FanPost

04. Deng Good: The View from Chicago

Snips and clips from the Chicago camp, plus:

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  • Big Green Ducks
  • Second City
  • The Giants and the A's
  • Haiku Game Review
  • Blazers/Bulls Recap Blog-a-Bull style
  • Popcorn Machine + TBJ

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(1)

Deng scores career-best 40 in Bulls' victory

by K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune

Ninety minutes before tipoff, Luol Deng reclined on the locker-room floor, watching some film, not a care in the world.

"I'm not happy about my start offensively," Deng said. "But I'm also not worried because I know it will come around." * * *

Monday night at the United Center, Deng dazzled at both in the Bulls' 110-98 victory over the previously undefeated Trail Blazers.

From the moment an active Deng stole a pass from Andre Miller and scored on a fast break early to the last of his career-high 40 points, the senior Bull put to rest questions about his slow start. * * *

 

(2)

Game Preview #3: Pritchslappys at Bulls

by Ozzie Montana, Blog-a-Bull (SBN)

Ah, Portland. The anointed "Team on the rise with young, humble talent that makes you warm inside" for the past several years have gone relatively unnoticed since every blogger and sportswriter in existence has decided that Kevin Durant is in fact a holy union of Jesus and Krishna. But as one of the remaining undefeated teams they present another formidable challenge for our offensively challenged Bulls. Will Chicago flash that gumption we saw against Detroit or will we be treated to another November massacre at the hands of Portland? * * *

Visit Blazersedge to remember just how amazing we are. Those mongrels think being nice to one another and avoiding cussing is an admirable trait.

 

(3)

Rapid Reaction: Bulls 110, Blazers 98

by Nick Friedell, ESPN Chicago- Bulls blog

* * *
After struggling the past two games to find his shot, Luol Deng broke out of his mini-funk in a major way, scoring a career-high 40 points and providing a consistent offensive option alongside Derrick Rose.

At times, it looked like Deng could get whatever shot he wanted and his ability to knock down those jumpers opened up the floor for the rest of his teammates.

Rose had another solid night, scoring 16 points and dishing out 13 assists while Joakim Noah added another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. * * *


(4)

Luol Deng Totally Redeems Himself

by Doug Thonus, Bulls Confidential

A couple days after emotional Bulls fans declared James Johnson the new Bulls starting SF, Luol Deng responds with 40 points on 14/19 shooting, 3/5 from the three point line, and 9/11 from the charity stripe. * * *

Joakim Noah struggled through foul trouble and was abused, like everyone on the team, by LaMarcus Aldridge. You know Noah has arrived when he throws up 10 points, 10 boards, a block, and 4 assists, and you think he had a pretty poor night. It goes to show how quickly we've come to rely on him. I'm not sure if his defense was really that bad as much as Aldridge simply had it going tonight though, and he wasn't matched up on Aldridge all night, so he certainly wasn't solely responsible. * * *

 

(5)

Maurice Lucas Should Have Led Bulls to '75 Title

by Sam Smith, Bulls.com

* * *
Lucas, a star at Marquette, was a first round pick of the Bulls before that season in 1974. The Bulls had traded the underachieving Howard Porter to the Knicks for the No. 1 pick, those being less valued in that era.

The Bulls selected Lucas in what everyone believed would be the run to the championship. The Bulls were coming off a 54-win season and knocked off in the playoffs by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Bucks when Jerry Sloan was hurt.

The team tried to talk Wilt Chamberlain out of retirement that summer, and was close. And things later would finally begin to break for the Bulls as Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand in preseason punching the basket stanchion.

Unable, finally, to get Chamberlain, the Bulls made what was then regarded as the blockbuster of the summer with a deal for Nate Thurmond. The dominant center was coming off his seventh All Star appearance after averaging 13 points and 14 rebounds, but the Warriors were facing financial problems. * * *

 

(6)

Game Ball to Luol

posted by HomoSapien to RealGM Bulls message board

Game ball goes to Luol Deng. What a night for the guy and I'm glad to see him bounce back and play like a stud.

I talked about this in the game thread, but this game is evidence that Luol Deng can be good. The bottom line is that we need him to contribute in the fourth quarter. Outside of Rose, he's the only one capable of consistently scoring in the fourth.

Lately I've heard this new thing about how Deng's skillset prevents him from contributing when the defense tightens up. Hogwash. There isn't a single player that can score 16-19 points through three quarters and contribute nearly nothing in the fourth. There's no reason to make up such excuses for him and there's also no reason to discredit his abilities. Deng, as you saw tonight, is good enough to be an impact player for four quarters. Today he showed it. * * *

 

(7)

Annoying to Watch

posted by Dimez to RealGM message board

The game was getting annoying to watch with all those fouls being called. Too many touch fouls and make up calls.

Rose took what the defense gave him and distributed the ball. Loul was aggressive early and often. He was a beast in the first half. He took his foot off the gas in the second half though. Rose found him in the corner and wing for wide open 3s and got his points that way.

Hopefully Deng got the message that he needs to play well and consistently because JJ can take his minutes. Keep it up Deng. I'd like to see him get 20+ ppg while Boozer is out. If not, Derrick will have to score 30+ to keep the Bulls in ball games.

Good win for the Bulls against a pretty good team. I want the Bulls to win 30+ games at home this season.

 

(8)

And Some People Wanted Rudy Can't Shoot Fernandez

posted by Judrix to ESPN Bulls message board

That guy has a horrible attitude and cannot play NBA ball.

 

(9)

Game 3 Recap: Bulls 110, Blazers 98

by Matt McHale, By the Horns (TrueHoop)

I wish this game could have taken a place one day earlier. After all, Halloween would have been a much more appropriate time for Luol Deng to return from the basketball grave.

It's not that Deng's game had died in the literal sense. However, he didn't play particularly well in the Bulls' season opening loss in Oklahoma City (13 points, 5-for-13, 2 rebounds) and he seemed virtually nonexistent in Chicago's home opener against the Pistons (9 points, 2-for-10). In fact, Luol was benched during the fourth quarter of the Detroit game in favor of James Johnson. And, frankly, it was deserved. JJ was playing much better.

So, once again, Deng was left for dead by Bulls fans. * * *

 

(10)

Bulls Make it Two W's in a Row Against Undefeated Blazers (110-98)

by Dave Pustilnik, Da Bulls' Eye (Bloguin)

Yeah...you know what that is right there? Luol Deng's audition tape to be traded. In all honesty...probably not. But I wish.

For the Bulls fans who have consistently watched Deng throughout the years...let's not kid ourselves. We know this is a mirage. Next game, he'll revert to his 16 point, 6 rebound, 8-20 from the field, 2 points in the fourth quarter self. Sure, nights like tonight are great. They're also incredibly rare.

The Bulls shot 61% from the field. Trust me...they will not top that this season. They will only come near it maybe one or two more times. They wholly and fully relied on the long two's that so doomed them last season. And Deng's performance was a big part of that. 14-19 from the field? Gimme a break. Not gonna happen aain all season. * * *

 

(11)

Bulls have Deng good time in beating Blazers

by Sam Smith, Bulls.com

* * *

Rose, who was averaging 33.5 points per game to lead the league, had 16 and a career high equaling 13 assists, though the defensive trapping did cause six turnovers.

But the offense flowed smoothly with 11 players scoring, Korver getting 11 and Gibson 12. Joakim Noah had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"I played with a lot of players who scored 40 and they shot a lot of shots, shot free throws," said Korver. "There was a different feel to this, slashing to the basket, getting out on the break. He got 40 points, but it wasn't any iso's. It wasn't like we were standing around watching. If I were guessing, I'd say Lu had 24, 25. It didn't feel like the ball was going to him. When you can score 40 points and you're not even the first option, that's a pretty good deal. * * *

 

The Bottom LIne:

1. So you Portlanders really thought you were going to roll us up in this game, huh?

2. Even without Boozer, this is a good team. Rose is a legitimate superstar-in-training and Noah is one of the smoothest ballhandling big men in the game.

3. How about Luol Deng snapping out of his funk in a big way? Timely and nice...

The Big Green Ducks.

Well, Phil Knight's team has cleared one of its last formidable obstacles with an impressive come-from-behind-and-stomped-'em 53-32 win over USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Despite having scheduled a bunny-butt-soft set of non-conference games, the Big Green Ducks would now seem to be in control of their own destinies for a January play date with some Southerners for an NCAA title. Boise State is envious.

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Now bear in mind that I am not really a college football fan. If you've lived in Corvallis as long as I have, including the 22 straight losing years for Oregon State, at some point you shut your brain off to the sport. We Corvallisites have historically asked of our Beaver football team only three things:

1. Stay out of jail. We don't need burglars, rapists, or thugs on the team, we can lose 10 games perfectly well without them.

2. Don't embarrass yourselves on national TV. It's okay to lose, just don't lose 72-to-zero, punting on third down and making our town the object of laughter.

3. Beat the god damned Ducks. Self-explanatory.

I must admit that most Corvallis folk seem to have raised their expectations over the past decade to include winning seasons and bowl appearances. I remain Old School on the matter, however. Keep it clean, don't be a joke, beat the Ducks...

I watch PRO football, see, which inevitably makes me a Trojan fan — a glorified NFL farm team that runs a pro-style offense with next season's pro players. Indeed, USC has given and given and given to the National Football League, up to the point that this year it finally caught up with them. I speak not just in terms of the well publicized NCAA probation for improprieties related to undersized trophy-winning halfbacks, but also in terms of absolute depletion of experienced defensive players which has rendered the team mortal.

Indeed, the Trojans have been consistently bad on D this season, at least up till the one game prior to the Ducks' visit, during which they seemed to flip the proverbial switch.

I don't even like all professional football, truth be told. I like to watch the good offenses, with the Colts and the Chargers being my main squeezes. I also like to watch ex-Charger Drew Brees do his thing for the Saints. Gimme a good offense and I'm a happy guy. I can appreciate a classic defense, mind you, like the Superbowl Shuffle Bears or Ray Lewis and his Baltimore Ravens crew when they were crushing all comers, but spending 3 hours to watch a 3-0 game is called soccer or baseball, not football.

Okay, you're up to speed, now it's time for True Confessions...

This is really embarrassing for me to admit — as a certified Corvallis-dwelling Nike Duck hater that doesn't give a crap about college football — but I, ummmmm, REALLY like watching the University of Oregon football team this year. There is something downright revolutionary about that offense, and I offer this this from an offensively-oriented pro football fan's perspective...

It has to do with pace. Peyton Manning and the Colts play at a sometimes frenetic tempo, but the Ducks run plays with the speed of chess masters who can win six games at once against the clock. Peyton and the Colts play fast to limit or stop situational substitutions by the opposition; the Ducks run an offense which can only be equated to 7 Seconds or Less D'Antoni ball — an extreme accelerated full-throttle anti-personnel blast which vaporizes the ability of their defensive opponents to even compete by the 4th Quarter.

It's so different that it's just plain fascinating.

I'm also intrigued by Head Coach Chip Kelly's unique decision-making with respect to 2 point conversions, 4th down tries, and (to a lesser extent) onside kicks. The dude is an outside the box football theoretician and like I say, that is...... just plain fascinating.

I will continue to confess my sins: I've seen major parts of every Ducks game this year... (God, really? Yeah, really, I think so... That's sick.) I've missed a couple Trojan games, watched Wisconsin twice, and sat through the Beavers once. I'm not a Duck fan, I just like watching the Ducks. Okay?!?

I still don't really give a crap about college football and I still hope that the Beavers pull the big upset and slay Nike and thereby create an implosion that swallows Eugene into a black hole from which not even light can escape...

I just really, really like watching the Ducks this year...

(Oh, god, I need a beer...)

 

*   *   *

 

Second City.

The NBA is pulling some pretty funny scheduling this year. The Portland Trail Blazers get to visit, in rapid succession, the three Big Boppers of urban America: Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago.

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Now, admittedly, the LA visit didn't feature the real Los Angeles team, but rather Donald Sterling's perennially screwed up San Diego Clippers comedy show, but still — Los Angeles, New York, Chicago to open the year... That's pretty weird, isn't it?

I've driven back and forth across the country five times in the last dozen or so years, always across the northern part of the US due to the fact that I travel with my dog — first the late, great, separation anxiety-ridden Snorkel Bob, most recently with the pigheaded funster Bingo Billy. Hot weather and golden retrievers don't get along, thus the northern route.

It is absolutely impossible to efficiently get from one side of this country to the other via the northern route without going through the Chicago metropolitan area. It sits like a big fat blob at the butt end of Lake Michigan and all toll roads lead to Rome. Sure, you can dodge it by driving the Michigan Upper Peninsula (I've done that twice), assuming you don't mind 50 mph speed limits or driving a much longer route; or you can go even farther north and drive the Trans-Canada Highway (I've done that once); or you can dodge it by missing way to the south, which implies you have to drive way back north again to get where you're going (I've done that, too, a couple times).

The bottom line is this: you're pretty much gonna go through Chicago if you try getting from here to there or from there to here more than once or twice. One can't duck it forever.

I almost stopped and got out of the truck this last summer. I made the acquaintance of a comrade in Chicago who had just finished his dissertation and was gonna spend a day or two with him, but my timing was off by a week. He was in Michigan getting ready for his wedding while I was heading for that state. So it goes.

So even though I've been through it or near it several times, this is all I can tell you about Chicago: it's really big, the traffic is really crappy (worse than New York), and they're gonna nail you for about $8 or $10 in road tolls for the privilege of driving through or around their fat blob of a city on the butt end of Lake Michigan.

I've heard it said that Chicago has its appeal, sort of like New York. I dunno, I can't say. I don't like hotdogs that much. I always try to dodge it en route to my favorite places — Wisconsin and Michigan.

Theory: I don't reckon the Blazers were as distracted by their environment for the Bulls game as they were when they faced the Knicks.

 

*   *   *

 

The Giants and the A's.

The San Francisco Giants have gone up 3 games to 1 in the World Series. I know this because I saw it on SportsCenter, not because I have watched a game or because I care. I haven't  seen a baseball game for three full seasons, nor have I attended a game in four.  I have simply given up on the sport. Screw you, Bud Selig.

I didn't always feel like this about the so-called national pastime, however. I was actually a fairly huge baseball fan when I was a kid in Northern California, collecting massive numbers of bubblegum cards (cards used to come with a stick of really crappy gum back in the day) and attending games in the Bay Area with the Youth Advisor of the Eureka United Methodist Church, an overloud red-haired walrus of a man that my parents and I used to cattily call "Chuckie Baby" behind his back.

Giantsfans_mediumI'm sure that there were more than a few tongues that wagged in the church — this middle-aged man making half a dozen trips to San Francisco each summer with young boys in tow. Back in the days before multi-million dollar payouts by the Catholic Church for the sexual malfeasance of its employees, this unconventional state of affairs wasn't seen as an urgent matter calling for intervention of church officials. It was good old Chuck, well established and well known, a rather homely bachelor who claimed to be in need of companionship for the long drive and willing to split motel costs with willing kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to see a baseball game.

San Francisco and Oakland was where the teams were, so that's where Chuck and the boys went. QED.

Would you let your kids go on such a trip?

My parents didn't seem to have a problem with it. I probably went to SF eight or ten times with Chuckie Baby over the years. I was in junior high — 14, 15, 16, thereabouts — old enough to take care of myself.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," Freud is said to have said. Sometimes a middle-aged man taking young boys to San Francisco to watch professional baseball because he's a lonely person that wants company during the 5 hour drive is just a middle-aged man taking boys to baseball games.

Chuck was straight, we were straight (or at least celibate, I don't reckon I can speak for the orientation of everyone who ever went), and nothing improper ever happened, unless you count the inevitable sexual proposition or two that would be made to teenage boys in the company of a middle-aged man pretty clearly not their father in San Francisco back in the middle 1970s. I mean, seriously, virtually every single trip at least one dude would make a pitch. I think one trip I got hit on four times, either in fast food restaurants or walking on Fisherman's Wharf, which was a mandatory stop on each visit.

Chuck wasn't oblivious, we always talked about these things. Dudes trolling for boys thought he was a "chicken hawk" working as a pimp, he observed. But he wasn't. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Chuck covered himself in this way: he always took 2 or 3 boys to games with him, never ever only one, because that would open up the possibility of a "he said - he said" situation. He felt there was safety in numbers.

Anyway, I was always an A's fan. Oakland was not only a better team in the 1970s, but if you've ever sat in both the Oakland Coliseum in the sun to watch baseball played on grass and then sat in the Candlestick Park wind tunnel to watch games played on astroturf amidst blowing trash and seagulls, it was the only rational affiliation. But Chuck was a Giants fan, through and through. He'd go watch either team, depending on his schedule and who was in town, but it was the exploits of the National Leaguers who really warmed his soul.

Finally in 2010 the Giants are moving towards what will likely be their first World Championship since their move from New York City to San Francisco in 1958. This news has affected me. I found myself thinking back to my boyhood and to the dedication of the greatest, truest Giants fan I have ever known — Chuckie Baby.

On Sunday evening, I decided to try to track down Chuck to congratulate him. After all these years, after all the ten hour road trips, after tens or hundreds of thousands of miles traveled and untold thousands of dollars spent, his faith as a fan was about to be finally rewarded. I wanted to thank him for sharing the sport with me. I didn't ever really have a chance to do that properly and was looking forward to talking to him and catching up on his life.

Charles R. Hilgeman died in Eureka, California on September 4, 2008.

He was 67 years old at the time of his death.

Go get 'em, Giants!

 

*   *   *

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If given a name

Other than Rose, I wonder

Would he be as quick?

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Game 4.

Blazers 98 at Bulls 110.

November 1, 2010.

Blazers record is now 3-1, Bulls 2-1.

There's an old saying in the creative arts — "Always steal from the best." I'm not sure to whom that quote is credited, but no doubt whomever people think said it first nicked it from someone... Regardless, it's good advice.

To this I would add that failing the opportunity to swipe something relatively fresh from someone on the cutting edge, one should make like a veteran second grade teacher and to recycle those old lesson plans.

See where I'm going with this?

Yes, it's true — the Blazer Circus has pitched its tent in Chicago, and that means it's time to pay a visit once again to The Angriest Place on Earth™®, SBN's own Blog-a-Bull. These misanthropes turn pathological rage into an art form. It's a pity that the foulness of their fury has to be bowdlerized here.

Bedgers seeking to experience the full measure of the Chicago fans' wrath in all its pottymouthed glory are advised to check out Blog-a-Bull's GAME DAY OPEN THREAD, which is always entertaining.

Take it away, Blog-a-Bullies!

    Blazers at Bulls Gamethread 1

    by Sports2 on Nov 1, 2010 5:00 PM PDT

    Don't get too loud, the sound might break Greg Oden's bones...

There are unbroken oden bones?

by sin on Nov 1, 2010 5:02 PM PDT

Fans should give Rudy a huge ovation when he enters the game
Really make the kid feel at home

by Option27 on Nov 1, 2010 5:02 PM PDT

Brandon Roy is good, but he's another one of those guys that just runs into people
That stuff really irritates me

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 5:13 PM PDT

Rose.....where amazing happens!

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 5:21 PM PDT

Noah is going for a triple double tonight

by sin on Nov 1, 2010 5:25 PM PDT

D Rose you are ridiculous!

by dsenchi on Nov 1, 2010 5:32 PM PDT

Damn.... their bigs can shoot.

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 5:35 PM PDT

Noah is feasting on the boards!

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 5:37 PM PDT

I hate being up big early
These leads never last

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 5:39 PM PDT

LOL. Better than being down early.
But I know exactly what you're talking about.

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 5:40 PM PDT

How many times do teams hit buzzer-beating shots against us at the end of a quarter? EVERY TIME!

by Illini15 on Nov 1, 2010 5:42 PM PDT

Bulls shooting 60% in the first quarter
Blazers shooting 33.3%, only 6 FTs taken, no threes

by OwlNotebook on Nov 1, 2010 5:43 PM PDT

53 points in the first quarter
Bulls doing a great job of keeping them from playing snoozefest blazers basketball

by reprisal on Nov 1, 2010 5:43 PM PDT

Scal just lost Aldridge there. Go back to the bench.

by Illini15 on Nov 1, 2010 5:55 PM PDT

Scal makes me wanna turn the TV off, [obscene interjection] this [vulgar euphemism]!

by Option27 on Nov 1, 2010 5:55 PM PDT

[Obscene imperative] you Scal.
Sit your fat ass down!

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 5:56 PM PDT

Thank god Portland is shooting [comparative vulgarism] than the Bulls

by Bin Bin on Nov 1, 2010 5:57 PM PDT

If we don't win by 30
I'm gonna rip Thibs' nuts off

by Trey23 on Nov 1, 2010 5:58 PM PDT

Derrick's three pointer is still broke.

by dakoose on Nov 1, 2010 6:05 PM PDT

Crap, its down to ten
careful guys

by dsenchi on Nov 1, 2010 6:05 PM PDT

Portland's a good team...all good teams make runs.

by mike085 on Nov 1, 2010 6:06 PM PDT

Miller is like that old guy at the YMCA

by SoulEater7 on Nov 1, 2010 6:06 PM PDT

Taj is such a foul machine
it's terrible

by Cosmis on Nov 1, 2010 6:06 PM PDT

Aldridge is destroying us

by Illini15 on Nov 1, 2010 6:12 PM PDT

 

HALFTIME SCORE: BULLS 56, BLAZERS 47

 

Blazers at Bulls Gamethread 2

by Sports2 on Nov 1, 2010 6:00 PM PDT

Wherein we find out if Luol Deng's soft, gumby-like, bendable bones are superior to Greg Oden's peanut brittle hard ones...

Scalabrine kills us again:
He just can't do anything. Shoot, pass, defend, rebound. He turns the ball over, gets lost on defense.

Question for the board:

Which player in the NBA is worse?

by MPG on Nov 1, 2010 6:02 PM PDT

We are winning by 9pts over a good team
Without Derrick doing much except pass, and with Boozer in street clothes, and fouls (again going against us) I think this is a very good game for us right now, even though we were leading by 17 a few minutes ago and it's down to 9.

by BullsFan22 on Nov 1, 2010 6:18 PM PDT

Second half could be scary
I doubt Lu keeps up his production, and if Derrick doesn't turn it on, where are we gonna get our offense? And I think Roy is due to break out.

by Downtown13 on Nov 1, 2010 6:19 PM PDT

Am I the only one here...
that gets a migraine when Lamarcus Aldridge plays the Bulls? Oh what could have been...

by W NWDOTCOM on Nov 1, 2010 6:13 PM PDT

Taj and rebounds are not good friends

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 6:36 PM PDT

Roy is a whiny douchebag

by Illini15 on Nov 1, 2010 6:38 PM PDT

Interesting....
Only once in his first two years in the league did Derrick Rose attempt more than 25 shots in a game. He's already done it twice this season. Tom Thibodeau says that's what's needed in Carlos Boozer's absence, but it's no coincidence that the ball movement we saw in the preseason has gone missing.

by BullsFan22 on Nov 1, 2010 6:39 PM PDT

Deng going for 50

by sin on Nov 1, 2010 6:39 PM PDT

Might want to try playing D yourself instead of complaining B Roy

by dsenchi on Nov 1, 2010 6:39 PM PDT

Everyone needs to realize how awesome Noah has been at defending the pick and roll this game
He has to be the best big man in the game at doing that. He can seriously guard positions 1-5.

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 6:43 PM PDT

Bulls shooting 63.3% on the night so far
Blazers a paltry 36.5

by OwlNotebook on Nov 1, 2010 6:47 PM PDT

Roy looks like garbage

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 6:50 PM PDT

Rose > Roy

by Dils on Nov 1, 2010 6:51 PM PDT

Wow, 71% shooting (this quarter, I assume)
Great stuff

by Saracenn on Nov 1, 2010 6:54 PM PDT

Rose 15 and 10 in 28 minutes
Deng 32 points in 26 minutes and on 17 shots

get the kleenex

by OwlNotebook on Nov 1, 2010 6:55 PM PDT

I like Wes Matthews
but Lu is burying him tonight

by Cosmis on Nov 1, 2010 6:57 PM PDT

[Obscene imperative] you Roy
Play basketball, not this dribble into people crap

by Trey23 on Nov 1, 2010 6:57 PM PDT

Man this has been long overdue, Blazers been kicking our butts the past couple of years

by Juan dela Cruz on Nov 1, 2010 7:00 PM PDT

Am I the only one that hates Roy's game?
All he does is try to crash into people and make and-1s while he constantly complains to refs. Dude is annoying.

by Illini15 on Nov 1, 2010 7:02 PM PDT

I like parts of his game, but his whining tonight has been incessant and obnoxious. He should have been T'd up by now.

by fundamentallysound on Nov 1, 2010 7:02 PM PDT

Rose is slowly becoming a top-15 player
Deng is returning. Noah is amazing, JJ is developing, and Asik is playing well. Couldn't be happier.

by Stacey_Is_King on Nov 1, 2010 7:03 PM PDT

Anyone still want Rudy?

by Dils on Nov 1, 2010 7:08 PM PDT

To re place Scal on the bench.

by Slyhigh on Nov 1, 2010 7:08 PM PDT

Is this even a basketball game anymore, or am I watching a referee themed television show?

by Juiceboxjerry on Nov 1, 2010 7:09 PM PDT

Aldridge has 30 tonight
but for some reason he just doesn't seem that good to me.

by Stacey_Is_King on Nov 1, 2010 7:15 PM PDT

He plays a similar game to Bosh.

Just not nearly as good of a rebounder.

by Cosmis on Nov 1, 2010 7:16 PM PDT

Career High, Luol

by Bin Bin on Nov 1, 2010 7:22 PM PDT

Jesus Christ 55 fouls combined

by OwlNotebook on Nov 1, 2010 7:22 PM PDT

Brandon Roy's game is ugly

by Bullsarenumber1 on Nov 1, 2010 7:22 PM PDT

If by ugly you mean smart..
Then I agree.

by Khalid El-Amin on Nov 1, 2010 7:23 PM PDT

What happened to Golden Boy Nico Batum?
Did Deng destroy him offensively and defensively?

by Dr. Handsome, D.D.S. on Nov 1, 2010 7:27 PM PDT

yikes!!!
Trail Blazers going on a slop induced run.

by JockstrapNoah on Nov 1, 2010 7:28 PM PDT

If Roy buries us with a buzzer beater, im going on a kill spree

by mrdope on Nov 1, 2010 7:30 PM PDT

KORVER
Thank you for that. I owe you a milkshake. If you're a good boy I'll let you have bourbon in it too

by OwlNotebook on Nov 1, 2010 7:34 PM PDT

 

FINAL SCORE: BULLIES 110, BLAZERS 98... No "kill spree" tonight by Mr. Dope...

 

Let's take at this thang graphically, shall we?

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Ya gotta click THIS-HERE LINK to see the swell graphs, that's the way these things work... Ready? Set??? GO!!!

Now here are a few observations about the Popcorn Machine material from me to you:

A. A 12-2 Chicago run early in the first quarter and the Blazers never really threatened after that. Is there really anything else to analyze?

B. Luke Babbitt saw action tonight. That's either very good news or very bad news. The latter this time.

C. Sweet Wesley was game low in Plus/Minus at Minus 15.

D. Luol Deng had 16 points in the 1st Quarter and 16 points in the 3rd Quarter.

E. The vaunted Blazers' 4th Quarter run was just 7 points tonight. Which is fine if you're trailing by 2.

 

 

Finally, let's gather round for another installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD, eh?

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    Photo credits: LaMichael James: Mark J. Terrill, AP. Sears Tower: Daniel Schwen, Wikipedia, Creative Commons share-alike 3.0. Giants Fans: Christian Petersen, Getty Images.

    All images tweaked hard in Photoshop by Tim Davenport.