have to be completely honest even though it means being really rude... Chicago Bulls fans are complete and total idiots for being happy that they might beat the Boston Celtics and advance in the NBA Playoffs.
Celtics Aren't the Celtics
The Boston Celtics aren't a championship team without Kevin Garnett, which means that the Celtics have about a 5% chance of winning the NBA championship even if they can beat the Chicago Bulls. The Celtics still have to face the Orlando Magic, the Cleveland Cavaliers and probably the LA Lakers, which are all teams that the Celtics would probably get slaughtered by in maybe 5 games each.
Bulls fans are stupid to think that beating the Boston Celtics is actually an accomplishment considering they are only 66% complete as a team since they only have 2 out of 3 primary players currently playing.
Bulls Can't Win The Championship
Even if Lebron James got injured the Bulls would lose to the Cavaliers. Even if Kobe Bryant got hurt, the Lakers would still beat the Chicago Bulls. The last bit of truth is... The Orlando Magic will demolish the Chicago Bulls in 5 games... Most likely only 4.
In The End
Bulls fans are cheering for the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and LA Lakers by cheering for the Bulls to beat the Celtics. I honestly give the Bulls a .01% chance of winning the Championship. I give the Celtics a 5% chance of winning the championship despite the fact that I am a huge Celtics fan. Even if Kevin Garnett came back he is injured and I still would only give the Celtics a 15% chance of winning another NBA Championship.
I will however gurantee that the Celtics will win at least 2 ore championships within the next three years before contracts expire for Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Article Source:http://www.askanintj.com/about/chicago-bulls-fans-win-idiot-of-the-year-award.html
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
big comeback, but the Blackhawks come back to Chicago tied
I’m here for the fun . . .
The Blackhawks needed a hero.
Instead, the Flames found one.
Eric Nystrom banged in a rebound of a Cory Sarich slap shot from the right point to put the Flames up 5-4 with about seven minutes remaining in the third period. Jarome Iginla would score into an empty net with 11 seconds to go, and suddenly this became a best-of-three playoff series.
The Hawks had momentum. They should’ve taken the game. They should’ve won the third period.
But apparently, it took too much out of the Hawks to come back from three goals down in the second. Perhaps an older team, a more veteran team, would’ve seized on their momentum and converted that power play early in the third period.
But after Todd Bertuzzi slew-flooted Duncan Keith at 2:08 of the third period, the Hawks never got anything going and the Flames started taking control of the game. They started pushing the action with speed through the neutral zone. They forechecked hard to get the better scoring chances. They were far more dangerous than the Hawks, and Nystrom finally converted.
You can only hope the Hawks learn from this. You can only hope they don’t duplicate the errors that gave the Flames three straight goals in the second period, starting early with Cam Barker’s egregious giveaway in his own zone that led to an Olli Jokinen goal that began the onslaught. You can only hope they give goalie Nikolai Khabibulin more help.
You can only hope they find a hero of their own.
Until Nystrom scored, this blog was going to begin like so:
Goal, Dustin Byfuglien. Assist, Joel Quenneville.
With 50 seconds to go in the second period, Jokinen was called for slashing. The Blackhawks were down 4-3 --- at one point it was 4-1 --- but now, incredibly, they had a chance to tie it and send the Flames turtling into the dressing room.
So, with his team earning an incredibly important power play, Quenneville could be expected to send out his top unit, his scorers --- Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat.
But no.
Instead, the coach sent out Sammy Pahlsson, Kris Versteeg and Byfuglien. Third-liners or fourth-liners depending on who’s counting. Quenneville recognized which players were giving him great shifts, controlling the puck and creating chances. He rewarded them with ice time the way good coaches do.
And Quenneville was rewarded when Byfuglien tipped in Brian Campbell’s shot to make it 4-all.
When the Hawks fired Denis Savard four games into the season and brought in Quenneville, they envisioned just that kind of bench savvy. The coaching change was engineered by Hawks hockey guru Scotty Bowman, regarded as perhaps the best game coach ever. So, he knows when the guy behind the bench can adjust shift-to-shift. Bowman made the point at the Quenneville news conference that the new guy had what it takes to compete against the veteran coaches in the division. That extends to the playoffs, especially against a Bowman clone in Calgary’s Mike Keenan.
Truth is, Quenneville met the moment about 10 minutes earlier, wisely using his timeout after Calgary made it 4-1. He tried to break the Flames’ momentum. He needed to calm his young, excitable team. Remind them there was a lot of time left, half the game.
And the Hawks proceeded to get the next three goals in the period, capped by a big move on a big power play made by a coach’s coach.
It would’ve been a nice story if the Hawks had won the third period they way they won the seond half of the second.
Wasn’t to be.
All the pregame talk of the physical play, the charges back and forth, the lobbying of the officials -- tell you what, Hawks-Flames ’09 recalls Bulls-Knicks ’91 (and ’92 and ’93). The Knicks didn’t have the talent the Bulls had, so they had to ugly up the game. Same goes for the Flames against the Hawks. The Flames aren’t as fast as the Hawks, so they’ve been trying to drag the Hawks down to their pace. Players who are looking over their shoulders lose their speed and control of the puck.
Another question coming into the game was how the young Hawks would handle tasting their own blood. They rode the home crowd to two big wins. Then they missed an early chance to smother the Flames in Game 3. They created their own adversity and now they were forced to respond. And look who responded early. Patrick Kane converted a slick centering pass by Sharp, blasting a shot past Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to give the Hawks an early 1-0 lead. Guess Kane got over the flu (or the toilet flushing of a pet goldfish) that kept him out of Game 3. Probably felt a lot better and without the harrassing of injured Flame Rene Bourque, too.
But right after that, Toews committed a tripping penalty, giving the Flames a power play and a chance to get even and get the quiet crowd back to its standard mania. And that’s exactly what happened when Jarome Iginla snapped a puck past Khabibulin to tie it at 1. The Hawks held a precious lead for all of 67 seconds. It’s hard to get mad at Toews after the way Captain Kid has repsonded in the playoffs, but you can’t make lazy plays with your stick. You have to make strong, disciplined plays with your legs.
Take solace, Hawks fans. The Flames have never won a series after losing the first two games. A couple years ago, the Flames lost the first two games to the Red Wings, then won the next two at home before losing Games 5 and 6. Hopefully, this looks familiar
Source of article: Chicago tribune
The Blackhawks needed a hero.
Instead, the Flames found one.
Eric Nystrom banged in a rebound of a Cory Sarich slap shot from the right point to put the Flames up 5-4 with about seven minutes remaining in the third period. Jarome Iginla would score into an empty net with 11 seconds to go, and suddenly this became a best-of-three playoff series.
The Hawks had momentum. They should’ve taken the game. They should’ve won the third period.
But apparently, it took too much out of the Hawks to come back from three goals down in the second. Perhaps an older team, a more veteran team, would’ve seized on their momentum and converted that power play early in the third period.
But after Todd Bertuzzi slew-flooted Duncan Keith at 2:08 of the third period, the Hawks never got anything going and the Flames started taking control of the game. They started pushing the action with speed through the neutral zone. They forechecked hard to get the better scoring chances. They were far more dangerous than the Hawks, and Nystrom finally converted.
You can only hope the Hawks learn from this. You can only hope they don’t duplicate the errors that gave the Flames three straight goals in the second period, starting early with Cam Barker’s egregious giveaway in his own zone that led to an Olli Jokinen goal that began the onslaught. You can only hope they give goalie Nikolai Khabibulin more help.
You can only hope they find a hero of their own.
Until Nystrom scored, this blog was going to begin like so:
Goal, Dustin Byfuglien. Assist, Joel Quenneville.
With 50 seconds to go in the second period, Jokinen was called for slashing. The Blackhawks were down 4-3 --- at one point it was 4-1 --- but now, incredibly, they had a chance to tie it and send the Flames turtling into the dressing room.
So, with his team earning an incredibly important power play, Quenneville could be expected to send out his top unit, his scorers --- Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat.
But no.
Instead, the coach sent out Sammy Pahlsson, Kris Versteeg and Byfuglien. Third-liners or fourth-liners depending on who’s counting. Quenneville recognized which players were giving him great shifts, controlling the puck and creating chances. He rewarded them with ice time the way good coaches do.
And Quenneville was rewarded when Byfuglien tipped in Brian Campbell’s shot to make it 4-all.
When the Hawks fired Denis Savard four games into the season and brought in Quenneville, they envisioned just that kind of bench savvy. The coaching change was engineered by Hawks hockey guru Scotty Bowman, regarded as perhaps the best game coach ever. So, he knows when the guy behind the bench can adjust shift-to-shift. Bowman made the point at the Quenneville news conference that the new guy had what it takes to compete against the veteran coaches in the division. That extends to the playoffs, especially against a Bowman clone in Calgary’s Mike Keenan.
Truth is, Quenneville met the moment about 10 minutes earlier, wisely using his timeout after Calgary made it 4-1. He tried to break the Flames’ momentum. He needed to calm his young, excitable team. Remind them there was a lot of time left, half the game.
And the Hawks proceeded to get the next three goals in the period, capped by a big move on a big power play made by a coach’s coach.
It would’ve been a nice story if the Hawks had won the third period they way they won the seond half of the second.
Wasn’t to be.
All the pregame talk of the physical play, the charges back and forth, the lobbying of the officials -- tell you what, Hawks-Flames ’09 recalls Bulls-Knicks ’91 (and ’92 and ’93). The Knicks didn’t have the talent the Bulls had, so they had to ugly up the game. Same goes for the Flames against the Hawks. The Flames aren’t as fast as the Hawks, so they’ve been trying to drag the Hawks down to their pace. Players who are looking over their shoulders lose their speed and control of the puck.
Another question coming into the game was how the young Hawks would handle tasting their own blood. They rode the home crowd to two big wins. Then they missed an early chance to smother the Flames in Game 3. They created their own adversity and now they were forced to respond. And look who responded early. Patrick Kane converted a slick centering pass by Sharp, blasting a shot past Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to give the Hawks an early 1-0 lead. Guess Kane got over the flu (or the toilet flushing of a pet goldfish) that kept him out of Game 3. Probably felt a lot better and without the harrassing of injured Flame Rene Bourque, too.
But right after that, Toews committed a tripping penalty, giving the Flames a power play and a chance to get even and get the quiet crowd back to its standard mania. And that’s exactly what happened when Jarome Iginla snapped a puck past Khabibulin to tie it at 1. The Hawks held a precious lead for all of 67 seconds. It’s hard to get mad at Toews after the way Captain Kid has repsonded in the playoffs, but you can’t make lazy plays with your stick. You have to make strong, disciplined plays with your legs.
Take solace, Hawks fans. The Flames have never won a series after losing the first two games. A couple years ago, the Flames lost the first two games to the Red Wings, then won the next two at home before losing Games 5 and 6. Hopefully, this looks familiar
Source of article: Chicago tribune
Tall order: Lakers have too much inside for Jazz
Series heads to Utah with Lakers leading, 2-0.
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
Comments 0| Recommend 0
LOS ANGELES For the first time, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol stood tall together in a postseason game … at least for a while.
With two skilled 7-footers on top of their games, putting the ball in the basket became as easy for the Lakers as it would've been picking apples off a tree. The Lakers were completely overwhelming early and even after Bynum went cold still held off the Utah Jazz, 119-109, on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
The Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series and are now in position to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Portland held off visiting Houston on Tuesday night to even that series, 1-1 – just what the Lakers hoped would happen as they seek to dispose of Utah quickly and rest while Portland and Houston exchange haymakers for the right to face the Lakers in Round 2 of the playoffs.
Bynum made all five shots he took in the first quarter, following up Trevor Ariza's feat from Game 1 of setting a career playoff high in scoring in just one period. Meanwhile, Gasol made all four of his shots and kept it up long after Bynum slowed down; Gasol finished with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and had two key blocks on one late possession.
Lamar Odom played his role of Bynum's backup perfectly, attacking tired Utah defenders with fresh zest and making all three shots he took in the final 4:42 of the first quarter after Bynum went to rest. Odom finished with 19 points on 8-of 9 shooting.
Utah's offensive execution was good enough that the game never became a total blowout. The Jazz hung around and cut the Lakers' lead to 109-106 with 3:17 left on five consecutive points by Utah's Carlos Boozer.
Yet what happened thereafter only made it a more painful defeat for Utah: Even though Ronnie Brewer made consecutive defensive stops for the Jazz right after Boozer's hot stretch – first stymieing Kobe Bryant, next Gasol – the Lakers still extended their lead because an Ariza steal triggered a fast break.
Ariza and Odom are set to become free agents this summer when Lakers owner Jerry Buss is uncertain about paying for both, but they unselfishly executed a 2-on-1 break against Williams perfectly. Ariza made the last pass for Odom to score on the layup with 2:39 left for a 111-106 Lakers lead.
The Lakers pulled away from there, with Ariza sinking a 3-pointer off Bryant's pass for a 116-108 lead. Ariza had another offensive uprising to surprise Utah, delivering 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting with nine assists. He averaged 1.8 assists in the regular season.
Utah point guard Deron Williams met all the expectations that he would score more efficiently after his 4-for-14 shooting produced just 16 points in Utah's Game 1 defeat. Williams set a playoff career high with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting and also had nine assists.
Bryant had 26 points and nine assists. He was content to set up his teammates early on, when the Lakers stunningly made 19 of their first 22 field-goal attempts.
They made 18 of 21 in the first quarter and led, 41-29. The last time a team made 80 percent of its shots in a playoff quarter was three years ago, when Dallas hit 15 of 18 (83.3 percent) at San Antonio.
Jackson had instructed the team to look for Bynum early and often, saying before the game: "We'll have to make that emphasis." Bynum hadn't done much in Game 1, and Jackson was intent on building his 21-year-old's confidence.
In part because of Bynum's early thrust, the Lakers never trailed in the game. His struggles in shooting 0 for 6 after the first quarter will undoubtedly give Jackson something else to study before Game 3 in Utah on Thursday night.
Jackson hadn't been satisfied with the Lakers' focus to the finish in Game 1.
"The attention span was lost," Jackson said about the opener. "I didn't like that."
The Lakers were more engaged throughout this game, even though they didn't make it a cakewalk. Utah did a lot of good things – many of them different from Game 1 – and pleased Jazz coach Jerry Sloan by competing – yet the Lakers still won. Seven Lakers scored in double figures, including still-hot newcomer Shannon Brown (12 points).
Asked after this game if the Lakers let up again, Jackson said: "No."
Source of article: www.ocregister.com
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
Comments 0| Recommend 0
LOS ANGELES For the first time, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol stood tall together in a postseason game … at least for a while.
With two skilled 7-footers on top of their games, putting the ball in the basket became as easy for the Lakers as it would've been picking apples off a tree. The Lakers were completely overwhelming early and even after Bynum went cold still held off the Utah Jazz, 119-109, on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
The Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series and are now in position to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Portland held off visiting Houston on Tuesday night to even that series, 1-1 – just what the Lakers hoped would happen as they seek to dispose of Utah quickly and rest while Portland and Houston exchange haymakers for the right to face the Lakers in Round 2 of the playoffs.
Bynum made all five shots he took in the first quarter, following up Trevor Ariza's feat from Game 1 of setting a career playoff high in scoring in just one period. Meanwhile, Gasol made all four of his shots and kept it up long after Bynum slowed down; Gasol finished with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and had two key blocks on one late possession.
Lamar Odom played his role of Bynum's backup perfectly, attacking tired Utah defenders with fresh zest and making all three shots he took in the final 4:42 of the first quarter after Bynum went to rest. Odom finished with 19 points on 8-of 9 shooting.
Utah's offensive execution was good enough that the game never became a total blowout. The Jazz hung around and cut the Lakers' lead to 109-106 with 3:17 left on five consecutive points by Utah's Carlos Boozer.
Yet what happened thereafter only made it a more painful defeat for Utah: Even though Ronnie Brewer made consecutive defensive stops for the Jazz right after Boozer's hot stretch – first stymieing Kobe Bryant, next Gasol – the Lakers still extended their lead because an Ariza steal triggered a fast break.
Ariza and Odom are set to become free agents this summer when Lakers owner Jerry Buss is uncertain about paying for both, but they unselfishly executed a 2-on-1 break against Williams perfectly. Ariza made the last pass for Odom to score on the layup with 2:39 left for a 111-106 Lakers lead.
The Lakers pulled away from there, with Ariza sinking a 3-pointer off Bryant's pass for a 116-108 lead. Ariza had another offensive uprising to surprise Utah, delivering 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting with nine assists. He averaged 1.8 assists in the regular season.
Utah point guard Deron Williams met all the expectations that he would score more efficiently after his 4-for-14 shooting produced just 16 points in Utah's Game 1 defeat. Williams set a playoff career high with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting and also had nine assists.
Bryant had 26 points and nine assists. He was content to set up his teammates early on, when the Lakers stunningly made 19 of their first 22 field-goal attempts.
They made 18 of 21 in the first quarter and led, 41-29. The last time a team made 80 percent of its shots in a playoff quarter was three years ago, when Dallas hit 15 of 18 (83.3 percent) at San Antonio.
Jackson had instructed the team to look for Bynum early and often, saying before the game: "We'll have to make that emphasis." Bynum hadn't done much in Game 1, and Jackson was intent on building his 21-year-old's confidence.
In part because of Bynum's early thrust, the Lakers never trailed in the game. His struggles in shooting 0 for 6 after the first quarter will undoubtedly give Jackson something else to study before Game 3 in Utah on Thursday night.
Jackson hadn't been satisfied with the Lakers' focus to the finish in Game 1.
"The attention span was lost," Jackson said about the opener. "I didn't like that."
The Lakers were more engaged throughout this game, even though they didn't make it a cakewalk. Utah did a lot of good things – many of them different from Game 1 – and pleased Jazz coach Jerry Sloan by competing – yet the Lakers still won. Seven Lakers scored in double figures, including still-hot newcomer Shannon Brown (12 points).
Asked after this game if the Lakers let up again, Jackson said: "No."
Source of article: www.ocregister.com
Thursday, April 16, 2009
BlackHawks
The United Center will be buzzing with playoff basketball and hockey action in the days to come. Both the Bulls and Blackhawks are heading to the postseason.
The Blackhawks get their playoff campaign underway tonight, ending a seven year postseason drought. The team is coming off a breakthrough regular season – finishing fourth in the conference standings. That means tonight’s playoff opener against the Calgary Flames will be at home. So will four out of the seven games, if the series goes that far.
The Chicago Bulls share the United Center with the Blackhawks, but they don’t have the luxury of home court advantage in their NBA playoff matchup. They’re facing the reigning champion Boston Celtics in round one. That seven game series gets underway in Boston on Saturday.
Source of Article:http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=33563
The Blackhawks get their playoff campaign underway tonight, ending a seven year postseason drought. The team is coming off a breakthrough regular season – finishing fourth in the conference standings. That means tonight’s playoff opener against the Calgary Flames will be at home. So will four out of the seven games, if the series goes that far.
The Chicago Bulls share the United Center with the Blackhawks, but they don’t have the luxury of home court advantage in their NBA playoff matchup. They’re facing the reigning champion Boston Celtics in round one. That seven game series gets underway in Boston on Saturday.
Source of Article:http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=33563
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)