I taped the San Antonio game on Wednesday, but after seeing that the Bulls blew a lead and Larry Hughes played 39 minutes...decided against watching it.

Glad I didn't see it, because instead of being soured I was instead starving for red hot Bulls action after a 4-day layoff (I guess technically the circus trip was over already). And after a slow start, the Bulls put in their best game of the season in this blowout of the Sixers.

Drew Gooden was spectacular and outplayed Elton Brand, not only hitting jumpers but scoring in a variety of ways inside. It was crucial early as he was the only one providing offense (rough start from who's usually in charge of the scoring, Ben Gordon) in an otherwise terrible first quarter.

Derrick Rose closed out the half in spectacular fashion, and after he and Gooden were joined by a reheated Gordon in a 33-11 third quarter beatdown, the game was in control.

Nearly everyone played well: Tyrus Thomas had a solid first-half stint, and Vinny rewarded him (that's cred to Vinny, though I'd actually prefer entitlement minutes instead of reward minutes) with more in the 2nd. Noah got the start and while his conditioning issues are more annoying by the game, he at least was active when he wasn't wheezing. Even Larry Hughes had a good game, showing good shot selection in going 4-6 from three, putting the game out of reach as the Sixers didn't show much care in closing out on shooters in general.

I don't think it's bad fandom to expect not only victories but victories with the way I want them, and this just felt like a more meaningful win than the others on the circus trip.  And especially nice to see, considering the growing consensus that this team's non-terrible record was enough to be content even though it's been mostly terrible (non-Rose) basketball.

But after a game where Rose is (once again) sensational, the other scorers are not just playing alongside him but with him, the young bigs don't stink (and Nocioni's abandoned when showing he doesn't have it), Hughes and Gray don't start (though Gray was the 6th man...rotation can never be perfect I guess)...

...I'm now very excited for some easy stretches of schedule.

I'll post the overflow thread at 9:30.

via d.yimg.com

First regarding the final hero of the night, Larry Hughes. Finally, all of those forced up leaning 22 foot jump-shots paid off. He's practiced that in any situation, with any group of teammates, and against any opponent. So he knew how to get it done as the clock (which he couldn't even see as the Jazz arena was a joke tonight) expired. May this get you traded after all, good work!

But this was a game that was truly won by Derrick Rose. Faced with daunting odds: not only the Utah Jazz, but his own coach who left out an atrocious defensive lineup and ran out of time outs, Rose was sensational down the stretch. Beating his man at will and letting the Jazz do what they do best, foul.

This could've played out like any other blown lead over the past several seasons due to mismanagement (why do our coaches not value rebounding and defense in crunch time?), but that's the difference when you have a player like Rose, who can make something happen on every possession, even if they're disorganized ones.

The Jazz were without most of their team tonight, but a win in their arena is still a nice prize. They catch another break with the similarly (though Manu is back) banged-up Spurs on Wednesday. So while it may not be a pretty road trip, and this team is still pretty much a mess...the results may be successful after all.

Other random real-quick observations:

Good: Tyrus played a lot more than he had the previous few games, did some decent non-scoring work. Gray had some key offensive rebounds. Noc did hit a couple shots in the 4th to partially mitigate his damage on the other end.

Bad: Tyrus had only 2 points. Him and Noah were again buried at the end. Gray was out a bit too long. Thabo got a DNP.

Terrible: Luol Deng. What the hell was that? Either he's still hurt, or he really is lost. Up there with Tyrus' jump shot early in the season, Luol's one-on-one play is something that was worked on over the summer but is now being showcased to the team's detriment.

Awesome: Rose! and any Circus Trip victory.

Mostly unsubstantiated, since I don't have much time. And there's a game tonight anyway...

Vinny's going small way too often, and sometimes following it up with going suck. He had Rose/Gordon/Hunter/Noc/Gooden for nearly 6 minutes,  then brought back Larry Hughes and Aaron Gray to close it out. So basically re-read this post, replacing 'starting' with 'finishing'.

I thought Gordon and Rose had their best game together. It wasn't merely taking turns, there were spots when they were creating for eachother. That was neat.

It kept them in the game (plus some poor Denver FT shooting), and it's some solace that they hung around against a better team, but this Vinny thing is trending badly...and had been doing so even when they were getting wins. He brought Larry Hughes and Aaron Gray (who had a good stint earlier, but it should've been appreciated and not tested for a reappearance) back into close a game, so he actually thinks those players can be relied on.

Can Thomas and Noah be relied on? meh, not really. But, hell, they lost anyway, and we still know nothing about if they're going to get untracked this season. I already knew Nocioni couldn't set a proper screen and Gray can't defend the basket.

Maybe he's resting the young bigs knowing that more games against good teams will further destroy their confidence...saving them? or something? Or Vinny really has no plan for the season and is just throwing out whatever works. Or what he thought worked.