As Bulls fans we are aware of what our players do night in and night out.  Friday night vs the Knicks, Kirk Hinrich notched the first triple-double of the season for the Bulls.  The struggling Hinrich seemed to get over his hump and have a great game as the Bulls defeated the pathetic Knicks.  After the game as he was being interviewed, Kirk said that he’s been playing better of late and he hopes the Bulls can get past their current slump.  Same ‘ol story.  Fast forward to Sunday afternoon.

The company I’m interning for asked me to be a production assistant on a shoot where Kirk Hinrich will be making an appearance.  I’m pretty excited because 1) he’s a professional basketball player and 2) I’m getting paid.  So Hinrich shows up an hour late and I find myself following him around like I followed my brother around when I was a little boy.  Now keep in mind that there were about hundred other people there, so it wasn’t obvious to Mr. Hinrich that I was disobeying  the “do not follow” sign on his back.  Finally we (myself and the cameraman) got Hinrich to ourselves and some guy asked him questions while I held a microphone.  There were 4 people in the room: the cameraman, the questionnaire man, Kirk Hinrich, and me.  Needless to say I was examining the Bulls’ point guard, commenting to myself, “he’s not as big as I thought,” and “yea, he’s needs a new hair style in person, too,” and “he’s like my age, I could be playing basketball (then I looked at my gut and remembered why I wasn’t).”

In a matter of a weekend, I watched Kirk Hinrich be a superstar on the court and a normal human being off the court.  I wasn’t very impressed by Hinrich in person. Maybe it was because  he’s not that much taller than I, or perhaps because he’s not that much older than I.  Whatever the case may be, I hope he continues to impress on the court, because as a fan, that’s really what we want….of course unless you’re a fan of Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, Zach Randolph, and all the other punks in the NBA.

Tuesday night I’m going to the Bulls game when they play the Lakers.  Keep in mind that Kobe Bryant plays for the Lakers.  Keep in mind that Kobe Bryant could have and should be on the Bulls by now.  Look for me on TV.  I’ll be the guy in the nosebleeds starting the “Ko-be” chants.

Random thought of the day: Kyle Orton starts tonight for the Bears.  Tonight’s game officially starts the “spoiler” portion of the season.  Beat Minnesota tonight and beat New Orleans on Week 17.  Go Bears.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

Last night’s game vs. the Pacers pretty much sums up the season so far.  Tyrus Thomas throws a punch at Troy Murphy and gets ejected in the first quarter.  The Bulls blow a 16 point lead, give up 40 points in the 3rd quarter and the Bulls lose.  Ben Wallace scored 0 pts, and the Bulls had nobody score over 18 points.  The Bulls gave up 11 three pointers, and Indiana shot 55% from the field.  Defense last night was located in my backyard, not in Indianapolis.  Shots weren’t falling.  Wallace only had 6 rebounds to go along with his zero points.  I suggest he donate half his salary to the Chicago Transit Authority so people can get out of the United Center quickly.  I am very frustrated with this team.  If Paxson doesn’t do something soon, the Bulls are in big trouble. 

Many names have been floating around the trade rumors.  Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant are the most notable characters.  The Bulls should definitely pursue Kobe again.

Random thought of the day: If you haven’t seen the names listed on the Mitchell Report, I suggest you do.  You’ll be surprised.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

Watch out now. The Bulls have won 5 of their last 7, including a serious walloping of Seattle last night. Everyone seems to be increasing their productivity, including Kirk “the disappointment of the season” Hinrich. With games against Indiana and New York coming up, the Bulls can pull closer to .500.

I will now attempt to sum up the Bulls season so far. In rhyme. Wish me luck. Thank you.

When I turn on the TV and the Bulls are in play,

I always expect a win,

But this season so far has been nothing but sad,

Disappointing and a little bit grim.

The Bulls have the guys, the talent, you see,

to get to the playoffs once more,

If Wallace would rebound, Hinrich would pass,

and Deng and Gordon would score.

But Chicago’s been bad, one of the worst in the East,

Along with Miami and the Knicks,

Nocioni’s been solid, he’s as tough as it gets,

Perhaps cuz he’s from the sticks.

Noah and Smith have come off the bench,

Along with Duhon and Griff,

Thomas plays hard, dunking like woah,

and Ben Wallace just looks really stiff.

Kirk Hinrich shoots like he’s in the 5th grade,

his percentage is lower than mine,

Watching him shoot and missing the rim,

is more boring than watching Ben Stein.

The Bulls don’t have Kobe, he’s stuck in L.A.,

and look at their record so far,

The fourth quarter rolls ’round, the Bulls can’t finish,

cuz they don’t even have a star.

The season’s not over, not even close,

there are many more games to be played,

John Paxson has some moves to make,

Or next year he just won’t get paid.

Random thought of the day: Why aren’t the Bulls going after Jason Kidd?

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

This weekend the Bulls played the two toughest teams in the East - Detroit and Bahston Clam Chowdah.  They beat the Pistons (shock) and lost to the Celtics (Duh).  But hey, one outta two ain’t bad.  The Bulls played very well to beat the Pistons.  Even Ben Wallace decided to try.  Against his former team, Big Ben had 10 and 13 and shot 8 of 9 from the free throw line, not bad for the world’s worst free throw shooter, literally.  Kirk Hinrich continues to struggle, shooting 4 of 11 with 9 points.  He played a bit better against the Celtics.

Versus the Celtics the Bulls only scored 81 points.  Hinrich scored 16, Nocioni had 18, and the rest of the team struggled.  As a whole the Bulls shot 36% from the field opposed to the 51% from Boston.  I’m not one to make excuses for teams, especially my favorite teams, but when you’re going up against Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, it’s not easy to win.  The Celtics are 17-2 this year with no signs of slowing down.  They are the clear favorite in the East and are showing that they can even compete with the top tier teams in the West (Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas). 

So what’s next for your hometown heroes?  Four games versus teams that they can beat.  Seattle, Indiana, New York and the LA Lakers.  If the Bulls win these four games they can move to 10-12 and gain a ton of confidence.

Changing gears for a second (cliches are appreciated here on BullsPass), the Bulls dropped Thomas Gardner and picked up former Syracuse standout Demetrius Nichols.  Nichols will ride the bench with Aaron Gray, don’t look for him on the court very much. 

Random thought of the day: Cameron Diaz’s first movie was “The Mask.”

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

Tonight the Bulls head to Detroit and play the Pistons.  The Pistons are a great team.  The Bulls…not so great.  Detroit has exactly what the Bulls are looking for - cohesion and fun.  When I watch the Pistons I can’t help but think what a good time they’re having.  Those guys have gelled. Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, and McDyess are like the Osmond siblings - on top of the world and loving every minute of it.  Besides the Celtics the Pistons are the best team in the Eastern Conference.   For those of you who don’t know, Bulls center Ben Wallace was part of this Detroit family before getting greedy and having the Bulls overpay him.  Now they’ve got guys like Antonio McDyess and Jason Maxiell playing center and playing well.  So, that said, what do the Bulls have to do tonight to get a W?

1) Keep Rasheed Wallace in the post.  When Rasheed gets going from outside, he’s unstoppable.  Combine that with decent post play and he’ll score 28 on you.

2)  Play tight on Rip Hamilton.  Rip loves coming off the screen a la Reggie Miller.  Assuming that Kirk Hinrich will be guarding Hamilton, the undersized Hinrich will need to stay on him.  As my youth soccer coach used to say, “I want you to play so close to your guy that you’ll know what color underwear he’s wearing.”  Now I’m not advocating for a Rip Hamilton/Kirk Hinrich lingerie show, but Hinrich has to play him close.

3) Gordon needs to not suck.

4) Nocioni has to knock some guys around.  Andres has become the team hitman, if you will.  Whenever someone on the opposite team needs a good shovin’, count on Nocioni.  He’s tough as nail, this guy.

5) Do not, I repeat, do not, let Ben Wallace shoot the ball.  Dunking is fine, but when Big Ben tries to get creative he looks like I did on the Biddy Ball Cardinals (1998) sporting the number 10 XL jersey.  The Pistons know first hand how horrible Wallace is on offense.

Can the Bulls win tonight?  Yes, of course. Will they?  To be determined.

Random thought of the day: Tom Dwars was right when he said he needs us to start playing for the Bulls (on facebook).  By the way, Tom and I were a nasty forward/center combination back in the day.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

I realize that it’s only December 6, but on NBA.com the voting booths are open for the All Star game.  Whenever I can vote for something, you’ll find me first in line (local politics don’t count).  There’s only one problem with voting for NBA All Stars: You can only vote for one person at each position.  I propose that the NBA lets fans vote for first team and second team All Stars.  This is what I’ll do now.  Keep in mind that teams have only played about 16 games so far.

1st team -East

G - Jason Kidd (NJ), G - Michael Redd (MIL), F - Lebron James (CLE), F - Kevin Garnett (BOS) C - Dwight Howard

2nd team - East

G - Jamaal Tinsley (IND), G - Rip Hamilton (DET), F - Antwan Jamison (WAS), F - Paul Pierce (BOS), C -Emeka Okafor (CHA)

1st team - West

G - Steve Nash (PHX), G - Kobe Bryant (LAL), F - Carlos Boozer (UTAH), F - Al Jefferson (MIN), C - Chris Kaman (LAC)

2nd team - West

G - Tracy McGrady (HOU), G - Baron Davis (GSW), F - Josh Howard (DAL), F - Shawn Marion (PHX), C - Yao Ming (HOU)

Care to disagree?  Shoot me an email, leave a comment, or head to the Facebook page and write something there.  I’d love to hear what you guys think.

Random thought of the day: I really, really want to see that move “I am Legend” with Will Smith.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

I am not a religious man.  But with the Bulls struggling this season, I had no other option than to turn to the good book.  I found my copy, dusted it off, and opened it to a random page (I didn’t know where to start).  I’ll now transcribe to you what I read.  “When the Bulls are playing poorly, thou hath rely on Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni.  Thou can depend wholly on thy brethren, Deng and Nocioni.  This eve when thy team travel to Charlotte to play the Bobcats, I will not be the miracle maker, it shall be Deng and Nocioni.”  Now as you can expect, I was a bit skeptical of this passage.  I’m skeptical of the idea of miracles in the first place and there was something about the language that God used in this passage that surprised me.  This time, however, I decided to give it a try. 

Those of you who watched the Bulls game tonight know what comes next in this twisty and miraculous story.  Deng scored 30 points and Nocioni had 15 pts and 11 rebounds.  The Bulls won by 9 points.  Was it God who made it happen?  Perhaps.  But what I can tell you, is that as of tonight, I’ve become a more spiritual man.

Random thought of the day: There’s now a Facebook group called “BullsPass.com”  I urge you to join. There will be updates and insight about the happenings here on BullsPass.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

As of tomorrow (Thursday the 5th), the NBA will require head coaches to wear microphones during nationally broadcast games.  Coach Skiles is the only coach to speak out about this so far (Others will follow I’m sure).  Can you blame him?  This is horrible.  Why, you ask? Shouldn’t the fans at home be able to hear what the coach is telling his players in the huddle?  Simply put, no.  Of course I want to know what the next play is going to be.  Of course I want to hear Skiles chew out Ben Wallace for not hustling.  But what happens when Skiles uses a swear word?  If we know anything about professional sports, it’s that the F word is as common as a Tracy McGrady injury.  Should Skiles have to keep his language, and as a result, his passion to a minimum?  In the heat of battle, as we all know, we say things that are not appropriate for your average 10-year-old sports fan.  Also, what happens when a player comes to the coach and says, “So and so isn’t playing hard, get his butt off the court.”  You think Mr. So and So would appreciate hearing his teammate rat him out to the coach?  I think not.

In terms of strategy, what happens when Skiles calls a certain play at a certain point in the game and then the opposing coach simply turns on ESPN or NBAtv and sees that Coach Skiles calls play “Pink 55 left route 66 Bob Dylan Margaret Thatcher” each time Hinrich is being guarded by a taller guy?  If we can hear what the coach is saying, what’s the point in coaching at all?  Needless to say this is a horrible idea by the NBA.  The NBA is trying to make games into the ultimate reality show.  The only reality of this idea, however, is that the game will suffer.  But what the hell, the Bulls can’t be any worse.

Random thought of the day: A-Rod’s middle name is Emmanuel.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com

Hey readers!

Since I’ve last posted, the Bulls have won two in a row.  As a result, I will stop writing all season.  Just kidding.  They beat Atlanta and Charlotte, two of the worst teams in the NBA.  I’m watching the Bulls game now as they take on Dallas.  Andres Nocioni just went down hard. Hopefully he’ll be fine.  Honestly, the Bulls look completely outmatched.  Josh Howard has proven what a star he is.  I’d love to see the Bulls turn it around and beat a team like the Mavs for their 3rd in a row.  That might be what the Bulls have been waiting for.

 Over the past few games, Deng and Gordon have stepped up their games, but Hinrich is still terrible.  Yes, he can play defense, but when you are shooting as poorly as Captain Kirk, it’s hard to get any sympathy.  Chris Duhon has been getting more and more minutes over the course of 3 or 4 games.  Look for those minutes to keep increasing until Hinrich pulls it together (as I say this, Hinrich gets a 4-point play). 

Scott Skiles was interviewed before tonight’s game and said that the Bulls have a tough week ahead of them.  That is the understatement of the season.  This coming week the Bulls play Charlotte on the road (Weds), Detroit on the road (Fri), and the Celtics at the UC (Sat).  Charlotte is a much better team at home.  Detroit and Boston are probably the two best teams in the East.  If the Bulls can get 2 or 3 of those games, I’ll be happy.  Hopefully the Bulls can make a statement and win all three. 

As some of you may have noticed, I no longer write for windycitynation.com due to technical difficulties.  Therefore, I will now begin to post my random thought of the day here, on bullspass.com.  I hope you enjoy.  Feel free to shoot me an email at GCWritesSports@gmail.com and suggest a thought of the day, or just say what’s up and how you feel about the Bulls.

Random Thought of the day: Dirk Nowitzki’s goatee looks ridiculous.

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Remember, you can contact me at GCWritesSports@gmail.com