Ain't No Love

The beasts have been slayed. The proverbial monkeys have been ripped off the Miami Heat's collective backs. The bully has been beaten down. The worst is now over. The 2011 NBA Championship is all but guaranteed now.

Word?

Judging by the players, coaches and fan's reactions after Miami defeated Boston 97-87 in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, and judging by the media's take on it, you would think Miami had exorcised all their demons and dispatched their biggest competition for the title all in one fell swoop. We all “witnessed” LeBron James on his knees on the court, head down in a moment of exhaustive triumph and relief like a knight who had slayed the mighty dragon. Dwyane Wade on his back, soaking it all in, reveling in the pleasure of curing his pain.

Please…

Everyone wanted to paint Boston and Miami as the Eastern Conference’s elite and bitter rivals all year. What with Boston dispatching both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade early in last year's playoffs, and then embarrassing the new "Big Three" in their first ever game together, sending them off in defeat while the Boston crowd serenaded them with chants of “overrated”. Boston would go on to win the next two games, Paul Pierce infamously tweeting “It’s been a pleasure to   bring my talents to South Beach” after one victory in Miami.

Yet while the Heat won their last regular season meeting in convincing fashion, somehow when the two met in the second round, it was seen as a chance for the Heat to “exorcise their demons”, and all that good stuff. It was being called the “real” Eastern Conference Finals; “whoever won the series would win the East”!

I beg to differ.

Everyone must have forgotten that there’s a third team in the East. The one that had the best record in the entire league. The one that has the MVP as well as the Coach of the Year. The one that was 5-2 against the Heat and the Celtics on the season, and 3-0 against the Heat specifically. The one that may have literally reduced some Miami Heat players to tears the last time the two teams met.

You may have accidentally stumbled upon my blog and not know a thing about the NBA if you don’t know which team I’m talking about by now. And if you did, welcome! Thanks for stopping by. Stick around a bit, you’ll learn something.

The Chicago Bulls may be, in the opinion of some, currently struggling in the playoffs, but make no mistake about it, they are TRULY the Miami Heat’s biggest obstacle as far as reaching the Finals goes. All three games between the two in the regular season were close, but the Bulls were able to close them out, and the Heat obviously weren’t. Wade and James were brilliant, but Rose was just as brilliant if not more, and took it to both superstars time and time again.

After their final game, a devastating loss for Miami in which neither LeBron James nor Dwyane Wade were able to make potentially game winning baskets, Miami coach Eric Spoelstra told the media that there were members of the Miami Heat crying in the locker room. Whether this was true or not, it was undeniable that the Bulls had the Heat’s number in the regular season.

So with a potential showdown looming, what to make of the fact that the Bulls are “struggling” and the Heat are dominating in the postseason? Well, while most would say that regular season stats mean little in the playoffs, I do feel the need to point out that while the Bulls have had a problem with playing down to the level of their competition, they have played their absolute best against other elite teams. Case in point: after the New Year, the Bulls were 10-0 against teams that would go on to win 50-plus games on the season, including the aforementioned 3-0 against the Heat. That’s pretty impressive stuff.

If the regular season trend holds true in the postseason, you can expect the Bulls to step their game up tremendously and remind the Miami Heat who their real beasts, bullies and demons are. And if that trend holds true, the Bulls should leave the Heat in tears once more.

I will add that realistically, the Heat have been playing phenomenally and the Bulls have indeed had their miscues in the postseason. I will also add that all that may not matter in the Eastern Conference Finals
I realize, as I type this, that there’s still the simple matter of dispatching the Hawks before a Miami/Chicago Eastern Conference Finals is official. While it’s never wise to underestimate your foe, in regards to the Atlanta Hawks, as a Bulls fan I must paraphrase Sean Carter: “We ain’t looking at you dudes, we looking past you”

What Might Have Been...

I hate Duke.

I shouldn't have to explain or justify that last sentence to most of you, because I'm sure most of you hate Duke too. It's that sense of entitlement, of elitism, you see it on their faces, their swag, the way they carry themselves. That whole "you're gonna work for us one day" bravado.

And the white players. All the damn white players. I'm no racist. Hell, my wife is white, and despite being from a Chicago suburb that was about 60% Hispanic, I'm currently living in a town that's about 80% white.

Nah, it's not racism. It's the annoyance that comes from knowing Coach K seems to almost purposely recruit an overabundance of white players. It's like he has a quota he needs to fulfill. Every year you look at his recruiting class, and it's always half-white if not more. I'm not saying he's racist either. But DAMN. You're telling me more black players couldn't excel academically and athletically at Duke?

My apologies, let me get back to the subject at hand. See, this isn't another "why I hate Duke" blog. Rather, this is a write-up about my all-time favorite college basketball player, who just happened to ball at...Duke.

HOLD UP. What the hell? Didn't I just go on about how much I hate Duke? And then I dropped the Hiroshima that my favorite college player was a Dukie? Yup. What can I say? Dude was nice like that.

Dude in questions is Jay Williams, known as Jason Williams at the time. It was 2000 and I was 16 years old the year I really started watching him and that Duke team. I had really just started watching college basketball about two years or so earlier, and while DePaul was my team, Quentin Richardson was off to the NBA and the Blue Demons went 12-18 that year. The Michigan State team I enjoyed watching the previous year had most of their main stars leave for the NBA as well. Illinois got a lot of love from me that year, they went 27-8 and had two of my all-time favorite Fighting Illini players, Sergio McClain and Sean Harrington.

But Illinois wasn't on TV much. Duke was on TV ALL THE TIME. Being a relatively new fan to college ball, I hadn't yet established my hate for Duke, so I gave them a chance. And I'm glad I did. They went on to win it all that year, so we all know the specifics. Great three point shooting team. Outstanding defense. Shane Battier was a wonderful defender. Boozer a great low post player. Dunleavy a jack-of-all-trades. Duhon a steady floor general.

But this Williams cat though. He was a former McDonald's All-American from New Jersey who had been a local legend in his high school days. A 6'2" killer, equally adept at slashing to the rim or firing away from the perimeter. He was solid defensively too. Even had that annoying Wojo-inspired court slap down pat. This dude almost single-handedly orchestrated the "miracle minute", coming back from being down ten with 54 seconds to go to send the game into overtime, where Duke prevailed.

That year, while everyone else voted Shane Battier the college player of the year, the coaches said Williams deserved the honor. Duke went on to win the national title against Arizona. The next year, Williams went on to average 21.3 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.5 RPG and 2.1 SPG. While the team didn't enjoy the same success they had the previous year, bowing out in the Sweet 16 in the tournament, Williams was voted the best player in college ball that year by just about everyone.

Earning his degree in three years, and with an NCAA title and multiple Player of the Year awards  on his resume, there was nothing left to do but to declare for the NBA draft. There was only one other player who could stop Williams from being the top overall pick that year - 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming.

My Chicago Bulls ended up with the second pick that year. It was a win-win situation. We either get the guy who was arguably the best player in college the previous two years, or we get the giant with the nice shooting touch that every analyst swore straight up and down would be much better than Shawn Bradley. We know how it all went down. Houston took Yao, and the Chicago Bulls selected Jay "no longer Jason" Williams.

Unfortunately, this is where our story takes a turn for the worse...

Williams had a respectable if not impressive 13, 7 and 7 on 66% shooting in his very first game. He shot 66% again in his second game. Though that was because he was only 2 of 3 that night and ended up with as many points as turnovers (4) and only 2 assists.

That would be the ongoing trend of his rookie year. More of the latter than the former, however. Occasionally, he would impress, but more often than not he would turn out a dud. No rookie really set the NBA on fire that year, Amare Stoudemire would end up winning the ROY, but many felt that Williams was a bust with the second overall pick.

He would go on to average 9.5, 4.7 and 2.6 and 39% shooting. Not exactly the type of numbers Bulls faithful were expecting. Thing is however, I never saw Williams as a bust. Perhaps it was the fact that I was such a fan of his, but I thought that he performed alright for a rookie point guard. Along with the center position, it is one of the hardest positions to learn in the NBA.

When I think of Williams' rookie year, the game that sticks out to me is his 26 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists triple double against the New Jersey Nets, and the man considered the top point guard in the league at the time, Jason Kidd. Williams was a revelation in that game, and I'm convinced we were destined for more of those types of performances, if only...

Williams ended the season with little fanfare, but most were confident that he would return a better player the next season, including himself.

Unfortunately, this is where our story really takes a turn for the worse...

On June 19, 2003, Williams was involved in a motorcycle accident. He severed a main vain, tore three ligaments and fractured his pelvis. He would never be the same player again. While Williams had violated the terms of his contract and the Bulls could have just cut him loose, they chose to buy out his contract first.

But the search was on for a new point guard, and the Bulls took Kirk Hinrich in the 2003 draft. We all know what happened next, and these days the Bulls are just fine at the point guard spot, thank you very much.

It's always fun to wonder what could have been, however. Would Williams had come back better and had the tools to lead the Bulls back to the postseason? Would he have continued to not impress? Would having Williams have meant losing out on Derrick Rose?

More importantly, it hurts as a fan sometimes to think of Williams never having the chance to reach his prime, or shine in the game again. Comeback attempts were more awkward than encouraging, and his career as a player is officially over these days. Meanwhile, there are still guys with less passion and work-ethic still collecting NBA checks on the regular. Dudes Williams would murder if he was still playing. Dudes that will never shine as bright as he once did. Frankly, his former teammate Eddy Curry comes to mind.

In the end, obviously, the Bulls ended up with the better deal. After all, it doesn't get much better than having an MVP point guard. But on occasion it's still fun to reminisce, and think about what might have been.

Mess With Da Bulls...

You get the horns. Mess with Rose, and you get the thorns.

First and foremost, my apologies for the extremely corny "The Breakfast Club" and  ESPN-Jon-Heder-inspired speak, but it's really hard not to be gassed up as a Bulls fan when your best player, who was handed the MVP trophy earlier this week, has the type of performance he had tonight.

Forty-four points on twenty seven shots, and 59% shooting from the field must have made the likes of John Hollinger, Colin Cowherd, and several other haters sick. This is the type of performance that not only confirms that the MVP award is in the right hands, but smacks the hell out of cats who thought otherwise.

Early on, it seemed as if the night's festivities was destined to feature a battle of each squads' point guards. The NBA Most Valuable Player vs. a slept on but ready for prime-time Jeff Teague. However, as the game went on, it was obvious Rose was in a class all his own. As well, he should be.

Rose's 44 points were a career-high, not just in the playoffs but overall. He seemed to make a concentrated effort to try and play his usual game instead of worrying about the ankle, and once he had some success early on, he seemed to just keep at it like he was thrilled that he got his mojo back.

However, as we all now, basketball is a team sport, so Rose's supporting cast has to be shouted out as well. The bench showed why they had so many followers during the regular season, and the defense was solid. Throw in the seemingly obligatory die-hard road Bulls fans, and the Bulls were all set for the win.

Derrick Rose wins MVP

There's a certain storybook quality to Derrick Rose. Hometown prodigy grows up in the shadows of the great Jordan/Pippen/Jackson Chicago Bulls dynasty. Shielded by his family from all the harms of his neighborhood, and all the harms from outside his neighborhood, he leaves for one year of college before coming home to lead his hometown franchise back to greatness.

We've all heard the story before, especially Bulls fans. But the story is far from over, and the best chapter thus far was written today as Derrick Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history.

Many thought Rose lost his damn mind when he asked "Why can't I be MVP?" prior to the season, but what many, including myself, didn't realize is that Rose works as hard as any NBA player in the league to be the best at what he does. And while he had many detractors and haters, for lack of a more flattering word, his performances more often than not trumped any talk of him being "inefficient" or "overrated".

Stat-heads like to throw around his field goal percentage and "PER". However, the only stats that matter more than any other are these: 25, 7 and 4. And most importantly, 62-20. Those were enough to give him the MVP.

If you were able to catch his acceptance speech, you witnessed (not you, LeBron) what makes this man, as Gar Foreman said, a "better man than he is a basketball player". Rose thanked his teammates, fans, management, trainer, agent, friends and family, and last but not least his mother and of course, God. When thanking his mother, you can see the admiration he had for what she has done for he and his family. The most refreshing aspect of the speech may very well have been how genuine he was. No note cards, no constant smiling at the camera, no bravado. Just Derrick Rose being Derrick Rose.

Thus ends this chapter titled "MVP". Next chapter being written might be "Championship".

Tom Thibodeau will win Coach of the Year

He might be the most intense head coach in the NBA, both on and off the court. On the court, we've all seen him stalking the sidelines, out-yelling everyone in the arena not named Carlos Boozer, arms flailing and even getting into the occasional defensive stance to show his guys how it's done. Off the court, he lives in the gym and is notorious for watching game film non-stop, always looking on ways to improve, never satisfied.

Tom Thibodeau won the respect and admiration of his team early on, they all bought in, worked hard and subscribed to his winning ways. The result was a 62-20 season, best in the NBA, tied for best by a rookie head coach, and a 21-game improvement over last season. The result is also a probable Most Valuable Player award for Derrick Rose, and has been announced today, a Coach of the Year award for Thibs.

When Vinny Del Negro was fired and the Bulls turned to Thibs, most Bulls fans were excited about his hiring, but there were still those who were weary seeing another first-year head coach try to lead the squad. What they may not have known, was that unlike Del Negro, Thibs was not new to this. Despite being a 21-year assistant of the NBA and earning a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding defensive coach, he was never given a shot to be a head coach until this year. He actually was also offered jobs, more lucrative ones, by two other organizations but turned them down to sign with the Bulls, which he believed would be the best of the three.

We'll never truly know if the opportunity to coach LeBron James or Dwyane Wade factored into Thib's decision to go with the Bulls, but while those two joined up in Miami, Thibs coached Derrick Rose to an MVP season, and the Bulls wound up winning four more games than the Heat.

Today, all that hard work will pay off as Thibs will win the COY, but he will without a doubt say the hard work is still in progress, and a title is the only goal.

But If You Really Cared For Her...

Seems like every year there are nationally ranked high school basketball recruits in Chicago. And it seems like every year these recruits go out of state to put in work at the college level, the most famous of which most recently was Derrick Rose, who balled for a year at Memphis.

Wayne Blackshear (Louisville), and Anthony Davis (Kentucky) are the latest examples. And while it's nothing new for high school kids to go out of state to play college ball, Chicago kids traditionally stayed in state, if not in the city.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big DePaul basketball fan. Can't claim alumni status or anything like that, though after two years at a community college I was all set to transfer to DePaul until I moved to Alaska instead. But I became a fan for no reason other than when I first started watching college ball in about '98 or so (I was strictly an NBA fan prior to that), I started by watching that DePaul team with Q Rich and them, and they've been my squad ever since.

But while the talent pool in Chicago's high school hoops is as deep as ever, with the decline of DePaul came a lack of commitments from kids in the city, and they opted to go elsewhere. The drought also extends to the University of Illinois, where Bruce Weber has done a fine job of recruiting in-state, but still cannot break through and recruit Chicago kids the way a Pitino or Calipari can.

The last few season have been horrendous for DePaul basketball, but there have been bright spots. Flint, Michigan's own Wilson Chandler has made a name for himself in the NBA, freshman Melvin Cleveland from Maryland just won the Big East Freshman of the Year award, and new coach Oliver Purnell is as determined as any other previous Blue Demons coach was at attracting Chicago talent.

Can Jabari Parker Save DePaul?

Every Chicago high school hoops fan has heard the name Jabari Parker by now. The super-sophomore plays for Derrick Rose's alma mater, Simeon. He's played for the varsity squad both years of high school, the first freshman to ever play for Simeon's varsity squad (though don't get it twisted, Rose was good enough to play varsity as a freshman, but former coach Bob Hambric had a longstanding tradition that freshmen would not play on the varsity squad). He is a consensus top-5 recruit in the class of 2013 and already has top power colleges hitting him up.

And DePaul wants him really, REALLY bad. So if the trend has been elite Chicago kids going out of state, what makes me think Parker will buck the trend? Well, for one, because a die-hard fan can dream, damnit. Beyond that, though, it should be noted that Parker's close friend, Morgan Park's Billy Garret Jr. has just committed to DePaul. Which might mean nothing. Or it might mean that this friendship might convince an elite Chicago player to finally decide to stay home.

Parker committing to the Blue Demons would potentially cause a major domino effect. DePaul could be competitive again, and recruits could be more open-minded to staying in-city or even in-state. Of course, even if Parker joined the Blue Demons, he would most likely be one-and-done and his impact would be minimal. Imagine if the former happened, however. Imagine if Derrick Rose has signed with DePaul. Crazy, huh? But had he did, would Wayne Blackshear and/or Anthony Davis signing with DePaul this year had been as crazy?

Ultimately, the onus is on Oliver Purnell to return DePaul to glory, and judging by his past history, he should be able to at least bring them back to relevancy, however he seems to like getting his Larry Brown on, rebuilding programs and then bolting before they reach their peak.

One thing is not in doubt in the least, however. On the high school tip, the city of Chicago will continue to crank out the type of talent that has coaches all over the country salivating. Here's hoping one of them decides to stay home.

Will the real Carlos Boozer please stand up?

Ever since Jerry "Organizations wins championships" Krause dismantled one of the greatest NBA teams of all times, the Chicago Bulls have been slowly climbing back to respectability.
At the same time, ever since Elton Brand was traded for a teenage Tyson Chandler, it's been known around the league that the Bulls were missing a back-to-the-basket low post presence. The Bulls had a chance to accomplish both goals in one fell swoop when they signed Carlos Boozer to a five-year, $75 million contract last summer.

NBA fans, and Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers fans in particular, have been familiar with all the highs and lows of Carlos Boozer over the years. An outstanding post scorer and rebounder. A horrible defender. An All-Star and Olympian. An injury-plagued player. The Chicago Bulls took the risks because they needed his skills and, well, they had the money to spend.

Before the season even started, injury hit Boozer once again. A man who stands 6'9", 270 and has gone up against some of the biggest people in the world met his match in the form of an ill-placed gym bag. Down he went for the first month of the season.

Upon his return, though he would only play in 59 games on the season, Boozer was as good as advertised. He averaged 17.5 and 9.6 and was an integral part of a surprising 62-win team. Bulls fans were willing to overlook his constant injuries due to their depth, as long as he was able to produce when he did play. And with the playoffs approaching, fans were looking forward to seeing Boozer feast on the Indiana Pacer's bigs.

It was all good just a week ago...or two, or however long ago that Chicago-Indiana first round series started. Despite the fact that Chicago won the series 4-1, no one can claim it was an easy series, save for the decisive game five. No one struggled more mightily, on either team, than Boozer, who averaged 10 and 10 on 35% shooting. In fact, in game 5 when damn near everyone else were having career playoff games, Boozer had 2 points and five rebounds.

Boozer obviously has to step up against the Atlanta Hawks, and beyond should they advance. I can't think of too many other players that have been as criticized by fans and media alike as Boozer has. But while most players relish proving the haters wrong, Boozer seems content to let everyone say what they wanna say, keep doing his thing, and go into beast mode occasionally.

That won't be good enough to help the Chicago Bulls win the championship, and it's certainly not what the Bulls organization were hoping for when they signed Boozer to that contract last season. The Hawks series should be seen by Boozer as his chance to redeem himself both to the organization and his team. Will he step up or be content to do his thing..and go into beast mode occasionally?