Blog Archives

Sorry Bullscast-Nation! Weird audio recording. The error occurs midway through, when the recording really slows down . . . it’s actually quite amusing. I’ll confer with tech-savy/sound-recordist Nick . . .

“bulls logo+upside down+ some color= robot reading the bible on a bench!?”

The link to the above image was posted on twitter from J.E. Skeets of Yahoo! Sports Blog “Ball Don’t Lie” and “The Basketball Jones” fame.  Good find.

How many different jersey’s can one team wear over the course of a season? It’s insane. Here’s the story from the always wack-tastic Bulls official homepage:

The Chicago Bulls announced today their participation in the inaugural NBA Green Week 2009 by hosting an in-arena “Go Green” awareness night on Thursday, April 9 during their game vs. the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

To promote environmental education, the team will wear hunter green-colored uniforms as well as 100 percent organic cotton adidas shooting shirts featuring the NBA Green logo.

As our listeners know, Nick and I are always on the cutting-edge of technology (you’ve gotta admire the show’s theme song, pristine audio recording, and snappy audio editing).  Now you can follow the show on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/bullscast.  “What’s twitter?”, you ask.  I don’t know, we’re still trying to figure that out ourselves.

Um, someone is bitter.  Not having too much fun in Sac-Town I guess.  Straight from Dime:

Nocioni’s interview with Spanish-language publication Ole was translated as such by Rotoworld:

Andres Nocioni described this season as “the worst of my career”, citing a lingering knee injury and team chemistry issues.

When asked about the Kings, Nocioni replied, “[Sacramento] is the worst team, and being here you find out why … they are more focused on not losing money than on the team that’s coming.”

According to Google’s translation, some of Nocioni’s other lines include:

“It was a season to run the garbage and I switched over to Sacramento.”

“I cannot say or discuss anything in relation to effort and professionalism. I gave 100% for Chicago. What I do know [is] that this is a business.”

“There is no chemistry or team play (in Sacramento). I do not see that in the near future this group may be competitive in the West. It will take several years … Nor [is] the draft coming to save anyone.”

“Last year in Chicago was spent pretty badly. It was a very individualistic or team game was crazy. On those teams I do not look good, I need something more organized … Manu (Ginobili) [ed. infinitely better than Noch], Luis (Scola) [ed. alot better than Noch], and Fabri (Oberto) [ed. also better than Noch] have been lucky. I do not, unfortunately.”

“There are many people [that are] young and too much individualism. If Chicago was a band, Sacramento are the two bands.”

How long before the infamous Jimmy Boylan is coaching the Bucks? Thanks to Dime for the story:

Poopy-pants Scott Skiles is raining on Charlie Villanueva’s twitter parade. After Charlie told the world that he needed to step up during the half of the Bucks/Celts game, he rattled off 15 second-half point to help upset Boston. But Coach Skiles isn’t interested in hearing what Charlie V has to say during the intermission, even if it helped to set up one of Milwaukee’s biggest wins of the year.

“We made a point to Charlie and the team that it’s nothing we ever want to happen again,” Skiles said after practice Tuesday. “You know, [we] don’t want to blow it out of proportion. But anything that gives the impression that we’re not serious and focused at all times is not the correct way we want to go about our business.”

Though Skiles doesn’t want to blow it out of proportion, he’s kind of doing just that by addressing it publicly. These are NBA players – not high schoolers. If they motivate themselves in an unorthodox way at one point during this long season, their coach shouldn’t be pissed.

Of all parties involved, Charlie V is the one handling this like a grown-up.

“Well guys, no more halftime tweets for me – I’ll leave it at that, won’t comment on it any further. But I still got love for ya. Stay tune.”

Great Quote from the Suntimes: “During the team photo, the President said he wanted to stand next to Ben Gordon because ‘Ben’s not that tall.’ The team found that pretty funny.”

Bulls suffer disheartening fourth quarter meltdown in an awfully winnable game.  Sure, I could breakdown the multitude of missteps: Tyrus’ “shot selection”, Derrick’s ineptitude on defense, and Vinny’s sheer existence.  But let’s just not.  Instead, let’s reminisce about how amazing MJ was . . .

This was posted earlier today by the fabulous Austin Burton on Dime.  Enjoy and try and push that filthy Devin Harris crossover out off your mind.

Michael Jordan vs. Today’s Rules

Among NBA fans who followed the game as far back as 1998, there’s a pretty commonly accepted theory, which was most recently brought to the table in yesterday’s “Getting to the Basket 101″ post:

If Michael Jordan played in his prime under today’s no-hand-check rules that are friendly to scoring guards and wings, he’d average at least 40 points.

For the most part, I agree. On talent alone, MJ would be a monster if he didn’t have to deal with the physical style of the 1990s (or the extra-physical style of the 1980s). But there’s another facet you have to consider, something about the old-school rules that made Jordan the player he was.

With today’s laid-back rules, the “Bad Boys” Pistons wouldn’t have been allowed to beat the crap out of MJ during his formative NBA years, when he was making that leap from flashy superstar to cold-blooded killer. Without those early experience, would Jordan have developed the same drive and motivational fire that made him JORDAN? Or would he have been closer to another Iceman Gervin, a jaw-dropping scorer who is known more for getting buckets and not as much for being a winner?

While I’d like to see as much as anyone how 28-year-old MJ would fare in today’s game, I’m also thankful he got to make his bones in a rougher era, where his championship-caliber intangibles were hewn.

How would MJ’s career had turned out without those Detroit playoff series losses?

Share your thoughts . . .

Alright, I must apologize to the Paxson, Gar, Reinsdorf trio.  Merely moments after I ridiculed Bulls management for their inaction and ineptitude, the three musketeers started making moves.  Not only were the Bulls active in the 24-hours leading up to the trade deadline, they were undoubtedly the most lively and arguably most effective squad in the whole damn league!  Stayed tuned for a trade deadline recap podcast in the very near future . . .

I must admit, the recent bombardment of Chicago Bulls trade rumors is beginning to overwhelm me.  Tyrus, Joakim, Gooden, Hughes, Thabo, Luol, Noch, virtually the entire team—minus Derrick Rose of course—seems to be on the market.  I’ve been refreshing ESPN like a maniac searching for Bulls updates.  Moments ago I learned from super-sleuth John Hollinger and his team of spies that the Bulls might be considering the possibility of pursuing a trade sending Captain Kirk Hinrich for unknown players on an unknown team.  Hollinger writes: 

“I’m hearing for the first time discussion of the Bulls moving Kirk Hinrich, though the destination is still unknown – ‘not Portland,’ my spy says.  Such a deal makes great sense for the Bulls but it’s hard to know who would find his contract palatable in these times.”

What is he talking about?  What “deal” makes great sense?  I wonder if this ever so vague little tidbit of “inside information” is enough to make Kirk-worshipper Nick form a few beads of sweat.

My guess, absolutely nothing will happen.  I know, it’s devastatingly unfortunate.  I believe Pax, the Great Gar Forman, and JR foolishly put all of their eggs in the Amar’e basket (the deal was so utterly illogical from the Suns perspective that it was never realistically going to go down—see: Kobe for Luol Deng).  Now, with less than 24-hours before the deadline, the Bulls brass is in panic mode aimlessly searching for another deal . . . hence, Kirk for (fill in the blank) on (fill in the blank) is newsworthy.