The Bulls hit the boards last night outrebounding the Warriors 58-44 which was a big factor in the win. Luol Deng led the way for the Bulls last night with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Joakim Noah was outstanding last night with 18 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots. Derrick Rose pitched in with 15 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists last night for the Bulls. The Bulls are now 8-13 on the year.

Taj Gibson has been stepping it up for the Chicago Bulls, despite the team’s poor play as of late.  He has filled in very nicely in the absence of the injured Tyrus Thomas.  Gibson has a knowledge and experience greater than most rookies, as he stayed all four years in college at USC and really developed his game.  He has been able to step in and contribute right away.  See where Gibson ranks against the other rookies in my list of the Top Rookies in the NBA so far.

Derrick Rose has been the only Chicago Bulls guard that has been showing up this season, as John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich, Jannero Pargo, and Lindsey Hunter have all been awful.  Rose has not even been playing up to the standards that he and others expected coming into this season, but he has been stepping it up lately as an early season ankle injury slowed his start.  That being said, Rose has still been averaging 16.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 46% from the field and 78% from the line.  Salmons and Hinrich have been terrible all season, especially shooting the ball.  Salmons is shooting 39.5% from the field and 34% from three.  He is averaging only 14.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists despite playing the most minutes (37.2 per game).

Hinrich has been even worse, shooting only 34% from the field and 30% from three, but he at least has a thumb injury to use as an excuse.  Hinrich has even been bad from the free throw line, where he is a career 81% free throw shooter, but is hitting only 68% of his free throws this season.  Pargo and Hunter have been getting limited minutes, but with Hinrich missing games the Bulls have needed these two reserve guards to step up, which they have not done.  Pargo, who is supposed to be an “instant offense” type, has been shooting 36% from the field and 30% from three.  In 11 games, Hunter is 4-26 (15%) from the field on the year and has hit only 1 of 12 (8%) three point attempts.  The Bulls have lost 9 of their last 10, and if they don’t get some better play from their guards their season will continue to be a big disappointment and they will miss the playoffs.

The Bulls only shot 36.4% last night as it looked like the basket had a lid on it. Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls last night with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists. James Johnson had by far the best game of his NBA career last night as he finished up with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in only 19 minutes on the floor. John Salmons pitched in with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in this game. The Bulls are now a pathetic 7-13 on the year as the seat is starting to get warm under head coach Vinny Del Negro.

The Bulls just didn’t finish last night as the Nets looked like they wanted the game more. Luol Deng led the way for the Bulls last night with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Derrick Rose also had a outstanding game for the Bulls with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists. Taj Gibson came off the bench to score 20 points, grab 6 rebounds, dish out 2 assists and block 3 shots. The Bulls are now 7-12 on the year.

Joakim Noah has graduated to the starting lineup with flying colors for the Bulls this season. He has played in 18 games (all starts) for the Bulls this year and he is averaging 33.2 minutes, 10.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Noah has brought energy and toughness to the Bulls as he has been outstanding on defense and on the glass. The Bulls feed off of Noah’s energy when he is on the court as he is turning into one of the better centers in the Eastern Conference this season.

The Raptors applied a nasty beat-down on the Bulls in their own building tonight. The Bulls trailed this game 87-58 heading into the 4th quarter and they were outrebounded 53-32 as it appeared like they didn’t want to play tonight. John Salmons led the way for the Bulls tonight with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Jannero Pargo had a decent game for the Bulls tonight with 13 points and 2 assists. Brad Miller pitched in with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists tonight. The Bulls are now 7-11 on the year.

The Bulls played good in the first half but they were outscored 29-15 in the third quarter and it did them in as they really never got close to scaring the Cavs the rest of the way. The Bulls didn’t play any D last night as the Cavs shot 51.3% from the floor. Taj Gibson was the only Bulls’ player who really brought it last night as he finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Derrick Rose had a rough shooting night hitting only 5 of 16 shots from the floor but he still finished with 13 points and 7 assists. John Salmon pitched in with 12 points and 2 rebounds last night. The Bulls are now 7-10 on the year.

The Chicago Bulls (7-9) jumped out to an early lead against the Detroit Pistons (6-12) last night and held them to 10 first quarter points.  It was former Bulls’ guard and leading scorer Ben Gordon’s first game back at the United Center, and the Bulls kept BG in check.  He went 6-16 from the field for 18 points.  John Salmons, who the Bulls have been depending on to fill Gordon’s scoring shoes this year, shot the ball well last night.  He went 7-12 for 22 points and added 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.  Salmons has been struggling with his shot most of the year, but he has shot the ball well in three of the last four games so hopefully he has finally found his touch.  Derrick Rose had a good all-around game, finishing with 19 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.  He did turn the ball over 5 times though, something he has been doing too much lately, so Pooh needs to do a better job taking care of the ball.  The Bulls, who were without Kirk Hinrich (thumb), ended an ugly 5-game losing streak with this win.

The Bulls will be without back-up PG/SG Kirk Hinrich for the next week or two due to a sprained left thumb ligament. Hinrich has played in 13 games (0 starts) this season for the Bulls and he is averaging 28.5 minutes, 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Bulls will miss Hinrich as he plays both guard spots for the Bulls off the bench and despite not shooting well he is still an asset to the team. It will be up to Jannero Pargo to step up while Hinrich is out of action. Pargo has played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this year and he is averaging 11.6 minutes, 5.0 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.