That was an exciting game and the Bulls played decently in the series considering the competition they were up against.  That being said, the officiating in Game 5 was horrendous.  The sequence with Shaq drawing what seemed like 5 fouls on the Bulls big men in under 20 seconds was insane.  Those weren’t close calls.  They weren’t “it could go either way” calls.  They were just plain bad.  Not only that, but the sequence completely prevented the Bulls frontcourt from playing with any aggressiveness the rest of the game.  Was the officiating why we lost? YES!  In a close game like that, a terrible call or two can change the game.  5-6 terrible calls in the 4th quarter alone?  How can you not think it would change the game.  I share Brad Miller’s sentiments right now, whether he is talking to the refs or the Cavs.  Dammnit.

I’m too upset to break down the game now, but no worries, we have a few months to be miserable about it until July 1 and the opening of free agency.  By the way, according to Gar Forman Vinny’s job is safe, at least until the weekend.

h/t: Hardwood Paroxysm

Bulls Win!!!  That game was unbelievable.  While I have said all along I think the Bulls will lose in 5 or 6, once they took the court in Cleveland for game 1 it became apparent that they were going to need some divine intervention to even win 1 game.  I don’t know if the game they played last night was divine intervention, but it was definitely some kind of miracle.

The Bulls literally shot the lights out of the building in the first 3 quarters, proving once again that the only real way for Chicago to be successful is to hit its jump shots.  It wasn’t all that simple though, they also were doing all the little things.  Scrambling for loose balls, playing excellent defense, and dominating the glass.  The Cavs did finally make a run in the 4th, and it was pretty obvious why.  The Bulls could not get a rebound.  With Joakim on the bench in foul trouble, it seemed like the Cavs got every single meaningful rebound to help them climb back into the game (oh and LeBron’s 13 points and 5 assists in the quarter may have been a small factor).  The Bulls held on to win it though.

So was this a huge fluke?  Can the Bulls steal another game?  Clearly they have to be clicking on all cylinders to beat even a halfway-motivated Cavs team.  There is no surefire method to stop LeBron and his band of merry sidekicks, but the story of the glass has been the story of this series.  The Bulls were outrebounded badly, and blown out in Game 1.  In Game 2, the rebounding battle was about even and the Bulls kept it close even though they lost.  In Game 3, when they were rebounding well, they dominated.  As they let Cleveland hit the boards, the Cavs snuck back into it.

Rose needs to dominate on the offensive end.  Deng needs to play well.  Hinrich has to at least be better than the 6-18 he shot in the first two games combined.  All those things need to happen, sure.  But the one thing that can put them over the edge is rebounding.  Enter Joakim Noah.  In Games 2 and 3 he had 28 rebounds combined.  Game 1? Just 8.

Who would have thought on draft day a few years ago that the 9th overall pick from Florida with scraggly hair and a bowtie would be the key ingredient in a playoff series with the mighty Cleveland LeBrons?  For now, let’s enjoy the win.  At least Vinny gets a few more days of employment, so you know he’s happy.  Go Bulls!

The NBA Playoffs start tomorrow and it looks like the Bulls earned the toughest draw they could by barely scraping in as the 8th seed.  I truly believe the Bulls give the Cavs some matchup problems, but for the most part the Cavs should dominate the series.  I am picking the Cavs in 6, but hey, anything can happen.  As they say over at Thank You Isiah: “Bulls in six.  Logic? Fuck the Internet. ”

Anyways, here is the playoff schedule for the first four games:

Game 1: Sat. April 17 2:00 PM CST on ABC

Game 2: Mon. April 19 7:00 PM CST on TNT

Game 3: Thu. April 22 6:00 PM CST on TNT

Game 4: Sun. April 25 2:30 PM CST on ABC

Game 5 (if necessary): Tues. April 27 TBA

Game 6 (if necessary): Thu. April 29 TBA

Game 7 (if necessary): Sat. May 1 TBA

Oh and in case you forgot how unexpectedly filthy the Bulls can be in the first round, here’s a reminder:

I still get goosebumps watching that every time. Sick. Go Bulls.

Are you getting excited for the NBA season to start?  I know I am.  As fun as watching the Cubs suck, football once a week, and the occasional obsession with online Texas Hold ‘Em are, there’s nothing like the NBA.  One of the best parts of the beginning of the season are the predictions people make.  In ESPN the Mag’s predictions, they pick who will win each conference and the NBA title, and also the various individual awards.

Now I love Rose as much as the next guy (who are we kidding, I love him way more than the next guy), but even I wouldn’t go so far as to pick him for MVP this season.  I was thinking more like 2011 maybe.  Ric Bucher thinks otherwise though (if you don’t have ESPN Insider you won’t be able to see it).  Oh and don’t let that Rose injury thing bother you, apparently he practiced today.

Not only does Bucher pick Rose for MVP this season, but Tim Legler seems to think Noah will win Most Improved Player.  If either or both of those players are even in the conversation about the awards, the Bulls will be looking at an excellent season.

Oh and just to get you even more excited, here’s a little “It’s Amazing” recap of the Bulls-Celtics series from last year’s playoffs.  I’ll never get enough of that battle.

h/t: Ethan

This video is a remix of 5 of the greatest athlete meltdowns in front of a camera recorded in the last decade or so.  Iverson’s famous “practice” speech is featured prominently, but don’t count out Denny Green, Jim Mora, and a late guest appearance by Joe Namath–”I just wanna kiss you”.  Trust me you want to watch this.  Enjoy:

Get Pumped.

h/t: BDL

h/t: Give Me The Rock

Chicago does not mess around when it comes to our sports teams.  Even the elite, snooty, ivory tower types that hang out at museums are throwing their weight behind the Hawks and Bulls.  Here is what the Field Museum had to say about it’s recent displays:

“The Chicago Blackhawks jersey will now be on the Museum’s Dissemination of Knowledge statue, an nine-foot high figure of a woman reading to a baby, located in the northeast corner of Stanley Field Hall. The baby will be dressed as the Blackhawks fan. The Chicago Bulls jersey will now adorn the Museum’s Pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling of Stanley Field Hall outside of our Evolving Planet exhibition.”

The Bulls could use that Pterodactyl on defense.  Maybe it could stay in front of Kendrick Perkins for a few possessions (because Brad Miller sure as hell can’t).

The Bulls have been gameplanning for Kevin Garnett the last week or so.  The problem is that KG was declared to be out for the entire playoffs by the Celtics.  There has been a lot of speculation about whether he would attempt a comeback during this series.  Up until now it had been mostly speculation, with Doc Rivers and other team officials vehemently denying any chance of KG’s return.  Well the story just took an interesting twist:

But a day after reiterating Garnett won’t be coming to the Celtics [team stats]’ rescue in these playoffs, coach Doc Rivers said privately after his post-practice press conference that he and the team would like Garnett to hold off on the surgery.

Then, at 3:14 yesterday afternoon, the story took another twist when Garnett appeared on the team’s practice floor wearing full workout gear. He proceeded to dribble a basketball as he walked slowly around the perimeter of the court, with strength coach Bryan Doo watching intently. Trainer Ed Lacerte came out of his office and sat at the far end of the floor to watch the event.

After four minutes, Garnett, Doo and Lacerte walked through a door that leads to the weight room at the team’s facility.

Hmmm…Maybe it wasn’t so foolish of the Bulls to be planning for KG.  He is the kind of guy that would play through any pain if it is even remotely physically possible.  For those of you that don’t get the Willis Reed reference, here is the story:

Reed’s most famous performance took place on May 8, 1970, during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in Madison Square Garden. Due to severe thigh injury – a torn muscle that had previously kept him out of Game 6 – many doubted he would even play in Game 7. Yet he surprised the fans in attendance by walking onto the court during warmups. Starting the game, he scored the Knicks’ first two field goals on his first two shot attempts, his only ones of the game.^[1] It was all the inspiration the Knicks needed, as teammate Walt “Clyde” Frazier went on to score 36 points. The Knicks won the game 113–99, giving New York City its first NBA title.

If anyone in the league today can do what Reed did, it would be KG.  Albeit this isn’t the NBA Finals, but KG treats every game like the Finals, so who knows?

What an unbelievable start to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Blackhawks in their return to the postseason.  After a slow start the Hawks got it together in the second period and ended up beating the Flames in overtime to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

After the slow start, the Hawks managed to tie the game on a real soft goal by Cam Barker.  The Flames took the lead back about four minutes into the third period on a Cammalleri goal and the nerves kept building while the Hawks tried to battle back.  With just under six minutes to go Barker forced a turnover and Martin Havlat fired a shot, got his own rebound with three Flames right around him and wasn’t touched until he was knocked down celebrating his goal.

After both teams had some late chances, Chicago’s first playoff game in seven years needed a little extra time to decide a winner.  It didn’t take long because after a quick turnover Dave Bolland fed Havlat for the game winner.  Great first win for Chicago and they can really put some pressure on Calgary with a win Saturday.  Bullets?

• That first period was definitely troubling when you thought about the inexperience in the playoffs for the Blackhawks.  The Flames were much more physical, they dominated the game and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission that could have been much worse.
• Khabibulin was unreal in the second period.  Some of the most unheralded plays in hockey are gigantic saves by your goaltender when your team is down by one or two goals.  Khabibulin kept the Hawks in the game despite some excellent chances from Calgary.
• I thought youngsters Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg played outstanding games.  Bolland was flying out there and seemed to be the only guy producing offense in the early going.  Bolland also made the play to knock down the puck and feed Havlat for the game winner in overtime.  Maybe these kids are ready for the playoffs after all.
• The officiating was great.  Aside from a questionable no-call when ex-Hawk Rene Borque slammed Kane into the boards, the officials let the right things go and didn’t allow this huge game to be bogged down with penalties.  I watched the Wings game last night too and it was ridiculously bad with all the penalties.  They need to realize that the brand of hockey we saw in Chicago is much more fun to watch.
• Bad games?  It would be nice to see more from Patrick Kane.  I thought Toews was pushing hard last night and made some nice plays, but Kane seemed to have trouble.  It will be nice to get Sharp back in game shape too.  Not that the defense played poorly, but they need to be a little more physical.  There were too many instances where Calgary players were standing around the net with the puck deep in the zone; they need to be on their backs.
• The crowd was amazing too.  I’m not sure if a cold breeze came through my apartment, but I got some serious chills when the anthem was going on.  There was some nervous silence in the third, but there were also times before that equalizing goal that the crowd got the players going.

Alright, Game 1 is in the books and the Hawks will look to really put the pressure on Calgary with a win in Game 2.  That contest will take place Saturday night at 8:00 ct at the United Center.  The game will also be on Comcast Sports Net.

It’s Hawks and Flames tonight at 7:30 CT on CSN and I thought the best way to prepare would be to show an embarrassing video of Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf being made a fool of.  Pretty sure it’s from a couple of years ago, but it’s still funny.

The Bulls playoff schedule has been released.  Here are the games:

Game 1 – Sat April 18 Chicago at Boston 11:30AM ESPN
Game 2 – Mon April 20 Chicago at Boston 6:00PM TNT
Game 3 – Thu April 23 Boston at Chicago 7:00PM TNT
Game 4 – Sun April 26 Boston at Chicago 12:00PM ABC
Game 5 * Tue April 28 Chicago at Boston TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 30 Boston at Chicago TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 2 Chicago at Boston TBD TNT

*If Necessary

And I think they will be necessary.  As much as I love Garnett, I have no problem playing the Celtics without him.

Okay, so one night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is already in the books, but I’m making my playoff picks today anyway.  Zoner posted his picks yesterday, so I figured I’d give it a shot.  As much as I have come to enjoy watching the Hawks play the last few years, I just can’t pick them to win it all.  Well, here they are:

Eastern Conference

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadians- Bruins in 5

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers- Capitals in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes-Hurricanes in 7

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers- Penguins in 5

Bruins over Hurricanes, Penguins over Capitals in the second round.

Western Conference

#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks- Sharks in 6

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets- Wings in 5

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues-  Blues in 6

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames- Hawks in 6

Sharks over Blues, Wings over Hawks.

Stanley Cup Finals:  I’ll take the Bruins to beat the Penguins in the East and the Wings over the Sharks in what could be a great Western Conference Finals.  Then for the Cup, I’ll go with the Boston Bruins in six games.  Despite picking them out in the second round, I like the Hawks chances of making a run. They could pretty much play anyone in the second round with the re-seeding format, and there is no team in the playoffs they aren’t capable of beating.

There are the predictions and now you know what isn’t going to happen.

Well there goes some of that great momentum the Bulls were riding going into the playoffs.  With the Bulls loss last night and the 76ers big OT win against Cleveland (which fielded a D-League team, *cough* bullshit *cough*), the Bulls have secured the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.  Instead of facing the Magic, they will now be playing the defending champion Celtics.

And you know what?  I’m happy about it.  I don’t share Zoner’s reasoning for it, mostly because I think we have a legitimate shot to push the Celtics to 7 and even score an upset.  I felt that way before the recent news that KG will probably not be available for the series and maybe the entire playoffs.  While the Magic are a bit hobbled right now, the Celtics are old and tired and I think we match up well against them.  Our guards aren’t going to cover anyone, that is a fact.  Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Paul Pierce will run amok on offense.  But so would Rafer Alston and whoever the magic are tossing out there at the 2 these days.  So either way our backcourt gets burned.  The difference is, the Magic have Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu to spread the Bulls defense.  Even if the Celtics have KG, who is a formidable force on the defensive end, offensively he can be contained by the Bulls frontcourt.  Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu on the other hand, would kill Noah, Tyrus and Miller.

Also keep in mind that we played a Garnett-less Celtics on March 17th at the United Center and won.  Their inability to defend without Garnett was exposed, as the Bulls racked up 127 points and outscored the C’s in fastbreak points 17-6.

Thus I am feeling really good about us facing the Celtics right now.  It’s too bad we crapped the bed at home last night, but maybe it will work out for the best.  Are you ready for 40 games in 40 nights?

For the first time in a long time, the Blackhawks will be playing hockey past mid-April.  We’ll have plenty of coverage throughout the series, but here are some bullet thoughts to get you prepared. 

• The two teams couldn’t be entering the series on much different streaks.  The Blackhawks had looked like they were heading for a late season collapse a few weeks ago, but they are now 7-2-1 in their last ten games, including a sweep of the home-and-home series with Detroit to end the season.  The Flames were the team that went for that whole collapse thing.  They had a huge lead on Vancouver for the division and blew it down the stretch.  A team that looked like it made all the right moves at the deadline suddenly just looks dead. 
• The Hawks also dominated the season series with the Flames, winning all four of their match-ups.  Only one of those contests went into overtime, making it a pretty dominant season for Chicago over Calgary.  You know what they say though, it’s hard to beat a team eight times in one season. 
• Aside from those two points, this will not be an easy series for the young Blackhawks.  Calgary has plenty of playoff experience and they still have the big names like Iginla, Langkow, Phaneuf, and Kiprusoff that have led them to so many playoff appearances in the last few seasons.  They have also added stars like Mike Cammalleri who leads the team in goals with 39, and deadline aquisition Olli Jokinen. 
• After going to the Stanley Cup Finals in ’04, the Flames have been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs every season though, so while those guys have experience of being in the playoffs, those experiences haven’t been too memorable lately.  The Hawks meanwhile have very little experience, which tends to happen when there are only a few players on your team in that are in their late-20s or older. 
• The crowd is going to be crazy.  It’s going to be so loud in the United Center tomorrow night and that should give the young Hawks a bounce in their step.  That’s a good thing, because with the young team, it is even more important to get off to a good start.  A bonus for Chicago is that they have a player with experience in the most important spot on the ice: between the pipes.  Nikolai Khabibulin is back to his mid-season form after recovering from his injury and is one of three Hawks with a Stanley Cup ring. 

So it’s the youth and talent of the Hawks against the experience and physical play of the Flames.  Should be an excellent series because I think the dominance by Chicago during the season will be evened out by their inexperience.  Chicago actually comes in a little bit healthier than Calgary as the Hawks will get Patrick Sharp back and the Flames are battling some late season bumps and bruises in the form of wonderfully vague hockey injuries.  The Blackhawks are making their first playoff appearance since 2002, so while this is absolutely a team capable of a run deep into the playoffs, just getting here and gaining some experience for the youngsters is great progress.   

Game 1 is Thursday night at 7:30 CT.