Hooped Up

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.  Below are the rest of the NBA draft results.

Round 1 NBA Draft Results

Second round results after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago Bull’s forward, Luol Deng, has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the UN Refugee Agency’s Humanitarian of the Year Award. The award is in recognition of Deng’s support of UNHCR’s ninemillion.org campaign to bring education and sports to millions of displaced children. Deng, himself a former refugee from south Sudan, will receive the award at the agency’s annual World Refugee Day commemoration to be held in Washington on June 20th.

Earlier this year, Deng, pledged to donate US$50 to ninemillion.org for every basket he scored and in a public service announcement he recorded in support of the campaign he urged his fans to support his efforts to improve the lives of young refugees.

SLAM

Okay this Doug Collins back in Chicago thing has officially blown over. The Chicago Bulls have annoced they have hired Vinnie Del Negro as their new head coach beating Dwayne Casey out who was also at the top of the Bulls list.

The Bulls have offered their head coaching job to Vinny Del Negro, which the Suns’ assistant general manager is prepared to accept, sources said Monday.

A deal still needs to be finalized, but a news conference officially announcing Del Negro as the 17th coach in franchise history is expected this week.

Del Negro, who has no previous coaching experience, first interviewed for the job on Thursday and quickly shot ahead of Kings assistant Chuck Person and former Minnesota coach Dwane Casey.

Chicago Tribune

I’m glad that the recycling of coaches has slowed down and a few new guys are getting a shot at coaching in the NBA.  Now can the Bulls get Dwayne Wade?

With Chicago Bull team mates Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, the British basketball squad will be the strongest it has ever been.  Hoping to bolster their hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Even though London is hosting the event, the Great Britain team, who did not enter for a place at Beijing in August, are not guaranteed an automatic passage to the Games because they have not qualified for enough leading tournaments since the team reformed in 2005.

Deng, 23, and Gordon, 25, his Chicago Bulls team-mate, will join the squad for the London selection camp in August. Chris Finch, the team’s coach, said: “It is by far the strongest list of names put out in the history of any of the home countries or GB, we’re really fortunate to have such a quality group.” 

The Times

This trade makes no sense i it goes down, but stranger things have happened.

Dwyane Wade says he keeps hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors between the Heat and the Chicago Bulls , who own the top pick in this year’s NBA draft, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

“I have heard my name being talked about, and I can’t worry about it,” Wade said Monday. “There is one thing in this league that you have no control over. If another organization wants you, then you should feel good to be wanted.”

Chicago Tribune

Once again it pays to be rich and stupid!  I don’t know why these “punishments” are even released to the public to show how bad the legal system is.  Joakim Noah should just pay this in pennies to make this more exciting.

Joakim Noah could have charges for possession of marijuana and drinking from an open container dropped, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. 

Florida’s attorney office in Gainesville and Noah’s representatives reached terms on a deferred prosecution agreement on Wednesday. 

“This is a program we have for first-time offenders charged with misdemeanors,” a representative from the office said. 

Under terms of the deal, Noah must pay $50 for the cost of prosecution and make a $150 donation to Project Payback, a local charity. If he doesn’t violate any federal, state, or local laws in the next six months the charges will be dropped. 

“Once you’ve completed the process, we drop the charges and complete the case,” the representative said. “It remains open until then.”

Alligator

What a joke, he might as well do this every six months.

When I see a move like this, I can’t help but think the Bulls are going to tear the current roster up.

Doug Collins will become the next Bulls head coach, according to a source. 

The source said the deal is expected to be announced “sooner rather than later.” 

“I know Doug’s got the itch [to coach again],” a league source said. “I think the Bulls’ youth intrigues Doug more than the Phoenix [Suns] situation. He’s a teacher That’s what he likes to do. 

“He might have been leery about the veterans on the Suns, including Shaq.”

Chicago Sun-Times

It’s funny how fast things change in the NBA.  Two seasons ago it was Hinrich-a-palooza in Chicago, and now it looks lke he’s getting the f.o. treatment.

Everyone is buzzing about point guards. Yes, Derrick Rose, Bayless and O.J. Mayo are a big part of the conversation. But two veteran point guards were also the topic of discussion: Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford. With most executives convinced that the Bulls will draft Rose, they are already waiting for Hinrich to pack his bags. Hinrich is coming off his worst year as a pro, averaging just 11.5 points on 41 percent shooting.

ESPN.com 

Joakim’s dad is pretty cool about the situation.

Yannick Noah doesn’t understand “all that fuss” surrounding the arrest of his son Joakim for possession of marijuana and drinking from an open container, according to The Chicago Tribune. “I don’t understand all that fuss for just drinking a beer on the street,” Yannick Noah said Tuesday at the French Open. Having won the French Open in 1983, Yannick created a sensation a few years before when he told a writer he smoked marijuana. The Bulls have said General Manager John Paxson told Noah of “his disappointment in his actions,” but the team has withheld further comment.

Chicago Tribune

Not only is drinking and driving bad because you can kill somebody. You could also spill your drink. You just can teach kids these days. I blame TV, Joakim Noah blames weed.

Bulls center Joakim Noah was arrested in Gainesville, Fla., early Sunday on allegations of possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis and an open-container violation, police said.

Summer Hallett, public information officer for the Gainesville Police Department, confirmed that Gainesville police stopped Noah, 23, about 1:50 a.m. Sunday for carrying a clear plastic cup with an “iced, amber-colored beverage” inside.

Hallett said Noah put down the liquid when confronted by police, who were enforcing the city’s law prohibiting drinking from open containers on public sidewalks.

Hallett said subsequent inspection revealed Noah’s drink to be alcoholic, at which point officers arrested Noah and took him to the department’s downtown annex. A source said Noah was drinking cognac.

Chicago Tribune

If the Bulls management doesn’t want him back he can always play for Mark Cubans Mavericks. This is going to be a great summer for the NBA.