Today's Links--Good Luck Charm Edition

• I start watching the game and the Hawks score three goals in the third to beat the Ducks 4-2. Coincidence? Yes. Awesome? Yes.
• Top Ten Derrick Rose highlights from this season. Where's the one where he effectively defends the screen/roll?
• Quick post from HHR, but it's quite hilarious with Incognixico going with the conversion van to avoid the press.
• God explains Week 13 of the NFL. Lions feel His wrath! Again.
• Via Deadspin, a Harris Poll voter shows why he shouldn't be a Harris Poll voter. Yep this whole system is great.
• Oh, and Bulls lose to the Bucks. Stormin' Norman loses sleep.

Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tied Going into Final Night

With the ACC going 3-2 against the Big Ten Tuesday night, they squared up the challenge and set up another ACC win based on the schedule tonight.

Last night Ohio State started things off with an upset win at Miami, but Iowa and Illinois likely killed the Big Ten's chances in the challenge with a pair of two point losses. Ohio State benefited from the ejection of Miami guard Jack McClinton after he bitch-slapped an OSU player; shocking from a Miami student-athlete. Illinois and Iowa both had chances to send their games to OT, but the Illini failed to get a shot off in the final 11 seconds and Iowa missed the front end of a 1 and 1 (that probably should have been a three-shot foul) with seconds left. Duke dominated Purdue throughout the game and Minnesota closed out the night with a win.

The win by the Gophers gives hope to the Big Ten, but not much. Here's what we're looking at tonight.

Indiana at (15) Wake Forest, 6:15 PM

The Hoosiers don't stand much of a chance in this game. I don't really know what a Hoosier is, but a Demon Deacon is not to be messed with. That's not the only reason though. Indiana has been anything but impressive early on with blowout losses to Notre Dame and St. Joes. Wake, meanwhile hasn't played much of anyone, but has looked great doing it. With Indiana looking sketchy and the game at Wake Forest, I'll pick the Demon Deacons to win this one.

Penn State at Georgia Tech, 6:30 PM

Add Penn State to the list of teams that has played absolutely no one yet this season, oh and look, add Georgia Tech. The Nittany Lions lost to Rhode Island, while GT has pulled out close games against Mercer and Jacksonville. Ron Mercer is kind of washed up and the Jags can't seem to beat anyone, so I don't see those wins as being too impressive. Based on the fact that this might be the Big Ten's best chance at a win, I'll pick Penn State.

Michigan at Maryland, 6:30 PM

Michigan might have the second best chance at a Big Ten win and that tells you a lot about the Big Ten's chances. Maryland is a killer at home, winning over 86% of their games in College Park over the past 10 years. The Terps have been a bit difficult to figure out thus far, beating Michigan State by 18, then losing to Gonzaga and Georgetown by 22 and 27, respectively. The Wolverines have an upset of their own against UCLA and a 15 point loss to Duke. With a young team rebuilding under Beilein, I think Michigan falls short at Maryland and the Terps get the win.

(1) North Carolina at (13) Michigan State, 8:15 PM

A week ago this looked like an unbelievable match-up. A possible Final Four preview, even at the Ford Field venue, which will host this year's Final Four. A week later, it looks like the Spartans will be lucky to keep things close. Tyler Hansbrough's health and availability was still in question as of Tuesday night, but the Spartans have health issues of their own with big man Goran Suton out and Delvin Roe limited. You can never count a Tom Izzo coached team out of any game, but this will be one of his toughest tasks against a Tar Heels team that has the best talent in the country. UNC wins and if this thing isn't decided already, the ACC wins the challenge.

Florida State at Northwestern, 8:30 PM

And for dessert, we get FSU and Northwestern. The Noles are 7-0 with wins at Cal and at Cincy coming into the game with Northwestern. The Wildcats, well they have won some game, but they're still Northwestern and this is basketball. I expect a loss.

Blackhawks Fighting a Losing Streak

The Blackhawks can't afford stretches similar to the ones they went through last season. In '07-'08 the Hawks had four losing streaks of four games or more, including a season-killing eight game skid in December and January.

Currently, the Hawks are on a three game losing streak on the tail end of the circus trip. Things won't get any easier in the next couple of games either. The Ducks will come to the United Center tonight and the Hawks travel to Detroit Saturday.

These are two teams you don't want to play when you're losing. Both will limit your shots and wait for a mistake, then go for the kill. Chicago will need to bring focus, confidence, and may need to mix it up with a couple of fights in the next couple of games.

A key factor in the three losses has been the injury to Nikolai Khabibulin. Bulin was on a three game winning streak before the recent skid started. Huet has been in net for all three losses and will be back in net tonight against Anaheim. Huet was solid against the Ducks last Friday though, in a 1-0 loss out West.

The game starts at 7:30 tonight, so if you don't feel like watching the Big Ten get demolished by the ACC tonight, head over to the United Center.

Also, last week NBC debuted its first promotional spot for the Winter Classic. This is possibly the best job NBC has done promoting the NHL since it took over covering hockey. Here is the commercial, via Puck Daddy and NHL.com. Well, apparently the NHL still has problems with things like keeping their website up and running, so I'll have the video soon. Hopefully.

More on the 'Plaxident'

The hilarious details of the Plaxico Burress saga are too many to digest in such a short time. However, that doesn't mean we aren't going to try like hell to get every ounce of funny out of this thing.

Thanks to Top Ten Nominee, we have some idea of how geography plays into the incident.

Point A happens to be the offices of the National Football League. Point B is where Plaxico shot himself in the thigh, at a club called Latin Quarter. It's a little hard to see, but I think you can get the idea of the insane proximity between the club and the NFL's offices.

Walking, this is a distance of .1 mile, which is somewhere around 500 or 600 feet. Plax is lucky that Goodell wasn't in his office late that night, or he could have been there in two minutes. Maybe he was.

This is like Barry Bonds shooting up steroids while going down the slide at Miller Park, or Donaghy asking David Stern for his cell phone so he can call his bookie. Oh Plaxico, please keep the content coming.

Weekly Fantasy Roundup: Bench/Start Week 14

I would like to introduce you all to a special friend of mine, Mr. Jordan Berger (right). Like many others out there, he is suffering from poor playoff match ups in Week 14, and could soon find himself in the consolation round of his fantasy playoff bracket. I wanted to dedicate this article to those of you that find yourselves in similar situations, as this could very well be your last meaningful battle of the 2008 fantasy football season. May god be with you and your fantasy teams in Week 14....

BENCH

QB Donovan McNabb (Eagles) - Phili's franchise QB is in trouble this week, as the Eagles head to the Meadowlands to take on the defending Super Bowl champs. McNabb has been pretty shaky on the road this season - his QB rating is nearly 20 points higher at Lincoln Financial Field than it is away from Phili, and he owns a TD-INT ratio of 7-8 on the road, as opposed to 11-2 at home. However, the Chicago native has a pretty impressive track record against the Giants throughout his career, averaging more than 200 total yards per game with a 19-5 TD-INT ratio. Most of you will stick with #5 on Sunday, but The Bag Guy suggests re-thinking your decision.




RB Ronnie Brown (Dolphins) - Ronnie has rushed for less than 100 yards in seven of his last eight games, and seems to play less of a role in the passing game with each coming week. Ricky Williams has also been more of a factor down the stretch, accumulating more total yards than Brown during the past four weeks. The former Auburn standout has been able to find the end zone more often than not, but still hasn't been doing enough to be considered a must start every week. Brown was shut down back in Week 8 against the Bills, recording 48 total yards and no TDs, and there's no reason to expect anything different in Week 14.


RB Marion Barber (Cowboys) - Barber is banged up, and has been struggling of late against very mediocre opponents. In Weeks 12 &13 at home against SF and SEA, Barber rushed for a combined 91 yards and one TD, pretty disappointing numbers for the Dallas RB. The Cowboys head to Pittsburgh to take on the NFL's #1 ranked rush defense, and things don't look too promising for Barber considering his recent struggles. Not sure if you can actually bench #24, but don't expect too much out of your stud RB.

START

WR Lee Evans (Bills) - In nine career meetings against the Dolphins, Evans has eight TDs, and weather permitting, should be in line for a great game on Sunday. Miami's secondary allows over 230 passing yards per contest, and should have problems keeping the former UW standout in check. Evans has also been hot of late, hauling in 12 passes and 190 yards the past two games. He should definitely be considered a top 10 WR this week, as the potential is there for a monster game.



RB Larry Johnson (Chiefs) - Everybody runs on the Broncos, and it's simply LJ's turn this week. Denver has had issues stopping the run all season, allowing over 140 rushing yards and a TD per game. Since his return from suspension in Week 11, Johnson has been slowly worked back into the offense, but received a whopping 24 carries last week against Oakland, a sign that the former fantasy MVP is back to form. In his Week 4 match up with the Broncos, Johnson went nuts, rushing for 198 yards and two TDs - so make SURE you have him in your lineup on Sunday.




WR Davone Bess (Dolphins) - The un-drafted rookie out of Hawaii has made quite a name for himself since Greg Camarillo was injured back in Week 12, collecting 11 catches for 171 yards the past two games. Bess gets to face a Bills secondary decimated by injuries, and should be able to post respectable numbers once again. At 5'10, he is more of a deep threat than a possession WR, but seems to have developed great chemistry with QB Chad Pennington. If you are in need of a WR this week, you might want to think about giving Bess a shot.

What They Are Saying Out There In Media-Land About The Bears This Week

A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks that have changed the fortunes of the Bears season. Although hope is still alive, they have gone from the driver's seat to the playoffs, to hanging on to the back bumper and being dragged through the street. Here's what some top Chicago and other mainstream media outlets are saying about them:

CBS Sports: Apparently there are some different options in the wildcat set. For instance, Forte or Hester could throw the ball. Also how both Adams and Harrison stepped up in Dusty's absence last week.

Daily Herald: Someone must be blamed for the way the Bears have been playing. This guy wants to blame the front office, Lovie, or the lack of execution by players.

Chicago Sun-Times: Yeah, we totally got screwed by having to face the Vikings before the Williams's were suspended, but look at the other guys that got suspended. The league's ruling was actually pretty favorable for the Bears in terms of who they play the rest of the way.

Chicago Sun-Times: Sure, the Bears could win 4 straight and make the playoffs. One problem though; they haven't won 2 straight since 2006.

Chicago Tribune: Feel free to blame Orton for this loss, but please get him some help!

Chicago Bears Website: Wait a minute, the Bears got stopped on another huge goal-line stand against the Falcons, and they went to that same fullback handoff that time too. Don't worry though, Lovie wouldn't change his playcalling if he could do it again.

Well that is a pretty positive tone. The Bears better get their shit together soon, because the playoff picture in the NFC is very tight.

Larry Hughes Contract Rewards Him For Being A Team Player? He Must Have Forgotten To Read It

This little bit of information comes from a fanpost on Blogabull. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it seems to make sense:

From The Washington Post Last Year:
"Hughes arguably had his best playoff performance since scoring 33 points in Game 5 of the Wizards' first-round series against the Chicago Bulls in 2005. It was the type of show the Cavaliers -- and perhaps that angry fan -- expected from Hughes when he bolted Washington that summer to sign a five-year, $60 million contract with the team. (The contract could be worth up to $70 million with easily attainable incentives; Hughes got a $2 million bonus this season because Cleveland won at least 49 games.)"

So he's got $10M in total incentives, with $2M being earned in a given year. So I'd guess it's the same sort of incentive for each year, and that if the Bulls win 49 or more games, they'll have to pay him another $2M.

Apparently this contract incentive, $2 million dollars if Hughes team wins 49 or more games, has been completely ignored by Hughes. Even though he has played much better recently and helped the team with his less selfish play on offense and defensive intensity, he hasn't seemed to care too much about that incentive in the past. Unless he somehow thought shooting 33% would lead to 49 wins.

Today's Links

• Zoner Sports takes a bunch of Chicago athletes names and makes anagrams with them. It's uncanny how a lot of them make sense. Definitely worth a look.
• Clemson beat Illinois. I didn't watch the game, but it doesn't sound good.
• I don't know about all this Westbrook is as good as Rose stuff, but I guess they don't have a lot to get excited about in Oklahoma City.
• Javy Vasquez got traded to the Braves. TUP analyzes the deal.
  
• Oh by the way, Rose won Rookie of the Month. Get ready for more of these awards to roll in as the season goes on.
• Oh KSK, is there nothing you can't make a funny video or photo of? Plaxico is definitely the "Cheddar Bob" of the NFL.
• Bulls lose a tough one in OT. Tyrus Thomas is so frustrating when he shows those flashes (the dunk to tie the game to send it to OT), and yet he can't even crack the regular rotation because of his inconsistency.
  

The Big Ten is ACC-Challenged

The annual whooping the ACC puts on the Big Ten in basketball started last night. Actually, it was Wisconsin who came out on top of Virginia Tech Monday to start off the challenge.

Some people think this may be the last game the Big Ten wins in the entire event. However, Wisconsin's 74-72 buzzer-beater win might be the spark the Big Ten needs to pull the upset. It's not hard to see why people would doubt the Big Ten though. In nine years, the ACC holds a 56-30 advantage and the Big Ten hasn't even come close to winning this thing in the last few years. Not to mention, many view this as a "down year" for the conference.

There are ten games left; five tonight and five on Wednesday, and the Big Ten needs a split to, well, steal the challenge. The article linked above seems to base predictions solely on strength of schedule, regardless of wins and losses, and how bad the Big Ten teams have done in this competition in the past. I suppose that is as good a strategy as any, but let's go with my policy of hardcore bias and gut instinct based on what I had for lunch.

Here are Tuesday's games:

Iowa at Boston College, 6 PM

Iowa's program is not in the best shape and Boston College boasts a start in Tyrese Rice, but these two teams aren't easy to figure out. Anything could happen, but when in doubt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge go with the home team. BC big.

Ohio State at (21) Miami, 6 PM

Wait, how long has Miami's basketball program been better than their football program? Does Michael Irvin know about this? I like Ohio State to pull the upset in this one. Well, I don't like Ohio State, but you get what I'm saying. The Buckeyes have only played three games, but they have reloaded with some young talent. Look for a phantom pass interference call to push the Bucks to a win. Deja Vu! OSU wins.

Clemson at Illinois, 6:30 PM

This will be the Big Ten's first home game and the Illini have a pretty good shot here. Why not, they're undefeated right? Well, Clemson has pulled the same trick of winning all their games against terrible teams. Illinois does have a win against Vandy that looks pretty good, so what the hell, I'll go with the Illini.

(4) Duke at (9) Purdue, 8 PM

Duke has never lost in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and Purdue has never lost to Duke. Therefore, both teams will win. This is the showcase game for the entire event. Michigan State-UNC looks good tomorrow night, but not so much after MSU lost to Maryland last weekend. Purdue lost to Oklahoma last weekend and will have to close the free throw gap to have a chance against the Blue Devils. Oklahoma shot 46 free throws to Purdue's five. Robbie Hummel will have to step up for Purdue if they want to get the Big Ten a win here. Hate to do this, but I'll pick Duke.

Virginia at Minnesota, 8:30 PM

Minnesota has played no one good and is 6-0, Virginia has played one good team and four bad teams and is 3-2. This is usually when the Big Ten bias kicks in, but in a game where you have no idea who will win, always go with the home team ACC. Virginia wins.

There you have it. The Big Ten will likely be out of this thing by the end of the night, but they have a legit shot in at least four of the five games tonight and could keep it close enough for tomorrow's five games to mean something.

Fill In The Blank

It's Fill in The Blank time. What happens is I will post a random picture I select, and you guys (the readers) create a funny caption for the photo. Post your caption ideas in the comments for this story and I will post the funniest caption under the picture at a later date. Here's this week's "Fill in the Blank".


Bernard Berrian appears to turn and say something to Peanut Tillman as he motors towards the endzone for his record-tying 99 yard touchdown reception.





Last Week's Photo:



Best Caption comes from Real Stadiums Have Roofs: urlacher - "this next paternity suit is going to be so worth it".

Hey Kerry, Remember That Time I Ruined Your Arm And Your Career? We All Had A Good Laugh; Anyways Want To Play For Me Again?

Remember 2003? Ahh, we all remember the good old days, when our good 'ole skipper Dusty would shred our pitchers' arms to no end by leaving them in too long and running up their pitch counts. I wrote a wonderful ode to Dusty's amazing ability to manage his pitchers here. Well apparently now that Woody is out as the Cubs closer, Dusty wants him to come play in Cincy:

"We have a closer already in [ Francisco] Cordero, who we have under contract for a few more years," Baker told the newspaper. "But somebody can use Kerry Wood. I am going to call him. I like Kerry Wood as a person, not just as a ballplayer, but as a person. I will give him a call and see what's up."

If you like him so much as a person, how come you let him pitch all those innings and basically ruined his career?

Hit Of The Season

Take a look at this hit the Steelers put on Wes Welkah on Sunday. Ouch.

The Kerry Wood Saga Isn't Quite Over....Ok, Now It Is

If you have been paying attention to arbitration news in Major League Baseball, you may have heard that the Cubs had the option to offer Kerry Wood and Bobby Howry arbitration by midnight tonight. Well the Cubs chose not to offer that to him, but what does it all mean?

Basically, major league teams can offer arbitration to certain free agents by 12/1 (yesterday) and then those players have until 12/7 to accept. Since the Cubs declined to offer Wood or Howry arbitration, you might be asking "Who cares?" Well it matters. In baseball, when a marquee free agent leaves, the team that he leaves is rewarded with high draft picks. The team only gets those picks, however, if they make an effort to resign the free agent. That "effort" is satisfied only by offering the free agent arbitration. What this means is that the player and the team sit down in front of an arbitrator and that arbitrator decides what that player's value is in terms of salary. The team is then bound by that salary amount, if the player chooses to accept it.

In terms of Bobby Howry, there was never a question that they would offer him arbitration, since whatever amount an arbitrator decided on would be more than they would be willing to spend on a washed up reliever.

Kerry Wood is a different story. The Cubs in this situation decided that an arbitrator would have determined that Wood was worth 9 million or more. They feel that they do not want to pay that much, as evidenced by their earlier decision not to offer Wood a contract. Even though the 9 million one year deal is probably far below the multi-year deal that Wood could get on the open market, Hendry still felt Wood might take it anyways since he has a clear preference to stay in Chicago.

Thus the Cubs did not offer Woody arbitration and will get no compensation draft picks. This seems reasonable, seeing as that 9 million is a huge chunk of money and could cut into Hendry's ability to trade for Peavy or acquire a left-handed bat in the outfield. It is not as cut and dry as that, however. Since Hendry went out and acquired Kevin Gregg, he is going to be on the hook for about 5-6 million for Gregg. So essentially what this means is that the difference here is only about 3-4 million. I do not know the market for left-handed bats as well as Hendry, but 3 million does not seem like a good enough reason to give up 2 high compensation picks or take a huge downgrade in the bullpen from Wood to Gregg.

All in all, I give the handling of this entire situation a B-. If 3-4 million is the difference between getting a power left-handed bat or not getting one, then so be it. We can only wait and see what happens but I find that hard to believe 3 million will be the difference and it seems the Cubs would be far better off with 2 compensation picks (if Kerry refused the offer) or having Wood over Gregg (if he accepted and thus Hendry did not need to deal for Gregg at all).

Today's Links

• Cubs won't offer salary arbitration to Kerry Wood or Bob Howry. That means neither will return and Cubs fans will miss them. Well, one of them.
• Dusty Dvoracek is out for the season with a ruptured right biceps. Uh, ouch.
• Weis tells a recruit that he is returning as Notre Dame's coach. Then points out the window, asks "what's that" and steals kid's brownie.
• Northwestern advances to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Soccer Tournament. Little cold for soccer, no?
• White Sox and Reds talking trade involving Jermaine Dye. "Hey what about that Griffey guy?"
• 'Rak-key? Hawks are trying to get Obama to attend the Winter Classic between the Hawks and Wings. I'll take his spot if he turns it down!

Fake Field Goal Follies

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend I watched about as much football as a person can handle. I caught a sweet Lions game, plenty of high school state championship games, a bunch of college football games, the outcomes of which were irrelevant because the computers know all, and finally a little NFL action Sunday.

By far the highlights of all the pigskin theatrics were a couple of fake field goals gone horribly wrong. First up, Nebraska lines up for a field goal against Colorado and....uh....oops.



That's just awesome. Now, the Raiders being the NFL powerhouse that they are, never miss an opportunity to find ways to thoroughly embarrass themselves.



Yes! Two for two on the tricky field goals. What are the odds the Lions try this next weekend? He probably wasn't the first coach to call this particular play, but I can't help but think that this is Les Miles' fault. Coaches, next time you think about pulling a fake field goal, kick it! Unless of course you have Steve Nash as your holder.

Lovie Smith's A Series Of Unfortunate Events Starring Ron Turner, Bob Babich, and The Bears Secondary

It would be foolish for me to blame the entire Bears loss on a one minute long momentum swing, but its hard not too. The series of events that changed the game:

• The Bears are up 7-3
  
• Benny Sapp personal foul keeps Bears drive alive
• Bears get the ball to the 1 yard line
• Bears cannot punch it in on 3 tries (highlighted by Ron Turner's old favorite, the fullback handoff. I don't think anyone ever sees that coming)
• Lovie inexplicably decides to go for it instead of kicking the field goal and taking a 10-3 lead. The Bears cannot convert and the Vikings take over at their 1-yard line
  
• Gus Frerrote throws a 99-yard pass to Bernard Berrian. A thin and possibly handicapped secondary (there has to be some explanation for how badly coverage broke down on this play) gets shredded for a touchdown.
• Bears are now down 10-7 and Minnesota doesn't look back

That was the worst game in the world, possibly on a par with the Green Bay loss. I literally could not find anything to be happy about. Orton had 3 picks, the receivers must have greased up their hands before the game, the run defense and the pass defense were horrendous, on special teams we couldn't get anything going, the list goes on and on.

I also want to know who called the fullback handoff, like literally the name. Was it Turner? Lovie? Who? I want to throw a brick through their window. You know what the worst part about this is long term? Adrian Peterson. We will never beat the Vikings so long as that guy is around. He is so filthy and we can do nothing to stop him. I'm disgusted.

The BCS Strikes Early

This is the drama the BCS apologists point to when they say the current system provides exciting football, spirited debate, and general intrigue. This weekend was exciting, with Texas putting up "style points" on Texas A&M Thursday, Texas Tech avoiding an upset against Baylor Saturday afternoon, and Oklahoma pulling away from Oklahoma State late.

Then came the one thing that any supporter of the BCS cannot defend. It got the whole thing wrong. With a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South and tiebreakers such as records within the division, records against common opponents, tackiest band uniforms, and most annoying fight song exhausted, the conference decided to turn to the BCS for help. Excellent choice. The BCS, ultimately the computers, will send Oklahoma to the Big 12 Championship Game instead of Texas.

Oklahoma's best argument for representing the Big 12 South has to be a blowout win over Texas Tech, the team that handed Texas its only loss. The Sooners also played a tougher non-conference schedule with games against Cincinnati and TCU, while Texas played Arkansas and Rice. The benefit of having the last chance to impress voters also helped Oklahoma, with a 20-point win over 12th ranked Oklahoma State Saturday night. But it was the computers, not the voters that picked Oklahoma, so what were they thinking?

Well they obviously didn't look at October 11th, when Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 at a neutral site. The computers may have also forgotten that Oklahoma's big win against Texas Tech came in Norman, while Texas lost in the last ten seconds in a game at Texas Tech. The resumes aren't that different. Texas and Oklahoma both cleaned up in the conference, both had close games against teams the other dominated, and both breezed through their non-conference slates. So why would the computers ignore October 11th, the one thing that truly places Texas above Oklahoma?

There really is no answer, other than a bit of advice: don't ever try and figure out the computer rankings. The puzzling outcomes are too bountiful. One computer ranking puts Utah ahead of Texas. Another puts Texas Tech and Utah ahead of #1 Alabama. Texas Tech, Utah, and Boise State are all ranked ahead of USC by the computers.

The computers have spoken and Oklahoma has jumped Texas. BCS shenanigans have started early this season, as it has screwed up the national championship picture by the time December has started. Don't say the computers lack a sense of humor. While most of America is yelling to let the players decide it on the field, the computers looked at two teams who have already decided things on the field, and picked the loser.

I Hope You Won't Be Needing Those Ankles, Andre

Derrick Rose doing his thing last night. This guy is amazing:

Post-Circus Bulls Report

The pre-circus and circus trip part of the Bulls schedule is finally over. What have we learned during this time period about a Bulls team that had almost as many question marks as guards to start the season? The answers are not simple or clear-cut, but some things have become apparent:

The Schedule:

According to John Hollinger's power rankings which are based on some advanced metrics, the Bulls are only 18th in the league. What is interesting to note about that is the Bulls have the toughest strength of schedule by a significant margin. Entering Sunday, their opponents had a .606 winning percentage and the team with the next highest strength of schedule has opponents with a winning percentage of .576. The Bulls should be very happy at 8-9 against some very tough opponents.

Also the Bulls upcoming schedule is against a bunch of really crappy teams: Phi, @Mil, Was, NYK, @Mem, NJ, @Cha, LAC. The only team with a winning record in that bunch is the Nets, and they don't exactly scare anyone this year. The Bulls should be able to generate some momentum against these bad teams.

Coach Vinny:

It still remains unclear what offense he is running exactly. I understand that he is utilizing a high screen roll with Gordon and Rose most of the time. The other players not involved in those screen rolls seem lost, however. Also, his rotations are still inconsistent. While we have to be fair and allow him to learn his team before he settles on regular minutes, he has to understand that guys need to know their roles. On the other hand, the players seem to really respect and like him so far and his philosophy of pushing the ball has had some very positive results. The jury is still out on the coach, however, and only time will tell if he has some sort of cohesive offensive plan that can be effective.

Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon Starting:

It's working. Offensively these two are both scoring in bunches. Defensively, they are bad. Not as bad as everyone seems to think, but still bad. They are undersized and do not stay in front of their men. Rose will improve defensively and Gordon has always been underrated as a defender (for instance on a scale of 1 to 10, everyone thinks he's a 2 when he's really a 4; still not great but manageable). This lineup is worth trotting out every time. They are the most effective backcourt the Bulls have, even accounting for the defensive deficiencies.

That all being said, they are not playing as efficiently as they could be. If you have been watching the games lately (you're probably pretty tired considering they start at 9:30 pm), you will notice that Gordon and Rose don't play off each other. When Rose has the ball, he makes a move and tries to get guys open and find them in good positions to score or he takes it to the hole himself. When Gordon has the ball, he dribbles around and then takes a bad shot. Gordon needs to run off screens more off the ball and give up the rock when Rose is on the court with him. What he doesn't understand is his numbers will get better rather than worse if he gives the ball to Rose. Rose can get him the ball when he has open shots. When Gordon dribbles around and shoots, they are usually off balance and ill-conceived. Play off the ball Ben!

What's The Deal With Larry Hughes:


Here are the stats prior to Sunday night's game, do with them what you will. This season he is averaging 14.2 points and shooting 43 percent as a starter while averaging 7.7 points and shooting 33 percent coming off the bench. He shoots 45 percent when the Bulls win and 35 percent when they lose. He averages 14.8 per game when the Bulls win and 8.8 when they lose. Hughes is eight for 12 on threes in Bulls wins and one for 15 on threes in Bulls losses.

So what does this mean? Is Hughes critical to winning games, or are his poor performances the thing that is making us lose them? Hughes would argue the team benefits when he gets more minutes. I'm not sure how to feel about any of this, since I hated him so much before. So long as he continues to take the ball to the hoop and play solid defense, he can have minutes. What my hope is is that playing Hughes was a directive from above, since Pax wants to deal Hughes and is trying to pump up his value. Even if Harry Lughes is here to stay, he is still 32, expensive and taking minutes from younger guys.

Luol Deng, Where Art Thou:

I don't know, where the hell is he? Just kidding. I guess I have to post some theories about what happened to his game. Here is the list of possibilities for things that might be causing him to be a non-factor so far this season:

1) The pressure of a new contract.

2) He doesn't know where his shots come from in Vinny's "offense".

3) He has fallen in love with his jumper.

4) His bad back and other assorted injuries are catching up to him.

5) Instead of working on his game this summer, he played in Europe.

6) He has been seeing time at the 4, as well as getting irregular minutes since the emergence of Harry Lughes, causing him to lose his rhythm.

Ok there are your options. It may be one or several of those reasons, or perhaps even one I can't think of. Either way, Lu needs to get it going for this team to have any real success this season.

The Bulls Frontcourt; Young and Possibly Retarded:

What happened here? Tyrus Thomas was supposed to finally take a step forward this year with Skiles not yelling at him all the time. His fragile ego was going to remain intact under Vinny and allow him to emerge as the true star that his athleticism and potential would let him be. Oops. We all got fooled. He sucks. I mean he is really bad. The worst part is the random decent game he has that keeps idiots like me hanging on to the hope that he can be good. He is terrible, and whenever he gets into a rut like he is in now, he can't get himself out because he is an idiot. There is no point continuing to discuss him because he sucks and it looks like he will be a non-factor going forward.

Joakim Noah has been a disappointment as well. I don't think anyone was pegging him as an all-star, but the thought was he could line up next to Gooden or Thomas and be a high energy guy that plays good defense and rebounds. Nope. He has been pretty much ineffective at center. I'm not sure he warrants getting only 6 minutes a game, but it's hard for me to argue with Vinny when Noah shows no life out there.

Gooden is Gooden. He is a great role player. He can score on the block and rebounds very well. Unfortunately he is playing out of position at the center spot (thanks to Noah's digression and Gray being Gray). His defensive lapses notwithstanding, he has been a key component to the Bulls early success.

Today's Links

• Looks like Vasher is out for the year. He wasn't exactly playing well, but any lost depth in the secondary is bad news
• Charlie Weis is fat. Oh yeah, and he's still employed, barely, after losing to USC (and pretty much everyone else).
• Some 2009 Cubs schedule news. I will go into this 2009 schedule at some point later, but check out BCB's notes.
• Ryan Theriot got the great baseball triple-double: errors, double-plays and caught stealings. And don't even get me started on tootblans.
• Bulls big win last night left them 3-4 on the Circus Trip. Possibly the best 3-4 ever. December should be a breeze.
• So some Spanish site linked NQTC, so what? That's not really global, you say? Well how about if a Polish site links us?