Report: Del Negro Firing Imminent

By Sean Mackey

ESPN is reporting that Chicago Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro will be fired. However, the front office has not decided on a replacement at this time and Del Negro will continue to coach for the team until a suitable replacement is agreed upon. Reports have indicated that John Paxson has considered coaching the team but decided against it. Former Bulls coach Doug Collins was also contacted but reportedly turned down the offer. Chicago has also done some background work on former Nets coach Lawrence Frank.

With all this being said, I feel kind of bad for Vinny Del Negro. He was a temporary fix from the beginning and everyone knew it. The coach that the team hires is going to be the guy who leads the team into the 2010-11 season in which the Bulls are banking on getting a big name free agent. I think Reinsdorf needs shell out some cash and get someone like Avery Johnson or John Paxson needs to come down from his office and coach the mess he's made.

Hopefully more on this later.

The Bulls blow 35 point lead, lose to Kings.

By Sean Mackey

The Chicago Bulls did the impossible last night. They blew a 35 point lead only to go on to lose 102-98 to the Sacramento Kings....The KINGS!

Words can't describe how frustrated and confused Alex and I were with this one. We joked that even though the Bulls had 80+ points at the start of the 4th quarter, the Bulls wouldn't break 100 and they'd lose. I can't believe it really happened though. I just can't believe it.

Chicago looked phenomenal the first half. Deng, Rose, Salmons & Hinrich were hitting all their shots making the Kings look terrible defensively. Then after the start of the 3rd quarter, Sacramento started to chip away at the deficit until the final minute in the 4th when they took the lead.

I fully blame Vinny Del Negro for this one. At the beginning of the 2nd half, Vinny should have ran his starters for a few more minutes and then turned the game over to Aaron Gray, James Johnson and Pargo. Those guys would have given the starters some well deserved rest. Usually when a team is up by that much, it's hypes the bench up and they come out with a ton of energy. Not last night, VDN ran the same 7 man lineup the entire game....THE ENTIRE GAME. That was poor rotation lead to the starters getting tired and well, by the end of the 3rd, they didn't care if they won or lost.

Christmas Eve is Thursday. If the Bulls lose to the Knicks tonight, it's safe to say that VDN will be joining the likes of Scott Skiles & Tim Floyd as the 3rd Bulls coach in the last 10 years to be fired on that day. Merry Christmas Vinny Del Negro!

The Bulls suck. Is it too early to be thinking about the 2010 NBA Draft?

By Sean Mackey

They suck, they really, really suck. How bad? Losing to the New Jersey Nets at home by two points after a 31 point fourth quarter kinda bad. Andrew Wamboldt of Dabullz.com said it best last night on twitter:

"Vinny will probably be fired soon, but I think he would have a winning record if the Bulls had just kept BG. Management is the failure here."

I agree.

The Bulls should have done whatever in their power to re-sign their star player. You know, the guy who put the points on the board every night. The guy who led the Bulls in scoring for 4 years. The guy who passed Scottie freakin' Pippen on the all-time three points made by a Bulls player....yeah, that guy. Dude would have had his jersey retired by the team too had he played another 5 years, he was that good.

I think Reinsdorf and Paxson have put all their eggs in the 2010 free agency basket but who in their right mind would want to come here to play? It's pretty safe to say that Chris Bosh is going to Miami, I don't blame him either. Wade, Beasley and him will dominate the Eastern Conference for the next 5 years. Sun, beautiful women and championship runs? Hell, I'd go there in a second. Why would I go to an organization who everyone in the league knows is a joke and cares more about selling Michael Jordan throwback memorabilia than it does spending money to be title contenders?

I don't blame Vinny Del Negro at all though. The Bulls are a mess and they'll still be a mess after he's fired this season and the Bernie & Pete show takes center stage. Vinny's done a decent job for a guy who hasn't coached, the organization is at a total fault but they're going to need a scapegoat and Vinny is going to be that guy.

Salmons will probably not opt out (because he's not going to get a good deal at his age and how he's been playing) and we'll have to trade him during the off season so we can try like Hell to sign Bosh or Stoudemire. If they don't bite, I'm sure Joe Johnson will which means the Bulls will look to draft another big guy. Whether it's Kentucky's Patrick Patterson, Kansas' Cole Aldrich or if we really luck out in the lottery, Georga Tech's Derrick Favors, it'll be a big if we decide to go the Joe Johnson route.

Patrick Patterson has been solid the last three seasons for KY, he's currently averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds a game. This would probably be more inflated if that John Wall guy wasn't playing. Cole Aldrich is a solid center from Kansas. He's also averaging a double double but he's not super athletic and has kind of a funny release although not as funny as Noah's. In all honesty, Aldrich would probably be more of a project center than anything. Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors is talented and athletic yet he screams Tyrus Thomas 2.0 to me. I could be wrong about that one but he's definitely a guy who could benefit from another year in college.

Bulls play the Hawks tonight, oh joy.

Rumor: Bulls and Knicks Talking Trade For Tyrus Thomas

By Sean Mackey

The Bulls are reportedly shopping injured power forward Tyrus Thomas. According to Yahoo Sports, Chicago is currently talking to New York regarding a trade that would ship Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James to the Knicks for power forward Al Harrington. Thomas, James and Harrington are all in the last year of their contracts. The Bulls and Thomas ended any sort of contract extension talks earlier this summer and are now apparently looking to move Thomas sooner rather than later.

Al Harrington is currently leading the Knicks in scoring averaging 19 points and 6 rebounds coming off the bench. Pairing Harrington with a defensive minded Joakim Noah could help the Bulls get through the rest of the 09-10 season before concentrating on luring a big name free agent this summer. Tyrus Thomas would provide an energetic spark off the bench for the Knicks and seamlessly fit in with Mike D'Antoni's run and fun offense.

I like the idea of this trade and it would be a temporary but very helpful solution to get some much needed scoring out on the board for the rest of the season. I'm hoping something actually materializes from these talks.

Finally....the Bulls win a freakin' game!

By Sean Mackey

The Chicago Bulls ended a 5 game losing streak by notching a win over a depleted Detroit Pistons team and their former leading scorer Ben Gordon. John Salmons led the Bulls with 22 points on 7-12 shooting. Derrick Rose looked decent coming up with 19 points and 6 assists and Joakim Noah continued his best impression of Dennis Rodman by racking up 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Ben Gordon led the Pistons with 18 points shooting a poor 6-16 from the field.

This was a must win game, especially with Ben Gordon coming back to the United Center. Of course, the win kind of has an asterisk by it though since Villanueva, Hamilton and Prince were all absent but we'll take it. The win bumps up the Bulls to the 7th seed in the Conference and 2 wins below 500.

After watching the game, I came to the conclusion that neither Ben Gordon or the Bulls are better without each other. It's a shame that we couldn't just give up Kirk Hinrich and re-sign our best player. It's also a shame that he's playing for a team that makes absolutely no sense for him to be on. He had a starting spot on the Bulls and if he was re-signed, I'm sure John Salmons would be coming off the bench. Instead, he's coming off the bench behind Rodney Stuckey and Chucky Atkins. I'm assuming Hamilton and Prince will be moved at the deadline for big post up player which would be great for them (cough Chris Kaman). I'm sure they're not going to play Rip and BG simultaneously for very long when he does come back from his injury. It wouldn't make much sense keeping him when Will Bynum is coming off the bench and doing such a great job.

I would personally love to know what's going on with James Johnson. I wish VDN would start him a few games so we could see what this guy can do. Taj Gibson has a decent mid range jumper and fights for rebounds but the guy drops so many passes that it's ridiculous. Is Chicago going to just use him as a trade piece? Is he going to be unleashed mid-season they can take teams by surprise with his dynamic skill set? I'm so confused why he was drafted at this point.

Thinking ahead to the summer of 2010, with Chris Bosh probably going to Miami, the Bulls options for a post up player are going to be limited to Amare Stoudemire (who will probably re-sign with the Suns or go to the Knicks), Carlos Boozer or in a worse case scenario there's always David Lee. Signing another shooting guard like Joe Johnson just puts us in the same place we were with Ben Gordon last season. The Bulls can scrounge around and find a semi-decent shooting guard or re-sign Johnny Salmons and we'll still have Hinrich who can shoot decently from the perimeter. I just think having a big guy draw a double team down low would create more opportunities for Rose and Deng.

The Bulls play another nationally televised game Friday night against the Cavs. Check it out on ESPN at 8 p.m.

Dreaded Circus Trip Starts Tonight With Sacramento

By Sean Mackey

The Chicago Bulls start their annual west coast road trip tonight as the circus takes over the United Center. The Bulls have a combined record of 9-24 record over the past five seasons on this particular road trip. Chicago will face off against Sacramento, followed by a nationally televised game against the defending champions, the LA Lakers, then Denver, Portland, Utah & Milwaukee.

This year, it appears that 3 of these games are fairly winable. A 3-3 record would be more than acceptable. The win against the Sixers the other night was another unconvincing ugly win. The offense is terrible but the defense is winning the games....barely. John Salmons isn't scoring well and Rose is slowly starting to drive to the basket. If both of those guys were more efficicent the team would be winning by more than 5 points every night.

We need a scorer and a post up guy soon.

Miller's Miracle Shot Doesn't Count, Bulls Lose 90-89

By Sean Mackey

The Nuggets won, then the Bulls won, then the Nugget won again Tuesday night 90-89. Confusing? Yes. The Bulls initially lost the game 90-89 then the refs put 0.3 back on the clock. With 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock, Brad Miller threw up a prayer that went in near the 3 point line. The score then changed to 91-90, the crowd went crazy, the Bulls went crazy, VDN was smiling, it was great. Then after about 5 whole minutes of the refs reviewing the shot, they decided that the ball didn't leave Miller's fingertips before the buzzer went off. Nuggets win 90-89. The refs said it was just too close to call giving the Nuggets the benefit of the doubt.

The general reaction was that the shot was good. When you change the score, have a home crowd going crazy and it's too close to call, you should leave the call be. Had I been there, I would have been throwing my coke cup onto hardwood. Hell, I was on the floor pounding my fist into the rug watching the game on my laptop via a very poor, pixelated p2p site (once again, thanks Bulls and Nuggets fans for making the Bulls/Nuggets your fan night game so it would be blacked out to us paying LP Broadband customers).

Regardless, it was a great game, the Bulls offense sucks but their defense is ridiculously good this season. Deng held Carmelo to just 20 points and scored 21 points himself. Derrick Rose heated up in the 4th quarter and finished with 22 points and 5 assists. Noah had another monster game with 12 points, 21 rebounds and 2 blocks. Why his name was left off the all-star ballot has left many Bulls fans puzzled and outraged. Feel free to write his name in as I did, it couldn't hurt.

The Bulls play the Raptors tonight, a team they were 1-3 against last season. Maybe the Bulls will be mad enough to win.