The Bulls season tipped off Thursday night vs. the Spurs and afterward Gregg Popovich said “They kicked our ass. They were more aggresive, loose balls, boards, the whole deal.” Vinny Del Negro’s bunch sustained maximum effort throughout the game after a first half in which the Spurs shot 51.4% and got anything they wanted while running their offense.  Derrick Rose played sparingly in the first half while trying to get adjusted to game speed and condition.  He didn’t seem as explosive as usual but you wouldn’t have been able to tell after a soaring block against the backboard of a Richard Jefferson layup attempt. The hustle of Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson and some easy baskets by Luol Deng kept the Bulls in the game in the first half even though they shot 37%.
 
The second half was a different story when Tyrus Thomas came alive for a 3 minute stretch where he showed some of the skills he’d worked on in the off-season. Running the floor and hitting a few open jump shots made up for the error filled first hald where he was routinely lost on defensive assignments. The stretch in the 3rd quarter is what NBA general managers and scouts drool over. He was aggressive and played within himself on both ends of the court.
 
The Bulls proceeded to go on a 21-6 run to put the game away while the Spurs looked out or sorts. There are a lot of new pieces on this Spurs team and it showed. Jefferson only scored 9 points and seemed like a new player to a team he’s trying to fit in with. Even though Popovich after the game stated that Tony Parker’s fall the night before didn’t have any effect, he seemed tentative and hesitant to exploit a soft middle of the Bulls defense.
 
Tim Duncan answered the bell with 28 points and 16 rebounds. With an array of bank shots and extraordinary footwork, there really wasn’t much the Bulls big men could do on a night like this.  It’s common knowledge that Duncan won’t play big minutes and might even miss some games due to rest from the coach. No matter what the talk may be, he still has it; just not on a night in and night out basis.
 
This was a nice win for a young team who hasn’t had much preseason with it’s full compliment of players. Beating a Western Conference contender not only proves that they can play with anyone, but also proves that if they play like pros and stick to their new defensive disciplines they can be in every game even when the jump shots aren’t falling (i.e. the first half).
 
Luol Deng was strong. He still understands spacing and cutting to the basket. What he doesn’t have physically, he makes up for in guile and craftiness. 17 points is a strong start for the starting small forward, who seemed eager to pass the ball as well.  Like I mentioned in the last blog, it will be interesting to see how he and Salmons coexist on the perimeter.  Salmons had a tough night shooting the ball and at times the offense bogged down with the ball in his hands too long.  I don’t think you’ll see too many games where both Deng and Salmons are equally effective.
 
Finally Derrick Rose stated after the game that the only thing that bothered him was his conditioning.  The ankle wasn’t as sore as he expected afterwards. And Hinrich picked up the slack for large parts of the first half when Rose was still getting into the flow of the game. Rose commented saying “The game finished too quickly.” Eager to get back out there after the ankle warmed up.  Derrick looked lost on a few back screens, losing his man.  For the Bulls sake, those miscues can be attributed to lack of playing in the preseason. If not, the “emphasis” on defense will have to be stressed even further.
 
The Bulls next opponent will be the “real” Boston Celtics. Not the ones they saw in the greatest playoff series in NBA history (supposedly).  Kevin Garnett is back and they’ve added a few pieces in Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels.  It’ll be interesting to see how discipline the Bulls bigs are especially when Wallace enters the game.  He’s already found his outside stroke and if left open, could be the difference in the Bulls hanging around and competing for another big win; or a 20 point loss.  
 
If I hear “Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night” one more time I think I may just move to Iowa.  Well……maybe not.