News & Notes: 5/2/07, Grown Up Bulls, St. Louis Trip Nixed, Moss, Keyshawn

Sorry for my lack of timeliness on some of these subjects, but I got pretty burned out after my live-blog. Nevertheless, I'm back, baby!

First off, the Grown Up Bulls sweep the Miami Heat in Round 1. It all happened so fast. I had a meeting for the newspaper, so I actually missed the last eight minutes or so of game time, but when I found out the Bulls actually closed it out, I was partly surprised. I mean, yeah, I thought the Heat would quit on the series, but they're the defending champions, right? Playing at home? Man, the Bulls have come a long way.

Second, I know I ended my last post talking about my trip to St. Louis. Well, that couldn't have ended (or, started?) worse. Minutes before we hit the highway, we got news of Josh Hancock's death, and needless to say, we never made it to St. Louis because the game was postponed. Sad story, and made more angering due to the fact that the whole thing is likely DUI related. Ugh.

In better news, Randy Moss is headed to the Patriots!

First, the only negative I see: it puts a helluva lot of pressure on the Patriots. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is crowning the Pats as the Super Bowl 42 Champs, and the whole thing is giving me an eerie Carolina Panthers vibe. I don't like it one bit.

I won't list the positives, because they're obvious, but I will give a few reasons why I think the situation won't be catastrophic.

1. It's clear that Moss is awfully motivated. In all of his interviews around draft day, he kept talking about how all of the uncertainty about what team he'd be playing for led to him working out and training harder than he'd ever trained before. Maybe he's lying, but I don't think he is, and when he's delivering quotes like "You're going to see things from me that you've never seen before," you better believe I'm fired up.
2. He took a pay cut to play for the Pats. It's clear winning is his No. 1 priority, now.
3. The Patriots gave up a 4th round pick on him. That's it. No matter what happens, it's clear they got a bargain deal for a player with a high ceiling of potential.
4. Even if -- going against everything I believe -- Moss becomes a problem, the Patriots have enough depth at wide receiver now to cut all ties immediately. Moss' one-year deal gives the Pats a lot of flexibility. But again, I really don't see any negatives spawning from this. The only reason people will be worried is because the sports media will give them reasons so to worry. You just have to look at the situation; Moss has clearly matured, and I think he's willing to put his past behind him and finally come into his own on a winning team.

And last, but not least, how could I not mention Keyshawn Johnson getting cut from the Carolina Panthers. I noted the irony on Draft Day of the Panthers drafting USC wide-out Dwayne Jarrett because Keyshawn said Jarrett wasn't ready for the NFL. Now? Jarrett's on Keyshawn's old team. Sports are amazing, sometimes.

Either way, best of luck to Keyshawn in the future. I always liked him.

Bulls-Heat: !!!

Even with my head swollen from the buzz that is the NFL Draft, I owe it to the Bulls to write about last night's tremendous game.

There really is a lot to say, but I don't know if I have the words. It was probably one of the most complete games the Bulls have played all season. And it was on the freaking road! They just kept scrapping, and digging, and giving their best effort -- basically being the antithesis of what Miami Heat basketball is all about -- and although the Heat looked unbeatable during stretches, the Bulls were able to overcome Miami's scoring binges and put the game away with slightly more ease than I expected.

Deng was a little streakier than usual, but he got the job done. Hinrich and Gordon played the way they needed to play, especially on defense. And it can't be overstated how important to this team Ben Wallace is. There's a lot of people at ESPN who seem to think that keeping Tyson Chandler (who I pretty much only refer to as T-Chan...because I hate him) would have been a better move for Chicago, but being someone who watches the Bulls regularly, they're wrong.

Sure, T-Chan averaged more points and more rebounds playing with a great point guard on a non-playoff team, and maybe the Bulls did overpay a little bit, but with someone like Ben Wallace, stats kind of go out the window. Last year's playoffs spawned what I liked to call the "Two-Two" rule for T-Chan. Two fouls, two minutes. He was so glaringly ineffective at guarding Shaq that he basically fouled his way off the court every single time Skiles put him in. The Chicago Bulls picked up Wallace for these situations, and you say what you want about T-Chan's stats, but right now, Big Ben and his amazing defense/playmaking are likely headed to the second round, while Two-Two-T-Chan is sitting at home.

Sounds like a decent deal to me.

The question now is, when do the Bulls close out the series? Game 4? Game 5?

I said before if the Heat went down three games, they'd probably end up giving up, and you know what? I'm gonna stick by that.

Bust out the brooms, Bulls in 4.

We'll see.

Bulls-Heat: So Far, So Great

Wow, what an impressive win for the Grown Up Bulls. (Up 2-0 on the Heat, heading into tomorrow' game in Miami).

Favorite highlights from Game 2:

• Noc's sick seven straight points to close out the first quarter. The look on Ty Thomas' face when he first passed the ball to Noc was amazing, but it got even better after Noc hit the three at the buzzer. Watching those two interact is absolutely amazing.
• Speaking of Ty Thomas, how about Alonzo Mourning obliterating Thomas when he tried to sky over him for an attempted dunk. The veteran really put the rookie in his place -- I'm just glad Thomas didn't get hurt.
• Thabo being able to shoot the ball a little bit -- always nice to see.
• Hinrich getting things going a little bit. He wasn't dominant, but he was a lot more impressive than his dud Game 1. Dude still needs to work on staying out of foul trouble, though. Always happy to see him get his assists.
• The Bulls literally running the Heat ragged with screens and motion. I really think Miami is fading into the dreaded 'not-care' zone.
• Luol Deng: The surge continues.

Before the contest MJD at the AOL FanHouse predicted a Bulls victory, but he also followed it up something that really stuck with me: "And in Game 3, the Heat will still feel like 20-point favorites."

You know what? They kind of do feel like favorites. As confident as I felt about the Bulls winning Game 3, Alonzo Mourning said this, and again, It got me thinking:

"You guys [the media] can write what you want to write, and that's fantastic. You've got to do what you've got to do, and that's appease the public. But the bottom line is we're the world champions, and the first team that wins four games moves on. And that has not happened."

You know what? Mourning's right. The Miami Heat are the defending NBA Champions, and as dreadful as they've looked at times during this series, there's no reason to write them off, especially going into consecutive home games. That's not to say I'm forecasting some type of Bulls collapse -- I'm not -- but let's just say I'll be singing a much, much happier tune if the Bulls somehow go up 3-0.

But the way the NBA works, and homecourt works, and champions work, the task is daunting, to say the least.

Bulls-Heat: So Far, So Good

I really had to force myself out of writing a headline that said something using a play on of the word "heat," but I guess I was able to manage. I couldn't imagine being a headline writer for a Miami newspaper. Those hilarious/goofy headlines are just too easy not to use.

Anyways, I look at the series score, and I see:
Bulls- 1
Heat- 0

To me, that doesn't give a lot space to complain -- and I don't plan on it.........yet.

There have been a few things about this series that I've really enjoyed.

• Luol freaking Deng: The man from The Sudan has lived up to my always sky-high expectations of him. He's been my favorite player in the NBA for a full season now, and I think the rest of the league is finally starting to take notice (What took so long?!). He's finishing when he takes it to the basket, he's exploiting his match-up against D-Wade, and most importantly, he's leading the team in scoring. I really hope Deng can keep things going throughout this series. Seeing him in an All-Star uni next year would be stellar.
• Thabo Sefalosha: I've always been high on Thabo since his first game of the regular season against Miami on opening night. I thought he'd have a chance to contend for Rookie of the Year if he got the minutes. Obviously he didn't play well enough to deserve those minutes, but he's really coming into his own of late. He's always been great at defense, and apparently Scott Skiles is taking notice. What stood out to me was when Kirk Hinrich picked up his fourth foul in the 3rd quarter, and Skiles put in Thabo over Chris Duhon. It showed trust in the rook, and we're going to need him if we wanna take down the defending champs. Did you know Thabo's wingspan is 7'0''? Yeah, crazy!
• Shaq: The big fella's upset, and after fouling out in Game 1, he's already calling out the refs in his post-game interviews. It's the same every year. It's tough to officiate someone so big, powerful, and dominant. I feel for him, but at the same time, the question remains: is this whining going to turn into more motivation or a series-losing excuse fest?
• Mi-apathy: Do these guys care? Shaq and D-Wade seem to be invested, but after Game 1, Pat "The Devil" Riley told reporters that he instructed Wade to bank in a three for the last second attempt to tie the game. To me, Riley is too loose -- he just doesn't take these Bulls seriously. I know it worked last year, but I don't think this year's team has the same "it" that this current team does. They can't continuously treat the regular season like a joke and just expect to turn it on for the playoffs. I really think if they hit a two or three game deficit, the roof might just cave in on the team and they'll fully give up. They just seem like quitters, to me. (Again, excluding Shaq and Wade.)
• The Chicago crowd: This is the homer in me, but the good folks at the UC really turned it on for Game 1. From resurrecting the "No-ci-oni" free throw cheer from 2004, to shamelessly riding James "Public Enemy No. 1" Posey with a chorus of constant boos that culminated in Posey getting a technical while sitting on the bench, to cheering at all the right moments (like Ty Thomas' blocks and alley-oop), that was, in my opinion, the best crowd for an NBA game I have ever seen in a long, long time.

That's all I gots for now.

Tune in Tuesday for Game 2. I don't expect a let down. That is, I think the Bulls will continue to turn up the ... heat?

Haha, I knew I couldn't go a whole post.