Welcome New Bulls! (Incomplete)

What do you remember from last year?... Most of you will say D-Rose's injury and getting knocked out of the playoff in the 1st round in a year that was once again, "suppose to be our year".

After reading countless articles and reports, it was clear that no one had any idea what this team would look like at the beginning of the 2012-13 season - probably not even the front office. Some reporters have even gone on record to say that this team was built to win in the 2 years that are now behind them. DAMN! How unfortunate of Chicago to have the best Bulls teams since those that Jordan played on, only to have them in a time where James, Wade, and Bosh all play on the same team that is their most challenging opponent.

Anyways, I'm short on time..lets review the off season quickly...

Bye Bye: Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Watson, (Technically Derrick Rose)

Hello: Marco Belinelli, Vladimir Radmanovic, Marquis Teague, Nazr Mohammed, Nate Robinson, Kirk Hinrich (Welcome Back)

In case you guys don't know who half of these guys are.. I have created a little mini profile for them below:

Marco Belinelli

Born: Mar 25, 1986

Height: 6-5 / 1.96

Weight: 195 lbs. / 88.5 kg.

Prior to NBA / Country:

Fortitudo Bologna / Italy

Years Pro: 5








Vladimir Radmanovic

Born: Nov 19, 1980

Height: 6-10 / 2.08

Weight: 235 lbs. / 106.6 kg.

Prior to NBA / Country:

FMP / Serbia

Years Pro: 11

Marquis Teague

Born: Feb 28, 1993

Height: 6-2 / 1.88

Weight: 190 lbs. / 86.2 kg.

Prior to NBA / Country:

Kentucky / USA

Years Pro: R

Nazr Mohammed

Born: Sep 5, 1977

Height: 6-10 / 2.08

Weight: 250 lbs. / 113.4 kg.

Prior to NBA / Country:

Kentucky / USA

Years Pro: 14

Nate Robinson

Born: May 31, 1984

Height: 5-9 / 1.75

Weight: 180 lbs. / 81.6 kg.

Prior to NBA / Country:

Washington / USA

Years Pro: 7

CHICAGO BULLS FULL ROSTER

More to come...

Scottie Pippen's open letter to Chicago Bulls and their Fans

It seems like the nation has ruled out the Bulls from any shot at the NBA title. Couple days after the injury to Derrick Rose, Kyle Korver sent out a message on Facebook to Bulls Fans. Today, a Hall of Famer and 6-time NBA Champ and current Bulls ambassador sent out an open letter to the Chicago Bulls and their fans. Here is the beginning of the letter you can read the full letter here.

LETTER FROM PIPPEN:
" With what happened to Derrick in Game 1, it would be easy to hang your heads right now. You could lose sight of the ultimate goal and give up before the rest of the games have even been played. But I know that’s not even a consideration for this group. And that’s exactly why you’ll make me, Derrick, the organization, and the city of Chicago so proud.

To a man, it’s time for each of you to take a look in the mirror. Decide who you really are and what you represent as a basketball player. Reflect on what you have brought to the table for your team all season long and why you’re a valuable member of the Bulls. Because all of you have contributed to this team’s incredible success. Ask yourself what you can do for the team moving forward. Whether it’s through your verbal leadership or diving on the floor after a loose ball, it’s going to be all about grinding it out moving forward. If there is one piece of advice I can offer you, it’s to put every last ounce of effort you have out there to make everyone proud—Derrick, the fans, and first and foremost, yourself.

Your team has come a long way in terms of what it has been able to achieve this season. And that was done collectively, as a group. It has never been about any one individual. Yes, Derrick was the reigning NBA MVP, but he epitomizes the team concept and you all followed his lead. So it’s been the effort of the group, as well as a tremendous job by the coaching staff, which has gotten us to this point. And it’s exactly why I feel good about this team right now. You’re a group that remains together. You’ve repeatedly lifted each other up when a teammate has fallen. Now, it comes down to continuing to give your best effort every time you step on to the basketball court. It’s easy to say you’re doing that, but are you really dedicating yourself to another two months of basketball? As a player, that’s what I always wanted out of my teammates. Just make sure you arrive on gameday focused and full of energy. If guys want to just show up and take on the 76ers or whoever, well, that might not be enough to get the job done. It takes locking in on the task at hand and honing in on what you need to do in order to be successful in the NBA postseason. "

You can read the full/rest of the letter here.

BULLieve!

Quick Thoughts- Rose: All Star Again

"It means a lot. I remember not being in the All-Star game. Wanting to be in the game is something you should take to heart. I want to accomplish something in this league. One of those is being on the All-Star team. It’s an honor. It means a lot for my fans to vote for me. I didn’t realize I had all those votes. I’m appreciative. I don’t take any one of my fans that went online and voted for me for granted. I appreciate them all. I hope they continue to watch me." - Derrick Rose to his Fans/ on him being an All-Star.

Rose will be going to his 3rd straight All-Star game appearance, and the 2nd straight that he will start. Rose is one of 4 Bulls to be in back to back to back All-Star games. Lets all remember that after the Jordan era, the Bulls did not have ONE all-star player until #1. Rose received 1,514,723 total votes, 3rd overall in votes.

Quotes are credited to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune and his questions asked to D. Rose earlier this morning. Congrats Derrick Rose!
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Quick Thoughts: Congratulations to Derrick Rose on this 3rd straight All-Star game. It brings joy to see that such a humble person like Rose has finally gotten the well deserved national attention. Rose is unlike any other NBA player today; One that can roar his team up without saying a word.

Tonight, Derrick Rose will walk out onto Madison Square Garden wearing the Adidas 2.5 shoe that has been named "Brenda", dedicated to his mother. Sam Smith, a blogger and writer for ChicagoBulls.com, frequently writes and tracks reasons why D.Rose is unlike any other player in the league. Yesterday, Sam Smith documented reason #676.

In the pregame before the Bulls-76ers game, Derrick Rose was approached by legendary Sixers statistician Harvey Pollack. Pollack gave Rose one of his annual stat reviews, and chatted joyfully with the now 3-time all-star. When Derrick Rose found out that Pollack had been in the NBA since 1946, and a true legend of the game, he asked Pollack to sign the review. That's right, Derrick Rose asked Harvey Pollack for his autograph.

As Chicago Bulls fans we have the great honor of watching one of the best in the game grow game by game. Rose said that he isn't taking one fan for granted, and let it be known that we as the fans, are not taking Rose for granted either.

Credits to Sam Smith of ChicagoBulls.com as well.

They're Philly Good

PHILADELPHIA--- Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young score 19 points each, as the Philadelphia 76ers (16-6) beat the Chicago Bulls (18-6) with the final score of 98 - 82 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia.

The Sixers are the top defensive team in the league, and they showed that Wednesday night by forcing 17 Chicago Bulls turnovers that led to 29 points. They also outscored the Bulls in the paint 46-28, an area of offense that the Bulls have been lacking in.

Sixers, much like the Miami Heat, are a team that loves the open court and fast breaks. They scored 21 fast break points as opposed to the Bulls four.

After the game, Derrick Rose said that the Bulls starters came out "sluggish," but reassured that the season-high 9 straight games on the road was not taking a toll on the team. Rose also stated that they wouldn't make excuses for losses regarding to the injuries of their starters Luol Deng and Rip Hamilton.

Even with such a lazy start, the Bulls were lucky to be only down by 7 at the half. Coming into the game Chicago was 1-4 when trailing at halftime, now 1-5.

The energy-lacking Bulls played one of their worst quarters of basketball this season in the 3rd, as they did not manage to a bucket until 6 and a half minutes into the quarter. It was the most decisive quarter of the game where Sixers pulled away by putting up 26 in that frame.

The Bulls were out-scored, out-rebounded, and out-hustled throughout the game. Entering the game,  Chicago had 5 straight games with double-figure offensive rebounds, a streak that ended tonight as they were only able to collect 8 offensive boards.

The Sixers complimented their great defense with terrific fast-paced offense, as 5 players were in double-digit points in the game. The leading scorer in the game for the Bulls was C.J. Watson with 20. The only other Bulls player with double-digit points was Derrick Rose with 18, which snaps his 3-game streak of scoring at least 34 points and nearly 5 points lower than his season average of 23.8.

Joakim Noah also snaps his streak of 5 straight games with a double double, bringing in only 2 points and 7 rebounds. In fact, no one on the team had a double-digit rebound total.

Following the game, coach Tom Thibodeau admitted that he would have kept the bench in all through the 4th, even if they had gotten back into the game. 

"Our defense wasn't good. I thought our reaction to the ball wasn't very good and they beat us to loose-balls..and then in the 4th quarter we tried to scrambe and try to get back in, but the hole was too big," coach Tom Thibodeau said about how the Sixers were able to beat the Bulls.

He also stated, "They're well-balanced, and there's not one aspect of the game that they don't have covered. They can break you down off the dribble, they're great in transition, they're great defensively. They're right there with everyone else," when talking about how good Sixers fair with the elite teams in the league.

The Sixers are now just one game behind the top seeded Bulls in a very competitive Eastern Conference.

The Bulls will take the short drive over to New York tonight and get ready for the sub-par Knicks tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. Luol Deng could be making his come-back tomorrow, but Rip Hamilton is expected to stay out for a couple more games until he is fully healthy. Until then, Kyle Korver, who played for more than 36 minutes for the first them in back-to-back games since 2006, will be getting heavy playing time.

Give credit to the Sixers who have the toughest part of their schedule coming in the next couple weeks, where they will try to prove to everyone that they're a real contender in the East. Philadelphia beat Orlando on Monday, Chicago tonight, and will go for the week and home-stand sweep versus who many consider is the team to win it all this year, the Miami Heat. 

The Bulls have to move on and think past this game as one that got away; the goals of this season are more than just the best regular-season record-- Championship.