I've been to the United Center to watch the Bulls 3 times in the last 7 months, and 2 of those 3 contests have had the craziest finishes I've seen live. The first of the 3 games was the single best 1st rd playoff game in NBA history; the Bulls v Celtics 3 OT game 6. The 2nd was about two weeks ago, the Bulls '09 - '10 home opener against the Spurs (fun, but nothing amazing), and then there's last night.
Bulls vs Nuggets. Game 6 of 82 against a Western conference team that missed a legit shot to go to the Finals last year. A good measuring stick game, but nothing worth getting too excited about this early in the season, win or lose.
Didn't really play out that way. But let's start from the beginning.
Barndogg picks me up from work at 5:45 and we head over to Cobra Lounge before the game to grab a beer and some food. The Cobra bills itself as a rock bar -- plenty of punk and/or rock bands can be enjoyed throughout the week. It's a little off the beaten path from the UC, but we decide to give it a shot. We walk in, and it's an immediate upgrade from the backwards baseball cap scene found up and down Madison street. Busy, but not crowded, plenty of open tables, and what turns out to be lucky for us ... a shortage of beer. Tuesday night is $3 draft night at the Cobra, but apparently it's been a busy week so they're out of most of their tap selections -- including the ones we order. The super nice waitress offers to buy us a couple free pints of whatever's left and we happily agree. We order, the food is good and fast, plus they also have tater tots, so I'm sold. The Cobra will be seeing a lot of me this season. We'll call this behavior "Dancing With the Cobra". I can already think of 3 ways this phrase will be misused.
We settle up and walk over to the UC. The ticket market outside the stadium is a buyer's market -- the Bulls are in first place, but it looks like everyone's still in "wait and see mode" as the scalpers seem to be struggling.
We head up to section 316 and exchange pleasantries with our two bartender friends at the bar outside our section. We also exchange American dollars for some ice cold beer. All parties involved are happy with the outcome of the transaction, and Barndogg and I head up to our seats. Well, we try. Barndogg's a pretty sharp guy, but he's one of those absentminded scientist types. Even though we've had these same seats for two years he turns and gives me one of those "Um, where do we go next?" looks. We're literally standing at our gate as this happens. I guide President Reagan up to our seats and we settle in.
It's the day before Veteran's Day, so the Bulls have made this the theme of the evening. We observe a deserved moment of silence in honor of those who have given their lives for our country. Then Tommy Edwards, the Bulls PA announcer, introduces Ken Carlson, a Vietnam veteran who is singing the anthem. The lights dim, and Ken suddenly transforms into Dennis DeYoung before our very eyes and just tears it apart. I wasn't sure whether I should hold up a lighter or invade Canada. He just owned the anthem.
The Bulls are introduced one by one, and as they make their way onto the court they are greeted by 5 veterans, each representing a branch of the armed services. I immediately hone in on how Joakim Noah will handle this situation.
(A note here ... I'm fascinated by this guy. I just hated him coming out of Florida, I thought the Bulls totally wasted a lottery pick on this assclown. And over his first year and half on the squad, he didn't do too much to prove me wrong -- never really got in shape, fought with his coaches a bit, got busted for smoking a roach, looked lost on the court, etc. But even so, the dude was such an oddball that I started to come around on him. He's a goof, but in the best possible way. To their credit, the Bulls understood that the fans were really starting to respond to this nut job and started featuring him in as many promos as they could.
Then, about midway through last season something clicked with him and he just started to get better night after night. The effort was always there, but now he was beginning to translate it to the court in the right ways. By the end of the regular season, Noah was quickly becoming one of the more valuable players on the team. Then the epic 1st rd series with Boston began, and he took another leap -- becoming one of the most important players in those games.
I bet if you ask 10 Bulls fans what they remember most about that series, at least 5 of them will bring up Noah's dunk over Pierce. And this was in a series that Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose repeatedly had huge moments. My memory wasn't even of his play -- it was after game 6 was over, Noah picked up the microphone and thanked all the fans for their support. He was exhausted, he had played as hard as his body would let him and could barely get the words out as he slumped over the scorers table. Then from nowhere the batteries click back on and he stands up and screams,
"We're going back to BOSTON y'all!!!!!"
The UC goes completely up for grabs and I'm totally sold on this guy. He cares. Past that, he's an interesting guy, son of tennis star Yannick Noah and Miss Sweden, grew up in NY. He's smart, gives thoughtful answers to good questions, and off-kilter answers to the stupid (which are the majority) questions. Add to it that he's completely rededicated himself to becoming a better basketball player both physically and skill-wise. And so far this year, it's showing. And I'm happy.)
So back to the lineup intro: As Deng, Gibson & Salmons are announced, they each high-five their way through the gauntlet of teammates, then stop and respectfully shake each veteran's hand. Now it's Noah's turn, and I'm waiting to see what he does -- will he solemnly and respectfully shake each vet's hand, or will he grab the flag from the honor guard and use the vets to re-enact the Iwo Jima Flag raising? Seriously, anything is possible with this cat.
Instead, he gives a fist bump to the vet at the end of the line and runs over to the huddle. I'm a little surprised, seems just a bit disrespectful. But then he catches himself, notices that these guys are there and runs back over to warmly greet each of them. He missed them the first time because he was so focused on the game. Love it.
(wagering) As they clear the court for tipoff Barndogg and I roll iphone dice to see who gets the first gambling pick of the night. I win and Choose Carmelo Anthony and Luol Deng. Barndogg goes with Derrick Rose and John Salmons. Barndogg sets the 1st qtr +/- at 49 and I take the over.
Noah wins the tip from Nene and off we go. The Bulls come out strong, with Rose and Deng stringing together outside jumpers off high screen and roll to take an early 10-4 lead. And fresh off a game where he went for a career high 21 pts, Joakim Noah continues to ball. 7 rebounds, a blocked shot and a sweet little hook shot make for an effective first quarter. The defense looks good again tonight, Deng is really bothering Anthony, not letting him get to his spots and pressing on the perimeter. Taj Gibson is effective as well.
Speaking of Taj, he's involved in a moment that makes me realize I'm already starting to buy into this year's Bulls squad. About halfway through the quarter, Gibson is crashing the boards after a Denver miss, but is called for a loose ball foul on Kenyon Martin. A typical "hey rook" call, but it's the bench's reaction that's most interesting. Anytime there's a crap call against the home team, the crowd immediately reacts. But when Gibson gets the cheap whistle, the entire Bulls bench explodes in protest before the crowd can and then immediately starts clapping at Taj, pumping him up. These guys aren't just into the game, they also really like each other. That's a formula for success, people.
About halfway through the quarter, the Nuggets get it together and climb back in aided by a few Bulls turnovers and fouls. Billups gets to the line a couple times and Anthony finally starts getting to the rim and the stripe. The first quarter ends with the Nuggets up 22-20.
(wagering) The Bulls' renewed commitment to defense is messing with my paper. Barndogg wins with the under, but I take the tic-tac-toe game because Barndogg's representative (a tweenish blond girl) decides to overachieve and shoot from the free throw line rather than make layups like everyone else in the history of this timeout promotion. And the Bulls' reps on the floor just let her do it, nobody thought it was a good idea to let the poor girl know she could maybe move in a little bit.
I set the 2nd qtr +/- at 49 and Barndogg takes the over.
The second quarter opens with Carmelo sticking a three, then JR Smith stripping Noah and feeding Anthony for a layup. From there, the two squads just kind of trade punches, lots of lost balls, fouls and missed mid-range jumpers. Then the Bulls rally a bit. Gibson (still playing well) sandwiches two buckets around a Hinrich jumper to close the gap. Then the final third of the quarter begins to heat up. First Noah throws down a nice two handed dunk off a Deng pass; followed by a HUGE Taj Gibson dunk. Rose spots Gibson filling the lane, and feeds him. Gibson gathers the pass, and then goes up two handed over both Denver interior defenders to throw it down. After he lands, he puts his head down and busts his ass to go play D. Meanwhile, on the bench, Tyrus Thomas texts his real estate agent -- if Gibson keeps playing like this, Thomas' ass is gone for sure. Rose closes out the 2nd with a jumper to pull the Bulls within 3 at the half. Noah is a bucket shy of a double-double at half. Denver 46, Bulls 43.
(wagering) I take the second qtr +/- ... but just barely. Jannero Pargo misses a last second jump shot that would have earned him the win. Once again, gambling is the butter on top of the perfectly cooked steak.
At halftime Barndogg and I start to take our walk around the UC concourse when I get a call from K McG. He and his wife have seats on the 200 level and are going to come up to say hi and mingle with the unwashed on the 300 level. We meet them a short time later and spend the rest of halftime into the 3rd quarter talking. We part ways and make it back to our seats with about 7:00 minutes left in the third.
Good news on our return, the Bulls are now up by a bucket. It's short lived though, as Denver surges back. Billups scores a couple straight baskets followed by free throws, and then Aaron Afflalo hits a three and a layup. Ghosts of last year begin to appear, as Denver is really controlling the boards in the 3rd quarter.
During a timeout, the Bulls trot out the Chicago Bucket Boys, a popular street act. Four drummers banging out beats on upside down paint buckets. I actually like these guys, you'll see them around the city quite a bit. Barndogg, however, has apparently seen them around too much.
"These guys. Same shit over and over. They need to find a new wrinkle for this" he says.
The game starts up again and the quarter closes out with both the Nuggets and the Bulls scoring two hoops. End of the 3rd quarter, Denver 71, Bulls 66.
(wagering) Barndogg sets the line at 50 and I take the under.
The fourth quarter begins, and the Nuggets manage to keep their 5 point cushion through the first half of the final period. Then things start to get interesting, right before they get nutty. A Salmons three pulls the Bulls within two and Denver calls a timeout. Now, as I've mentioned before, our seats are in section 316, so while they're good seats for seeing the flow of the game (read: high up and far away), they're not so good for seeing up close details. That said, even from that distance I'm pretty sure I saw all three officials hit the rock pipe pretty hard during the break.
Once the game resumes, the Bulls are officially playing the Nuggets and the refs. First the refs steal a possession from the Bulls when they call a ridiculous jump ball on what would have been Noah's 20th (20th!) rebound. Denver controls the tip, but Deng gets Carmelo's layup attempt and the Bulls get out on the break. Rose clanks a mid-range jumper (bad shot, too early in the clock) and Denver gets the board. Then the refs strike again, giving the ball to Denver after a missed putback despite the fact that Carmelo cross checks Deng into the LovaBulls. Denver's ball, and they score on a garbage Kenyon Martin dunk. Nuggets 87, Bulls 83.
Then Hinrich and Rose go jumper / layup to tie the game, and the UC is rocking. Makes no difference, as Carmelo calmly buries a 17 footer with Deng all over him. Dude is smooth.
Bulls call a timeout and Rose gets fouled going to the hoop. It's great to see him so aggressive, I was afraid he'd be too willing to kick to a spot up shooter, but he took it hard to the cup. Even at the end of the game with every Nugget in the building clogging the paint, Rose manages to get in the lane and get fouled. It's these kind of plays where you know this kid is on another level. The Great Poohdini calmly sinks both free throws and we're tied again.
After a Denver timeout the refs decide to take another big dump on the game when they call Hinrich for a reach in with no time left. Unbelievable. Billups got Kirk on his shoulder, made a move to the hoop and the whistle blows. Reverse the situation and Billups could have swung a pick axe into Hirich's groin and it wouldn't have been called. The NBA star system drives me nuts sometimes. Billups of course sinks the first, and then misses the second. Bulls rebound and call TO with .03 seconds left.
And then it happens. The Bulls advance the ball past halfcourt with the timeout, and set up their last play. Denver packs everyone under the basket, knowing that the Bulls have to throw it to the front of the rim and hope for the tip in.
Instead, they inbound to Brad Miller at the top of the key. He catches and turns for weirdly dainty hot-potato-volleyball-set-catch-and-release-shot.
It goes in. The horn goes off. Bulls win. Bulls win. Bulls win.
Everyone's going nuts, the crowd, the Bulls, the Bulls bench, even Del Negro. And then the inevitable happens. The refs review the play. Barndogg and I argue whether it counts or not. Both of us seem to remember a rule that states that with less than .06 on the clock, the ball can only be tipped in. We both also hope we don't know what the hell we're talking about. The officials take forever while the whole time the Bulls bench and coaches are screaming at them to count it. After (no joke) 5 minutes. The ref moves back from the scorers table, and in one motion waves the basket off.
Bulls lose.
Man did the place ever get quiet. The refs immediately sprint off the court right behind the Nuggets (presumably to get more of the crack JR Smith promised them). The crowd stands around for a second, literally not knowing what to do. Then we all file out of the building and make our way home. On the walk back to the car both Barndogg and I are still stunned to the point where the most insightful comments we make were along the lines of "Man, that sucked," and "That was crazy." Yup, we're superfans.
(wagering) Nobody wins the Dunkin Donut race (except Cuppy Coffee, but he was running for himself, not Barndogg or I). I come out ahead $10 bucks.
Observations:
Noah: Again, just a beast. 21 rebounds tonight. Wow.
Rose: Clutch, and getting more dangerous.
3pt shooting: just brutal.
Gibson: Looks like a more complete player right now than Thomas has in 3 years here.
The Bulls: With the exception of the Boston blowout, these guys have proven they can play with anyone.
Records listened to while writing this post: Baroness. (Also wow).
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