Oct
31
New Jersey Nets 112, Chicago Bulls 103 OT
If this game tonight wasn’t a microcosm of the Chicago Bulls’ recent struggles against the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford and the team’s overall problems in closing games with this core, then what is?
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Oct
18
Kobe Bryant is the most talented player in the game of basketball. He is also the most spoiled and fickle player in the game. So as some ignorant members of the Chicago media (Jay Marrioti once again being included) lament for the Bulls to get Bryant at any costs when there appears to be no talks on the frontline to begin with, Hoops 4 the Soul explains why it would be the worst thing possible.
By Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Oct
16
Five years after setting Barcelona on fire during the 1992 Summer Olympics, Michael Jordan took over Paris for a weekend. Coming off their second straight title and fifth title in seven years, Jordan, Phil Jackson and the Bulls would travel to France for the McDonald’s Championship.
This was not your daddy’s Bulls, however. Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were both absent from participating in the tournament. Pippen was recovering from off-season surgery while Rodman had yet to resign with the Bulls.
Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter as Chicago still had number-23 on its side. Jordan would score a combined 55 points in two games, both victories over PSG Racing and Olympiakso Piraeus, which featured a Bulls selection from the 1995 NBA Draft by the name of Dragan Tarlac.
While the games were hardly memorable (Chicago played a lot of Rusty Larue that weekend), the 1997 McDonald’s Championship was yet another reminder of how Jordan’s Bulls were one of those rare, trascendent teams in the pantheon of sports history and pop culture in general.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Oct
12
He entered late in the first quarter, making the collective stomach of Bulls fans drop upon sight. Back in the 2001 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected current Dallas Maverick Trenton Hassell with the first pick of the second round and Gilbert Arenas still available. The Golden State Warriors would naturally pick Arenas immediately after the Bulls, with then-ESPN commentator and current Louisville Head Basketball Coach Rick Pitino saying that Arenas had the chance to be one of those real special players drafted in the second round.
Pitino would prove to be a profit as Arenas would go on to be one of the most dynamic scorers and personalities in the league after tearing it up in two seasons at the University of Arizona. Hassell would essentially become a journeyman, bouncing from Chicago to the Minnesota Timberwolves to now the Mavericks in his seventh NBA season. Once again, Chicago General Manager Jerry Krause tried to find a diamond in the rough; in trying to be smarter than he was, Krause passed up on one of the best players in the game.
And then there was tonight’s game.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Oct
12
The Chicago Bulls open the home portion of its preseason schedule in about twenty minutes against the Dallas Mavericks. Whenever the Bulls and Mavs play at the United Center, Hoops 4 the Soul thinks back to the epic battle between the teams during the 1994-1995 season.
That year was, of course, the first season that the Bulls played in the United Center after retiring the legendary Chicago Stadium. Anyways, the Bulls and Mavs squared off on WGN on November 12, 1994 in a thrilling overtime game.
Dallas would eke out a 124-120 victory (remember when the NBA featured such high-scoring games) with its young triumvirate of Jamal Mashburn, Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd shining. Mashburn would drop 50 points on Chicago while Jackson would chip in with 38 points. Rookie Jason Kidd was, well, typical Jason Kidd, falling two rebounds and an assist and point away from a triple-double. The Bulls were led by Scottie Pippen’s 26 points while Toni Kukoc and a surprising Will Perdue each had 19 points.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
« go back —
keep looking »
New Jersey Nets 112, Chicago Bulls 103 OT
Five years after setting Barcelona on fire during the 1992 Summer Olympics, Michael Jordan took over Paris for a weekend. Coming off their second straight title and fifth title in seven years, Jordan, Phil Jackson and the Bulls would travel to France for the McDonald’s Championship.
He entered late in the first quarter, making the collective stomach of Bulls fans drop upon sight. Back in the 2001 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected current Dallas Maverick Trenton Hassell with the first pick of the second round and Gilbert Arenas still available. The Golden State Warriors would naturally pick Arenas immediately after the Bulls, with then-ESPN commentator and current Louisville Head Basketball Coach Rick Pitino saying that Arenas had the chance to be one of those real special players drafted in the second round.
The Chicago Bulls open the home portion of its preseason schedule in about twenty minutes against the Dallas Mavericks. Whenever the Bulls and Mavs play at the United Center, Hoops 4 the Soul thinks back to the epic battle between the teams during the 1994-1995 season.