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(12/13/15 6:54am)
You can go to a basketball game to watch ten people shoot a ball through a hoop, or you can go to a basketball game to take part in its greatest tradition: the halftime show.
Sure, football games often have large, elaborate singing acts that they put on during their halftime shows, but basketball is different.The stadiums are small and the courts are tiny compared to a full football field. Because of that, halftime acts can be a bit more creative, more unique and more intimate.
For Indiana's game Friday night against McNeese State, the halftime show was the Trampoline guys. These sky touchers delighted fans with their leaping abilities, even getting close to touching the Assembly Hall scoreboard that hangs above the court.
Fans were enthralled.
And why not, it wasn't as if the game was providing this type of edge-of-your-seat entertainment. There were human beings soaring through the air, you just can't beat that type of entertainment no matter how many Troy Williams blocks you have during a game.
Are the Trampoline guys the best halftime act out there? No doubt, there's plenty of competition, so here's an official list of best halftime shows in the basketball world.
Reminder that this list is scientific and all results are final.
8. Tic-Tac-Toe
Someone, somewhere thought 'hey, why don't we take a game we can play on a piece of paper and make it 20 times bigger?' And sometimes, it works, but usually it doesn't. The only time it's really fun is if the person misses a clear tic-tac-toe opportunity, or it comes down to making a layup and racing back to the final spot. But mostly, this game can fall flat.
7. Baby Races
Let's face it, the parents who make their small, innocent kids play this game are simply....AWWWW look at that one! He's trying to crawl the fastest. So adorable! Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, baby races are fun for everyone, and I'm sure the babies don't remember the trauma of losing in front of thousands of people, anyway.
6. Simon Says guy
This is the game we all think we could win. 'Of course I would be able to listen to the guy say simon says!' we tell ourselves knowing full well we're just lying. Much like an Adam Sandler movie, it starts off with high hopes but ends in disaster. By the end, players are getting out left and right and it makes for some entertaining viewing, opening up a whole new opportunity to heckle people who don't know their left hand from their right.
5. Jesse White Tumblers
These guys are awesome. It seems they've had the same routine for the past decade but it's still entertaining as hell to watch. The fact that they can launch themselves so high into the air by jumping off some small, rickety trampoline is simply amazing.
4. Trampoline Dunkers/Trampoline Jumpers
If I wasn't planning on become a world-famous sports journalist, this would be my job. What kid doesn't want to jump off a trampoline and dunk a basketball? And much like a fat guy scoring a touchdown, trampoline dunkers never get old. These guys soar to heights that would make Vince Carter jealous.
To be honest, I'll put the trampoline jumpers in here, too, because it's the same concept and you can't tell me what to do. Anything having to do with jumping off a trampoline is fine with me.
3. Quick Change people
One of the big reasons these guys are awesome is because we all want to be them. Who wouldn't want to get changed by just throwing some glitter all over themselves? I know I do. Plus, I still don't know how they do it.
2. Frisbee Dogs
Honestly, if you just brought small dogs out onto the court for 10 minutes, you would have my curiosity. But have them leap off your back and nab frisbees out of the air? Now you have my attention. Once you get past the fact that the dogs are more athletic than you, they're tons of fun to watch.
1. The Firecrackers
Who doesn't love The Firecrackers? They make jumping rope seem so much more fun than the annoying cardio exercise that it is. I know at Assembly Hall, they're a crowd favorite. Hell, they use a human as a jumprope. A human! If that's not quality family entertainment in 10 minutes or less, I don't know what is.
So that's my list. Remember, if you think that it should be in a different order, this list is official, so this is the correct order.
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Follow Ben on Twitter @BenWittenstein
(08/06/15 7:00am)
Today is the start of Fall Camp for the Indiana Hoosiers, and while it still feels much like Summer, September 5th is arriving quick and with it, IU football. As with any season, this one brings with it a plethora of questions before the first kick-off. Here's the top five heading into this season.
5. Will the 3-4 defense improve in its second season?
With defensive coordinator Brian Knorr starting his second season with the Hoosiers, his 3-4 defense that he implemented last season should now be more familiar to returning players.
During last week's Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, defensive tackle Adarius Rayner said he felt the defense as a whole was a lot more comfortable with the 3-4 defense this year.
“Everyone’s adapting to what they’re supposed to be doing,” Rayner said. “[Now] we just have to go out and perform.”
With familiarity to the defensive schemes, performing should come easier to a defense that knows what their coach is looking for.
Personnel wise, a strong linebacker corp is crucial to any self-respecting 3-4 defense, and it’s looking like the Hoosiers will have just that. Despite the loss of Forisse Hardin and David Cooper, the linebackers won’t miss a beat as they return most of their core, all of whom played under Knorr last season.
The bonus for this unit is that, together, they’re a mixed breed. Some—like Tegray Scales—are athletic and quick enough to drop back into pass coverage, while others—like Zack Shaw—are big enough to help the defensive line out with run stopping.
The mix and depth of the linebacker corp will be the main reason behind any success the IU defense might have.
4. Can they replace the hole left by Tevin Coleman’s departure?
With Coleman moving on to bigger and better things in the NFL, he leaves behind a hole at running back that IU needs to replace in order to have any hope at having a dynamic offense. It would take a great player to replace Coleman’s 2,000-yard workload; how do two players sound?
With Jordan Howard coming over from the defunct-but-now-brought-back-to-life UAB football team and Devine Redding stepping up, this backfield duo could, in fact, produce as much if not more than Coleman did last season.
Howard himself rushed for 1,587 yards last season with UAB, while Redding showed some flashes against North Texas—where he rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown—and against Missouri where he rushed for 49 yards on 10 carries.
Of course, Howard rushed for over 1,500 yards in Conference USA whose defenses certainly don’t match up to those of the Big Ten, while Redding only saw a total of 29 carries all of last season. It’s safe to say that these two have yet to prove they can be a force running the ball consistently against Big Ten defenses.
Despite the uncertainty, the two backs’ past resumes form what could be the object to plug up the hole Coleman left behind.
It may take a few weeks to find their footing, but at this point—baring injury, of course—the two backs seem to be in a good position to make some noise together in the backfield.
3. Will their lines be as dominant as Kevin Wilson believes?
“If you can’t play up front in the Big Ten, you can’t play winning Big Ten football.”
Those were the words spoken by IU head coach Kevin Wilson at Big Ten Media Day. Throughout the day, he raved about how strong he thinks his offensive and defensive lines are coming into this year.
I don’t blame him, there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to the front lines for the Hoosiers.
They have multiple defensive lineman who have multiple seasons of experience coming back, and despite losing Collin Rahrig to graduation and Ralston Evans to injury, the offensive line has the depth they now need in order to put an above average product on the field to protect Nate Sudfeld.
The 6’7” 305 pound senior Jason Spriggs will certainly be the headliner on the O-line for the Hoosiers, and he’ll have height and size all around him. In fact, no one on the offensive line depth chart is shorter than 6’4” and only two out of the nine men on the roster are less than 300 pounds. It safe to say, Sudfeld should feel safe behind these guys.
On the defensive front, the 3-4’s success, as Wilson said last Thursday in Chicago, starts up front. After looking at the Hoosiers’ D-line, the start of that 3-4 scheme looks strikingly good. The Hoosiers were last in the Big Ten last season in the pass rush, but with more familiarity with the 3-4 scheme combined with the experience of the front line and helping pass rush of quick linebackers, this defensive front could see itself have a successful season.
2. How will Nate Sudfeld play post-injury?
Bloomington’s love affair with Zander Diamont after the IU-Purdue game last November was fun while it lasted, but the Hoosiers didn’t have a realistic shot at winning games offensively without the more experienced Sudfeld at the helm.
It’s that fact that makes his comeback this season after injuring his shoulder last season so important.
Sudfeld last took a snap in a game for IU on October 10th of 2014. Since then, his team went 1-6 as they tried to adjust to their post-Sudfeld world.
With Sudfeld fully healthy now, and after a busy summer that included traveling to Uganda and participating in Manning’s Passing Academy, the Hoosiers’ offense has the potential to be the reason they make their first bowl game since 2007.
The main concern that could realistically hinder Sudfeld’s success is the inexperience of his receivers.
There’s no doubt the loss of J-Shun Harris will put a damper on the receiving core for IU. For a position that has found long-term success in Bloomington the past five or 10 years, this year will be a whirlwind of change, as fans will see a group of new arrivals and unproven talent thrown immediately into the mix.
How Sudfeld will build chemistry with his new receivers has yet to be seen, but he had nothing but good things to say about them last week while in Chicago.
“We have a deep core of receivers and they’re so hungry to be great,” Sudfeld said.
For someone who said he hated to see someone else do his job last season, Sudfeld used this year’s spring ball to “remind people that [he’s] still here.”
If he’s able to get the job done with his new receivers, people won’t be forgetting him for the foreseeable future.
1. Will the secondary be a liability or an asset?
The old adage ‘defense wins championships’ has gotten debunked in the past, but when not taken literally, there’s still something to be learned from the saying.
Defense may not win championships, but teams don't win championships with bad defenses.
With all the hype surrounding IU’s defensive line, and the athletic-looking linebacker core, the secondary (along with the wide receivers) have the biggest question mark heading into this season.
Of course, the loss of Antonio Allen due to problems with the law put a major dent in a team who was expecting their lead tackler back this season. Without him, the safety position is now lead by redshirt-sophomore Chase Dutra. Besides Dutra, Wilson will be faced to play young, inexperienced secondary players, many of whom are largely unproven.
At this point, Hoosier fans are hoping Dutra was able to learn as much as possible from Allen while he was behind him last season because come September 6th, Dutra will be expected to anchor a secondary unit which looks to be the one of the Hoosiers’ biggest weakness.
On the defensive back front, there may be even more uncertainty than there is with the safety position. The Hoosiers only return two players from last season, the rest haven’t seen a snap. In fact, it’s so bad that many expect there to be some walk-ons added to the cornerback mix.
The uncertainty with the corners and sheer lack of talent at safety, the secondary as a whole for IU is sure to be blamed for many of IU’s defensive woes this season—should they occur. Essentially, barring some talent leap miracle, it will be up to the front seven on the defense to be at the top of their game if IU wants any chance to breach the top 10 in overall defense in the Big Ten and make it to six wins.
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Big Picture: There’s no doubt that there’s a lot to be excited about this season for the Hoosiers. The return of Sudfeld and improvement of the front lines head that excitement. If the Hoosiers want any chance at making their first bowl game in eight years, Sudfeld will need to be on top of his game and the defense will have to be good enough to plug up the holes made by the secondary.
(06/23/15 12:46am)
Let’s put it this way: At least we always have YouTube to use to go back to watching Rust Cohle talk about time being a flat circle, because after True Detective’s season two premiere there may be a lot of nostalgia for the past.
Of course, it’s always hard to get used to something new. Most, if not all, TV shows today carry the same cast through multiple seasons until the show ends. True Detective is not one of those shows, and that’s what makes it so special.
And that’s why it was almost inevitable that the first episode of this new season get such a negative response that you’d think Reggie Ledoux himself was the protagonist.
It’s tough to get used to change, especially after we were treated to such stunning acting, writing, and cinematography as we were in season one. Maybe show creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto set the bar too high with his opening season. And maybe we won’t see another character on television as complicated, deep, messed up, well spoken, cool, psychopathic, and so easy to hate and love at the same time as Rust Cohle.
With all of that in season two’s shadow, it’s no wonder most True Detective fans were left scratching their heads after “The Western Book of the Dead,” thinking, “Where did the magic go?”
The writing’s still there, that’s for sure, even if Vince Vaughn’s character Frank Semyon says things like “all the marbles.” We’re treated now to two more main characters than in season one, and they’ve all got their own issues that need to be dealt with.
And yes, there are still hints of what made season one so creepy. Like having that bird mask in the front seat of the Cadillac carrying city planner Ben Casper, or all the odd sex toys in Casper’s house (along with a really weird skeleton statue, which was my personal favorite).
But despite some carry-over themes from the first season, there isn’t much else that’s to be desired from the first episode.
The camera work from director Justin Lin doesn’t have that same edge that director Cary Joji Fukunaga had in season one. We’re shown establishing shots of Los Angeles and the mountainous areas around it, but it doesn’t have the same isolated, off-color feeling that Fukunaga was able to establish in Louisiana’s back roads. In season one, Fukunaga was able to make Louisiana a character in the show. So far, all California feels like is simply the setting.
Then there are the characters.
As I mentioned above, it’d be truly difficult to repeat a character as mesmerizing as Mathew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but what we get with Ray Velcoro seems like a cheap knockoff of Rust Cohle. Yes, he drinks and smokes just like Rust did, but the substance isn’t quite there. The humanity, in fact, doesn’t seem to be quite there, either.
Now, this could be purposeful, but something needs to happen in order to give Collin Ferrell’s character some depth throughout the show.
With that said, Rachel McAdams plays a terrific character in Antigone Bezzerides. With her, there seems to be more on the surface that meets the eye. She seems so hell bent on fixing her sister who seems to have no problem with the life she’s living. “You want people to stop screwing and start taking drugs. That’s so typical you,” her sister tells her. Yes, with Bezzerides, there does seem to be more than meets the eye, especially after seeing that her father is the head of an Esalen-style spiritual retreat that I hope plays a big part in future episodes.
Seeing Vince Vaughn in this dramatic of a role is still unsettling, and the jury still seems to be out on if it fits him or not (If throwing a glass cup against a wall in anger is any measurement to how dramatic someone is, then give Vaughn an Emmy now).
And, of course, there’s Paul Woodrugh, the highway police officer who’s been accused of getting oral sex from a woman he stopped on the highway. He’s a character that came off as very vanilla in the opening episode other than the fact that he drives a motorcycle, which I still believe is considered cool.
Pizzolatto’s got a lot on his hands this season, as he did with last. With four main characters now, though, we’ll have to see how he handles them and gives them the adequate amount of screen time for his audience to connect with them; he doesn’t have five seasons like Game of Thrones does to build a character-audience relationship with more than just two characters, he’s only got eight episodes—eight hours—to do so.
But, perhaps more importantly, will we see things like the 6-minute, uncut, single tracking scene (which was one of the best shot scenes in TV history) we saw in episode 4 of season one? Or will there be a villain as creepy and fun to say as Reggie Ledoux? Those, I’m sure, will be answered in time.
Perhaps, through all of this, I’m overreacting—it’s only been one episode, after all. Maybe, we just need to get used to the change in everything and stop worrying about the last season, because, as I mentioned, what makes True Detective great is the fact that no two seasons are alike. Vince Vaughn may turnout to be an incredible dramatic actor who brings depth and style to his character, and director Justin Lin (and the other 3 or 4 other directors this season) will find his style and incorporate California into the story more. Perhaps this all happens, and it starts with the characters.
However, despite the presence of the four main characters, we’ve only seen two of them interact with each other—with little chemistry evident. The biggest worry here, then, is if the trajectory that “The Western Book of the Dead” started continues throughout the season, the chemistry that should be developing between the audience and the show won’t be evident, either.
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Follow Ben on Twitter.
(06/03/15 12:50am)
The Roundtable guys (Ben Wittenstein, Greg Gottfried, and Matt Dlugie) talk the NBA coaching carousel, IU basketball, and NBA Finals predictions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az9PwecJFsg
(04/23/15 12:14am)
With 3:43 left to go in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Bulls up 86-80 on the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, Jimmy Butler pulled up for a three-pointer from 25-feet away.
In the eight minutes before, Butler had scored 11 points and was almost single-handedly holding the Bulls' lead over the Bucks throughout the final quarter of the game.
And while the Bulls had the lead, it wasn't a safe one. The Bucks had been doing to the Bulls what they'd been doing all season: Forcing turnovers. They even snagged a small and short lead at the beginning of the fourth.
So when Butler got the ball on the left wing three-point line and his team up by six, it was a crucial possession.
And what did the Marquette grad do with it? He did what he'd been doing the whole game: He let it fly.
Taking a dribble with his left hand, Butler hesitated, causing his defender, Giannis Antetokounmpo, to freeze. That's all Butler needed. Without hesitation, he clutched the ball with both hands and rose through the air draining the three-pointer in the face of Antetokounmpo and his 7'3" wingspan.
Of course he made it, how could he not?
The quarter, nay, the game, had been going so well for him up to this point (he had 28 points and 8 rebounds up until then) that it would've been more surprising if he missed. In fact, it took him everything in his power not to pull out the "Jordan Shrug" on the United Center crowd.
Butler didn't score any for the remainder of the game. He didn't have to. The Bulls never lost that nine point lead and they were able to finish the game with relative ease to put themselves up 2-0 over Milwaukee as the series headed up I-94.
It's been about 275 words now and not once has Derrick Rose's name been mentioned.
It's kind of refreshing, isn't it?
I'm going to try and refrain from mentioning him for a little while longer because there's much more to talk about.
Pau Gasol keeps getting double-doubles and added 11 points and 16 rebounds to the game. Mike Dunleavy Jr. had 12 points and Joakim Noah had 19 rebounds.
It was a full team effort that won this game. Yes, Butler was the head guy and was probably the reason the Bulls were able to chalk-up a W for this one, but his teammates made their impacts, which is why we now bring up Rose.
The Bulls' superstar had a modest 15 points and a game-high 9 assists.
It was by no means an off-game for the Chicago native, but it wasn't a big one for him, either.
It's odd, then, that we're talking about a playoff win when Derrick Rose had an average night. You sure wouldn't have seen that four years ago. Back then, if Rose didn't score upwards of 20 points in the playoffs, this team was done.
So what's changed? In one word: Everything.
Rose's teammates have not only changed around him but they're also much better in talent than what he had in the past. Now the Bulls have a reliable offensive big man in Gasol (2015 postseason: 10.5 ppg and 14.5 rpg) and offensive little man in Aaron Brooks. They have a weapon who can spread the floor and make threes in Nikola Mirotic (may the basketball gods allow him to heal quickly) and they even have their dark knight in Dunleavy who has been nothing but solid this whole year (when he's healthy).
And of course, there's Butler. It's his first year as an All-Star and his first year where he'll most likely win the Most Improved Player of the Year award. He's slowly turning into that Luol Deng type of player who is glue of the team. In the playoffs alone this year, he's averaging 28 points a game and 4.3 rebounds. Yes, it's been two games but it's a peek behind the curtain at what potentially can be the main act of Butler's playoff career.
No longer is all the pressure on Rose, which is a good thing because I don't think his fragile knees could handle it all.
This is a team that can score points with or without him.
That's not to say the Bulls' championship hopes would be gone if Rose wasn't on this team. They would be. But just as it takes a village, it takes a full team to make it to The Finals and the Bulls seem to have that full team.
This year's team is more complete than past ones. Gasol has the experience and the resume to be a leader both on and off the court, and Noah brings the energy and rebounding every night. In fact, Gasol and Noah combined to grab 38 boards in Game Two against the Buck. And with points coming from more sources than just Rose, this is a more prepared team going forward than Bulls fans have seen in quite some time.
Plus, the players that come off the bench are just as, if not more, talented than what the Bulls had in 2010-2011; they averaged about 49 points per game in the regular season.
As the Bulls head to Milwaukee with a comfortable series lead, their comfort comes in knowing that the man with the shaky knees isn't the one they'll always have to rely on to win playoff games.
Now, more than anytime before in Tom Thibodeau's tenure, the Bulls may truly have more than enough to win.
(04/21/15 10:30pm)
For the past couple of years, saying you were a Cubs fan was sort of like saying you were a big Justin Bieber fan: People's reactions when you said it were a mix between sympathy and confusion on how you could support something that constantly puts out a terrible product.
"The Cubs are never going to win anything, let alone a World Series" they'd say.
Well, never say never because it's 2015 and being a Cubs fan is now the cool thing to be.
With the arrival of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer in 2011, the future looked bright--no matter how far away that future was.
With that being said, the past four years of Cubs baseball have been anything but bright. Having not won more than 75 games since 2009, there was very little reason for Cubs fans to follow their team religiously (whether that's a knock on Cubs fans' loyalty is not for me to say, it's simply a truth that occurred). If they had, they would've witnessed the tail ends of Kosuke Fukudome's, Alfonso Soriano's, Aramis Ramirez's, and Derrek Lee's careers in Chicago, along with Lou Piniella's, Mike Quade's, Dale Sveum's, and Rick Renteria's managing careers at Wrigley Field as well.
That much change and overall poor baseball play was clearly not something fans were looking to invest their time or money in. In fact, I bet it'd be hard to find many casual Cubs fans who could name more than three players on the Cubs' 2012 or 2013 roster. That's how little the city paid attention to the team.
(03/27/15 12:27am)
Ben Wittenstein, Matt Dlugie and Greg Gottfried talk about the impact and repercussions of the Chicago Bears signing Ray McDonald, the Cowboys signing Greg Hardy and AP's relationship with the Vikings.
https://soundcloud.com/ben-wittenstein-1/that-roundtable-talks-ray-mcdonald-greg-hardy-and-adrian-peterson
(03/16/15 2:23am)
Despite IU's 3rd-round exit, the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago is always a spectacle to behold. Within five days, 14 teams come and go with only one hoisting the trophy on Sunday.
The first three days, the games are rapid fire, one after another, giving fans plenty of basketball to take in.
Through the thousands of fans that walk through the United Center turnstiles, to the hundreds of media members and UC workers who roam the undercarriage of the arena, there's a lot to take in--here are some of the highlights.
Here's WIUX's view of the court from our broadcast position. Clearly, it was a great, unobstructed view. We broadcasted from the radio booth where the hockey announcers normally sit for Blackhawks games.
Sometimes, you'd see some familiar faces:
Halftime shows were all over the board in talent:
Some artifacts from the Chicago Blackhawks:
There were only two locker rooms, so teams came right from their hotel to the stadium before their game:
[video width="270" height="480" m4v="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Team-1.m4v"][/video]
[video width="270" height="480" m4v="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Yogi-1.m4v"][/video]
[video width="270" height="480" m4v="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Crean-1.m4v"][/video]
Here's our view of the last second shot of MSU's Branden Dawson before overtime of the championship game:
[video width="640" height="360" m4v="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_2150-1.m4v"][/video]
At the end of the championship game, confetti rained down:
At the end of the tournament, the United Center sits and waits in the dark, eager for its next event to begin.
(02/27/15 1:33am)
Ben Wittenstein, Greg Gottfried, and Matt Dlugie discuss Derrick Rose's newest knee injury, its impact on the Bulls, and what it means for the franchise moving forward.
https://soundcloud.com/ben-wittenstein-1/derrick-rose-talk
(02/25/15 4:00pm)
They say the first stage of grief is denial.
When first told terrible news, one can’t help but not believe it’s true. Unfortunately, the news that Bulls star Derrick Rose tore his meniscus and requires yet another surgery was too cruel to be a lie.
I could use the cliché “it’s like a bad dream,” but Chicago’s already been through this before.
It’s more like a recurring nightmare.
Fans have anguished in the past over the loss of Rose and the championship hopes along with him. They’ve gone through it not once, but twice, and now with this being the third time a possible season ending injury engulfs Rose, many are sadly numb to it all.
Sadly, we won’t officially know how long he’s out until the completion of the surgery; speculation—as it is in most situations—isn’t anybody’s friend right now.
In a situation like his, Rose can either opt to, yet again, repair the torn meniscus which is what he did last year, and which requires a lot more rehabilitation, or he can opt to have it cut off permanently which requires less rehab but carries with it the possibility of knee problems down the line.
There is, of course, the Russell Westbrook model. Westbrook has seen three knee surgeries himself. Despite this, he is currently playing at a superhuman level right now—even winning the NBA All-Star game MVP.
So there is hope.
But then there’s the Brandon Roy model.
Roy’s knee injury in April of 2010 was the beginning of the end of his career. He attempted to come back but his ailing knees left him a shadow of a player he once was and he was never able to recover, eventually fading out into retirement. This, too, could be a potential path for Rose and only the future knows which path Rose will ultimately take himself and Bulls fans with him.
Next comes the anger.
There’s been anger at Tom Thibodeau for playing Rose late into the fourth quarter on Monday while the Bulls had a solid lead over the Milwaukee Bucks; but if Rose’s knees where this bad, then he was bound to be injured at some point down the line, it was just a matter of when. Plus, he was averaging a respective 32.4 minutes per game in February, which is hardly over-playing.
Then there’s been anger at Rose himself. This is the most misplaced and naïve anger I’ve seen from fans. People actually getting mad at Rose for getting himself injured like it’s something that he can prevent or something that he wants to happen.
There’s even been anger at the Bulls staff for not noticing that something was possibly up when Rose missed practice last Wednesday and played poorly on Monday against the Bucks. As misplaced as this anger may seem, it’s out there and very much a part of many Bulls' fan’s thoughts.
As fans move past being angry with someone, they’ll approach their bargaining stage. “If only Rose had played less,” “if only Rose had been more cautious,” “if only Rose wore Nikes instead of Adidas.” So many alternative situations turned over and over in people’s heads which have Rose coming out on top without a scratch. Unfortunately, living in a fantasy world doesn’t get rid of the fact that the Bulls will now, for the third time, be going into the playoffs without their former MVP.
Now comes the depression.
The realization that the Bulls most likely will be without Rose yet again down the stretch is enough to even make the most virile person cry. It truly is sad to know that there's a possibility Rose will never be able to play up to the ceiling that was once set so high for him, and fans won’t be able to see Rose reach that now non-existent ceiling.
The days of Rose’s fast break dunks over Goran Dragic, buzzer beaters in Milwaukee and cross-over ankle breakers against the NBA are long gone, now only distance—yet vivid—memories that make up the shrine of Rose’s pre-injury career forever engrained in our minds.
So what now?
Now, we all must move on to acceptance. Injuries are part of the package one accepts when becoming a fan of Derrick Rose and the Bulls. It’s now commonplace, no longer a surprising event. Instead, it’s simply become something fans grieve over and move on with.
Now, the Bulls must move on and try to stay afloat in a sea of uncertainty.
As Thibodeau always says, this team indeed has more than enough to win. They still have Jimmy Butler and his All-Star play and the now emerging Tony Snell, whose alien looking self is turning into a consistent player that Thibodeau seems to trust more and more every night. The front line is also still fully intact with Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Nikola Mirotic. It’s now time, to use another Thibodeau phrase, for the next man up. This Bulls team has sadly been in this situation before and they know how to play without their star.
With the loss of Rose, this team will need to compensate for his point production and, in my opinion, will revert back into the defensive powerhouse that they have been the past couple years.
Ultimately, the Bulls going forward—to borrow a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald—must now beat on, their boat against the current, being borne back ceaselessly into the past.
You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenWittenstein and listen to him every Thursday evening from 6-8pm ET only on WIUX.
(02/11/15 7:43pm)
We thought it was over. We thought the feeling of sadness we got when Stephen Colbert left the Colbert Report two months ago was just a one time thing. The emptiness of a whole half hour in our lives was tough to grasp. Now, we're going to have to deal with a whole empty hour.
The announcement by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show that he would be leaving once his contract was up at the end of the year was quite a surprise to not just me but to millions of his fans. It wasn't so much that people thought it was going to happen, we just thought it wouldn't happen so soon.
Stewart’s contract is up in September and many people have speculated about his departure when his good friend, Stephen Colbert, left his show after nine years this past December to fill David Letterman’s soon to be vacant chair. However, Stewart's departure seemed so far in the future, something that we wouldn’t have to worry about until the time came.
Unfortunately, that time was yesterday.
In front of an unsuspecting audience, Stewart announced that he would be leaving the show, leaving many of his fans stunned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KM_kGxVUJw
Like many people my age who watch his show, The Daily Show is where we go to process the never-ending stream of news that fills our Twitter feeds, Facebook timelines and phone apps every day; his ability to sort through the mess of daily news and present arguments and situations in ways that people can comprehend is his show’s best trait.
Now it’s true that his show, more often than not, tended to lean towards the left side of the political spectrum, but overall his mockery of politicians and policies reached both sides of the aisle. And he made sure his mockery of cable news reached all the news outlets as well.
His appearance on CNN’s Crossfire solidified his belief on the importance of levelheaded, logical, non-overdramatic news presentations; his stance in 2004 is the same stance he takes every night on his show.
The Daily Show has become a safe heaven for those who seek shelter from the 24-hour information barrage that is cable news. It has been the moral weight in the middle, preaching sensible, logical, and rational approaches to the big issues that affect this country.
Ever since the 2000 elections and his now famous Indecision segments every time there's a presidential election, Stewart has been there to help it all make sense. He's been the common denominator for the past 16 years, always available to turn to when something didn't seem right.
In a way, that's what made him so trustworthy. We knew that no matter what happened, no matter how insane something may have seemed, and no matter how confused we were, we could turn on our television at 11pm and have it all make sense to us by 11:30.
Americans trusted Walter Cronkite to bring them the news during the 1960’s and 70’s. Fast forward to the 2000’s, and many Americans afford Stewart that same trust. It’s amazing that he considers himself a comedian before anything else, and yet is still the most trusted “newsman” in America.
People trust him, maybe not bring them the news, but to show them that those who are supposed to bring it to them are not doing it in a constructive way and to keep everything in line.
For Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, the jester has become the king in the news court.
Multiple surveys have listed The Daily Show audience as being some of the most informed TV audience members. His joking and mocking not only makes people laugh, but has a point to it as well. And sometimes he even affects real change, like in the case of a 9/11 first responder’s bill.
Just like the three branches of government create a system of checks and balances, so too does The Daily Show on the other major cable news networks.
His blunt criticisms of the inner workings of cable news and the exposure of scare tactics in the media has lead us to think twice when we watch a story unfold on TV. Being skeptical is a trait that journalists should have when reporting a story; what Stewart has done has made us better journalists in our own right by bringing out our skepticism to news stories that may seem overblown.
"We can have animus and not be enemies. But unfortunately, one of the main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen, or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected flaming ant epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing."
-Jon Stewart, Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
In its most basic form, The Daily Show is a simple 30-minute, late-night cable comedy show that contains some fart jokes and the occasional photoshopped picture. But in reality, it's so much more than that. It is a voice for those who are too busy with their daily lives to spend their time yelling about issues. It is a voice for those who want to see a change in the way they get their news. And it is a voice for those who like to laugh. Ultimately, The Daily Show acts as a voice for many people with Jon Stewart as the representative.
At the end of all of his shows, Stewart does his "Moment of Zen" segment which is usually a short 10-second video of some sort. So as his show comes to an end, I'd like to thank Jon and The Daily Show for giving us our own Moment of Zen for 30-minutes every weeknight for the last 16 years. We sure will miss it.
(02/09/15 2:48am)
Now, I don’t think this needs to be said, but I’m not a doctor. I know, shocking, right? With WebMD, you basically can be your own doctor, whose final diagnosis always seems to be death; plus, I wouldn’t look good in white anyway. Regardless, after watching the Chicago Bulls thus far this season, it would take a special kind of doctor to truly diagnose what is happening to this team because most people, even those who get paid to follow this team, can’t seem to figure it out.
This year’s Bulls team came into this season with not only high hopes from themselves but high hopes from many NBA writers as well.
Their bench being deeper and seemingly more talented than their bench in 2010-2011 and with Carlos “Get it Jo” Boozer finally taking his, what some would call, talents to Los Angeles, this team was poised to break out of its shell and really play like a championship contender this year.
However, now that we’re almost midway through the season, this team, much like the Tinder match you met up with, isn’t what it's made out to be.
A team that has consistently been in the top 10 of defenses in the NBA under Tom Thibodeau is now a statistically average defense sitting nicely at 14th in the league at points allowed per game.
Of course, there’s no way that this significant drop in defensive execution is because of the loss of Carlos Boozer, right? Right?
I would say pretty confidently it is not. Yes, the Bulls’ prize offseason acquisition, Pau Gasol, is not the best defensive player, but if I had to compare his defense to anyone, it would probably be closer to the style of Boozer.
So the Bulls haven’t really lost any ground personnel wise on the defensive front. So what’s the problem?
This is where it takes a professional NBA doctor to figure this out. I’m by no means an expert in NBA strategy, heck I consider it a victory if I walk out the door in the morning with matching socks, but even beat writers and national writers can’t quite figure out the Bulls’ problem.
Jimmy Butler is literally having an all-star season, Derrick Rose is back and scoring almost 19 points a game along with almost 5 assists, and Pau Gasol has had 12 straight double-doubles. All of those points are tall tale signs that the Bulls should be at the top of the East. There is, however, a glaring hole. None of those stats are defensively focused.
Rose has been an average defender, at best, this season. Gasol, as mentioned before, plays a lot like Boozer on the defensive end save for a few extra inches of height, and Butler, usually the Bulls’ prime defender, is also struggling to provide constant defensive intensity every game.
“I’m supposed to be this primetime defender,” Butler said in a recent interview. “But I don’t think I’ve been holding up my end of the bargain lately.”
Now, the problem doesn’t rest solely on Butler’s often-injured shoulders. His pal Joakim Noah also hasn’t quite been himself all season, both defensively and offensively.
Noah’s transition to playing the four has been anything but hunky dory.
The guy has made a living being a force in the middle and now that he plays the PF position in a league that is transitioning to more stretch PF’s, he’s regulated to playing more towards the perimeter than needed. This, in turn, frees up the middle for more penetration by opponents.
My only beef with Thibodeau this year is believing that he should start Taj at the four and have Noah come off the bench to replace Gasol. That way, Noah isn’t stuck guarding the stretch fours and Nikola Mirotic can play the four with Noah behind him. Win-win for everyone. But I digress.
This team has the ability to score at will at anytime. Their offensive weapons run deep through the bench, but if they aren’t able to stop their opponent, it’s like owning a nice Corvette without an engine—pointless.
So how can this Bulls team fix their problems? Well, for starters, winning is the ultimate cure and they’ve done that, now winning two in a row against teams they should beat.
All season, they’ve been able to beat good teams and lose to the bad ones—another head scratcher. They seem to play down to their competition or play up to it. Now, this might come in handy during the playoffs (hopefully) but they need to beat inferior teams to be able to have a shot at home court advantage in those playoffs.
This brings up another head scratcher, the Bulls’ United Center record of 13-11. For the life of me I cannot figure out why they’ve been so bad at home and I’m offering a hefty reward to anyone who can figure it out.
unbelievable how many dumb turnovers the Bulls make these days and how soft they are defensively...not close to the team they should be...
-@RealMikeWilbon, February 8, 2015
Some may say injuries have been a problem, with key Bulls shooters Mike Dunleavy and Doug McDermott both out for extended periods of time. This could very well be a large part of the Bulls’ woes this year. The lack of ability to spread the floor for Rose and Gasol to perform pick-and-rolls and maneuver in the paint takes away a big part of the game. But like I said, offense hasn’t really been a huge issue for most of the season.
The players have talked about communication issues as being a problem in their defensive play and that could very well be another symptom of whatever defensive illness this team has. With Thibodeau proving that he can coach a good defense, I’d have to imagine much of the blame lies with the players rather than the coach.
So where do the Bulls go from here? Well, they’ve got the all-star break coming up where hopefully they’ll tighten up their defensive strategy and fix some of their communication problems. The second half of the season is clearly much more important and therefore requires even more concentration and effort than the first half. The Bulls obviously hope to get Dunleavy back during that time and hope that Rose doesn’t break himself.
All in all, the Bulls are still 32-20 and tied for third in the East. They’re by no means a bad NBA team. However, their recent play has raised some eyebrows and even caused some unfortunate fans to push the panic button, albeit a bit prematurely.
Their play against bad teams in the second half of the season will define their run to get home court advantage in the playoffs and their improvements on defense, if any, will surely define their playoff run.
So while I’m by no means a doctor, it doesn’t take one to see that the Bulls are wavering on getting sick. And while it’s hard to diagnose what’s wrong, it’s clear that there’s something about the Bulls’ play this season that needs to be made better— their championship hopes depend on it.
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Follow Ben on Twitter, @BenWittenstein and listen to him every Thursday on "The Roundtable" from 6-8pm EST on WIUX.
(01/06/15 9:31pm)
The Roundtable's Ben Wittenstein, Matt Dlugie and Greg Gottfried won't let their break stop them from discussing all the hot NBA topics as we begin 2015.
(11/10/14 10:12pm)
Has anyone noticed something missing from a majority of the Bulls games this year?
No, it’s not Carlos Boozer’s incessant yelling.
The Bulls oft-injured superstar Derrick Rose seems to have been MIA for a majority of this season. In fact, the 2011 MVP has missed more than half of the Bulls' games this season. This time, he’s not out because of a torn ACL or problems with his knee. Now, he’s out because of two sprained ankles.
More injuries in Rose’s career that have caused Bulls fans to hold their collective breath every time he dribbles the basketball.
This is nothing new to Bulls fans, though.
They have been holding their collective breaths on and off so much you’d think they’d have hyperventilated by now.
I don’t think I’m the only Bulls fan to say I’m sick of having to hold my breath every time Rose steps on the court.
It’s one thing for fans to be oversensitive to the possibility of Rose injuring himself yet again, but management seems to have that same oversensitive mindset.
Yes, management has literally millions of dollars invested in Rose, so it’s understandable for them to be a bit cautious. However, if they sit him on the bench until he’s 100 percent, they’re wasting their money in the present in order to prevent the possibility of them wasting their money in the future if he gets hurt.
It’s an unwinnable circle if they play it that way.
Management has to stop acting like fans and start acting like practical thinkers.
From now until the end of Rose’s hopefully distinguished career, people are going to be “holding their breath” every time he steps on the court.
And let’s face it, Rose will truly never be 100 percent, even if he says he is. His body has failed him in the past and it’s likely to fail him again in the future. To think that that thought is not in the back of Rose’s head is naïve. And to further think that he won’t change his gameplay because of that thought is downright foolish.
Players need to play even if they aren’t 100 percent and fans and especially management need to realize that.
New England Patriots fans surely have some worry every time tight end Rob Gronkowski takes the field.
The pro-bowler has strained ligaments in a super bowl, broken his forearm, tore his ACL and MCL, and underwent four surgeries on his left forearm; all of this occurring in consecutive years from 2011-2013. Rose’s injury bouts look like a paper cut compared to Gronk’s career.
Do you think that Pats owner Robert Kraft or GM/coach Bill Belichick have worries that he’ll hurt himself again? Of course they do. Has that stopped them from playing him this season, unrestricted? Of course it hasn’t.
Their competitive nature and understanding of their situation outweigh their fear of Gronk’s injury past becoming his present.
They understand that if they were to sit Gronkowski for a game because they’re worried about his health because he’s a bit sore that day, they’d lose their competitive edge. This Patriots team is objectively not as good without Gronk as they are with him.
Same too for the Bulls without Rose.
Both the Patriots and Bulls rely on their respective superstars to change the dynamic of the game in their favor. Anytime they are out of competition, these teams sink to mediocre status.
Yes, I understand in the NFL each game is worth more than a single game in the NBA, but it still doesn’t change the importance of having Rose play if he’s able to.
As we’ve seen in the past, teams with chemistry tend to fend better than those teams without. Think last year’s San Antonio Spurs whose core three has been playing with each other since dinosaurs roamed the earth or the 2012-2013 Miami Heat. That same Heat team looked dismal in their first couple months together of their first year. That inaugural year as the Big Three, they lost in the NBA finals to a Mavericks team who had had their core five players play together the past two years before that.
Chemistry matters in the NBA.
The Bulls have been good on many fronts, keeping players together hasn’t been one of them. Yes, most of the core has stuck around for the Tom Thibodeau tenure. People like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, and Derrick Rose.
However, due to injuries, the group of Rose, Noah, and Butler had played a total of only 221 combined minutes with each other in the past three years before this season. Normally, that is accomplished in a few weeks, not years.
As long as these guys have been on the same team, they’ve seldom played together—that seems like a bit of a problem.
Obviously this is the case because Rose has been out for most of the past two years. Now that Rose is back, this is the time for those core three to play with and get a feel for each other.
However, now we’re getting told that every game, Rose is questionable to play. He’s sprained both of his ankles and the team is taking it day by day. Granted, Rose played in Milwaukee knowing that he wasn’t 100 percent; he was able to lead his team to a win where he scored 13 points and dished out seven assists.
You see, even when Rose wasn’t 100 percent because of his ankles, he still played.
And he made a difference.
Just like Gronkowski forcing the defense to defend the middle of field more heavily, Rose forces defenses to tighten up the paint; his mere presence changes the whole dynamic of the game.
ESPN Chicago’s Bulls writer, Nick Friedell, made a point that Rose’s injuries are a catch-22 for the Bulls: If he plays, fans worry that he’ll reinjure himself and if he doesn’t play, fans question his toughness. It’s an impossible situation for Rose to escape, a situation in which he’ll most likely be in for the rest of his career.
At this point in Rose’s career, it would be silly to worry so much over every little injury. This isn’t to say that Rose should be out on the court every game, playing the maximum amount of minutes. There should be some games against much lesser opponents where Rose can rest.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that if he’s a bit sore before one game, management should raise the red flags and bench him. Such counterintuitive actions would only hurt the team and further prohibit the Bulls core players of playing together.
With Rose, as with Gronkowski, worrying too much if their going to hurt themselves again does no good, for the fans or the team.
Because if the Bulls, out of fear, bench Rose too much throughout the season in hopes that he’ll be healthy for the playoffs, there may be no playoffs for the Rose and the Bulls to play in.
(10/28/14 10:01pm)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_h7Lm7C9Nk&t=1m20s
By: Ben Wittenstein and Greg Gottfried
Hello there, readers of sports and grandmas who can’t get their Skype working. This is the start of the 2014-2015 NBA season and who else would you read besides two Jewish men in Indiana who will make obscure movie references and obscene jokes as they write about basketball? So…enjoy.
Ben Wittenstein: Greg, I know you haven’t done much with your life in the past few weeks due to prepping for tonight, so tell me, will this season be more exciting than last?
Greg Gottfried: Last season was a year of storylines, most of them about injuries. We were either talking about the Heat trying to make a three-peat, the injuries to Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant or the implosion of the Indiana Pacers. As interesting as all these subplots were, or hysterical in the case of Indiana, there wasn’t that much great basketball. This year will be different. The West is loaded once again with every contender improving, in one way or another, and the East isn’t the black hole that it was previously.
BW: Please don’t bring up the Derrick Rose injury, it puts me and the rest of Bulls fans in a dark place we don’t want to return to again. But I agree with you on the East. While they’ll surely still be the younger brother to the Western Conference in terms of talent, they’ll be, in my opinion, the more interesting of the two conferences to watch. We have three sure-fire playoff teams from these past five years expected to not even make the 8th seed this year (Indiana, Boston, New York) and we’ve got newcomers expected to break the top five like Washington and possibly the Charlotte Hornets. Frankly, I’m just excited to see how well the new look Hornets and a confusing Wizards team fare this year.
GG: Gotta post this one more time to get under your skin.
Okay, sorry about that. Anyway, I agree with you on the East starting to arise from the dead like that show Ressurection that probably got cancelled before its first episode. The Bulls and Cavs are, for sure, going to be the best two teams in the conference but how the next six seeds play out is intriguing. As a Wizards homer, they’re somewhere in the playoff picture, but I still think they have a lot of work to do. In fact, I see them as the five seed with the Toronto Raptors and the ATLANTA HAWKS ahead of them. Yes, I love the Hawks this season. Mike Budenholzer has a legitimate shot at the Coach of the Year award and with Al Horford coming back, I see this team getting a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Charlotte Hornets are perhaps the most riveting Eastern squad this season because their ceiling is extremely high with their basement having them not make the playoffs. Either Lance Stephenson, Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson play team basketball or we may be looking at Michael Jordan’s return when this team is out of the playoff picture after the All-Star break.
BW: Really, you HAD to put that picture in? Do you want me to put a picture of Bradley Beal in here? I thought not. I couldn’t disagree more on Budenholzer winning COY. He’s got a good team, that’s for sure, but as we all know, saying Al Horford is going to be healthy all year is like saying Leonardo Dicaprio is going to win an Oscar-it’s optimistic thinking that is not supported by past experience. Yes, this Hawks team can be good and everyone loves the white sensation that is Kyle Korver, but their bench worries me and so does their talent in their starting lineup. If Horford does go down with an injury, who can step up to take his place? Pero Antic? Elton Brand? And if that happens, does Budenholzer have the ability to successfully play competitive rotations? In my opinion, that answer is a solid no. It just doesn’t look good if he goes down, which is very possible. So while the Hawks will be a good team, I can still see the Wizards and Raptors finishing ahead of them. How about those Raptors though? They have one of the best backcourts in the league, a should-have-been All-Star last year, and the young Lithuanian center who’s looked good in preseason. Do they have the ability to give the Bulls or the Cavaliers a run for their money? Probably not, but they could at least try to make it interesting.
GG: Now the Hawks might not have the depth as a top team in the West, however, in a still improving East, they are probably one of the few teams with capable backups. At each position, they have a competent role player who can fill in at any given time, whether it be sophomore point guard Dennis Schroder or recently acquired wing guard, Thabo Sefalosha. However, I do agree with the Horford worries. His health is the main buying/selling point for the Hawks season. If he can play 70 games, I see big things for Atlanta but if he goes down, the Hawks will just fly under the radar (get it...fly). The East has a bunch of feel-good stories such as the Wizards, Hawks, Raptors and Hornets, but ultimately, like the Oscar Best Picture going to the movie about slavery or an old man with cancer, there are only two real choices; the Bulls and the Cavaliers. At first I was skeptical about how the Cavs would fit with one another because of my doubts that Kyrie Irving’s a superstar and that Dion Waiters can go five minutes without someone wanting to beat him up, but then I remembered that Kevin Love is the second best power forward in the league and he’s being paired up with LeBron James. The Bulls may be the better regular season team but if Cleveland reaches their full potential, the East is theirs. However, I know you’re more bullish on the Bulls than I am.
BW: Great pun. See, now you’ve got me on a topic I could talk (or write) for days about. The whole Bulls/Cavs dynamic is going to be just as exciting as the Bulls/Heat dynamic the past four years. However, this time, it seems as if the Bulls actually have a chance to compete against LeBron and Co. The Bulls have restocked with a great bench and, of course, their biggest asset in Derrick Rose is returning. The depth on this Bulls team is as great, if not greater, than their depth in 2010-2011 where I thought they had their best chance at beating the Heat. But now, Joakim Noah won’t have to play 40 minutes a night because he’s got Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and even Nikola Mirotic to help out down low. Of course, this whole Bulls season will be riding on the back, or should I say knees, of Rose. If he can play even slightly close to his MVP level back in 2009-2010 (and it’s looking like he’s slowly getting there) then this team will surely give the Cavs a run for their money at the top of the East. With the West though, the number one spot just doesn't seem as complicated. Most people can agree that it will be the San Antonio Spurs sitting at number one when the end of season dust clears. Is there really any other legitimate option?
GG: I think the regular season is all San Antonio. There’s just no other team that could overcome injuries due to depth and so much talent like San Antonio. They’ll win 60 games again because time is a flat circle and nothing ever really changes.
However, I can see them being upset in the playoffs. There are three teams in the West that have the skillset and system to knock off the mighty Spurs. The Warriors, Thunder and Clippers. If Klay Thompson can learn how to dribble and improve as the Robin to Steph Curry’s Batman, I believe they could knock off San Antonio. Also, the Warriors’ hopes rest on Steph Curry and how Steve Kerr’s offensive sets build around him. Curry is a shooting anomaly and when he’s on fire, run for cover. The Thunder are another obvious choice for beating the Spurs because they’ve done so in the past. If Kevin Durant returns from his injury, as good as he was in his MVP season, the Thunder can definitely beat San Antonio. People forget that the Western Conference Finals was tied after four games and, perhaps, if Serge Ibaka didn’t miss the first two games, Oklahoma City might be the home for the Larry O’Brien championship trophy. The final team, and most likely squad, to beat the champs is the Los Angeles Clippers. They have two of the top ten players and my preseason MVP prediction in Blake Griffin. This team is so damn good. For sure, they will win 60 games and have homecourt advantage for the majority of the Playoffs and have huge matchup advantages at point guard, power forward and center. Tony Parker’s will be good this season but compared to Chris Paul, he’s a mere mortal. Paul may take some time off this season but, once it’s playoff time, LA will re ready. In fact, I’m making it official, the team that makes the Finals from the West will be the...Los Angeles Clippers.
BW: Blake Griffin for MVP??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ
I knew you weren’t the smartest knife in the sharpener drawer, but this pick is downright insane. Obviously, LeBron James would be the smart pick here, but I’d even go with someone like Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard before I went with Griffin. Don’t get me wrong, Griffin is one of the best PF’s in the NBA right now; I’d put him one spot behind Kevin Love, but that’s another story. Chris Paul I think will take the spotlight in LAC land, he’ll be the team main leader, distributer and defender. Griffin’s jumpshot will continue to improve and he’ll be a scoring threat for sure, but he still doesn’t have the pure scoring ability like LeBron or Lillard that helps a player push themselves into the MVP talk. Griffin is a nobal MVP pick, I’ll give you that, but as they say in Billy Madison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0
GG: We disagree to disagree. Griffin will cement himself as the best player on a 60 win Clippers team as the year goes on. Of course James is the frontrunner but I can see the Cavs starting off slowly and finishing in the 55-58 win total. Also, voting for James is boring. Let’s get some new blood in the MVP race. Also, calling me stupid for picking Griffin is extremely hypocritical with you taking Lillard before “The Blakers”. Lillard’s a good point guard but he’s not even top five as I would put Paul, Westbrook, Rose, Curry and Wall ahead of him. Also, it will be tough to be an MVP candidate without making the playoffs. We’ve argued about this before but I just don’t think the Blazers will be playing in the postseason. What I want to focus on is who will be the 7 and 8 seed in the West. The Blazers are indubitably in the running, but I think the Memphis Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets will still be playing after the regular season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSrrkvDP4Bs
Fans always sleep on Ty Lawson who is a pleasure to watch and after being plagued by injuries, last season, has said that he is now 100%. The addition of Aaron Afflalo and Danillo Gallinari coming back to form will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and the Nuggets will strike gold (nuggets) come playoff time.
BW: Again, good attempt at a pun. But yes, we’ve been having this Blazers conversation for well over two weeks now. I, as well, don’t think that they will end up as the seventh or eighth seed, but only because they will finish at the fifth or sixth seed. In my humble opinion, you are severely underrating this Blazers team. Their starting five can compete with some of the best teams in the West, and yes, their bench is a bit suspect, but it’s no worse than a Dallas Mavericks bench who, I’d expect, you would rank in the top five in the West. As for your Nuggets pick, that’s something we can both agree on. I would have loved for the Bulls to have gotten Aaron Afflalo to backup Jimmy Butler on the wing, however the Nuggets swept him from under the Bulls feet and Chicago was left with the lesser of the Aaron shooting guards. With the return of Gallinari, this Nuggets team will no doubt be able to shoot teams out of the gym and if second year head coach Brian Shaw will be able to get this team to play even a little better defense than they did last year, they will be on their way to a playoff spot. But enough about the playoffs, let’s get down to the dirt of the NBA. My surprise team this year is the Milwaukee Bucks. I’m not huge on Jason Kidd as a head coach but I think with the young team they have in the land of cheese, he might just fit in. Plus, I would pay an acceptable amount of money to watch the Greek Freak play basketball. If Brandon Knight is able to pass the ball a bit more (he only had 4.9 assists/game) and get the offense flowing through him instead of stalling through him, this Bucks team will take people by surprise. I’m not saying Milwaukee makes the playoffs, but I think they’ll occupy that ninth or 10th spot, which would be an improvement for them.
GG: Yes, the Bucks will be fun to watch but there’s no way they’re better than the 13th spot in the East. We’ve seen other teams with their talent and lack of experience lose close games and look much better than the record suggests. Giannis Anteklmpoukosahdmebabhwbdhbnx, I think that’s how you spell it, is a marvel to behold but like Captain America: Winter Soldier, this season will just be something to improve on and not tell anyone about. God, that movie was horrendous. Why didn’t the main villain talk at all and did they really expect the audience to believe that Samuel L. Jackson was de...Sorry, I lost my train of thought. Where was I? Oh right, the Bucks. I sort of see Milwaukee as the Minnesota Timberwolves of the East. Both have a lot of talent and potential but they will be asking too much of their younger players. They will be competitive but not able to win contested games against more veteran squad. However, even with the losses piling up, the sun is rising in Milwaukee as Jabari Parker is the next great NBA scorer. I can see him winning Rookie of the Year, or at least being in the discussion with Elfrid Payton, Marcus Smart, Andrew Wiggins and, my personal favorite Dante Exum. Exum plays like me, if I had the talent, speed, scoring ability, passing acumen, defensive capabilities and height. But besides that, we’re essentially the same player.
BW: Talking about the Bucks could cause one to lose their train of thought, I get it, and I think you missed an extra K somewhere in Giannis's name. But don’t be so high on yourself, I’m sure Exum is a better cook, driver, and speaker than you are too. Anyway, I agree, I like Jabari as rookie of the year as well. And as we wrap up, I’m going to say Steve Kerr wins coach of the year, and Taj Gibson wins sixth man.
GG: I really like the Steve Kerr pick but I’m going to stick with Mike Budenholzer or as he’s called in California “The Dudenholzer”. God, that was awful. For sixth man, I really like Isaiah Thomas on the Phoenix Suns. His style will fit perfectly with the run n’ gun Suns and him backing up Goran Dragic will be deadly for other Western Conference teams. Finally, if we’re picking the NBA Finals champion, I’m going with the Cavaliers over the Clippers. Blake Griffin will win the MVP but this season will surely end with LeBron holding the Championship Trophy over his head. This is going to be a great season and I’m as excited as Kobe Bryant is to start chucking up shots again.
BW: This Cavs pick is coming from the guy who said “voting for James is boring” for the MVP race. Well, voting for the Cavs as NBA Champion is boring. I’m going to follow the great Yahoo! writer Adrian Wojnarowski and pick the Chicago Bulls as NBA Champions. Rose won’t win MVP, but he’ll play at a superstar level once again and bring the Larry O'Brien Trophy back to the United Center once again. And Greg, as we say goodbye—thank you for the last word by the way—this NBA season is sure to be exciting, so sit back, relax, and watch basketball!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZ1YAJZ1po&t=0m6s
You can catch Ben and Greg on The Roundtable on Thursdays from 6-7pm or on Twitter @benwittenstein and @gott31
(10/06/14 9:05pm)
With the Chicago Bulls starting their preseason tonight, all eyes will be on superstar Derrick Rose in hopes that he can lead the team to a promised land filled with Larry O’Brien trophies and fancy rings.
Fans placing all their hopes on Rose is nothing new to the 26 year-old. As long as he’s in a Bulls uniform and healthy, Chicago fans are going to expect him to have the Bulls competing for a championship year in and year out.
This year, however, Rose will have some offensive help in the form of 34 year-old Spanish forward and two-time NBA champion, Pau Gasol.
Gasol is no stranger to championship-level play, and that’s something the Bulls knew when they brought him in. There’s also no question that Gasol is a good fit for a Bulls team that needed, once again, to make a big splash in large pool of quality free agent candidates.
What the Bulls hope, and what only time will tell, is that Gasol doesn’t become a free agency consolation prize like a certain someone whose name rhymes with loser.
At this point, we haven’t even seen Gasol step on a court in a Bulls uniform. But what’s terribly evident even now is that Gasol is just as important of a piece to the Bulls—if not more—than having a healthy Derrick Rose.
Rose being the main source of the Bulls’ offense is as obvious as Tom Thibodeau saying “we have more than enough to win.” However, Rose’s role as the main offensive facilitator has been the source of many problems and losses as well.
Taking out the fact that he’s missed almost all of the last two seasons, when Rose was healthy, the criticism was that Rose’s teammates relied a bit TOO much on his scoring abilities. Yes, this led to some memorable game winners but many other times, this led to Rose running unsuccessful isolations at the end of games.
Clearly, the Bulls need help on offense; this criticism is nothing new. Players like Joakim Noah or Jimmy Butler aren’t reliable enough on the offensive end to run the offense through at crucial points. Taj Gibson’s offensive game has seen improvement, especially from his 10-foot baseline jumpers. However, he too is inconsistent and shouldn’t be relied on for offense.
Now, with the addition of Gasol, the Bulls have someone who they can rely on in crucial moments offensively other than Rose. Gasol’s average of 17 points per game, an efficiency rating hovering around 20 and a career field goal percentage of about 51 percent are indications of how effective he can be with the ball in his hands.
If many of you are having déjà vu from four years ago, that’s because many of these thoughts were the same that were thrown around when Carlos Boozer joined the Bulls back in 2010. His offensive numbers are similar to Gasol’s, and it was precisely his ability to at least somewhat create shots for himself that intrigued the Bulls into signing him.
Why, then, should Bulls fans feel any better about the Gasol signing, when many think Gasol will turn into a Boozer 2.0?
The answer, I believe, lies in height.
At 6 foot 9 inches, power forward Boozer is the same height as former teammate and small forward Luol Deng and only about 35 pounds heavier. Boozer, unlike Deng, had to go against PFs that were two, three, or four inches taller than him and much more skilled in the post. Put height and post skill together, and it’s no wonder Boozer got killed so much by taller players at his position. I’ve always said Boozer was a power forward in a small forward’s body.
With seven-footer Gasol essentially taking Boozer’s spot on the team, the height differential won’t be a factor anymore and neither will post skill. Gasol most likely will find himself playing center at times, which will add a whole new dimension to the Bulls’ rotation.
Joakim Noah will be very happy.
Having averaged 35 minutes per game last season (42 minutes in the playoffs), Noah will now be allowed more leeway to rest during games. As hard of a worker that Nazr Muhammoud is, he’s just not an effective backup center for Noah; Thibodeau clearly wasn’t comfortable playing him excess minutes.
Front-court depth has been a nagging issue since the departure of defensive juggernaut Omer Asik.
Gasol can now provide Thibs with some sanity as he slides into playing the center position. Having a Gasol-Gibson front court is no walk in the park for opposing teams. The great part about this combination is that Thibs maintains the same level of defensive intensity even without Noah when he has a rise in offensive potential in Gasol.
A backup center who has the ability to score 17 or 18 points a game is new concept for the Bulls; one that Thibodeau will gladly work with.
I haven’t even mentioned Gasol’s keen passing ability.
The Bulls potentially have two of the best passing big men in the league which they’ll use to their fullest advantage to spread the court for Rose. Gasol averaged 3.4 assists per game last year and had a passer rating of 3.3, which is above average for big men.
With Gasol being a crucial addition, the biggest question for the Bulls this year other than ‘can Rose saty healthy?’ is ‘can Gasol stay healthy?’
His history of injury is well documented. However, if Thibodeau plays his cards right with his rotation, neither Gasol, Noah, Gibson, Mirotic, nor Muhammad should receive excessive minutes during the regular season. Fewer minutes should equal less chance of injury for Gasol or Noah, who both have struggled with injuries in the past.
As the beginning of the season approaches, there’s a lot of potential on this Bulls team that looks magnificent on paper. If they can stay healthy, their potential is at least an Eastern Conference Finals appearance this year. That “if” is the biggest roadblock between them and a ring, and only time will reveal if that roadblock turns into spike strips.
So while all eyes will be on Derrick Rose as the season commences, a healthy Gasol will start to turn heads as he shows Bulls fans that missing out on Carmelo Anthony this offseason may not have been so bad after all.
Follow Ben on Twitter @benwittenstein and listen to him on "The Round Table" Thursdays from 6-7 pm
(07/31/14 12:11am)
The 2014-2015 Big Ten football season unofficially kicked off Monday in Chicago with coaches and star players representing all 14-conference teams in attendance.
With the lobby decked out in Big Ten football pennants and the elevator doors painted with school logos, the Hilton Chicago and the Big Ten were ready for the country’s eyes to peer upon them.
The day started out with a video of past and present Big Ten athletes welcoming the conference's two new teams: Rutgers University and The University of Maryland. Afterwards, each of the team’s coaches came up for a 15-minute question and answer session with the media in attendance and the Big Ten Championship trophy gleaming on a table next to them.
Unlike the more famous Super Bowl media day, this day it was all business for media members and the coaches; no weird or humorous questions were posed save for the one question about Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini’s cat.
And while it was an event focused on the current coaches and players, there were some former stars in attendance that took up some of the spotlight. People like Dave Wannstedt and Barry Alvarez gave their inputs on the upcoming season to any reporters willing to ask.
For Indiana’s coach Kevin Wilson and his players, media day was an exciting experience and a chance for them to show off their talent and confidence to the country.
“We’re very excited to be part of the Big Ten East,” Wilson said. “Being in the Eastern Time zone with our recruiting region and whatnot.”
With the Big Ten Eastern division expected to be the better of the two divisions in the conference, Indiana’s got a hard road ahead of them to get to the top. Nonetheless, Wilson explained that he’s happy about the way the summer’s going, especially with the freshman.
“(I’m) very, very pleased now having had those guys in the summer,” Wilson said. “I think even with so many returning players, we have a number of freshman that I would anticipate to being in the mix to compete and play this year.”
Citing a good health record this summer and being “off the charts” academically, Wilson expressed satisfaction with the direction his team is headed going into the season. Specifically, he talked about his offensive line and the fact that they’re going to be getting Peyton Eckert and David Kaminski back after they both missed last year with injuries.
“We’ve got an outstanding offensive line,” Wilson said. “I think it’s one of the better offensive lines in the league. And what I like about our offensive line is that our starting right guard and starting right tackle…missed all 12 games. So we were able to accomplish decent offensive numbers with basically half the line out.”
As for one of the star players from last year’s squad, Wilson was hesitant to place him as the number one featured player this year. Rushing for 958 yards and 12 touchdowns, running back Tevin Coleman was the breakout freshman of the team last year. However Wilson spoke cautiously of crowning Coleman as the center of the offense.
“Will Tevin be the featured guy? He kind of was last year, but I do think we’re going to have to play with more than one back…I mean, we’re going to have to compliment Tevin,” Wilson said.
Throughout the day, Wilson expressed trust in his new defensive coordinator Brian Knorr and how good his defense could be now that it has switched to a 3-4 formation.
As an early sign that Knorr’s defense can be a difficult one, the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback Nate Sudfeld talked about his difficulty playing against the 3-4 defense in practice.
“The 3-4 is a lot harder, I think for me, than the 4-3 because there’s a lot more guys that can drop into coverage and a lot more looks you can do,” Sudfeld said.
A big concern for the defense last year had a lot to do with the offense. Critics expressed their concern that Wilson’s no-huddle offense was scoring too quickly and not giving the defense enough time to rest, which subsequently would allow teams to score easily late in games. Wilson shot this idea down, telling media members he didn’t believe that his offense did or will hurt the defense.
The other big storyline surrounding the Hoosiers this season is the loss of quarterback Tre Roberson. The other half of the two-man quarterback combination last season decided to transfer to Illinois State at the end of the year. As a result, Sudfeld became QB1 this year and the backup position is wide open for the taking, according to Wilson.
“It’s going to be a three-man battle between a more veteran guy with Nate Boudreau, and then we’ll see where Zander Diamont with his talent is, a young athletic guy, I think Danny Cameron is a coach’s kid, kind of gym rat, we’ll have a second,” Wilson said.
For now, Nate Sudfeld remains the field general for Wilson. As the only quarterback expected to get a majority of the playing time, Sudfeld has had to take on the role of being a more vocal leader, a position he hasn’t truly embraced yet, but expects to fulfill successfully.
I've never been a ‘ra-ra’ type of guy, so it’s definitely a little out of my comfort zone,” Sudfeld said. “But I’ve been getting more comfortable with it and leading when it’s necessary.”
With each day leading up to kickoff, this Hoosier team seems to be getting more confident. With a new defensive coordinator bringing a new-look defense and the burden of managing two quarterbacks being lifted from Kevin Wilson’s shoulders, this upcoming season has a lot of reasons for IU fans and players to not only be confident, but excited as well.
Story and Photos by: Ben Wittenstein