Richard Hamilton scored 14 points in his return to The Palace,
and the Chicago Bulls shut down the Detroit Pistons in a 99-83
victory Wednesday night.
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Tag Archives: derrick rose
Rose, Hamilton lead Bulls past Pistons
As Final Pitches Are Made, Carmelo ‘Just Wants It to Be Over With’
Filed under: Knicks, Nets, NBA Rumors, Interviews
LOS ANGELES — There are multiple hats being tipped these days to Carmelo Anthony.
Last weekend, in a move not found in many etiquette books, it was the Denver forward taking a hat off “to myself” for the way he has handled this endless trade speculation. On Sunday night, it was Chicago guard Derrick Rose doing the honors.
“I take my hat off to him,” Rose said in an interview with FanHouse after his East team fell 148-143 to Anthony’s West outfit in the NBA All-Star Game at the Staples Center. “He’s handling the pressure but still playing well. Man, he’s doing good. I definitely couldn’t go through it.”
Perhaps it would elicit a chuckle if Rose was playing off what Anthony had said last weekend, but he said he actually hadn’t read that quote.
Speaking of hats, it’s still up in the air if he’ll soon be donning one for an Atlantic Division team at a press conference as Thursday’s trade deadline approaches. The hours are ticking down before the Nuggets will trade Anthony to New York, try to convince him to agree to a contract extension for a deal to get done with New Jersey, or roll the dice and keep him in Denver.
Then again, with as much craziness as this Anthony situation has had, maybe some other team will throw its hat into the ring
“I just want it to be over with,” Anthony said.
The Works: Midseason Matters
Filed under: 76ers, Bucks, Bulls, Celtics, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Lakers, Spurs, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Wizards, Thunder, The Works
Today in The Works: Who will win the awards?
Eric Freeman: It seems like the voters often decide on their MVP several months before the season ends, so this is as good a time as any. LeBron James has the Heat riding high after a shaky start, and he could end up the winner. But it seems like Derrick Rose‘s year — he’s stepped his game up and the Bulls are looking like contenders. Sometimes, that’s enough to win this award.
Bethlehem Shoals: It seems like everybody is riding high, the way you talk about it. Look, I’m going to give it to you straight: LeBron James is the best player in the game. And after that shaky start, he’s really made that Heat team his own, or at least found a way to assert himself so that every lesser player — including that dynamo Dwyane Wade — ends up following his rhythms. And that’s not a bad thing. James, contrary to popular belief, isn’t a selfish jerk, he does a lot of things on the court and only really takes over when it’s execution time. Derrick Rose? You’ve lost it. Nice year, nice team, but they aren’t there yet. It’s called Most Valuable, not Most Improved.
LeBron Is Peerless, and Not Just in NBA
Filed under: Heat
OK. So LeBron James occasionally has flashed signs this season of having flesh and blood like the rest of us.
Just occasionally, though.
There was Sunday in Boston, for instance, where LeBron wasn’t his clutch self down the stretch at the foul line. Plus, he was hounded into an average scoring game by the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo.
Not only that, courtesy of an 85-82 loss, the Miami Heat continued to show that LeBron and the rest of their Big Two and a Half (Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh) remain a work in progress by losing for the fourth time in five games against one of the NBA’s top teams.
Still, nobody tops LeBron as the Most Valuable Player.
I’m talking about the NBA, of course. But I’m also talking about LeBron as the undisputed MVP among players throughout the four major sports leagues in North America. He still has to find a way to win it all, but that’s a different column. As for this one, nobody is a more significant force for any team in any of those leagues than this defensive end of a basketball player who is transforming the Heat into a championship-caliber bunch for the first time in five years.
Charley Rosen: Has Derrick Rose Passed Deron Williams?
This was only one game out of 82, but during Chicago’s 91-86 win Wednesday in Utah, Derrick Rose demonstrated in convincing fashion that he’s a much better player than Deron Williams.
Rose had 29 points (25 in direct confrontations with Williams) on 11 of 26 shooting, while also registering seven assists and only a single turnover. He blew past D-Will on 10 occasions, usually with super-quick crossovers going either way.
Rose’s combination of speed and strength, coupled with his extraordinary athleticism, was astounding. This particular parley of size and skills also greatly impacted the game on the defensive end. Indeed, Williams tallied only 11 points (5 of 13 shooting) primarily because he struggled to create operating space against Rose’s earnest defense.
When Williams tried to take Rose into the pivot, the latter easily scooted around the former’s seal and poked the entry pass away. Then on a 2-on-1 fast break, Rose’s quickness afoot drew a charge on the surprised Williams.
Despite his domination of his opposite number, however, Rose’s game is far from being flawless. He converted only two of his eight jumpers (enabling Williams to go under most of the high screens offered for Rose’s use), and except for one high-flying put-back and one floater, all of Rose’s buckets were successful layups — indicating that his springer still needs some work.
The Works: Looking for the NBA’s Best Scorer
Filed under: Bulls, Clippers, Heat, Knicks, Lakers, Mavericks, Nuggets, Warriors, Thunder, The Works
Today in The Works: We mock-draft the best scorers in the NBA. Enjoy!
Bethlehem Shoals: Scoring, we have been told, is often fool’s gold. Points are only as good as the percentages behind them. Three rebounds are better than two points. Still, it’s hard to win games without points, and every team needs one big-time scorer. The question I want to discuss is: who is the fairest scorer of them all?
Eric Freeman: It’s a good question and one we should certainly discuss at great length.
The Works: How Joy Division Explains the All-Star Starters
Filed under: NBA All-Star Game, The Works
Today in The Works: Joy Division and the All-Star Game, a match made where time stops moving.
Over at GQ.com, the illustrious Kevin Love has a blog entitled “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. That’s a reference to the mega-gloomy Manchester outfit whose genius lead singer Ian Curtis killed himself at the height of their powers. On the surface, nothing to do with basketball, right? Except Kevin Love himself really likes that title, which got us thinking: What if we picked a Joy Division song that represented each player in this year’s All-Star starting line-ups? Might we not learn something new about these players, this music, and ourselves? And most importantly, would we have so much fun that we would never, ever die, especially not by our own hand?
Charley Rosen: NBA Championship Odds
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Spurs, Trail Blazers, NBA Gambling, Thunder
Thirty teams but only one will win the last game of the season. Which teams, then, have the best chances of emerging as the 2011 champion?
Notwithstanding injuries and radical trades, these are my highly subjective odds-to-win-it-all with only those teams that are currently above .500 being considered.
Boston Celtics 1:2 – This a veteran team with championship experience. They play intimidating body-to-body defense anchored by plenty of beef in the middle. Boston’s offense is precise, unselfish, and resourceful with the key factor being the ability of Ray Allen to plug 3-balls to keep the defense spread. They also might be the hungriest team in the running.
San Antonio Spurs 1:1 — The only team whose discipline at both ends can compare to Boston’s. In the past, San Antonio’s postseason success was hugely dependent upon the accuracy of their outside shooting. But Richard Jefferson has found his niche and his jumper, plus the bull’s-eye shooting of undrafted rookie Gary Neal has been a significant factor off the bench. The clutch play of San Antonio’s old reliables — Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and (to a lesser extent) Tony Parker — should not be underestimated. Nor should Gregg Popovich’s strategy of limiting his starters’ minutes until the minutes really count.
2011 NBA All-Star Starters Revealed, What About the Reserves?
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Eastern, Western, NBA All-Star Game, Thunder
Denver coach George Karl likes to say each All-Star squad should have 15 players, rather than 12.
It’s a great idea for the West this season, with there about to be some serious snubs. As for the East, 10 seems a better number this season in a conference that after the top teams has as much depth as the local park’s kiddie pool.
Perhaps the East should concede two spots to the West. Throw in that Houston’s Yao Ming, named the West starting center, will miss the Feb. 20 Game in Los Angeles, and that would give the West 15 players with All-Star recognition.
The starters were announced Thursday night, and there wasn’t anything to complain about other than how ridiculous it was that fans (hello, China) continued to vote for Yao in bunches even after it was announced Dec. 17 he was out for the season with a foot injury. Even before then, he was averaging 10.2 points in a meager five games.
The East starters will be Orlando’s Dwight Howard at center, Miami’s LeBron James and New York’s Amar’e Stoudemire at forward and Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Chicago’s Derrick Rose at guard. Other than Yao, West starters named were Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony at forward and the Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant and New Orleans’ Chris Paul at guard.
Now, on to the reserves. After the coaches cast their ballots, here’s who should be announced next Thursday as well as which players might be ticked off:
Derrick Rose Recovering From Stomach Ulcers
Filed under: Bulls, NBA Injuries, Iowa Energy
DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Derrick Rose plans to cut back on the spices.
The Bulls’ star point guard is recovering from stomach ulcers he believes his diet caused and hopes to play when Chicago hosts the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Rose said his energy is “kind of low. But I should be all right.”
He said he started experiencing heartburn on Monday and still is having difficulty eating, drinking and swallowing. He initially thought he had stomach flu, but doctors at Rush University Medical Center found two ulcers on Wednesday.
Rose said they’re not sure what caused the problem. But he blamed it on spicy food, saying, “That’s the thing I’m going with.”
He has also been bothered lately by an aching back, so a three-day break in the schedule came at a good time.
Meanwhile, center Joakim Noah was looking forward to having the cast on his right hand taken off on Monday. He had a pin in his thumb removed earlier in the week.
“I just want to come back as soon as possible,” said Noah, who has been sidelined since mid-December with a torn ligament. “As soon as my hand is healthy, I want to be back regardless of what game it is.”
Also on Thursday, the Bulls assigned forward James Johnson to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.
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