Joakim Noah doesn't look like the guy this time in 2008.

Last year, Vinny DelNegro couldn't opt for the guy because he wasn't in shape. He couldn't depend on him because he's too lazy, too out-of-focus. 

On Thursday, he was seen holding off a 380-pound balloon they formerly called Shaq. While he didn't shut down the hall-of-fame center, Noah was effective in holding his ground, rebounding, getting his hands in the passing lanes as the Bulls beat the Cavs 86-85. 

That's what smart players do: They' exploit mismatches--whatever it is. 

Instead of trying to outmuscle that thing, he used his length and athleticism. 

Noah also helped out when LeBron James tried attacking in the lane. 

In the big picture of things, it looks like Vinny had this team prepared as they crashed on Shaq and made a priority to rebound not trying to give this team calls. 

Even in the closing play, as LeBron drove the lane with Luol Deng covering him Noah came and helped out. The refs made the right call by letting the play go as LeBron did lose the ball, hoping to get the bailout from Noah. 

Didn't happen. Game over.

I'm not suprised that the Bulls played well against the Cavs; they usually play up to their competition. At the same time, it wouldn't suprise me if they rolled over against the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday--a team they should put away in the second quarter. 

They won't. The Bulls are not built for that. 

Even as Derrick Rose tries to come back from injury, points are not coming from all directions. While Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both had solid showings, John Salmons continues to struggle. 

And he simply does not fit this offense well as he tends to hold the ball instead of shooting when open. Salmons does make tough shots, certainly, but they often don't have to be. 

Players like that don't often have the ability to pull the trigger when wide open. It's a mental thing and they're so accustomed to having to work for their shot, that standing at the arc with no one them can cause them to be hesitant. 

There was a lot of good Thursday. While I'm not as excited as everyone else with Taj Gibson, he did show his value against a team that is slow to rotate and doesn't want to stand near the perimeter. 

He has a true stroke in his jumper. It's not a forced big-man's shot because he's open and it will be of huge value as the season develops because teams are going to continue to crash on Rose and Hinrich in pick and roll. 

My favorite play of the game: Rose weaving through two defenders, shielding his strong side and going to his left for what looked like an acrobatic left-handed lay-up. 

This is the night for stars: LeBron James and Vinny DelNegro.

Of course, it's only a matter of time that the two would collide early in the season, pitting ungodly atheleticism versus red ties and inexplicable time outs. 

More seriously, the Chicago Bulls finally take the national stage with an injured Derrick Rose who looks more pedestrian than ever in his early career versus the Anderson Varejao-led Cavs.

The Bulls did not fare well in national games last season, and they'll need to shoot well early if they want to stay in this game. Frankly, I can see Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson getting into foul trouble early with Shaq and company down low. 

LeBron will likely put it into overdrive in the second half. 

That's the way superstars tend to do it. That's what bothers me at times with Rose. Points don't look like they come easy to him. Of course, it's not fair to compare the two, but LeBron can have a quiet 28 points. 

Rose's regular-season career high is 27 points. He rarely racks up double-digit assists and doesn't attack offensive rebounds the way he should (see Rajon Rondo). 

It's easy to blame the coach at this point - which I've been zealous to do because he looks like a doofus - but great players can excel in spite of their team. 

Secondary stars tend to languish (see Pau Gasol's Memphis Grizzlies' career). 

Of course, this is also supposed to be Luol Deng's coming out party after a career night with 24 points and 20 rebounds on Tuesday against the Bucks. But that was the Bucks, and he'll have a heftier chore guarding the guy who is built like an SUV but moves like a Testarossa.

I don't suspect the Bulls will win, but they do tend to keep these games close when playing against good teams. Believe or not, Tyrus Thomas would help this team tonight, but it's still moot. 

He's at home with the flu (insert sick pun, go for it, use it....nah, too predictable). 

Hopefully he watches the game, learns a thing or two because it's obvious that he never listens to his coach. But then again, LeBron rarely pays attention to Cavs Coach Mike Brown and for good reason. 

Let's only hope Derrick can learn the same lesson tonight. 

Let’s hope this is an injury that is making Derrick Rose look like Matt Forte.

A sophomore slump happens, but despite a decent box score, Rose does not look special at this point four games into the season as the Chicago Bulls came back to beat a pedestrian Milwaukee Bucks team 83-81, lead by soon-to-be-star Brandon Jennings who looks like a hybrid between Allen Iverson and Tony Parker.

On Tuesday night Jennings looked like the better player, but Rose got the best of him on the final player as they tried to isolate the rookie guard on the perimeter who eventually was blocked by the taller player.

Thankfully Rose didn’t bite.

Nevertheless, there are so many elements of Rose’s game that looks out of sync: dribbling, passing and, while he was never really good at it last year, his defense is really suffering. Rose is not very aggressive on defense and tends to under screens instead of fight through them.

He did this last year but he looks especially passive this time around.

I can only hope this is a conditioning-injury-rust issue for Rose.  

We can look around the league and see that he is clearly not the only point guard with unique abilities and scoring talents. And if anything, as we’ve seen with Jennings, youth is not an excuse at this point. The team made is run in the 3rd quarter without him.

For now, let’s hope this is rust because we can’t blame his development on the offensive line.

Luol Deng had another nice outing with 24 points and 20 rebounds , clearly showing that he does help out on team defense and should be commended for his effort—something that the Bulls cannot always count on since he tends to get frustrated and space out at times.

And, on a brighter note, it may be that Deng has improved in an area of his game.

It also shows that Tyrus Thomas won’t be missed when the Bulls let him walk af the end of this season. He was “sick” on Tuesday, sent home after showing up with fever symptoms.

This, after Vinny DelNegro sat him in the 4th quarter Sunday against the Miami Heat and then called him individually for not rotating on defense.

One can only imagine what this conversation sounded like:

“You need to get over when Luol’s man get’s beat,” says Vinny.

“I did,” Tyrus looks confidently.

(Vinny looking with eyebrows arched upward…pauses).

“Sit down.”

Then, Tyrus shows up Tuesday for the team’s shoot around in sandals and a hoodie with a cough drop in his mouth,  sniffling.

“I’m sick, Coach.”

(Vinny looking with eyebrows pointed down).

“Should I call your mother to come pick you up?”

While the season is young, the Bulls do look like they’re going to struggle offensively without an improved and aggressive Rose. They cannot shoot—and for a jump-shooting team this will cause problems.

John Salmons appears to be pressing and relies too heavily on his jab steps and pump fakes instead of taking the open jumper.  For this offense to get moving, Salmons will have to learn how to catch and shoot.

The same may need to be said for Brad Miller who has this belief that he’s a two-guard as well. Sure we hear  announcers like Stacey King admire Miller for being “savvy, “ but the shot is so slow and awkward that defensive players can actually rotate in time and set their feet to draw the travel.

We’ll find out how “sick” Thomas was on Wednesday and Thursday, and whether he’ll be needed for rebounding help against Shaq and LeBron because it’s clear that Joakim Noah won’t be able to body up Cheesecake O’Neal.

My favorite play of the game: Kirk Hinrich running the open floor and passing to Luol Deng before he even reached the 3pt line. He caught him in stride and it’s something that many players overlook.   

Derrick Rose is still hurting.

We know this, but if the Bulls want to show some semblance
of a winning team they’ll need to knock down open jumpers as they fell to the
Miami Heat 95-87 Sunday.

Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons and Luol Deng all had chances to
close the lead with wide-open jump shots but couldn’t connect on what looks
like a potential problem for this team moving forward.

(What’s with playing in Miami? These Bulls tend to be woeful there.)

While many in the Chicago
media have been writing headlines about using this game as a recruiting trip to
get Dwyane Wade, it seems the Bulls will have to do more than simply be average
on offense and defense than luring one of the top free agents in 2010.

They’ll get better faster when Rose is healthy. For now, it
appears that the team is going to have to fight for points and hit open shot,
including three-pointers. They’ve only sank seven of 43 attempts out of the
three games this year.

It also doesn’t help that the Bulls continually get one of
the most difficult schedules to open the league nearly every year. (OK, that’s
an excuse).

Nevertheless, Rose hasn’t looked himself so far, trying to
layup instead of flushing the ball and opting to take jumpers when he was known
to attack. It seems that he is a bit sloppy and his jumper hasn’t looked smooth
from the release. It’s more mechanical and careful.

• On the brighter side, we see that Luol Deng is playing much
  better than last year and he is a better rebounder than he tends to get credit
  for. We can see that an off season of working with Rose has helped him, as he
  tends to be in the right place more often than not and is confident in his
  jumper once again, instead of trying to create off the dribble.

The Bulls do, on the surface, appear to be more committed to
the defensive game, closing out on three-point shooters, clogging the lane
(something that couldn’t be found in the Celtics’ series last season) and are
fighting through screens instead of switching whenever someone is caught out of
position.

• This was one of the most maddening elements to Vinny
  DelNegro’s game: He thought he was coaching the Golden State Warriors where
  nearly everyone is the same height and can benefit from keeping their space on
  the court.

This year I see Joakim Noah fronting the post more, not
deferring post position. It’s a healthy sight to see, particularly from last
season at this very time when Noah couldn’t find his way into the starting
lineup because he was not in shape.

What a difference a year makes. Noah is looking more and
more like an NBA player, keeping plays alive and is becoming confident around
the rim when finishing. I’m still not sure if he’s a good defender at this
point of his career because he lacks the strength or leaping ability to be a
dominant shot-blocker and appears to still be learning the nuances of the game.

But the good news is, he’s maturing and he’s definitely
helping the Bulls—something I never thought I’d write.

My favorite play of the game: Dwyane Wade splitting two
defenders with an around-the-back, jab step toward the middle then squirt
outside to make a strong left-handed layup. I tend to compare Rose to Wade more
than Chris Paul or Deron Williams despite playing different positions.

Somehow Wade continually gets overlooked when people
mentioned the best players in the league (he’s the Drew Brees of the NBA)
possibly because Kobe Bryant is the best at his position, but he’s definitely a
top 5 player in the league regardless of position.

The best-why-did-he-do-that-moment: Vinny DelNegro opting to
bench Tyrus Thomas for the fourth quarter. I don’t get it, he’s played well in
both games prior and the Bulls could have used some help on the defensive
boards as Noah toiled with an undersized lineup. I don’t understand what
Del-Nonsense’s philosophy because it seems to change constantly.

The big-head-scratcher: Why does the NBA schedule games this
early in the season on a Sunday—particularly when they’re already competing
with the NFL and the World Series?

If I want to watch crappy Chicago football and the most
inept offensive line in football defer to the vaunted Cleveland Browns’ defense
while subjecting the only-reason-to-be-optimistic variable (that’s Jay Cutler,
by the way) to potential concussions and broken hands, then the last thing I
want to do is see the Bulls defer to Michael Beasley’s Heat.

Sunday’s 5 p.m. start was unusual to say the least, and
considering Brett Favre was in Green
Bay, watching DelNegro was not exactly the cherry on
my Sunday (pun!).

The great thing about the NBA is that the games are
scheduled around football and we don’t have to wait a week for the match up.
It’s a great way to distract Chicagoans from what appears to go on each
Sunday—we reserve that day for holy devotion and bad blocking.

It’s bizarre.

The Chicago Bulls looked like a real team Thursday night,
particularly against another real one that could potentially contend for
another title in June.

What was remarkable was the rebounding effort throughout the
entire team.

Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah did exactly what they were
supposed to do in the 92-85 win. Both helped out on the weak side defense while never
giving up on an offensive rebound, and for a jump shooting team, this is
critical.

The Bulls are going to need second- and third-chance points
this year if they want to make a playoff run.

Derrick Rose was better than I thought he would be with a
sore ankle while trying to guard Tony Parker. He pitched in 13 points, seven
rebounds and seven assists. But what didn’t show up in the box score was fluid
and how controlled he looked.

He looked like an NBA point guard who wants the ball at all
times. He looked like a leader. These characteristics usually come off as silly
or trite, but there is something to be said about Rose’s court presence in the
first game of the season. As his ankle heals, and he gets into game-shape, I
suspect we’ll see a more aggressive Rose attacking the rim and taking jump
shots off the pick and roll.

The Bulls are crossing their fingers that he can find a
consistent jumper with three-point range along with his blazing speed and
strength. His form still looks a bit mechanical, however.  Ben Gordon is no longer in Chicago, and his scoring will be missed down
the stretch.

My favorite play of the game: Brad Miller faking a 3-point
attempt and zipping the ball down to a wide open Thomas who flushed the ball in
as if he were playing on a Nerf hoop. As defenders closed in, he picked up an
easy foul. It’s astounding what can happen when a player is in the right place
at the right time.

I don’t suspect Thomas is a much better player than last
year, simply because he doesn’t let the game come to him. He is a remarkably
athletic player with no forte other than shot-blocking. If he can do what he
did in the second half of last night’s game, the Bulls are going to be a good
team.

Then again, we’ve been reading that line for three seasons
now.

My favorite did I just see that moment: Luol Deng draining
eight of 13 shots. He’s off to a good start and it’s needed considering he’s a
sensitive player that doesn’t play well when he’s lacking confidence. More
importantly, he was aggressive without going outside of his game or putting the
ball on the floor.

My wait and see before I get excited player: Joakim Noah.
While Noah has clearly turned the corner, I’m not sure how good he’ll be in the
league. Nevertheless, his length and athleticism, combined with his
relentlessness, are a good fit for any NBA team. But I wonder how good he’ll
really be as a center?