Bulls Passion Preview: Chicago Bulls (3-3) vs Tornoto Raptors (4-5)

There are few things I love more than Friday night basketball. You're not stressed from worrying about your job, the weekend possibilities seem endless, and I get to force my girlfriend to watch the game with me. There's no excuse on a Friday night.

Tonight, your Chicago Bulls take on the Toronto Raptors.  Back in the days of half-man, half-amazing Vince Carter, I would be unbelievably hyped about this game. Now, I'm excited to see a mix-matched bunch of great athletes who can kind of play basketball.

Derrick Rose out tonight?

There's a very good chance Derrick Rose doesn't play tonight.  I've seen people speculate on Twitter that he definitely won't play, but I'm not sure of that.

If he doesn't play, be prepared for an ugly offense tonight. The Bulls look very stagnant, and they often work the shot-clock to under 8 seconds, often settling for bad shots when Rose isn't on the court. Toronto is only allowing 94.9 points per game, good for 5th in the NBA, so Bulls fans should be worried about a sneaky loss tonight.

Know thy Opponent:

Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay has always been a prolific chucker, and this season is no different. Gay's taking 19 shots again, shooting just 36.5% from the floor and averaging 19.7 points per game. At least gay is playing decent defense and averaging 7 boards per game, while also chipping in with 2 steals.

As a Bulls fan, you want the opposing team's best scorer to be a wing. Look for Luol to shut him down. Gay will get his 20 points, but he may shoot under 30% with the defensive presence of Luol Deng. With Gay unable to score (but still attempting to score), expect the Raptors offense to become stagnant and uninterested.

DeMar DeRozan: Rudy Gay Part 2

DeMar DeRozan has a great name and gets paid a lot of money, as he just started his 4 year, $38 million contract extension. Unfortunately for Raptors fans, he's essentially the same player as Rudy Gay. DeRozan is a high volume, inefficient scorer who is also poor at three pointers (shooting just 30% this year) and likes to isolate to score. DeRozan is accounting for 18 points per game on 37.7% shooting, but he doesn't do much else.

Jimmy Butler, though he refuses to stop pump faking, should be able to hold DeRozan to another poor night of shooting. Gay and DeRozan are basically the only real scorers on the Raptors, so if the Bulls are able to shut them down, then it will be a competitive game.

Tonight will be a close game, and I'm not feeling great about the Bulls' odds of winning. With the Raptors allowing just 94.9 points per game, and the Bulls potentially missing Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer will need to step it up offensively. Raptors' power forward Amir Johnson is a hardhat and lunch pal kinda guy, but he won't be able to stop Boozer's vast array of post moves.

Defensively, the Bulls match up incredible well against the Raptors, especially because Raptors' point guard Kyle Lowry has struggled mightily this year. Plus, Kirk Hinrich is a tenacious defender, and he will do his best to stop Lowry from making plays.

The Raptors' "best" bench player is probably Tyler Hansbrough. Yes, that's a real statement.

Poor three point shooting, a weak offense sans wing players, and few offensive options off the bench characterize the Raptors this season.

While I simply do not feel good about the game, I'm picking the Bulls to win.

Bulls 89 Raptors 82

It's Friday, so you should spend the afternoon reading:

Bulls Passion: The Best NBA Stories And a Bad One

 Or figuring out:

What's Going on with Derrick Rose? 

 

 

Bulls Passion: The Best NBA Stories And a Bad One

When there's not much to say about the Bulls, there is nothing better than reading about random stories throughout the NBA.

Know Thy Opponents

The Growing Legend of Lance Stephenson

From Zach Lowe over at Grantland, this story covers the improvement of Pacers' guard Lance Stephenson. Thankfully, the Pacers may reach the "Harden point" where the team won't be able to keep one of its best players due to the salary cap. That's great news for the Bulls.

Parker, Randle, and Wiggins

If you missed it, Tuesday was full of some of the finest freshman talent in college basketball competing in Chicago. Personally, I thought Jabari Parker stood out as the best player, though I was impressed by how Julius Randle loves to play with his back to the basket. Those guys are rare in the NBA making them all the more valuable. Andrew Wiggins was pretty solid, and he certainly looks the part. However, I did not see the same versatile skill set that Parker demonstrated. Still, I'll wait to see them all in action some more before making a judgement.

Best NBA body since Dwight Howard

ESPN Writer Who Doesn't Understand Culture

I'm amazed  that ESPN allowed this story to run. The author clearly has NO clue about how certain words are used at popular culture. I take it she's never heard a rap song.

NBA Blogs You Need to Read

While few doubt I am the best Bulls blogger east of the Mississippi (I kid), there are some awesome NBA stories that are posted daily. Here are the one's you need to read.

Beverly Hills

This is a great story on path of Houston Rockets' starting point guard and Chicago native Patrick Beverly to the NBA, written by Bulls reported Aggrey Sam. I love Patrick Beverly, and the worst part of this story is hearing about how much the Bulls front-office jerked him around. There's a very obvious reason why I don't trust GarPax, and this story explains it.

The Kirk Hinrich Accessories Timeline

I found this story via the footwear forum NikeTalk, and it's absolutely hilarious. Very lighthearted, but fun for any long-time Bulls fan.

3 Reasons Why: Kevin Love is the NBA's Early MVP

Another member of the NBA's stacked 2008 draft class, Kevin Love looks incredible for the Minnesota Timberwolves so far this season. His numbers are insane: 26 points per game, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists!

If you're listening GarPax, I'll never talk bad about you again if you find a way to get this man in a Bulls' jersey. 

Why Won't LeBron Wear his New Shoes?

On occasion, Stormin Normin likes to share his opinions on fun issues that are loosely related to what matters in the NBA.

Performance footwear is a strange hobby of mine, so whenever a footwear topic becomes a hot button issue in the NBA, I simply can't help but comment.

The performance footwear blogosphere (yes that does exist) has been buzzing because LeBron James has only worn his flagship Nike LeBron XI shoe for a handful of quarters this year, opting instead for the previous version of his shoe. Nightwing2303, the premier performance footwear reviewer, in my opinion, considers the LeBron XI the best iteration of the line.

I can't walk right now, so I can't comment, but the shoes look awesome, and the technical specs suggest the shoe will play extremely well.

So why aren't they good enough for LeBron and his terrible feet?

Obviously James wear tested the shoe, so I cannot imagine this is the first time LeBron's ever worn the shoe. However, the nature of the materials dictates a fairly long break-in time, so LeBron's preference for a fresh pair every game may not provide him with the break-in time adequate for the shoe to fit comfortably.

Nike is paying LeBron a lot of money to be playing advertisement for this $200 basketball shoe, so I imagine Beaverton is none too pleased with James' current selection. Guaranteed Nike engineers are working on anything possible to get the shoe up to snuff for LeBron.

While I doubt sales of the fashion-driven men's version of the shoe will suffer, kids across the country may not want their parents to shell out $200 for a shoe LeBron isn't even playing in. Derrick Rose's last adidas shoe is still sitting on shelves, largely because he never played an NBA game in them.

What does this have to do with the Bulls?

Footwear is important to any basketball player. No, the LeBron XI won't add 5 inches to my vertical, but I will be comfortable and not have to worry about the shoe while I'm playing. The same cannot be said about playing in Chuck Taylors or Air Force 1s or any really old shoe. Being comfortable while you're playing basketball is paramount to success, particularly over a long, grueling season.

So you can imagine just how happy I am that Joakim Noah quit wearing tennis shoes, opting for Adidas basketball sneakers this season. Noah has struggled with foot problems, and I think the major reason was his Le Coq Sportif shoes. 

I would never wear these on (or off) the court.

Essentially, I hope James, and to a greater extent Noah, help stress the importance of footwear on the court. The last thing I want to see happen is a Bulls injury because a player gets another $50k a year from an unknown brand instead of sticking with the tried and true Nike, adidas, and Under Armour.  

Derrick Rose Shows Some Real Progress while Dominating the Cavs

#TheReturn hashtag may have come a year too early, but I can finally tell you with confidence that #TheReturn is in full swing. Derrick Rose and the Bulls easily disposed of the Kyrie Irving-led Cavaliers, winning the game 96-81.

Without question, the highlight of the game was Rose, who finally looked like an all-star. I can't emphasize that he looked like an all-star enough--not the last MVP not named LeBron James, not a future Hall of Famer, but an all-star.

After a slow first half, Rose destroyed Irving offensively with his trademark explosive drives and acrobatic finishes. Rose also made some fantastic passes, some so excellent that the receiving player didn't see them coming (I'm looking at you, Taj).

While at times Rose looked lost defensively, a fast break drive by Irving where Rose was literally facing the wrong direction comes to mind, he did a great job locking down one of the league's best scoring point guards.

Rose only shot 8/21 from the field, but he had 16 points and 7 assists, and in his defense, the officials missed a few calls that would have sent Rose to the line. DRose did leave with a hamstring injury that occurred at an unknown time, but I doubt it will be anything serious. SB Nation posted a painful GIF of Rose limping. Every game like this is a major stride for the Bulls' MVP caliber point guard.

Boozer: Mr Efficient

Carlos Boozer played another wonderful game on Monday night, shooting 7/11 from the floor with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Boozer bullied Tristan Thompson in the post as expected, and he even demonstrated his excellent passing skills, highlighted by a beautiful dish to Joakim Noah in the post for an easy layup.

Boozer continues to keep his feet flat defensively. It becomes frustrating seeing such a powerful, athletic guy look unable to stop any decent offensive player. Still, Boozer wasn't signed to be a great defender, and his efficient scoring this season makes up for any defensive short coming.

Jimmy Shoots...No He Doesn't

Jimmy Butler played well defensively. Dion Waiters made some crazy shots, but still scored just 13 points and was a non-factor in the final outcome. I love Jimmy defensively. He's quickly becoming an elite perimeter defender.

Unfortunately, his confidence is not there, and it's painfully obvious. Butler received some great passes that gave him wide open three point looks, but instead, Butler pump faked, took 2 steps forward, and missed mid-range jumpers. Essentially, Butler trades higher expected value shots for lower expected value shots, and the reason is clearly confidence.

Butler has always had a flat shot, but last season it looked like he had made strides, connecting on 38% of his attempts. This year, he's down to just 25%. Hopefully Butler spends this large inter-game gap focusing on his shot because the Bulls desperately need his offense to get going.

Mike Dontleaveme

Mike Dunleavy earned his pay check last night, scoring 15 points in just 24 minutes, connecting on 2/3 threes and all 5 of his free throw attempts. Admittedly, 3 of those free throws came on an absolutely terrible call,  but Dunleavy still looked like a very capable scoring 6th man. I'd like to work out those long 2 pointers out of his repertoire, but I don't believe the Bulls organization supports sabermetrics, so that's just a dream.

Overall, you should be very encouraged. No, Cleveland is not a very good team at all. They have loads of potential, but the Cavs still largely go as far as Kyrie Irving takes them--which wasn't very far last night.

Still, Rose played a great second half of basketball, Boozer remained efficient, and Dunleavy showed confidence in his deadly three point shot. The Bulls get another shot at Indiana this Saturday after facing the lowly Raptors on Friday.

I'll be back with previews and some features throughout the week, and, as they say in France, Let's Go Bulls.