Journey To The Ring - A Chicago Bulls Adventure

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You are the new coach of the Chicago Bulls, one of the most important team in the NBA. How do you fell about it?
I'm really excited about the upcoming season and I'm looking forward to play the first game against the Phoenix Suns. We have got everything to challenge the best teams in the league, the management have done a wonderful job during the summer.

What about your contract, how long are you going to coach in the windy city?
I've signed a two year contract but I think I'll be here for many years. I want to rewrite the Chicago Bulls's history with this group.

Switch the speech to the team chemistry. Derrick Rose, the team's leader, now have a new star beside, Carlos Boozer.
Carlos is one of the most prolific scorers in the league from the post, and this is what the team needed. Now Derrick can play in an easily way because he knows there is a big man the defense have to take care of. Booz also complete well with Joakim Noah, our starting centre.

In the summer there was a revolution in the team's bench. What kind of policy was apply?
We tried to sign the players we are lacking in. We needed a back-up playmaker, and here is CJ Watson; we needed a great defender, and here is Ronnie Brewer; we were looking to a perimeter shooter and we reached an agreement with Kyle Korver and Rasual Butler; we want to put some experience in the roster and Kurt Thomas and Keith Bogans are now part of the group... Everything we've done have a meaning for us.

You forgot Omer Asik, an interesting european player.
I didn't forgot him, but for the moment he will be part of our d-league team, in which he can find the constancy he need to be ready for the next step. We really believe in him, also because he made a Euroleague experience, a great championship on NBA line.

Are you going to make any changes?
By now, I don't know. When the season start, I always try to fit my way of play to my players. In some cases they don't fit well in the system and I'm not able to change the situation, so the only solution is trade the player. The management and I have to look to the team's expectations and we are going to make everything necessary to be as best as possible.

Last question. Next week the regular season will start and you will host the Phoenix Suns. What do you think about them?
They are a great team that will compete in the West for a playoff spot. They are quick but I think we can hold back them. Ronnie will have his first big challenge defending on Vince Carter, and also Derrick will put up an incredible playmakers showdown with Steve Nash on the other side. Despite this, I think the key of the game will be for us the presence of C-Booz in the post, where Phoenix haven't a defender able to contain him. Thank you, see you at the arena.

[jjprice]

Chicago Bulls 89 vs Phoenix Suns 100
United Centre
Chicago, Illinois
November 9th, 2010

Chicago, IL - Here we are at the first game of the season against the Phoenix Suns. I'm really nervous. During the summer we changed a lot and it needs time to make up a harmony inside the team, specially a defensive team like us. Our fans were really excited and the arena was full of crowd when we enter in for the teams presentation. For the opening game, along with Rose, Deng, Boozer and Noah, i decided to make Keith Bogans start instead of Ronnie Brewer. Bogans is a great defender but he can also contribute with some threes. For the first two quarter, the game was really tight, with Joakim scoring and grabbing rebounds for us and un unbelievable Grant Hill making some spectacular plays on the other side. But in the third quarter, when i gave the starter a rest and made the bench come inside the game, the Suns start playing seriously. Two threes by Vince Carter and the inability to score for us were the key of the game. The Suns made a break and nothing serve our answer in the last minutes. We lost the game 100-89 and with 26 points, Vince Carter was the Jordan Brand player of the game. We lost the game not because of our defensive system, but cause we were offensively really poor. Only Derrick(31 point, 11 assists), Joakim(12 points, 16 boards) and in some occasions Booz(17 points) give a solid contribution. The illustrious absent was Luol Deng, that had a 2/12 game with zero threes made in front of eight attempts. We absolutely need to improve our offense and the game against the Kings it's a good occasion to do it and to understand what the problem could be.

[jjprice]

Chicago Bulls 118 @ Sacramento Kings 110
Power Balance Pavilion
Sacramento, California
November 16th, 2010

Sacramento, CA - After the bad loss in the opening game, we went to Sacramento ready to take the first W of the season. The Kings are a young interesting team looking to improve but with no real ambitions. The game was nice. Our offensive problems seemed to be resolved already from the start of the game, in which Booz(22 points) managed to find the basket easily. The game went on tight with Marcus Thornton and Derrick leading the play. In the fourth, D-Rose went on fire scoring many points, but missing the buzzer beater shot that would have brought us the win. So we went to OT, but there was no story. A three point shot by our n°1 and two by Keith Bogans, that played really well, made us scoring 18 points in 5 minutes and taking the first W of the season. Talking with the management, it's too early to judge player's performances and so we can't answer people asking us if there will be any changes yet. What we absolutely know is that the next game will be against the Lakers: the first contender showdown is waiting for us!