If you closed your eyes late in the third quarter and just listened, it all came back to you. Scottie Pippen darting into the passing lane. Dennis Rodman tapping a rebound up in the air two, or three, or four times until he was about 20 feet away from the basket and everybody else had given up on it. Phil Jackson looking like he left the hanger in his suit and sticking two fingers in his mouth to whistle so loud you could hear it on the TV. And some guy named Michael Jordan ripping the heart out of whoever was trying to stop him.
It all came back, because for the first time since those guys went off to Houston, Mars, the golf course and the Lakers, the playoffs were back at the United Center. And, it all came back because the United Center was making the same old sounds. The Bulls had scarcely even played a meaningful regular season game in the seven years since the Dynasty was cancelled. You got lulled into what an important game was supposed to feel and sound like. And then yesterday came, and everything was a little louder, a little more intense and a little bit more fun.
Nobody’s going to confuse these guys with the Jordan Bulls. But they’re carving their own niche just the same.
Watching these Bulls can take some effort. They can go for long stretches where they just can’t score. They take some hilariously foolhardy shots. They commit turnovers that would make a junior high basketball coach tear out his hair.
But they play defense with a style and an effort that you can’t help but admire.
And they’re tough as nails.
Case in point, the Crazy Arentinian, Andres Nocioni. He’s a rookie in NBA service time only. He’s been in big games. He’s played in European Championships, he’s played in the World Championships and he brought a gold medal home from Athens that he got to show off to the sheep and whoever else live in Argentina. So this rookie wasn’t intimidated by the playoffs. In fact, given how inexperienced the Wizards were as well, he was one of the few guys on the court who wasn’t intimidated by the setting.
And it showed. Every loose ball either ended up in his hands or had his fingerprints on it. Every rebound was contested. Antawn Jamison must have felt like Andres had velcroed himself to him. And Andres, never shy about shooting the basketball, scored when they needed it most.
Ben Gordon also shone on the big stage. In a second quarter frenzy not seen around here since…well, you know…Gordon and Larry Hughes went toe to toe, each one answering the other. Gordon had struggled the last ten games of the regular season, but when the lights came on, so did he.
After the game, Mitch Robinson asked Ben, “What does it say about this team when two rookies lead the way in a playoff win?” Ben thought for a second and said, “It says the two rookies are pretty damn good.”
The Wizards aren’t just more talented than the Bulls, they’re easily more talented. Charles Barkley summed it up when he said, “The Bulls have one guy who can drop 20 on you, but the Wizards have three.”
But you just get the feeling that the Bulls like it that way. Go ahead, take your best shot. We’ll take on all three of you.
It’s no coincidence that the Wizards offense strugged in the fourth quarter, the only quarter that Tyson Chandler got any run in. Chandler was a foul magnet in the first three quarters, meaning that we actually saw Jared Reiner and Lawrence Funderburke in the first quarter. That’s not good.
But Tyson was able to stay on the court at the end, and that made a tremendous difference. All night long, the Wizards had been able to drive to the hoop. In the fourth, there was a guy with long arms and big hops waiting to meet them.
The Bulls were all quick to say that “it’s only one win.” And that, of course, is the truth. Gilbert Arenas isn’t going to shoot 3-19 again.
But if he thinks he won’t get the same kind of harrassment, he’s sorely mistaken.
“Hard Nosed Bulls a Perfect Match For The City”
Unlike, say, the asswipe beneath this headline who will now rob you of ten minutes if you dare to read his drivel…
Make that “Headline”
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I…good…yes?
Andy, you need to be writing for one of the chicago area newspaper and replace all the douche bags they have.
wait..You don’t need to, but I think should be. That was poor word selection on my part.
And give up all this?
Well it was once again an interesting weekend at the friendly confines. Which for Latroy Hawkins wasn’t friendly on Saturday in the ninth. Anybody can say that it’s just the ninth inning he can’t pitch in. But really, you put him in the 7th or 8th inning, you’ll see the same results. He is Mel Rojas II. A supposed solid closer, who turns out to be a flop and collects a nice sized check. Hawkins and you can include Remlinger are worthless out of that pen.
Then you have Kerry Wood being the bitch that he is in yesterday’s game. Let’s just pitch enough innings to qualify for that win and then take yourself out because you might catch a cold pitching. Even Dusty had the balls to call Kerry out on that one. Wood has really turned into a premaddona cocksucker. Before this year is out, he will have had as many Cub fans turn against him as Sammy did last year. This guy is a bigass pussy. He’s really throwing it into the Cub organization’s face too. Let’s sign a nice size contract and act like a totally dickhead.
This closer by situation is a joke. Dusty needs to give up his stubborness and go with the common sense choice right now to close and that is Wuertz. It really can’t get any Wuertz. But really, he got alot of experience at Iowa in those situations. Use Rusch, Fox, and even Bartosch and Leicester as setup men. But you will continue to get burned by Hawkins and Remlinger. These guys’ glory days are over. Those other guys are barely hanging on the way it is. Go with Wuertz until JoeBo comes back and blows. Then Hendry will have to finally get off his ass and trade for a closer, which should have been taken care of this past off season.
Those bats are really catching colds here lately too. They can only blame it on the horrid weather so long. Perez and Lee being hot will only last so long as well. Somebody else needs to take some big steps forward- Eramis!
Prediction for Reds Series- Prior loses tonight as he catches a cold and we lose 3-1. Lawnmower man comes back strong for another solid performance tomorrow night and we win 5-2. Dempster continues his swell pitching and finally gets a win on Wedneday afternoon and the Cubs win 4-3 as Wuertz gets his second save in 2 days to solidfy the closer position.
Just kidding about the Wuertz prediction. In our dreams that will happen.
GO CUBS!
Baker Basher
Baker Basher,
I agree with you that Wuertz should be the closer, I’ve thought that the whole season, however I disagree with your assessment of Hawkins. Latroy has been one of the best setup men is baseball the past few years. The Twins tried the same closer experiment with him and failed, however he went right back to being a dominant setup man again. I blame Baker for even trying him in the closer role again this year. How many years are people going to try this before they realize that he is not a closer. I’ve always been a believer of putting your people in the best chance for them to succeed and Baker did not do that with Latroy. He weakened two positions by using him as the closer instead of the setup man. ANYONE can blow a save, but if you’ve got a man thats dominant in one role, LEAVE him there. OK I will shut up now.
Fortunately, the Pirates lineup decided that they needed hits rather than walks so they swung at wide and unhittable throws by Fox. Did they feel guilty about stealing Saturday’s game and deliberately hand yesterday’s game to the Cubs? I don’t know, but I will take it.
The Baker Basher continues to put up a daily fight for Dumbass Du Jour. Keep trying there Basher. You are doing a fine job.
Baker Basher, you are a fucking dumbass.
Have you ever even seen me pitch as a set-up man? Then why not wait and see what happens (and my career numbers would indicate pretty damn good things) before you make stupid assessments based on nothing but what you pull out of your ass?
Fuck you LaTroy, you punk ass bitch. We know where you live, brutha.
My client is real happy about the “Dumbass du jour” recognition he got last week, keep using him as a closer and you can be sure he will be crowned “Dumbass du year”.
I play basketball.
My amigo is Carlos Zambrano.
I will kill you.
Would somebody teach Baker Basher to set up his own blog so he can print his idiotic screeds there instead of inflicting them on us? I at least had the decency to do that.
I am in the lineup today, bitches. Playing 2nd and batting 8th. You didn’t think Dusty had forgotten about me, did you?
Wow, and I’m playing instead of Corey.
Which would be the lesser defense evil in CF, anyway — me or Jose?
Hey, Latroy’s agent, maybe you should pay attention to what the fuck is actually going on with your client…in which case you’d know he’s NOT gonna close games anymore, he’s going back to set-up. Duh, dude.
How the hell am I about to win my fourth game of the year already? I mean, are the offenses in the AL that bad/cold this year? Shit.
Thanks a lot Dusty, you stupid motherfucker.
Oh shit.
Even if he is not closing, my client has a chance of picking up
a lot of “dumbass du jour” awards, he is very capable of winning the award
daily with only one pitch per outing.
He can start, finish or set-up and STILL mess it up for you.
“You use Fox in a three-run game and what if you have one-run leads in the ninth tonight and tomorrow? You can’t run his bum flipper out three nights in a row.”
Dolan, you magnificent B#$%^&*, you called it.
What should my lottery numbers be?
Wait, while was I doing what? While? Why?
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