Nov 30, 2001 10:03 AM EST
Perhaps the NBA should institute a new system for evaluating greatness, one that takes into account degree of difficulty. Certainly, that could help end the debate whether the Lakers are better than Michael Jordan's Bulls.
Last year, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant feuded while coach Phil Jackson and Kobe knocked heads. But by April, everyone had kissed and made up -- just in time for the Lakers to go 15-1 through the playoffs and win their second consecutive NBA title.
This season the Lakers are 13-1, prompting speculation about whether they will have the Bulls' record of 72 victories in their sights by spring.
"This will be the team that one year will match that record Phil had (with Jordan and the Bulls) in Chicago. They will break that record," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said yesterday as he prepared his team for a showdown with the Lakers tonight.
As for the degree-of-difficulty factor, here it is: The Lakers are so bored by the lack of competition this season, Shaq has resorted to shameless headline-grabbing.
The latest Shaq bulletin came out yesterday. It was reported in Los Angeles that he is attending classes offered by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department for harbor-patrol duty. Unlike Jordan -- who didn't find baseball or golf satisfying enough -- Shaq is making serious strides toward carving out his life after basketball.
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Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Veteran power forward Charles Oakley continues to count the days until he can leave Chicago as a free agent in the offseason.
"Right now I'm in Desert Storm, and right now I'm just hoping to get rescued,'' he said Thursday night before his Bulls faced the Heat at the United Center.
At 38, Oakley is old even by Heat standards, but he said he still holds Pat Riley in high esteem. He said he is surprised the criticism his former Knicks coach has endured this season from former Heat players.
We have a lot of crybabies in this league,'' he said. "They get their money early without proving anything.
Oakley said the Heat's struggles are not a reflection of diminished capacity by Riley.
"He just doesn't have the players, and his hands are tied,'' he said. "He's still one of the best coaches in the business.''
In Heat news, Traveling with the team, General Manager Randy Pfund said the Heat would not rush into using its $3.3 million trade exception to upgrade its struggling roster.
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Yes, it has gotten worse.
The Heat, a team that was in the playoffs seven months ago, is now tied for the worst record in the NBA after a 78-72 loss Thursday night to the Chicago Bulls in front of 17,003 at the United Center.
Chicago ended its losing streak at 10 games and extended Miami's skid to 10. The teams are both 2-12.
``Both teams played hard because they wanted to win,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said. ``But they made the three plays at the end of the game that counted. Night in and night out it's the same kind of mistakes.''
Ron Mercer provided the late spark for Chicago, scoring eight of his 19 points in the final 2:23. Greg Anthony added 11 points and six steals, and Charles Oakley grabbed 10 rebounds.
``[The Bulls] got what they wanted, and we never got what we wanted,'' said shooting guard Eddie Jones, who led the Heat with 15 points. ``We played terribly from start to finish.''
The glory days of the two franchises, which met in the Eastern Conference finals just four years ago, are clearly behind.
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Bulls Nov 2001 Archive
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| Nov 30, 2001
Mirror, mirror on the NBA wall, who is today's worst team of all?
Thanks to Ron Mercer's clutch scoring and rookie Trenton Hassell's adhesive defense, the Bulls' 78-72 victory Thursday night before 17,003 at the United Center suggests it's the Miami Heat, the team they beat to end their 10-game losing streak.
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| Nov 30, 2001
Bulls coach Tim Floyd admitted he hesitated to put Ron Mercer in for Fred Hoiberg with 3:12 remaining Thursday against the Miami Heat, and the emotion was understandable.
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| Nov 30, 2001
And today's magical number in Chicago is.
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| Nov 29, 2001
With his team in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, a trip to face the Chicago Bulls could be just the tonic that Pat Riley and the Miami Heat need.
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| Nov 29, 2001
Almost overnight, the Chicago Bulls went from a dynasty to a dud.
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| Nov 29, 2001
Bulls coach Tim Floyd gazes across the floor of the Berto Center, the training facility of the Chicago Bulls.
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| Nov 29, 2001
This season the Bulls brought in athletes in an effort to try to follow the blueprint of the L.
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| Nov 28, 2001
During their nine-game losing streak, the numbers that are not adding up for the Bulls are the 1s and 3s.
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| Nov 27, 2001
Just when you think the Bulls cannot get any worse they prove you wrong.
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| Nov 27, 2001
In a year that has contained mostly dull stars to this point, Brad Miller shines.
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| Nov 26, 2001
With all the touch fouls and fantasy calls that occur on the smaller players in the NBA, you'd think that the big men who bang and work down low would get the calls, wouldn't you? Not quite.
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| Nov 26, 2001
Bulls captain Charles Oakley returned to his offseason home in heroic style Saturday when he purchased 100 tickets to the Bulls-Knicks game and donated them to relatives of New York firefighters killed in the Sept.
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| Nov 26, 2001
What makes Saturday afternoon's 78-71 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden so hard for the Bulls to stomach is that they had an excellent chance to win.
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| Nov 26, 2001
Bulls fans and media have been critical to the way that Bulls coach Tim Floyd has handled the high school sensations Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, choosing to bring them on slowly rather than see how they handle the pressure.
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| Nov 25, 2001
It's never too early to plan your future
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| Nov 25, 2001
Don't believe for a second that Charles Oakley isn't taking his role as mentor to the Bulls' rookies seriously.
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| Nov 25, 2001
The Philadelphia 76ers signed forward Michael Ruffin on Friday and placed Alvin Jones on the injured list with a sprained ankle.
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| Nov 25, 2001
There are plenty of guesses as to why injured forward Ron Artest decided to accompany the Bulls to New York for the conclusion of their seven-game trip.
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| Nov 25, 2001
For the third straight game poor free throw shooting cost the Bulls dearly, hitting only 9-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter of their 78-71 loss in New York.
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| Nov 24, 2001
And no, we are not talking from an abusive perspective either.
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| Nov 23, 2001
The scoreboard in the Charlotte Coliseum, apparently missing a couple of parts, wasn't working Wednesday night.
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| Nov 23, 2001
With both of the Bulls small forwards in Eddie Robinson and Ron Artest out on the injury reserve Bulls GM Jerry Krause has said he does not plan on adding anyone any time soon.
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| Nov 22, 2001
Eddie Robinson returned to the injury reserve yesterday after playing in just three games so far this season, and coach Tim FLoyd believes that he may be there beyond the required five games.
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| Nov 22, 2001
Every once in a while a second round pick comes along and makes everyone say wow! Cuttino Mobley was one, as was Rashard Lewis.
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| Nov 21, 2001
Three good draft picks and a few years of patience.
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| Nov 21, 2001
With Eddie Robinson a possibility to join both Ron Artest and Jamal Crawford in the injury list after surgery if his injury comes to that, the Bulls finally received some good news.
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| Nov 20, 2001
If Brad Miller has done one this thus far this season, it is prove that he can be a starting center in this league.
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| Nov 20, 2001
Eddie Robinson has played three games for the Chicago Bulls, and in all three games the Bulls were extremely competitive.
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| Nov 19, 2001
If the Bulls want to know how to develop high schoolers they need to look no further than the Indiana Pacers.
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| Nov 19, 2001
Are the Bulls really as bad as what everyone thinks? According to Ken Johnson's article in the Chicago Tribune, maybe not.
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| Nov 18, 2001
Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribunr writes: It appears that Tim Floyd is doing some of the same wacky things that Westphal did in his final season with the Sonics, when the team was virtually forced to fire him.
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| Nov 18, 2001
Minutes before an exhibition game last season between the Raptors and 76ers, Charles Oakley slapped Tyrone Hill.
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| Nov 18, 2001
Finally, the positives outweighed the negatives for the Bulls.
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| Nov 17, 2001
Bulls fans envisioned this.
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| Nov 17, 2001
While the margin this time around did not exceed the half-century mark, the Chicago Bulls again showed they have the ability to dominate.
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| Nov 16, 2001
Jay Mariotti is obviously not a fan of Jerry Krause nor Tim Floyd if his current column is of any indication, reflecting on their rebuilding and coaching efforts.
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| Nov 16, 2001
Miles and Francis.. A dynamic duo?
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| Nov 16, 2001
He lasted two and a half games before hurting his fractured toe once again, and just like the first time it looks as if Bulls guard Eddie Robinson will bypass surgery and try to play through the pain.
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| Nov 15, 2001
The Washington Post reports that The Wizards have held trade talks with several teams regarding center Jahidi White and several other players, sources with knowledge of the situation said.
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| Nov 15, 2001
As if the Oakley-Floyd situation wasn't enough turmoil for Bulls fans, now Eddie Robison's toe is causing him more pain and the teenage rookies are confused and frustrated.
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| Nov 15, 2001
The Clippers' connections to Chicago and the Bulls are numerous, save for the directions the franchises appear headed.
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| Nov 14, 2001
While everyone seems to have their opinions on the Oakley-Floyd 'fued' that occured last week, the Chicago Tribune's Sam Smith puts a different spin on things.
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| Nov 14, 2001
Mighty Mouse is Mighty Upset
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| Nov 14, 2001
Under Tim Floyd's tenture the Bulls are now 15-0 on their annual trip out west.
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| Nov 14, 2001
Only six games into his second tenture and the words Oakley and trade are being used in the same sentence once again.
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| Nov 14, 2001
If nothing else, give the Bulls credit for having a sense of symmetry as they lumber around this West Coast trip with turmoil stashed neatly into an overhead compartment.
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| Nov 13, 2001
That is the question that Chicago Sun-Times writer Jay Mariotti asks, and his response.
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| Nov 13, 2001
Will they start, or will they even play? If they are not going to play, why practice hard or why even turn up for shootaround? These are some of the questions that the Bulls two teenage rookies are asking themselves, says Ken Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, in reference to the hot-then-cold treatment the two are receiving from Bulls coach Tim Floyd.
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| Nov 13, 2001
Well, the story rolls on, yet both parties are trying to put it behind them.
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| Nov 12, 2001
In this week's NBA notebook Jeffrey Denberg looks at Magic Johnson's plea with Michael Jordan not to return to the NBA, where MJ putting himself into a losing situation will do nothing for himself.
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| Nov 12, 2001
Perhaps the NBA's two most troubled franchises, the lame duck Charlotte Hornets, whose owners are trying to flee Charlotte and relocate to Louisville; and the Bulls, a team struggling to rebuild and hoping to ease an angry verbal feud between coach Tim Floyd and team captain Charles Oakley, clashed Saturday night in the United Center.
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| Nov 12, 2001
One day Charles Oakley is complaining to Tim Floyd that he is not playing in the fourth quarter, saying that if you want to play the young players do so and lose by 50 every game, then the next night he sits himself and states that second year forward Marcus Fizer deserves to close out the game with his strong fourth quarter play.
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| Nov 11, 2001
According to the Arizona Republic, It has been no secret since the first day of training camp that the Suns lacked a strong, physical forward and figured to struggle with rebounding.
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| Nov 11, 2001
How much impact Eddie Robinson will have on the Bulls this season remains to be seen, but he does have a certain sense of timing.
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| Nov 11, 2001
The battle continues
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| Nov 10, 2001
There's no time like the present for the Hornets, who need a jump-start after tripping from the gate with a 2-3 record.
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| Nov 10, 2001
CHARLOTTE (2-3)
AT CHICAGO (1-4)
8:30 p.
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| Nov 10, 2001
K.
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| Nov 10, 2001
There will be some soreness.
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| Nov 9, 2001
If the Timberwolves' 127-74 victory Thursday night at Target Center isn't enough proof of how far the former six-time NBA champions have fallen, here's an example from the game:
The Wolves secured a franchise-record 53-point victory and improved their record to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history because, as Wolves coach Flip Saunders said, "we put the pedal to the metal and never let up.
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| Nov 9, 2001
"Oh, yeah" was the response Timberwolves forward-turned-guard Wally Szczerbiak answered when asked if he was glad he didn't become a Bull this past offseason.
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| Nov 9, 2001
At 46-172, the Bulls' Tim Floyd owns the worst coaching record in NBA history.
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| Nov 9, 2001
Bulls coach Tim Floyd knows there's going to be speculation suggesting the reason he started rookie Tyson Chandler on Wednesday was because of pressure from general manager Jerry Krause, which is something both men deny.
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| Nov 9, 2001
He has been there before, drafting the first high schooler taken in the 20 years before.
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| Nov 9, 2001
Is Oakley's stay in Chicago over already?
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| Nov 8, 2001
In Chicago's first three games, Chandler and Curry played little.
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| Nov 8, 2001
As Eddie Robinson prepares to make his Bulls debut Saturday, Marcus Fizer has to prepare for a reduction in minutes.
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| Nov 8, 2001
First there was MJ, then Carter, and now Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry.
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| Nov 8, 2001
Who said the Detroit Pistons were a one man team? The Chicago Bulls focused on shutting down the prolific Jerry Stackhouse as the Pistons came through Chicago, the scars still healing from his 57 point effort the last time he was in town.
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| Nov 7, 2001
Bulls coach Tim Floyd believed that two consecutive days off would be the tonic for Fred Hoiberg and his troublesome right knee.
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| Nov 7, 2001
Eddy Curry didn't know what to expect in the first week of his NBA career, but the biggest Baby Bull of them all didn't expect anything quite like this.
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| Nov 7, 2001
There's a tattoo on Eddy Curry's left forearm honoring a ''Golden Child,'' a nickname many would assume befits Curry, 18, who jumped from Thornwood High School to the fame and fortune of the NBA.
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| Nov 6, 2001
Eddie Robinson, the Bulls number 1 priority this offseason, is ready to come off the injury list right now, but there is one problem.
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| Nov 6, 2001
What coach Tim Floyd likes most about Saturday night's hard-working effort by his Bulls (1-2) is that they won.
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| Nov 6, 2001
During his time in Denver Ron Mercer was labelled a disinterested defender, and perhaps unjustly that reputation has followed him ever since.
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| Nov 5, 2001
The long-range plans of the WBNA likely took a major hit Wednesday when the Chicago Bulls decided to end their attempt to pursue a franchise.
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| Nov 5, 2001
Although they were opponents Saturday, Bulls coach Tim Floyd has one staunch ally in New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy.
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| Nov 5, 2001
Not many people had heard the name Trenton Hassell before the NBA draft.
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| Nov 4, 2001
This may come as a shock, but Charles Oakley has some opinions to share.
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| Nov 4, 2001
What's more embarrassing: The Yankees falling behind Arizona last night by more than two touchdowns or the Knicks losing to the baby Bulls?
As Charles Oakley said before the game, nobody fears the Knicks anymore, not even the worst team in basketball.
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| Nov 4, 2001
Vecsey wonders how much more Malone can take
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| Nov 4, 2001
Where ever Charles Oakley has gone in his NBA career he has been respected.
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| Nov 4, 2001
Don't blame the schedule-makers.
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| Nov 3, 2001
The New York Knicks travel to Chicago tonight where they will face off against two players they tried to aquire over the summer.
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| Nov 3, 2001
It may be too early in the season to expect Tim Floyd to accept this season as a bust and concentrate on developing his teenage rookies, but early results haven't been deceiving during Floyd's first three years as Bulls coach.
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| Nov 3, 2001
A day later, teen towers Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry were ready to forget about their official NBA debuts and move on to the next game.
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| Nov 3, 2001
This is the magic question asked by Chicago Daily Herald writer Mike McGraw, to which Mercer responded "There's only one way to get up to where they're at and that's to win," referring to Ray Allen, Jerry Stackhouse, Michael Finley and Paul Pierce.
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| Nov 3, 2001
The question is going to be repeated in every city Tim Floyd travels to this season.
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| Nov 3, 2001
Two games do not make a season.
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| Nov 2, 2001
Not all of the Bulls were glued to the television Tuesday night watching the greatest Bull of all, Michael Jordan, begin his second comeback by scoring 19 points in a loss to the Knicks.
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| Nov 2, 2001
Worried about the depth the Bulls have up forward with little down back, Tim Floyd approached Jerry Krause.
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| Nov 2, 2001
An hour before the 2001-02 season began for the Bulls Wednesday night, coach Tim Floyd discussed his opening-day lineup filled with four long-time Bulls who achieved All-Star status.
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| Nov 2, 2001
Chicago has pulled the plug on their efforts to land a WNBA franchise, the Bulls announced Thursday.
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| Nov 2, 2001
After playing only six relatively ineffective minutes in his debut, in which he also received a technical, Bulls rookie Tyson Chandler is set to start against the Boston Celtics tonight.
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| Nov 1, 2001
Getting breakthrough games from Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley, the Pacers took control of the game in the fourth quarter to blow out Chicago 98-73 in the Bulls' home opener on Wednesday night in the United Center.
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| Nov 1, 2001
Eddie Robinson was placed on the injured list when the Bulls submitted their official roster to the NBA office.
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| Nov 1, 2001
In some ways, not much has changed since the Bulls last failed to sell out a home opener.
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| Nov 1, 2001
Brad Miller was the stand out player for the Bulls last night, scoring 24 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, and the Bulls lost by 25.
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| Nov 1, 2001
Rare is the season opener in which talk of the future dominates talk of the present.
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