The NBA season is only 10 days old, but there’s been a lot to take in and observe. The “Big Three” in Cleveland have a big three losses against one just one narrow win. The Sacramento Kings didn’t get the memo about returning to the lottery. The Los Angeles Lakers are finding out that winless and glamorous usually are mutually exclusive. The New York Knicks look like a different team from game to game. Here are five things I’ve learned so far
Jimmy Butler returned on Saturday after missing two weeks with a sprained left thumb. A bit of a surprise return at that, which was just what the Bulls needed after Derrick Rose was out after spraining his ankle in the second quarter of their Friday tilt against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Taj Gibson also missed the game with a sprained ankle suffered in the same game, leaving the Bulls a bit thin. Nearly every starter notched more than 30 minutes. Jimmy Butler,
NEW YORK – After mixed results while playing for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup this summer (he had one good game, and it was Coach K, not Coach Thibs, who inspired him), Derrick Rose returned to the NBA hardwood for the first time in a regular season game since Nov. 22, 2013. “I think USA Basketball did a great job of making sure that my nerves weren’t too high,” Rose said. “I wasn’t too antsy when I was out
Pau Gasol has everything the Chicago Bulls were missing in the past. Clearly Chicago needs a healthy Derrick Rose to compete for a championship, but Gasol looked every bit of the team’s missing part in Wednesday night’s 104-80 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Gasol scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 29 minutes in the win and added a lot to the team that they lacked last year, according to Bulls players and head coach Tom Thibodeau. “He’s
The NBA season is less than 24 hours away now. The New York Knicks are apparently not happy with their final roster. They traded Travis Outlaw to the Philadelphia 76ers for Arnett Moultrie on Monday, in which they immediately waived him. The Knicks felt the need to add one more player after they waived Moultrie. No, it’s not Travis Wear. It’s Taylor Swift. Okay, obviously not for real. But, honestly, she’s probably taller than Shane Larkin, one of their backup guards..
In my latest SheridanHoops previews for the upcoming season I have the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks as playoff teams. What about the rest of the league? Can Kobe Bryant carry the Lakers to the playoffs with Steve Nash now out for the season? Is this the year the Chicago Bulls fulfill their potential and reach the NBA Finals? Are the Cleveland Cavaliers the title favorites with LeBron James and Kevin Love joining forces with Kyrie Irving? With that in mind, I joined FOX
Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls is known for his tenacity on the defensive end. While he is capable of producing on the offensive end as well from time to time, that’s not exactly what he’s known for. Perhaps the latter is something he’s looking to change heading into this season, because the shooting guard has been a standout on offense during the preseason. In five games so far, he has averaged 18.6 points on a whopping 60.4 percent shooting from
For the first time in years, the Chicago Bulls entered the offseason with salary cap flexibility and great expectations in the free agent market. But they finished second in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, whiffed on Kevin Love and settled for veteran Pau Gasol as a consolation prize. However, if this team has the look of the same old Bulls, that may not be all bad. Derrick Rose returns from what amounts to a two-year layoff, and if the former MVP can