Bull of the Day: Corie Blount

Not surprisingly, Corie Blount was more well-known for his blunts rather than his on the court play. In Chicago, we'd label him the OG Sam Herd.





Yeah...that's his drug sentencing video, or his most viewed on YouTube.

In the meantime, Corie contributed next to nothing on the court. He played 2 seasons for the Bulls before MJ came back and I'm sure told Krause to tell him to take a hike. Blount was your classic mediocre 1st round pick the Bulls were in love with in the 1990's, and was sold to the Lakers before the 95-96 season. He was part of a Nasty Natti team that made the Final Four, so he quickly rose to the ranks of overrated.

The Bulls COULD have had Nick Van Exel, Byron Russell, or even the comically inclined Gheorghe Muresan. But no, they took a player who averaged a robust 11 points and 8 rebounds per game for Cincy.

Blunt returned for 2 more seasons with the Bulls right around when the team was starting to escape the dark ages, but mostly for more money to buy weed.

Interesting reads on the NBA

1. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/michael_rosenberg/05/21/lebron/index.html

Goes into how great LeBron is. I agree, but the best ever? Nahhhh.

He is doing the same thing he thrived at in Cleveland: Carrying a bunch of scrubs to playoff victories.

2. http://basketball.realgm.com/blog/221103/Noah_To_Seek_Tutoring_From_Kareem

Joakim's working with Kareem. And I do think this will work to improve his post game a bit. Jo's on the cusp of being a top-5 center as is (if he isn't already).

3. http://sports.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981346591

Nonsense, why would any team take on Boozer's contract?!?

4. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7955050/craig-sager-suits-sideline-sartorial-disasters

Hell yeah, this clown's married to a Luv-a-Bull!!!

Bull of the Day: Dennis Rodman

In the spirit of broke ballers, I wanted to give Dennis Rodman some necessary credit for his tremendous impact and part of several important Bulls' teams.

Rodman came to Chicago, in a trade that was literally the steal of the decade. Will "he's not just chicken" Perdue for Dennis, straight-up. Yes, one for one. Will Perdue. Will Perdue.

Rodman went on to be a crucial member of the most prolific team in NBA history: the 1995-96 Bulls. They stomped on hopeless opponents on their way to a 72-10 record, and Rodman became the "Horace Grant" of the 2nd dynasty (sans goggles).

He averaged 15 boards per game, and played with the defensive intensity the team sorely needed. Mind you, its still somewhat unknown what the hell Dennis did at night, though we know it involved a lot of partying that only he could get away with. Rodman might have flamed out elsewhere, but in Chicago, with the Zen Master and MJ leading things, Rodman was given the perfect atmosphere to flourish.

While his career in Chicago ended with the end of the Bulls dynasty, he ended up playing parts of 2 seasons with the Lakers and Mavericks. His stat line with the Lakers was good (2/11/1) but his antics wore out before the playoffs could begin.

I'll always remember him for the McDonald's cup that changed his hair color with your drink, but I guess he also dressed like a tranny from time to time.

Well that was a pathetic end of the season...

It really was. #freemikejames didn't work at all unfortunately, thus we lost.

We played another hard-fought, grind it out game, that came down to CJ Watson passing to the worst free throw shooter in the league for no reason.

Better luck next year.

Will have an off-season preview coming up shortly.

Tuesday's Game Reinforces Bulls' Chances

With tickets available for about $30 (thirty bucks!), myself and a few friends head over to the UC on Tuesday. The buzz in the crowd was noteworthy; I thought it was the "cool" thing to hate on the Bulls right now. Sam Smith touches on the issue nicely, but it seems to me like the typical negativity and pessimism of Chicago fans.

Perhaps the best part of the game was booing Evan Turner. I've never seen a hometown player garner as much hate, even more than Dwyane Wade post-Heat forming the super villains. I saw his family after the game and was surprised to see them hanging out after the game. Ballsy, but I guess his brother or something was about 6'8.

Nevertheless, the game reinforced what we already knew: Philadelphia is not good at all. We stopped Spencer Hawes and LaVoooooooooy Allen (future Hall-of-famer based on this series), and made their guards beat us. Personally, I enjoy seeing Andre Iguodala taking three's, fadeaways, and, well, anything that isn't a fastbreak dunk. The decimated Bulls are better than this Philly squad, even with Asik not running back on defense.

I suspect tonight will be more of the same suffocating defense and struggling offense. Let's just hope Luol remembers who to play like its 2005 again. As always, #freemikejames, but I think we might also want to #stoplavoy.

Dispair...Nah we got this

I don't mean to be an eternal optimist...okay I admit I'm a permaBull...but I really don't think we're out of this series.

Game 3 shook me literally so badly that I couldn't write about it. I was depressed. I was angry. I haven't seen a team Thibs team lose their fight like that. For a second I thought maybe LeBron had joined us.

Game 4 wasn't much better. Even though we controlled the tempo, you never really got the feeling we would win. Omer Asik filled in valiantly for Joakim, but it didn't matter. CJ and JL3 were...meh. Mike James sat on the bench, and we started the #freemikejames campaign. So far I think we have a follower. Maybe.

I can't help but wonder how differently things would have played out assuming we had Ben Gordon instead of Carlos Boozer (motivated Ben). We'd be able to score easily with BG bombing 3's in the clutch. But instead we have Boozer flailing like Dwyane Wade looking for fouls and brick city from Rip, Ronnie, and co.

Our main hope for game 5 is that Philly is awful. I mean, they are really fucking bad. I don't know if anyone but maybe Jrue Holiday would even get burn on a playoff team. So far we've been destroyed by CJ's poor defense forcing Asik to stay at home to help and leave Spencer Hawes open for 20 footers. Spencer HAWES is killing us. That's not a good thing.

I think we'll be fine, and Philly should eventually beat themselves.

#freemikejames and go Bulls!

My Reactions to Game 2...

Stromin Normin' is not meant to be a summary site, so if you want a summary, go check out BlogaBull. Obviously the game was a huge disappointment, especially to all of us that think we can still win the title without D.Rose. 

In reality, it's one game. So let's take a look at what will propel Los Bulls to win the series. 

1. Mike James (who) MIKE JAMES

Although maybe 2 Bulls fans in the world are upset by his absence, it was clear to me we need to see him out on the court. He brings a veteran presence that CJ and JLIII don't have, and he can still score. No, he might not be able to get across the time-line against Avery Bradley, but like I've said before, he is a much better, reliable true point that either CJ or Lucas. If you thought the guards played well...ok maybe it's your first time watching the NBA. 

2. Stop running the high screen with John Lucas

Thibs will adjust, as we all know he's among the best coaches in the NBA, but really, this play killed us on countless possessions. Sure, it works wonders against an old team that isn't athletic enough to trap, but with Turner, AI, and Jrue Holiday all athletic enough to trap, it doesn't make sense at all. 

Oddly, this play didn't lead to too many turnovers, and, for no reason that I can tell, Philly stopped trapping. However, this play highlights when Lucas' size is a complete liability on the court. 

3. Play defense

I don't know what the hell happened, but the Bulls just stopped playing defense in the 2nd half. No one felt like getting back on d, and Omer looked lost on several occasions. This should be pretty easy. 

4. Stop wasting possessions

This is really common at the gym and also on the Lakers, where the best scorer on the court just pounds the ball for a while and chucks a shot. Unfortunately our best player was sitting in a skybox all alone. This meant CJ Watson and JLIII pounding the ball on the top of the key, running down the shot clock, and then forcing a bad shot. It looks reaaaaaaaaaally bad. 

This great piece from Grantland hightlights exactly what the Bulls should run more often. Mind you it was shut-down a few times, but it's still far better than a high screen with JLIII. Philly's defense looked very good, but I'm confident we can overcome it with better shooting and if we start defending. 

Bull of the Day: Kevin Ollie

Just because my man played for the 76ers. He's best known for being a throw-in for the Jalen Rose trade.

SOMEHOW he was in the NBA until 2010. Mind-blowing.

The Heat are so beatable

Yeah, I said it. So beatable. I don't like focusing on other teams (especially one's we aren't playing), but let's face it, the Heat are the only team in the NBA that can beat us. And if they do, it's not because of Dywane Wade or Chris Bosh. It comes down to King James.

If you've been a long time reader, you know I'm one of one Bulls fans in the world that loves LeBron. I was a little pissed that he didn't join us come "Decision" time, but I got over it, and I like watching him play more than any one player today outside of Derrick Rose. He may not have the best jumpshot, but man can he bully his way to the hoop any time he wants to. So with Rose out, he's the best player in the NBA. How do you beat this man?

Well...there's another reason why I love LeBron, and its because him and I are kindred souls psychologically. This is no compliment to either of us--but it's also why the Heat are beatable. The sort of hyper-sensitive, lack of self-awareness that LeBron fosters can only be understood if you go through the same thing. He always says the wrong things, even though he thinks they're right, and then he cowers from big moments.

Reason #1 why the Heat are beatable: LeBron's Psyche


If you disagree, see last year's NBA finals, the Eastern Conference Finals the year before that, this year's All Star game, and heck, the last time he bricked some free throws against the Bulls. He's a sensitive dude, and sensitive guys (myself included) cower when they aren't 110% confident in their abilities. Clearly, as much as I'm sure he'd never admit it, he isn't. It's why he defers to Wade, and its also why Kobe was the alpha dog on the last Olympic team. Sorry Bron, maybe you'll be better at stockpicking (I am).

Everyone needs to understand their limitations, which brings me to my next point...

Reason #2 why the Heat are beatable: LeBron loves his jump shot


What happens when you're EASILY the best in the NBA at getting to the rim since Michael Jordan?

If you thought, take it to the rim every time you need a bucket, you were totally wrong. LeBron would much rather shoot his very streaky and inconsistent pull-up jumper at the top of the key rather than take it to the rim every time. Why? I don't know, but he does it. And when he does that, the Bulls can rejoice with easy rebounds and transition buckets.

When he takes it to the rim? That's fine, you know, we're just the BEST rotational defense in the league. Joakim will force him to dish it out to Battier or Mike Miller, who will quickly be closed out on, and mess their 3's, leading to a fast-break opportunity and more points.

Which brings me to the third reason...

Reason #3 why the Heat are so beatable...The team sucks outside of LeBron and Wade


Joel Anthony, Mario Chalmers, Juwan Howard, Udonis fricken Haslem...I'm not sure if any of these guys would even make the Bulls roster, let alone see the court. Heck, I don't think Battier or Miller would be rotation guys either. And Norris Cole kind of sucks now.

Chris Bosh you say? Whatever, Bosh has somehow become a worse player than Carlos Boozer, and I'm actually glad we got Boozer over Bosh and Amare. He's no real threat (though he killed us last year). I don't see him bouncing back from a fairly mediocre season in the playoffs.

This comes down to Wade + LeBron vs the Bulls. And, assuming LeBron reverts to his old, nervous self, that leaves us with a Wade vs Bulls match-up. I'm comfortable with that.