Phx-Suns.Net

Bulls center Joakim Noah rejoined the team after missing Friday's practice. He was in New York after the death of friend and mentor Tyrone Green, who played a key role in his development as a basketball player.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=400553096

I predicted before the season started that the Wizards would be good, and they generally have been. But I don't really see them as being built for the playoffs. They don't have the experience and just don't feel like a team that is going to advance to a second round series.

The Bulls have shown that they can overcome almost anything. I have been stunned by how well Tom Thibodeau has done with this team. It's as if he and Noah just had a private meeting after the Deng trade and said, "You know, F*** this, we're going balls to the wall and we're going to win a bunch of games and show the ownership that this team does NOT tank." I love it. I am rooting for the Bulls to go far in the playoffs this year, though I don't think they could take out Miami.

i'm glad the wiz won. #newblood

what chicago did during the regular season was admirable, but i'm not interested in all-defense, no-offense basketball.

Great to see Gortat have such a positive influence on the win.

Superbone wrote:Great to see Gortat have such a positive influence on the win.

what if we try resigning gortat in the off season?

Gortat is looking for his last big contract this off-season and I think with his play since the All Star break he should get it. Probably from the Wizards, they have a long history of giving big contracts. Marcin's gonna ask for Pekovic's money I believe. I obviously wish him all the best and all but I just don't think the Suns should invest so much money in him at this stage.

Yeah, no reason to bring Gortat back.

I really liked Marcin, and I'd love Gortat back here if he came at a decently low price. But, he most likely wouldn't. If he gave anybody a discount it'd be the Wiz, and as others have said, he's likely to want his last "big" contract and not a discount deal.

let's hope for a miami v washington conference finals.

Go Wiz?

Whitman is employing the D'Antoni strat. 4 guys 40+ minutes, 1 over 30, 2 over 20 and that's it.

Wow, Chicago got totally stomped. 0-2 in their own building. I guess they're as good as done. I was way off on this one; didn't realize how bad Chicago's offense was.

dunleavy was screaming for the ball in the corner. butler didnt see him.

I don't know why the Bulls aren't playing Dunleavy big minutes. They keep saying that they need more offense, that they can't score. Isn't he a good scorer? And he's not totally pathetic on defense.

Gibson can't miss in the first half, but the Bulls are offensively crippled.

Ariza has been huge with 5-6 3pt and Wall and Beal are penetrating too easily. They are eating the Bulls alive.

It's kind of nice to see Ariza making an actual contribution to a successful NBA team again. I liked him in LA and thought it was a big mistake for him to leave the Lakers for Houston an then NO. The expectations on him were way too high. Having him in a support role is a much better fit.

Yea he's a solid 3rd, 4th option. He tried bluffing the Lakers and they had Artest lined up. He went to Houston to be the man and saw how hard it can be, then went to no man's land in Washington. He can be a contributer for sure and is basically the x-factor on that team. They're a frontcourt player away from being very dangerous.

Gortat is the Man.

That is all.

ShelC wrote: They're a frontcourt player away from being very dangerous.

They probably should have gone with Cody Zeller in the draft. I think Porter is going to be a good player, and it did seem like they had a hole at the 3, but Zeller's ability to run the court and potential in the P&R would have worked wonderfully with John Wall going forward.

this is the worst nba playoffs that i can recall. washington vs atlanta... fantastic.