GatewayRedbirds.com

That sucks, but you almost have to figure that it was just a matter of time, based on his style of play.

Hopefully the Thunder or Spurs can thwart Miami in the finals, because I'm not sure there's a team in the East that can even make things interesting.

Saw it happen while on the clock, surrounded by NY Rangers fans. As soon as it happened I shrunk up like I'd been shot in the gut. It hasnt really hit me yet. This season was so awful for the Bulls - regarding our injuries anyway - that it's bizarrely unaffecting. Most of us had this vision of a terrific playoffs where all the Bulls really gelled, even though massive injury detail had segmented the regular season into several bizarro rotations.

Man. I'm with every Bulls fan in the country when I say that I'd rather they have lost the game by 25 than to win game 1 and have D-Rose blow out his F'in ACL with a minute left in an easy win.

As of now, I just hope we can give the Celtics a few awesome games, and maybe a lucky series win.

Sam Smith:

Now is the time to refocus and ask “How are we going to win this Championship?” We have the best Team in the league. This season has proven we are a TEAM and it has taken us ALL to have the best record. Lets focus on what’s ahead. This is an incredible opportunity for All of Us to step up and make it happen. We’re all gonna have to work harder and smarter. We are all gonna have to believe in ourselves. That we are more than the sum of our parts. We need YOU to believe with Us. We need You to believe for Us. We are going to keep going strong. One quarter, one game, one round at a time. Until its over. That’s how we’re gonna do it.”

Unfortunately this has impact reaching into next year. The medical propaganda on this surgery is that it's perfected and athletes will be back in 6 months. The reality is that while it's safe from a structural point of view to come back in 6, it's often 12-18 before things really start feeling well. And even then you have a new knee, and for an athlete like Rose nobody knows what that means. I personally don't think Rose will ever be the same player after this injury. I think he can still be an elite player, an AS, but I'm not sure he will ever be able to do what he did last year on a consistent basis. But he's a great athlete and when one part of his game slides a little, he will develop something else to compensate. But I think next year, at least the first half of the season, could be frustrating for all. I just hate that doctors throw that 6 month recovery time out there for this surgery and talk about how it's like clipping your toenails. It's a [expletive] of a surgery to come back from.

Actually, that's a quote from Kyle Korver.

Nice rally cry, Kyle. Bulls still ain't gonna win this year - at this point, I'm hoping for a really awesome series against the Celtics, a la 2009.

The larger, most distressing point is that by not losing to the Heat or Thunder with a full squad, the front office may remain convinced that the Bulls, as currently constructed, are a championship caliber team, which they aren't. They're at best, the third most playoff-strong team, with Derrick at 100%. Another year of his prime lost, and who knows how many more if the front office stands pat?

Ridiculous comeback by the Clippers. I had it on in the background but pretty much stopped paying attention at halftime.

Got tickets for Game 5, Lanphier HS very own Andre Iguodala (my favorite NBA player because he went to my HS) vs a Rose-less Bulls. Was going to wait for a round 2 game but I'm not sure now that is going to happen.

$110 got me 2nd row center court (334). $1700 for baseline court seats, $2800 for sideline seats. That is so on my bucket list. I want to sit courtside at an NBA game once in my life, but that's a little rich for me right now.

Man, Iggy put it on Luol last game. Rocked the cradle on him.

I could do without the Sixers' fake Stacey King color guy acting silly.

[/youtube]

Have you seen Iggy's tatoo on his right arm? It's a basketball player with the Illinois Capital building in the background and I think Springfield, IL written in cursive above it. By all accounts from people that I know that know him he's really a good guy, he was a good student and does alot in the community.

The leading candidates for a Hornets rebrand are apparently the Angels and the Spirit. Consider me whelmed.