Tue, 11/03 Bulls vs Bucks

vs
Game 4, Home Game 2
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 7:00 PM CT
United Center
Comcast SportsNet/ ESPN 1000 AM


BULLS VS. BUCKS ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME ................. Bulls lead 108-100
BULLS CURRENT STREAK ..... 2 Wins
BULLS HOME STREAK ............ 7 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK ............... 1 Win

Chicago Bulls (1-2)
Home 1-0
Road 0-2
Div 0-0
EConf 0-2
WConf 1-0

Probable Bulls starters

Derrick Rose

John Salmons

Luol Deng

Tyrus Thomas

Joakim Noah


Bulls Stats Leaders
Points: Deng 15.7, Noah 12.0
Rebounds: Noah 9.0, Deng 7.3
Assists: Rose 4.7, Hinrich 3.7
Steals: Salmons 2.33, Hinrich 1.33
Blocks: Thomas 2.0, Noah 1.67

FG%: Noah .600, Deng .500
FT%: Salmons .889, Hinrich .833
3FG%: Pargo .333, Salmons .158


Milwaukee Bucks (1-1)

Probable Bucks starters

Brandon Jennings
Charlie Bell
Carlos Delfino
Kurt Thomas
Andrew Bogut

Injury report

Aaron Gray (Stress fracture of his left fibula) is out.
Jerome James (right Achilles) is out.

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.

Bucks Injuries
Joe Alexander - Strained Right Hamstring - Out
Michael Redd - Strained Left Patella Tendon - Out

My prediction:

Bulls win 98-92

A better shooting Bulls team will win against Milwaukee without Redd. Even if Jenning keeping his streak of very good games alive.

Go Bulls!

That was closer as I expected. Bulls win 83-81.

Positive:
Deng with 24 points and 20 rebounds
Pargo found his shooting tonight (even with a sore back)
Bulls rally back from a 18-point deficit
good bench effort
good rebounding (53) thanks to Deng (20) and Noah (12)

Negativ:
Thomas with the flu (some people even discuss that he had no flu and is just out of rotation)
bad start into the game - trailing 25-13 after one quarter
Salmons 3-15 FGs
Rose still not healthy


By KC Johnson

Sore back or not, Jannero Pargo hasn't lost his sunny disposition. He also, apparently, hasn't lost his shot-making ability.

Asked about his pain before he injected life into a dismal Bulls effort, Pargo opted for a stand-up routine.

"I feel real good," Pargo said, pausing for comedic timing, "until I start running."

By Mike McGraw

All this situation needed was some ridiculous Kobe Bryant trade rumors and it would have felt like 2007 all over again.

That was a year when the Bulls left the preseason brimming with confidence and carrying plenty of reasons why they should contend for one of the top playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. On paper, anyway.

Then the season began and the Bulls played uptight, out of sync and couldn't knock down the easiest of shots.

Tuesday night's home game against Milwaukee looked like repeat history - or at least a resumption of the Bulls' horrid fourth quarter in Miami on Sunday.

By John Johnson

According to the Bulls, Thomas was sent home by trainer Fred Tedeschi shortly after he arrived at the Berto Center center Tuesday morning for the shootaround.

If nothing else, the illness came at an inopportune time for Thomas because it was two days after he didn't play at all in the fourth quarter of a game at Miami, a day after he reportedly objected to criticism from Del Negro during a film session and hours after the deadline passed for him to get a contract extension.

It appears Thomas is legitimately sick -- he was examined Tuesday afternoon by a team physician -- but the timing raised suspicions that it might be a case of the ''blue flu.''

RosenBlog

Sounds like code for the fact that they’re the ones who are sick -- sick of Thomas.

[...]

If Thomas is still a Bull by next summer -- you wonder if he’ll still be on the roster by tomorrow -- then he’ll be an restricted free agent, which means he’s restricted by the fact that nobody who has coached him here apparently wants anything to do with him.