' point of view. Rose had one of those takeover games as he scored 34. In the 4th quarter, he led a rally to erase an 11-point deficit. He did miss the 2 free throws, but was bailed out by James' 2 misses. Then there was a fumbled ball out on Wade, but somehow called a jumpball by the officials. The Heat won the tip and that led to the game. So the Bulls played with the injured Rose, Noah and Hamilton. Deng, the man that won 2 for them last year was unable to play. CJ Watson was unable to play, so the injured Rose played almost all minutes. Miami was on fire and with all this, only won by 4... really 2 because the last 2 were just end-of-game freebies. 

So health is the issue here. The Bulls need their full lineup to beat the heat. They almost did it hobbling yesterday. Derrick Rose said "thank God we play tomorrow." So the back-to-back games this season is actuallly a big plus for the Bulls. They're constantly looking at their failures and the compressed season allows them to try things out right away. One thing's for sure... I wouldn't want to be the Wizards tonight!

Australian Open Finals

Women
Victoria Azarenka ended Maria Sharapova's winning streak with a lopsided 6-3, 6-0 win. Maria looked great to start as she quickly took a 2-0 lead. But then after that, she lost it. I thought she kept a good mindset this whole tournament, but I guess it's hard to stay in the zone when you don't play every day. Azarenka is the new #1 seed after this tournament.

Men
I woke up this morning expecting to watch a replay of the men's final at 9am. I avoided all news and social networking sites so that I wouldn't see any stories or posts about the winner. I turned on ESPN and the live footage was still playing. Djokovic and Nadal had just broke the record in the length of a finals match. So it was the beginning of the 5th set still. Nadal got the early lead, then Djokovic won the next 2, seemingly ready to close out the match in 4. Then Nadal came back again in the 4th. The 5th was a battle, but it looked like Djokovic was having an easier time. He would win his serves faster. And sure enough, he got the championship. Djokovic is probably Federer's best friend! If it wasn't for Djokovic defeating Nadal in all of the recent finals, Nadal would seriously be on pace to decimate Federer's all-time record!

Bounce Back

The Bulls bounced back and kept their losing streak to 1 as they defeated the Bucks on Friday, 107-100. This wasn't a typical win with everyone contributing. This was almost all Rose, Noah and Boozer. Rose scored a season high 34. Boozer double-doubled with 20 pts and 13 reb. Noah double-doubled with 15 pts and 16 rebs. Korver added 9 and Watson 13. The good thing about this is it shows Rose can take over if needed and it's safe to say Noah is out of his slow start. He's been pulling down those rebounds and catching up on his double-double rate. For the Bucks, Jennings was on fire with 25 and Gooden had 23, but not much from anyone else. This one was one with defense as the Bulls collected 9 blocks... 3 by Noah. What's odd is Rose tends to get 1-2 blocks in these type of games. He's 6'1"! As a team, the Bulls also forced more turnovers.

Nadal Wins!

I got messed up again because of the time difference. I missed the Nadal-Federer match because I thought it would air in the US tonight. It was another epic battle, worthy of a finals. Nadal worked from behind to win 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4. So it was 2 close tiebreak sets and 2 that Nadal won convincingly. The sellout crowd was really into it, with a lot of support for both players. I think Nadal should have been given a trophy of some sort. As I've always said, these 2 players are special. Whenever they face each other, it should be treated as a special match outside of the elimination tournament.

Final 4

The elimination tournament based on seed worked its plan in the Australian Open as the top 4 will face each other in the semis. Djokovic (1) will face Murray (2). And in a rare semis meeting, Nadal (3) will face Federer (4). Djokovic had a tough one against David Ferrer. Nadal and Federer have been on cruise control. Even though they're 3 & 4, I think the Nadal-Federer match will be the most exciting. I'll never get tired of those 2 facing each other. The only weird thing this time around is there will be no trophy ceremony after the match!

On the Women's side, Maria is back. She's had a great tournament, only dropping one set. So she's in place for a grand slam and top seed.

1st Home Loss

The Bulls had their best start since the Jordan Era and along with that territory comes another similarity... a good Pacers team. The Bulls had their 1st home loss last night to the Indiana Pacers.  Derrick Rose was in and the team played well enough to win... there was no big drought, but they just didn't defend the Pacers' shooters well enough. Indiana had 6 guys in double figures, led by Granger with 22 and Hibbert with 20. West was on fire as well. The rivalry is reborn!

Mixing of the Seasons

After our first snow storm, where temperatures were just under the freezing point,we had 2 days of rain. At some points in those 2 days, it actually hit 50 degrees. I went out for coffee in the middle of the afternoon without a jacket and felt totally comfortable. The evaporating rain even made it smell like Spring yesterday! This morning temperatures dropped again. It was in the low 40's but the real feel was in the 20's due to a huge wind chill. This Winter is turning out to be even stranger than last year.

NYC Rudeness

Travel and Leisure magazine rated New York City as the nation's rudest city and the NY press was all over it. But if you read all of the articles that defend NYC, it's all NYers defending themselves. The only people who think NYers are polite are NYers. Those people seriously need to travel more too. America's Rudest is the title we truly deserve here. Every time I travel to another state, I'm just shocked at how nice everyone is. In AMNY, someone in defense of NY mentioned that people hold the door for each other. If you take a closer look, for everyone door holder, there are 10 door slammers. We abuse pedestrian rules, we cut people off in cars and we destroy public property all the time. NYC is truly the rudest city in the nation!

Another Blowout

I could really get used to this... another game, another blowout. The Nets got a 1 point lead early in the game, but that's all they would get. The Bulls shot over 70% at one point, extending their lead to as many as 21 and lead by 15 for most of the game. All starters were in double figures lead by and injured Rose and Hamilton. They each had 22 a piece. The All-Star Noah was back with 16 pts and 10 rebs. The defense was a bit relaxed in the 2nd half as they let the Nets got hot at the 3-point line. The Bulls won this one because they were all on fire and outrebounded the Nets.

Deng is still out with a sprained wrist and will be meeting with doctors to see if he can avoid surgery. Obviously, the Bulls depth is enough to get through any regular season game, but Deng is essential in the goal of a championship. He's their other clutch player. He hit the game winner in 2 of the Miami games last year. Hopefully he'll be OK.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Bulls
The Bulls had a light schedule this weekend (considering the shorterened season) with the Cavs on Friday and then the Bobcats on Saturday. This allowed Rose to rest a bit more. Friday's game was yet another blowout that showed teamwork and depth. I don't think anyone would think the Bulls could get a 39-point win without Rose in the lineup! The Bobcats game was a blowout at one point as well, but the Bulls let them get off with respect at the end and only won by 9. A lot of other players sat out on Saturday too. Noah, Deng and Lucas are the latest injuries. So pretty much any Bull from 1-12 is good enough to be a starter for a lesser team.

Australian Open
As usual, it's been hard to catch these games, but I did see a few over the weeekend. The Clijisters/Li match was probably the most exciting. Li easily won the 1st set and was on her way to win the match, but Clijisters forced and won the tie break. She was the more experienced and collected one in the 3rd. Maria Sharapova has lookedgood in every match so far. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are cutting their way through as well. Ivanovic was playing well, but got eliminated.

Muay Thai
Buakaw and Dzhabar had their rematch with the same result. They met in Yokkao Extreme in Milan where Buakaw won by decision again. 

First Snow?

It's hard to believe that we're about to get our first real snowfall of the Winter and it's already past the midpoint of January. This doesn't include the one in October 2011! Everyone was predicting an extreme Winter this year because we had a mild Summer with maybe one week's worth of +90 degree temperatures. So far, this Winter has been very warm, with very few days below freezing. There was only one day in single digits if you count wind chill. We still have a good month and a half to go, but this Winter is extremely mild so far. Even the snow we're supposed to get late tonight is supposed to be mixed with rain. Temperatures are probably to high to result in a lot of accumulation. Maybe Winter will spill into March and April... or maybe we won't have a Winter this year!

Keeping Up w/ ASUS

The ASUS Transformer Prime is the most powerful tablet in the market, even if you factor in the recent issues that have been flagged. Most users are happy with their purchase, so it must not be as big a problem as some articles point out. But ASUS was quick to address the issues. Not only did they send out patches, but they already announced the next generation to this family... the Transformer Prime 700! This new model fixes the wi-fi issue with an iPad-esque plastic strip at the top... though this sacrifices the "Zen" spun metallic design. And the 700 is ready to take on the iPad3 as it sports a full HD LCD. ASUS claims there's no lowering of te battery life either!

Makeup

Rose was out with turf toe, but the Bulls bounced back in the 2nd game of yet another back-to-back to remain undefeated at home. It started out as a fast paced game in the first quarter with both team running back and forth. The Suns were lead by Steve Nash and the Bulls had Hamilton returning from his groin injury. Boozer finished with 31 pts, mostly in the hot 1st half. CJ Watson, who al;so returned from injury put up 23 pts. Deng added 15 and Noah might be out of his slump with a double-double. It wasn't the typical Bulls' defensive game, but that's OK. It's good that they're learning to win in different ways. They played the Sun's style and beat them at their own game.

This puts the Bulls at 13-3. Miami also won last night, taking the game from the Spurs in the 2nd half. So they remain tied in the loss column. The Bulls get their first 2-day rest of the season. They will return on Friday to face Cleveland. I imagine Rose will sit that one out as well since it's not a tough team.

Buakaw vs Dzhabar II

Buakaw por Pramuk will face Dzhabar Askerov on January 21, 2012 in a rematch. When they last met on March 17, 2007, Buakaw had a convincing unanimous decision. I don't think Dzhabar can beat him in a rematch even. Buakaw is just on another level.

Weekend Split

The Bulls had a nice game on Saturday against the Raptors. Rose returned from his sprained ankle to score 18 pts and 11 asts. It didn't seem like he was bothered at all as many of those plays were highlight-reel worthy. Boozer continued his good play with 17 pts & 13 rebs. Deng added 14. Noah got his rebs with 12, but only scored 4. Gibson off the bench scored a double-double with 11 pts & 12 rebs. In this game, the Bulls got off to an early lead in the 1st, but gave it all back by halftime. They never trailed though and put things away in the end of the 4th. It was a blowout, then a close game and then a blowout again. It was a good defensive game as they held Toronto to a season low 64 pts.

Rose was pulled out of today's game to rest his turf toe injury and John Lucas got the start again, but different result. The Bulls looked like they were doing everything wrong... turning the ball over, missing easy shots and playing poor defense. It was a 20 pt deficit by half, which I normally see as a good thing. But the poor play continued into the 2nd half. They did make a 4th quarter run to cut it to 9. For several minutes, they went back and forth with 9 and 11 point deficits. Then the fatigue seemed to kick in and they made turnover after turnover and lost their 3rd game of the season.

They still remain at the top of the East with a 12-3 record though. They've played more games than anyone, but Philly, Orlando and Indiana are tied in the loss column.

Owning Boston Again

The Bulls owned the Boston Celtics starting way back in 2003 up until Garnet and Allen joined forces. But it seems like the current Bulls team has taken that back. Last night was another test for the Bulls... a matchup against an elite team. Boston is having a terrible start, but they're still considered to be a contender. Deng continued his mastery over Paul Pierce and finished with 21 pts and 16 rebs. Rose had 25 pts and 7 asts. All starters were in double figures. The Bulls lead by 20 by halftime as they shutdown Boston with their suffocating defense. As usual, the Bulls had their drought and let Boston come all the way back to tie. But as clutch as they've been, they made a 4th quarter run to seal the deal... even sent Scalabrine out there in the final minute.

I don't see the Bulls having a problem with this team should they get matched up i the postseason. We have much better depth and can move faster.

TF-201 Early Feedback

The much anticipated Transformer Prime came out and there are a lot of mixed reviews out there. There were a number of articles that pointed out issues with GPS and Wi-fi due to a hardware flaw. ASUS did release a patch for GPS, but it wasn't considered a true fix because the real issue is supposedly with the all-aluminum body and how it's blocking the signals. This is the reason why the iPad isn't all-aluminum... the Apple logo is where the antenna is. And on the 3G model, there's a plastic strip at the top.

The other side of this is most users on Amazon are giving the tablet 5 stars. There are mixed reviews about the wi-fi, with some saying it works great. Feedback on GPS is pretty consistent though. I wouldn't put much weight on GPS because I hardly think that's a selling point for a tablet, but the wi-fi is important if it's an issue. I'd have to see that for myself because it's hard to tell from reviews how each users' home is setup.

Test of Depth

Last night was a true test of the Bulls depth. It was the 3rd game of a back-to-back-to-back set. Rose, Hamilton and Watson had to sit out du to injury. So John Lucas III got his first NBA start. If the Wizards thought it was going to be an easy win, they were dead wrong. Bulls won 78-64.Lucas nearly triple-doubled with 25 pts, 8 asts and 8 rebs... all career highs. Asik pulled down 14 rebs and had 5 blks. In a way, that's a double-double if you look at a block as being equivalent to 2 points each. Korver continued to be hot from 3 and added 14 pts. 

The game was actually within the Wizards' reach until they missed all their shots in the last 2 minutes of the 4th, causing the blowout look of the final score.

Later that night, the Clippers beat the Heat in overtime, putting Chicago ahead of the East in the loss column as well (they were already there in the win column).

Non-Blowout

The Bulls sure could have used another blowout to rest the starters as they completed the 2nd game of their 3 games in 3 nights. It looked like it was going to be one as they lead by as many as 24 in the first half. Towards the end of the 2nd quarter though, they missed 9 straight and let Minnesota back into the game. The Wolves were hot from 3, but fortunately so were the Bulls as they went 55% for the night. Korver and Rose seemed to sink one whenever the Wolves got within 4. Bulls pulled away at the end opf the 4th as they usually do.

The poor defense, particularly at the 3-point line made the Wolves look like a playoff team. It also seemed like the Bulls let back a little after their 20-point lead. As always, I'm more comfortable with the Bulls being down 20 at the half than up 20. 

The Wizards are next for the final game of their 3-game stretch. Washington won last night... their first of the season, so they're entering the game on an up note, while the Bulls may be fatigued after playing 2 in a row, including a tough one against Minnesota. Even though the Wizards are a weak team, this factor could make it interesting.

Important Blowout

Coming off a loss, the day off helped the Bulls as they looked fresh in last night's 98-6x blowout victory against the Pistons. The blowout is important because it allowed the starters to get more rest and spread out the minutes to the bench. Rose and Deng each played about 33 min when they're used to playing close to 40. Rose scored 22 with 8 asts. Boozer, who has been very consistent this year got it going with 23 and 8 rebs. Noah has been getting into foul trouble, but was able to get some rebound. His scoring is the stat that's been off this season. Everyone contributed in some way last night and the blowout was capped off by a Scalabrine jumper at the end of the game. 

The Bulls were a little slow to start the game and the Pistons pulled within 3 in the 3rd, but the lead was never relinquished. Towards the end of the 3rd, the Bulls started to pull away and starters got their rest midway in the 4th. This is the first game of the Bulls' only 3-games-in-a-row this season and possibly the toughest stretch.

Jorge Posada Retirement

The official statement will come within the next couple of weeks, but Jorge Posada is expected to retire. He'll be another Yankees to retire early and not on the decline. Like Bernie Williams, he was a career Yankee... didn't play for any other team. Both guys probably retired for that reason... at least partially. I think Posada has at least 1-2 years left in him and can certainly help whatever team he plays for. I don't think the Yankees have the Catcher position secured yet. Martin has been great, but there isn't a solid backup. Montero still needs more experience. And I think they should have played Jorge more last season. Hopefully they find him some role where he can be involved. His championship experience and calling all of those games would be great for the younger players in the clubhouse. Here's Jorge's resume:

- 4 World Series Championships
- 5x Silver Slugger
- 5x All-Star
- Made a run for the batting title in 2007 (finished 4th with .338)
- 14th most hits in Yankees history
- 14th most AB in Yankees history
- 17th most runs in Yankees history
- 7th most doubles in Yankees history
- 8th most HR in Yankees history
- 11th most RBIs in Yankees history
- 7th most walks in Yankees history

Jorge Posada is certainly worthy of the Hall of Fame. Yankees fans, who are closer to him know that his baseball IQ is extremely high. It's not on camera a lot, but he does a great job at the catcher position, acting like a manager on the field.

Fatigue

It was the Bulls' 2nd game against the Hawks in a week. They had more of the same troubles as with the first game, but this time they couldn't make an amazing comeback in the 4th. The Hawks made their adjustments and didn't let the Bulls back into it this time. Bulls starters seemed fatigued from the back-to-back. Rose and Deng only had 8 a piece. Boozer lead the way with 12. The second team actually outscored the starters.

The Hawks are a team to watch out for as they seem to give the Bulls matchup problems. We saw this last year in the playoffs as well when they took 2 out of 6 in the semis. And they don't have Hinrich back yet either. So they're going to do very well this year.

AdiMatchup

The Adidas stars Rose and Howard faced off last night as the Bulls earned a convincing victory over a possible high seeded team in the Magic. The Bulls controlled the majority of the game. The Magic made some runs and cut the deficit to 3 at one point, but the Bulls never let them take the lead towards the end. 97-83 was the final score. Rose (21 pts & 10 asts), Deng (21 pts), Boozer (20 pts & 13 rebs) and Korver (18 pts on 5/7 from 3) did what they each do best and had big games. They went with a 9-man roster and it was a good all-around effort from everyone. Beyond Howard's 28 pts and 15 rebs, the Magic got nothing out of the others. This is where the Bulls depth is going to help them against teams with more star power.

In trade talks, Howard mentioned that the Bulls are not on his list of teams to consider during free agency. With that statement, you have to wonder if he's in it for the spotlight rather than success. Chicago is a big basketball city, but it's not as "showtime" as NY, FL or CA. Bulls basketball has a reputation of hard work as the road to success. Howard probably wants to be a celebrity, though he probably won't admit it.

2012 All-Stars (East)

For the East, this is the first time in many years that I'm going for all Bulls. I think chemistry over star power can beat and combination of Western All-Stars. It's the first time I didn't vote for LeBron James. Ben Gordon wasn't on the ballot, so I voted for Rip at shooting guard. Rose, Deng and Noah speak for themselves. The East, unlike the West has too many All-Star worthy centers. Howard will probably end up winning the spot.

2012 All-Stars (West)

For the most part, the Western All-Stars were easy to pick. You simply can't leave out Durant and Griffin for the forward positions. They move great for big men and carry their respective teams. Durant is probably the best scorer in the league. He's clutch. Griffin turned the Clippers from a laughing stock to a respected potential playoff team. For guard, Westbrook is the Rose of the West and Paul is a balance of veteran and youth. The center position was the toughest because there aren't that many good ones in that conference anymore.

Last night's game was more of a typical win, this time a 99-83 one against division rival, Detroit. The Bulls lead for all of the game, though not a blowout like the Memphis opener. And they didn't sleep for the whole game like with Atlanta. The scoring was spread with 5 players in double figures. Rose had a double-double with 17 pts and 10 asts. Noah also posted one in one of his more effective games. Hamilton played xx min in a game he probably didn't want to miss... 1st one in Detroit without a Pistons uniform. He did well even with reduced minutes.

One noticeable thing about the game is that the Palace of Auburn Hills, which used to be one of the top 5 in attendance was empty and quiet. There was a good percentage of Bulls fans present too. It's amazing what could happen after a few bad years. Even more amazing that this effect hasn't happened with Bulls fans!

One Quarter Win

I  rarely think that the Bulls will lose a game, but felt it last night. It wasn't the deficit. They have overcome more than 19, but they just kept making mistake after mistake and couldn't score more than 2 in a row. The Hawks also didn't play particularly well and gave the Bulls plenty of opportunities to beat them, but there were no lead changes. Officiating was terrible as the refs had the Hawks back fromthe start of the game to the final minutes of the 4th. Atlanta kept a comfortable 9-point lead for most of the game. They held the Bulls to just 26 at the half. Entering the 4th quarter, there was still a 14-point deficit andthe Hawks were matching any Bulls run. All of a sudden, Deng and Rose woke up and made play after play. Asik provided a spark as Noah was taken out of the game with foul trouble.

Deng made a bunch of clutch free throws to bring the Bulls within striking distance. Rose made a clutch layup after Teague missed 2 FTs on the other side to take the lead. Horford tied the game again. The game winner was unexpected. Deng inbounded to Noah. All of the Hawks were concentrating on Rose. Noah made a fake hand-off to Rose, then gunned it to a cutting Deng for the layup and win. I don't know why more teams do that. The star doesn't need to take the final shot every time. It's too predictable that way. 

Bulls are now 5-1, their best start since the Invincibulls of '97, who had a 12-0 streak. 

Haywire

It's been a while since a good Muay Thai movie has hit the screens, with Tony Jaa going generic martial arts. Haywire, which comes out on January 20 will fill that gap as it stars Gina Carano around an ensemble cast. It's an action movie, but the trailer already shows Gina pulling off some textbook Muay Thai. It's her first major acting role and she's already on the big screen with names like Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas. AND... she's the main character!


Gina looks great on screen, a natural in front of the camera. I think this movie will get her many more parts and perhaps give the martial arts genre a nice boost.

Related Links: Official Site, IMDB, Wikipedia

Home Opening Blast

Coming off a blowout victory in LA, the Bulls continued their attack for their home opener against the Grizzlies. They took care of business as they destroyed Memphis 104-64. Rose, Deng, Boozer and Brewer all had big games. Hamilton was out with a groin injury, but 11/12 players scored. Scalabrine was the only one who didn't make a shot, but he did get an assist and block for his 5 min. The offense was typical of a Bulls win, but it was the defense that defined the blowout. The Bulls outrebounded their opponent 55-40 and had 12 locked shots. They kept Memphs to 30% shooting. This one was pretty much over in the 1st and would have been a pretty boring game if it was in the middle of the season, but to open at home like this really got the fans into it. These are the best fan in the world, who have been deprived of basketball for 2 months. There was no better way to start the year and season!