The Bulls managed to stay afloat, until the end of the third quarter, on the strength of their offense. But if you follow the Bulls or have pay attention to Vinny Del Negro’s coaching, you know, that there is hardly ever a reason for their good offense, beyond Derrick Rose or guys just making shots.

Simply, the Bulls aren’t a team that outscores people; eventually, they were going to have to make some stops. They never did. Besides a stretch early in the third quarter where the Jazz became careless with the ball and the Bulls generated some turnovers, they never could slow down the Jazz.
Read more…

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Bears release Kevin Jones: Even when he was supposedly healthy, he looked like a 10-year veteran. In preseason games, against third-and-fourth-stringers, I just never saw any explosion from him.

NFL Free Agency: Cleveland releases Derek Anderson, and now the Cardinals are “very interested in him;” Thomas Jones signs with Kansas City; and Jamal Williams signs with Denver.

Deng will have an MRI Deng left the game with a strained right calf, and he will get an MRI tomorrow.

Strasburg debuts: The Nationals phenom looked OK in two innings. The highlight of his outing came on the last pitch: an 81-mph slider in a full count with two men on base (see video above). Still, Phil Rogers has seen enough to say he is definitely not better than Aroldis Chapman.

Dunleavy all the way out in LA: “The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure,” the team said in a statement. This is true. This is extra true. However, even after losing his role as coach, Dunleavy did set up the Clippers to compete with the Bulls this summer.
Read more…