So we keep on waiting (waiting) …
WAITING on the NBA season to start.
We keep waiting (waiting)
WAITING on the Cubs to suck less –
Oh, hi there. Sorry, I was just singing a ditty. Let’s do some bullets.
Team USA’s championship run in the FIBA World Cup has officially come to an end. The loss against France in the quarterfinal round is the first in 58 international games, stretching all the way back to 2006. While it may be an historical loss, the shock-value just isn’t there. The U.S walked into the tournament with one of its weakest rosters in recent memory, but more importantly, international teams have clearly experienced massive improvement over the years. France had a roster highlighted with top-defensive center Rudy Gobert (22 pts, 16 reb) and Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier (22 pts). Also, in this game specifically, New York Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina came through in the clutch (I know, strange to hear). Team USA will now move into the 5th-place consolation bracket.
Anyway, here, watch them lose:
https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1171775698542809088?s=20
Mark Strotman with NBC Sports Chicago took a look at who will be the next Bulls player to put on a Team USA jersey. My answer: All of them. All of the players.
Tomas Satoransky and the Czech Republic also lost earlier today. CURSE YOU, FIBA! The new Bulls point guard was on an incredibly impressive run, proving to be one of the top-talents to watch throughout the tournament. The team will also move into the consolation bracket, so we can still watch him ball-out, but it’s just not the same, *sigh.* At least we got to see Sato drop a double-double today! The Bulls front office is probably looking at him as an assisting superhero, considering they haven’t seen anything like this at the position in quite some time. “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a real point guard!”
Well, well, well … look who decided to show up! The Chicago Bulls Instagram posted photos yesterday of Denzel Valentine putting up shots during, what looks to be, a team workout at the Bulls training facility. Valentine is coming off a massive reconstructive ankle surgery, and it’s been a long road to recovery. Updates on Valentine’s progress have been rather vague, so it’ll be interesting to see how healthy he looks during training camp. The general vibe around Valentine’s potential isn’t anything special, but it’s worth noting he’s in line to play a pretty vital role for the team as the primary back-up to Zach LaVine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2MnNiFAlgy/?igshid=osb20nvk48ur
Did you see the Dennis Rodman 30 for 30 last night? No? Leave work immediately and turn it on. You can just tell your boss Bleacher Nation told you to do it. I feel like I say this almost any time I watch one of these, and it’s probably driven completely by recency-bias, but this is one of ESPN’s finest works. The documentary exposes that while Rodman’s life blew up over the course of his NBA career, the big man remained just as emotionally conflicted and insecure as ever. Interesting, powerful and flat-out fun to watch. If you’re curious about some of the topics in the documentary, NBC Sports Chicago outlined their top-5.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBulls/status/1171673623851089920?s=20
How much of a role do you want to see Daniel Gafford have this season?
Round of applause for the Chicago Sky’s James Wade.
Psssh, I did that in a pick-up game the other week.
NEWSLETTER
