Strange Brewer

The Chicago Bulls officially get things going on Wednesday by making a trip to Bricktown and facing off against one of the most youthful and exciting teams in the league, the OKC Thunder (my second favorite team). Tom Thibodeau seems to have his squad ready for the ESPN prime time tussle and has finalized his roster to 13 by cutting a few of my favorite Bulls, most notably Beloit, WI native and former Wazzou standout Kyle Weaver and former U of I role player "the Reverand" Roger Powell. I thought for sure that Kyle would weave his way (no pun intended) into the Bulls basket being the long, rangy defender that he is. Either way, he'll catch on with an obscure NBA franchise and cause me to contemplate spending $55 on a personalized Indiana Pacers jersey--it could be worse. But in a move that is much more consequential, Thibodeau has named Keith Bogans his starter at the 2 alongside Rose, Deng, Gibson and Noah, leaving out free-agent acquisitions Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver as well as high-flying sparkplug, James Johnson.

Thibodeau's decision proves to me that it is going to either be his way, or the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway for Bulls players this season, and also affirms that the new-look Bulls are going to have to prove themselves on the floor to compete for their own playing time. No longer will the Bulls be the 'mental midgets' that morph into the maladroit mixture that folds whenever the UC clock signals the start of the 4th quarter like they were under Vinny Del Negro. Still, I thought that Brewer was a perfect rook in Thibodeau's chess-like defensive scheme, which employs constantly changing sets, lending itself to a player like Brewer whose 6'7'' frame fits him into 3 positions comfortably. Perhaps Thibs opted for Bogans at the 2 because he poses more of a scoring threat based on Ronnie Brewer's undexterous J that is oddly enough the result of a childhood waterslide injury in Arkansas (what the hell goes on down there?). Perhaps he's concerned about Brewer's off the court involvement with his first cousin, rapper Guilty Simpson (seriously, what the ____?) whose first three CD's were entitled OJ Simpson 1, OJ Simpson 2, and Ode to the Ghetto which boasts his top single "Gettin' Bitches". I swear I didn't just make that up.

For now, I'm going to trust Thib's decisions because he has probably forgotten more basketball than I'll ever know, specifically NBA basketball. All I'm saying is, Bogans is going to have his work cut out for him matching up with reigning NBA scoring Champ Kevin Durant, a player whose body is seemingly is made up from a combination of popsicle sticks and rubberbands, accommodating his playing style as the most versatile scorer in the NBA. The Bulls/Thunder matchup should be exciting to say the least. We all know how riveting Rose, Noah and James Johnson can be for the Bulls. Now throw Russell Westbrook, Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green on the same floor, and you have an exhilarating 48 minutes of pro basketball...should be fun.


Note: If you're wondering why the Thunder are my 2nd favorite team, just look at their roster, their jerseys, and James Harden's shoes. I know Matt DeMars and Jeff Heiden have the same opinion, because whenever the Thunder played on National TV in college, we sat on the couch, drank an absurd amount of Barq's Root Beer (except Jeff, only uncarbonated Pink Lemonade) and raved about how 'sick' the Thunder were. I even remember DeMars threatning to steal an OKC Thunder hooded sweatshirt off of a random campus passerby. As you may know, the Thunder have Durant, Westbrook, Green and Harden as their familiar names, but what you may not know is that their roster also boasts Kansas farmboys Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich (who I heard has recently purchased replacement incisor front-teeth), intangible imports like Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefalosha, lights out launchers Eric Maynor and Mo Peterson (him and Charlie Bell are the last of the Flintstones left), and DJ White, who mainstreamed the full-length T on a big man look at IU that you now see regularly in college hoops. The only player I dislike is Byron Mullens, who recently told the media not to refer to him as B.J. anymore (Why did you ever think BJ was a good idea?), and sports the most abominable facial hair/fade combo in the NBA now that Adam Morrison is out of work.

As for Pick of the Day, the Pulse Man likes the Giants and Mitch Kramer from Dazed and Confused to take down the untouchable Cliff Lee in game 1 of the Fall Classic. I'm not sure why the Rangers are favorites in this game, but the Giants are getting good value at home (+116) in their first world series since the Barry Bonds Biceps era in '02.

Pick of the Day: Phillies @ Giants- GIANTS, moneyline (+116)

Record:(25-20-0)

Also, check out my good friend Kevin Bulger's blog at www.freckleinaforeigncity.blogspot.com . He's currently playing pro basketball in England, so he has some interesting insights into his culture shock. Also, if you haven't already, which most of you seemingly have, you can vote for him on the 'guest blog poll.'

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost