Forget the first round series loss to top-seeded Cleveland, the Chicago Bulls 2009-10 season actually begins on July 1st, the opening of the free agent signing period.

NO ONE got excited about a 41-41 team sneaking barely into the playoffs and somehow taking one game of series that everyone knew was a lost cause. After all, this was the same squad that went 0-10 down the stretch in every game played without Center Joakim Noah. A week after the season ended, The Bulls finally fired their joke of a head coach Vinny Del Negro, whose greatest 2010 offenses included the international shoe-tying incident versus Toronto and blowing a record lead at home to lowly Sacramento.

Superstar in the making and 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose took another step forward, becoming the franchise’s first All-Star since the Jordan era. He became the guy you can rely on to take the big shot at the end and also scored a new career high 37 twice during the regular season.Now we move on to the opportunity to land LeBron, Dwanye Wade (born and raised just outside Chicago, a maximum deal and chance to come home is a big selling-point!) Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson etc.

The Bulls could easily vault to the top of the East if they a big name free agent to add to their current nucleus of Derrick Rose, Noah, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson. Add in James Johnson and those are the only players under contract for next season.  Throw in the 17th pick in the draft and a remaining $9 million in cap space (after spending a max contract on a fa) and the Bulls are as big a player in free agency as anyone.

The immediate concern is more focused on coach than Craig T. Nelson. But once they find a new leader, things get real interesting, as the Bulls find out which superstar, if any, will take their money.

2010-11 Projected Depth Chart:

C: Joakim Noah/Brad Miller

PF: Taj Gibson/Hakim Warrick

SF: Luol Deng/James Johnson

SG: Kirk Hinrich/Flip Murray

PG: Derrick Rose/Kirk Hinrich

NBA Draft Picks:

#17

NBA Free Agents:

all unrestricted:

Brad Miller

Jannero Pargo

Jerome James

Tim Thomas

Hakim Warrick

Joe Alexander

Acie Law

Flip Murray

Devin Brown

Chris Richard

2010-11 Team Salary: Approximately $31.8 million

2010-11 Expected League Salary Cap: $56.1 million

NBA Offseason Needs:

1. Closing the free agent deal- We’ve all heard the hype, now it’s time to make it happen. The Bulls cleared out as much cap space as possible so they could in the words of Jay-Z, “play monopoly with real cash.” Whoever signs with the Bulls will be in a MUCH  better situation than New York or New Jersey, because the Bulls are an excellent big market destination, but not a complete rebuilding project. In Rose and Noah, the Bulls already have two legit pieces, and that’s a huge selling point.

However, here’s what they have going against them: the Michael Jordan factor. We all know the Bulls have had big trouble recently grabbing top tier free agents, and the reason why, according to Bulls insiders espousing their theories within the restricted areas of the United Center is MJ. Word got around quick about how management mistreated Jordan whenever he returned to the UC, and (supposedly) many players are hesitant to come to Chicago to try and live up to the great one’s legacy. Maybe this offseason will extinguish this theory?

2. Front-court offense- The Bulls’ biggest need is obviously a coach who cares about strategic substitution, game-planning and decision making, since Vinny Del Negro did none of that during his two year tenure. To his credit, he wasn’t the worst coach in the state of Illinois- Ron Zook still has that distinction.

After that, the team obviously needs front line consistency. They were finally able to find a buyer for Tyrus Thomas, a big step in the right direction, but the rise of Taj Gibson at the four will never equal consistent front court offense. In Chicago, it seems like the need for a scoring big has been as long as their championship droughts in hockey (Blackhawks 1961) and baseball (Cubs 1908).

But Joakim Noah’s arc trends upward. He followed through on his bulking up to augment his game talk. He’ll never be a big time scorer, but is among the best double-double machines in the league. The Bulls must find a scoring big to complement him down low. Chris Bosh set new career-highs in points, rebounds per game, and field goal percentage this past season. Since Chicago kept Toronto out of the playoffs, they might as well poach their best player too. Yes, karmic payback from the shoe-tying incident is a b—-!

3. Perimeter scoring– Since Ben Gordon left town a year ago, the Chi has had two huge voids at guard: 1.) somebody to take the scoring load off of Rose, letting him become more of a distributor. 2.) a legitimate, consistent three-point threat.

Other than Rose, they have no superstars or anyone with superstar potential. (Luol Deng’s contract, which will pay him $10 million-plus per year through 2014, is superstar, but his talent certainly is not) This team often settles for “the worst shot in all of basketball,” low percentage/ long two point field goals, on so many of their offensive sets that you’d think they get more of their scoring from deep on the wings. I’d like to see the Bulls take Oklahoma State shooting guard James Anderson, who should be available when they’re on the clock at #17.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

In Bill Simmons’ 700 word epic “the book of basketball,” he ranks three current Boston Celtics amongst the top 75 individual players of all-time: #63 Ray Allen, #54 Paul pierce and #22 Kevin Garnett. These three future hall of famers have 28 combined All-Star appearances in their NBA careers.

I was quite impressed that the ESPN Sports Guy was able to keep his Boston homering to a minimum in his very entertaining, informative and even-handed descriptions of Boston’s big three. I half-expected him to rank all of three in the top 50.

Wherever their place in the long term basketball pantheon may be, this star-studded trio, the “Boston Three Party,” will determine if the #4 seeded Celtics can get past #5 seeded Miami. For KG’s comments on the playoff go here.

“We have everybody healthy going into the postseason which is the number one goal going into the season,” star small forward and 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce said.

What makes the NBA playoffs a hundred times more interesting than the regular season is that players actually care about playing defense during the postseason. Sometimes. Are the Celtics where they need to be at that end of the floor?

“The sense of urgency has to be there. Hopefully we learned from this (a double digit loss at Chicago, their ’09 first round playoff opponent) and we’re going to come across some elite scorers in these playoffs. We have to learn from these types of games that when a guy gets going, we have to get the ball at the end,” Pierce said.

Chicago’s star player, Derrick Rose scored a career high 39 points on this night.

So will people sleep on Boston because they’re “just” a #4 seed? They did beat Miami in all three of their regular season meetings.

“We’re definitely a team that’s been battle tested. A lot of experience out there, and we know how to win once the playoffs start,” Pierce stated.

Down the stretch, a lot of teams rest their starters and main contributors in order to keep them fresh for the playoffs. However, Boston coach Doc Rivers knows not to rest Ray Allen, the man who truly should have been ’08 Finals MVP.

“He’s a creature of habit, taking away minutes actually hurts him,” Rivers said of Ray.

So what about the trend that’s been KILLING the Celtics lately; by that I mean the best player on the opposing team hurting them? The Heat’s Dwanye Wade is certainly as dangerous as anyone in the league.

“He’s capable of putting up big numbers, and he’s going to have that capability because he’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot of times, so we got to make him work when he’s on defense,” Allen said.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

When my hometown Chicago Bulls drafted Joakim Noah ninth overall that summer night back in 2006, I yelled and cursed at the television. When Noah was a Florida Gator, he was one of my least favorite college basketball players of all time. And he did a lot of things that made a lot of people hate him.

Including this. And who could forget his attempt to sound “street” during his post national title game interviews; despite the fact that we all knew his French upbringing was as country club as possible. His mother was an international runway model/Miss Sweden 1978 and his father is Yannick Noah, legendary tennis player; and later a huge pop music star in France.

His first couple years in the league Noah was still a bit of a clown and some of his behavior only reaffirmed my initial disgust on Draft night. However, that has all completely changed this year. Not only has he become a star on the court, conditioning his body to add muscle weight, and augment his game in the post, but he’s matured a ton off the court. His game has improved so much that he’s currently one of the small percentage of NBA players who averaging a double double on the season. He’s 5th in the NBA in rebounding and 16th in blocks. His emergence in 2009-10 now makes him the Bulls’ second most valuable player after Derrick Rose.

In addition to the fundamental differences, his attitude about basketball has grown up so much that even called out Lebron for dancing. There’s a common misperception out there that many NBA players are like Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady- not always giving 110% night in, night out. But you won’t get any ammunition for your argument by studying Noah. It is an absolute crime that his plantar fasciitis is keeping him off the court. When talking to him you see HOW MUCH he is dying to be out there as much as possible.

“I’m just trying to be in the moment of the game. Obviously, I don’t want to come out, I want to play. I think I have to be really smart about when I can and can’t. It just hurts, and the only thing you can do is rest it. It’s very painful, no joke,” Noah said after the Bulls 115-111 OT win over Portland, a game in which he played a few more minutes than was expected.

His coach Vinny Del Negro knows he overplayed Noah too. “We probably got a little greedy, but I asked him he how felt and he said he felt good, but I could see he got a little fatigued…his injury is going to bother him for awhile whether we play him 10 minutes or 20 minutes,” the overuse

“He could be out a while,” Del Negro said after Monday’s practice. “A week, two weeks, a month. I don’t know yet. It’s going to be how his foot reacts. When you get him back, his conditioning and his minutes (are also factors to think about). It’s not the perfect scenario.”

Exactly! Noah’s conditioning when he does return is a huge factor into how much he can contribute down the stretch as the Bulls fight for playoff positioning.

“The biking, the water cardio…for me the only thing that keeps me in shape is basketball. So there’s that aspect of it too. If it was October I could sit out for 6 weeks, but we don’t have 6 weeks. There’s not a lot of time left until the playoffs,” Noah said Friday night

So did Vinny play him too much Friday night and screw up Noah’s convalescence timetable? Who knows? I don’t have M.D. after my name so I can’t say, and Noah doesn’t seem to think that his more-than-expected playing time was a mistake.

“Everyone has an opinion on whether I should or shouldn’t play, but there’s no right or wrong answer,” Noah stated.

However, there is right answer to this question: Does Noah have as much heart and desire to play hard as ANYONE in the NBA? Resounding yes!

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Tiger Woods y’all. As this post goes up Tiger will be giving his statement to the media from Florida regarding his future and certainly the past few months. I love how the media is so offended and outraged that Woods is controlling the situation. No questions?!! Well, I never! Settle down journos, I think you got your fill of TMZ-ish dirt on Tiger from his harem. Tiger owes you nothing-whether you’re a journalist, a sponsor, or fan-and if he wants to give a statement regarding his future that’s his call and you have no place to dictate or bitch about how it goes down. Now, make it up to me by yelling “you the man Tiger!” when he walks in the room. Thanks.

Olympics opening week.  Personally I have loved the first week of the Olympics more than I predicted. There have been some very compelling and exciting events like Apollo Ohno skating to a medal in short track. Short track speed skating is phenomenal. A small group of skaters fly around this tiny track and pass each other a bunch of times in the last few laps. It’s like a watchable version of NASCAR; there are even crashes! Anyway, America’s biggest stars all found their way to the medal stand this week with Shani Davis (from Chicago!), Shaun White, and Lindsey Vonn taking goldwhile Bode Miller and Apollo Ohno have also medaled.  The US even took gold in men’s figure skating last night as another Chicagoan, Evan Lysacek, became the first American man to win the event since 1988. U-S-A, U-S-A!

NBC fail, but not really.  There has been fury from fans regarding NBC’s Olympic coverage and for good reason. Dick Ebersol and the rest of the folks at the peacock have created an event that is tough to stomach for sports fans. Despite the games being conveniently located in Canada, Americans have been forced to watch many events on tape delay. There have also been a ton of commercials. I like to complain how the NFL broadcasts have the annoying policy of going to commercial after a score, then back for the kickoff, then back to commercial before the ensuing drive. NBC has taken this to another level of torturous viewing hell. During tape delayed skiing runs, they went to break after almost every three minute run, we missed large parts of hockey games while they covered post-game for curling, and there have been times where the advertising has seeped into coverage infomercial style. Despite all of this, ratings have been huge, once again showing that the bottom line is more important than pleasing your audience.

Trades!  The trade deadline in the least competitive league in professional sports passed yesterday. Of the four (two?) teams that could plausibly win the championship this year, the Cavs were the only one to make a big deal, acquiring Antwan Jamison from the Wizards for pretty much nothing. The Bulls made some moves to clear cap space next year, which seemed to be the goal of a lot of teams at the deadline. That is sad. Can the Lakers and Cavs just go ahead and play the finals now? If the NBA promises everyone a few million in cap space, everyone might agree to it.

Pitchers and catchers report. Almost every team in Major League Baseball has kicked off spring training! About a month and a half out from Opening Day, pitchers and catchers reporting is the first sign of hope that winter is coming to an end. It’s time to get your fantasy preview publication of choice and crafting your squad.

If you’re confused or can’t keep up with the moves the Bulls made over the last 48 hours, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

As of 5:00 PM (CST) the NBA.com website showed the Chicago Bulls roster/depth chart with Francisco Elson and Kurt Thomas occupying two spots on the bench. Oddly enough, neither Tyrus Thomas or John Salmons (not to mention my favorite, Chris Richard) are on the roster. Funny that the NBA would go ahead and make these changes before the paperwork had been finalized and submitted into the league office. The guy in charge of web content must have been looking to take a three day weekend and skip work Friday.

Moments before Drew Gooden was told he was heading to the Wizards.

With the NBA trade deadline looming and the momentum seemingly trending toward a few more before February 19th, here’s some interesting basketball links regarding upcoming trades and 2010 free agents.

• Funny that the Rockets wouldn’t want John Salmons or Kirk Hinrich’s contracts when the Bulls don’t really care for them either. Sounds like we’ll hear if the Bulls or Knicks get T-Mac’s expiring contract. (Trib)
• Knicks fans are cautiously optimistic about any such trade since in order to be truly successful, they’ll need to sign at least one of the coveted top 3 free agents. (Knickerblogger)
• Looks like the Bulls may have offered Luol Deng and Ty Thomas for Al Jefferson of the T-Wolves. (ESPN)
• Lebron James and Dwyane Wade sure looked good together during the All-Star Game. Let’s hope for the sake of the league that those two don’t get together. (True Hoop)
• Chris Bosh might be the best bet to come to the Bulls out of the Big 3, but Matt McHale doesn’t want you to get your hopes up. (Bulls by the Horns)
• Phoenix fans may need to begin talking themselves into J.J. Hickson for Amare Stoudamire. (Docksquad Sports)
• Andrew Bogut is not leaving the Bucks, but I kind of wish more players did this. Great idea from the Aussie. (NY Times)

Hitler gets pissed about the Vikings signing Favre:

The top ten circus shots of the 2008-2009 NBA season:

A non-sports related video.  The worse journalism ever?  I mean ever?

Michael Jordan accepts his Rookie of the Year Award way back in the day:

h/t: Rod Beck’s Mullet, BDL, Chicagoist

The X-axis denotes function of the crossover while the Y-axis denotes perceived importance.  I haven’t seen Jennings play too much, but based on what I’ve heard and seen, it wouldn’t surprise me for his crossover to be all flash and no substance.  “Z-Bo” (Zach Randolph), is hilariously off the page.  And my favorite thing about it is sleepy T-Mac vs. angry T-Mac.  I don’t think anyone’s seen angry T-Mac in about 3-4 years, but still funny.

I assume the guys that are in the top left corner are guys who use the crossover to pull up for jumpers (like Roy and D-Will), as opposed to guys who are using it to get to the bucket like Rose and Rondo.  I love fun charts.

Well in the Rockets-Lakers game last night, a few notable events occurred.  First, the Lakers went to the line whenever a Houston player looked at them funny.  And when you’re dealing with the unique mugs of guys like Scola, Yao, and Artest’s haircut, that happens a lot.  Second, there were a ton of cheap shots.  Kobe has been the ringleader of the dirty play thus far with a cheap shot at Battier in Game 1 and an elbow to Ron Artest’s throat last night.

The pinnacle of entertainment came in the postgame interviews though, when Artest took a trip down memory lane for an anecdote about how he is ready for physical play.  Role that video! **Update: Story Confirmed.

Yeah, go ahead and watch that again.  Seriously, if Kobe tries to throw something through his heart, he’ll be ready.  If Brick wields a trident, Artest will not be phased.  Ron Artest continues to astound America with his ability to shock.  Last night just added another level of depth and a little more insight into the life of Ron.

Moving back to Kobe before we get back to a video of another Artest moment, what an unmitigated jackass this guy continues to be night after night.  After his shots to Battier in Game 1 when Battier was trying to get off the floor, he hits Artest in the throat with an elbow in Game 2, then gets T’d up for taunting Battier shortly thereafter.  Who taunts Shane Battier?  What’s Shane going to say back? “I certainly respect your opinion sir, good luck.”

Talking trash has become part of the game, so it’s hard to be mad at him for that, but when viewers see you shout the same line over and over during the same game, that’s not cool.  At least give us some creativity.  Nothing would make me happier than seeing Houston knock L.A. out of the playoffs.

Anyway, here is a video of Artest after Game 6 of the Rockets first round win.  Also, check out the related video involving Yao and Artest and the club.  That came from the same press conference.  Go in about 0:50 for the good stuff.

Well, Sam Smith has stepped up and given some evidence that LeBron gets star treatment on the other end of the court.  The numbers are shocking really; the guy just doesn’t get fouls called on him.

James is averaging 1.72 fouls per game in an average of 37.9 minutes per game. James hasn’t even been in foul trouble one game this season. He never has had more than four fouls called on him in a game, and since March 1 is being called for fewer than 1.3 fouls per game.

Go on.

In 12 of the 20 games since then, James has been called for one or zero fouls in a game. James had a stretch of five straight games to conclude March averaging 36.8 minutes per game without being called for one foul. Not one in five games! In the last nine games, James has been called for three personal fouls.

Okay, wow.  Not only is it shocking that LeBron isn’t getting called for fouls on the defensive end, but how does he not get a charge every once in a while?  You would think with all the driving, he would have more charges alone than the amount of fouls described above.  It just doesn’t seem plausible.

“It’s impossible,” said one team executive.

See.  I guess it’s hard to be mad at the NBA for this since LeBron is their premier product on the court and it isn’t much fun if he’s on the bench.  However, I seem to see him complaining quite a bit.  What could that possibly be about given these numbers?  It’d be kind of fun to see him go all Rasheed Wallace if they actually started calling some fouls on him.

Anyway, have fun with your fixed NBA Playoffs basketball fans.

Your move Dwight.