Richard Kagan's Chicago Bears fan blog

The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 83-71 on Friday night at the United Center.  Chicago has a 42-11 NBA league record and they now have a 14-5 record without Derrick Rose.  In this game, Luol Deng scored 22 points, while Boozer and Noah both had double figures games.  The Bigs did the job tonight while the guards were not that crucial.  Noah was tough down the stretch, rebounding and scoring.  Despite the winning, the main question is when will Rose play?  Also when will Richard Hamilton, in uniorm at the game, play?  The Bulls need a consistent scorer from the outside to take some of the pressure off of DRose.  It is looking more likely the Bulls will get the No. 1 seed in he playoffs.  That's a good three weeks away, a lifeftime,

Continue reading "Bulls Bag Another Win"

I am gonna watch the Jets this season.  It's a soap opera that will likely become an Edgar Allan Poe story when the season starts.  This season will likely be a scary one for Jet's fans.  It doesn't matter who decided that Tim Tebow is a Jets.  He is a Jet and the motives for his joining the team are all under speculation.  The Jets want to get some PR of their own, since the NY Giants are current Super Bowl champs.  Someone needs to push Mark Sanchez to find his mojo after losing it last seaon.  The Jets love the ground game, and now they have an offensive threat to run the ball. 

Whatever the reason, Tim Tebow will be on the sidelines and fans will be glued to the back of his jersey.  You will have kids buying his jersey and other Jets stuff to rival that of Linsanity.  One thing noted here, I don't see a happy ending for this move.  One, because it's the Jets.  Two, Sanchez will be affected by Tebow's presence before the season starts.  He knows, it's a matter of time before he gets yanked.  Three, defenses will be ready for Tebow time.  You have essentially two offenses and it is hard to run one offense.  It looks good on paper, so does a $2.00 bill.  When all is said and done, there might be a ship floundering in the Hudson, and that could be the Jets season.  Fasten your seltbelts, it is going to be a wild ride.

Continue reading "The Jets Are Something To Watch"

It now falls to Carmelo Anthony to be the lead scorer for the Knicks as Stoudamire is out for 2-4 weeks with a back injury.  But Melo has a slight groin pull.  What if this injury gets worse with all the wear and tear Melo will now experience as the go to guy for the Knicks.  What, lo and behold, if he is sidelined?  What if Jared Jeffries can play a week.  What if Jeremy Lin is up to full speed in a few days?  Fans, we may be back to Linsanity.  Knicks will have to bring out the old playbook  that brought on the Linsanity back in February. 

Then we will see if this team has what it takes. The city was practically levitating back then.  If Lin can find his groove and work his magic and if Novack and company can make some shots, this city will roaringly rock.

Continue reading "Knicks scenario: It's Linsanity again"

The Jets sign Matt Sanchez to a mult-year deal, and days later trade for Tim Tebow of the Broncos when Payton Manning went to Denver.  It's seen a seismic off-season and the Jets rolled the dice.  I don't think this trade is going to work out for NY.  Sanchez will struggle next season and then Tebow will be called in and this time, I don't think he will be the savior as he was in Denver.  But remember, we're talking about the Jets, and nothing works out for them.  I think this was a mistake made in the highest levels of the team.  Tim Tebow will get plenty of media coverage and you can take that to the bank.  In the end, The Giants will still own this town.  If the Jets wanted a little PR of their own, they got a heck of a lot more.  The Jets will be asking their offense to learn two offenses.  One for Sanchez, the other for Tebow.  They aren't even asking Tebow to throw the ball, just to eat yards, and occasionally hit a guy.  As long as the crowd loves it.  Maybe after one win there will be Timsanity.  But the honeymoon will end with a crash.  Sanchez has consistency issues, and Tebow can't read defensive schemes.   Before you know, Buddy Ryan will be gone.  It wouldn't be surprised.

Continue reading "Thoughts on Tim Tebow and NY Jets"

Luol Deng was free and rebounded a missed shot by C.J. Watson, put it in the basket as time expired, and Chicago won 102-101, clinching a playoff spot.  The Bulls find a way to get it done.  They are 12-4 playing without Derrick Rose.  Rose was on the bench again with a groin pull and it may be a few more games, until he's ready to play.  The Bulls are a really good team.  They are great wihen they get in transition and play defense.  They clobber you at the net, around the boards, and in the lanes.  That is when they look like "this team is so tough to play."  Yes, Miami is too.  Let's see how they play without Dwade or LeBron. 

The issue is how healthy can Rose and Rip Hamilton get before the end of the season?  Eventually they have to play.  You can't just wait till the playoffs start and go.  Now, you have to be in game shape.  Luol Deng certainly is.  He scored 23 points in the win.  Carlos Boozer and C.J. Watson both scored at least 20 points.  Omer Asik had 7 offensive rebounds.  Center Joakim Noah was tossed after quickly getting two technicals early in the game.  Still the Bulls managed to win, even when it looked like the Raptors would take this game.  Not so fast, not in the United Center.

Continue reading "Deng Does It At Buzzer, Bulls Win 102-101"

The Knicks are playing tonight in Toronto where they trail in the 3rd quarter.  They are getting outplayed, they are out of rhythm.  If they lose, Knick nation will take this loss hard.  I've never seen so much panic over one loss.  The test, if they do lose, is to come back the next game and win.  The Knicks are struggling just to get to .500.  They are a game short of that mark.  If they lose, they will be two games under.  Continued focus on Anthony, Stoudamire, and Lin will intensify.

The issue is can this team when after a loss?  They are so steaky, win or lose.  This team lacks discipline.  They have talent.  But talent is not enough to win the NBA.  The team has to follow a plan outlined by the coaching staff, and execute it.  Can they do this?  It remains to be seen.

Continue reading "Thoughts on the Knicks"

The Bulls played their third game without starting guard and reigning MVP Derrick Rose who is nursing a groin injuriy and tonight, the Bulls beat the 76'ers, 89-80.  The Bulls had a slow start, trailing by as many as 14 points, but the third quarter proved decisive as Chicago turned up the defense and guys made key shots.  Chicago got a great game from Joakim Noah who scored 11 points and hauled in 11 boards.  The Bulls also relied on C.J. Watson, a backup guard who scored 20 points to lead the team, on a night when Rose wore his uniform and sat stony faced on the bench.

Chicago has an impressive 37-10 record and is headed for a battle with Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference.  So far, with all the injuries, to Rose, Deng, and Richard Hamilton, Chicago has played great.  They rely on their team depth to carry them through and tonight was no exception.  Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik all had big baskets.  The Bulls once again outrebounded Philly by about 20 boards with Chicago getting over 50 for the game.  Let's hope that Rose will return healthy to the lineup.

Continue reading "Bulls Top Philadelphia At Home"

Chicago Hope.  The Bulls prevailed over their rival, the Miami Heat, 106-102, without the reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, who sat out for the game.  John Lucas III scored 23 points filling in as a shooting guard on a night wien Rose was sidelined dur to a groin injury.  The Bulls played 10 guys which seemed to back who the expression: "You have to be in it to win it.

Everyone played tonight.  Jermey Lin had some nice assists, made enough  of media stir.  He had some decent numbers

The Knicks overpowered Portland Trailblazers to break its 6 game losing streak. 

Continue reading "Bulls Beat Miami, 106-102"

The Chicago Blackhawks battled back to tie their hockey game with the LA Kings in the thrid period, to only see their bid at an OT win, slip away in the shootout.  The Kings scored late and the Hawks couldn't answer with a goal of their own, to lose a point.  At this time of the season, every point counts.  The Hawks score a lot of goals, but they give up a lot too.

And, come playoffs, if the defense and goaltending doesn't tighten up, it may be an early exit and a disappointing finish for this team.  The Hawks spent most of the seaon battling for the 1st or 2nd seed in the Western Conference.  Then the Hawks promptly lost 9 games in a row to sink that goal.  Now, it's make the playoffs in the highest seed. 

Jonathan Towes, the talented winger is looking to hit the ice for the first time in about three weeks. He has been out of the lineup due to a concussion.  If the Hawks want to do some damage this Spring, they need a healthy and productive Toews.  He might be back against the St. Louis Blues in a home game on Tuesday. 

Continue reading "The Blackhawks Are Good but Pourous"

I saw a video of Luol Deng talking about the adjustment the team made going into the third quarter of their recent game vs. Indiana when the Bulls turned a 1 point half-time deficit into a 19 point end of 3 quarter lead.  When the Bulls turn on the cement mixer, the game is over.  And, in the third quarter, the Bulls were laying some pavement.  They stifled Indiana to scoring 13 points and turned around a game when the Bulls coasted to a 20 point win.  Deng said the team didn't talk about offense, it was the defense that needed some fine tuning.  "We locked in," said Deng and Bulls locked down the Pacers.  When the Bulls play great team defense, they are one of the best teams in the NBA.

Continue reading "Bulls D is Tough"