July 18, 200421 yr Nocioni Once Andres Nocioni flew home to Argentina and traveled to the national team's pre-Olympic training camp, he told reporters he plans to play for the Bulls next season. Nocioni, a 6-foot-7 forward, spent nearly three days in Chicago. He arrived Tuesday, shot some baskets with coach Scott Skiles, toured the city Wednesday, then caught a flight back to South America early Thursday night. He did not sign a contract or speak to reporters during the trip. "Everything is in order to assure that next season I will play for the Chicago Bulls," Nocioni told the Clarin newspaper in Argentina. "I appreciate the kindness that Chicago gave me during my stay. We were very comfortable. "I saw No. 23 and the monument (Jordan statue). It is amazing. The city is unbelievable." Bulls general manager John Paxson acknowledged that the 24-year-old Nocioni is the Bulls' top free-agent target. The Bulls are thought to be offering a three-year deal worth $10 million. The only holdup is a $3.6-million contract buyout with Nocioni's current team, Spain's Tau Ceramica. The team president has said he won't prevent Nocioni from jumping to the NBA as long as the buyout is paid in full. "In Tau, I left my best years and a good group of people," Nocioni said. "It hurts me to leave, but it is an important step I must make. "I wasn't looking for a chance to go to the NBA. But it seems to me that perhaps I did something important for Chicago to get notice of me." Summer league In the second game of the opening day of this year’s Rocky Mountain Revue, the Seattle Sonics took the floor against the Bulls of Chicago. Both teams struggled offensively in the early going with Seattle leading 3-2 halfway through the first. Robert Swift energized the crowd with transition dunk, at which point both teams traded several buckets. Seattle’s Damien Wilkins finished the quarter with a buzzer-beating three, putting Seattle up 13-11. Seattle had a balanced attack with six guys scoring. Chicago’s Tommy Smith started the second quarter off with an alley-oop dunk from Luol Deng. But it was Seattle’s Damien Wilkins who led the way with six straight points, including a steal that lead to a breakaway dunk. Seattle jumped out to a formidable 26-17 lead with a jumper from David Young, forcing Chicago to burn a timeout. The Sonics closed out the first half with a 30-21 lead. Wilkins led all scores with 9 in the quarter and 11 in the half. Chicago rookie Ben Gordon rebounded from a scoreless first quarter to score six in the second. Chicago started the second half with six quick points, four from Gordon, pulling within five at the eight minute mark. The Sonics staved off the attack by the hot shooting of Wilkins, who torched the Bulls for nine third quarter points. Mateen Cleaves and power forward Nick Collison team up for another nine third quarter points for the Sonics. The Bulls continued their balanced attack with four players scoring at least four points. Seattle maintained their advantage leading 49-40 after the third. Despite struggling to put points on the board for the majority of the game, Chicago’s perseverance paid off. The Bulls put on the squeeze defensively, forcing multiple turnovers en route to 14 straight points and a 66-57 lead. With less than a minute remaining Seattle’s Luke Ridnour drained two free throws to close the gap to 66-69, but Chicago broke the full court press and Linton Johnson dunked the ball putting the game out of reach for Seattle. Gordon led the Bulls with 21 points and four rebounds. For Seattle it was Wilkins, with 22 points, seven rebounds and two steals. The Bulls dribbled out the game with a final score of 72-66. Box Score: http://www.nba.com/media/jazz/Game2.pdf -------------------- Bulls' Roster: G Ben Gordon, F Linton Johnson III, F Luol Deng, G Terry Black, G Janero Pargo, F Jermaine Brown, G Maurice Jeffers, G Chris Duhon, G Kirk Penney, F Tommy Smith, C Chris Alexander, F Mario Austin, C Alvin Jones
July 18, 200421 yr Sounds good to me. But I have learned to keep my expectations low fot he Bulls, even though I have a good feeling from this team.
July 18, 200421 yr Sounds good to me. But I have learned to keep my expectations low fot he Bulls, even though I have a good feeling from this team. Same here, getting too high on them is just setting up for a big disappointment. Although, I will root for them as always.
July 18, 200421 yr I long for the days when the bulls were considered almost a sure thing to make it into the playoffs
July 19, 200421 yr i'm getting a vibe that i haven't felt in forever from a bulls team. if eddie is in shape and tyson can stay healthy, i see a playoff spot.
July 19, 200421 yr Everybody was saying 30 wins and playoffs. I saw through it. This team sucks. This year's time might be worse than last year's team. Paxson had to rebuild the team in his image. Losing Crawford will hurt big time. This team doesn't have a scorer. Though I was impressed with Ben Gordon's 21.
July 19, 200421 yr Author http://www.nba.com/media/jazz/game10.pdf Here's the link to the box score of the Bulls 2nd summer league game. Bulls win again. Austin had 17 pts. and 9 rebs., and Deng also added 17 points. Tommy Smith had 10 points and 4 blocks.
July 19, 200421 yr Duhon has been awful. His shooting has sucked. That sucks, lol. The most overrated college player last year. He is a bust, just like the rest of the Duke guards.
July 19, 200421 yr Nocioni is a good sign. He'll split time with Luol deng and might even start. I doubt we make the playoffs, but I think Gordon will be something special one day. IMO, he'll be a superstar, but we have to see if he is a Bull for his entire career. 9th or 10th in the east this yeat, I'd say. Still way too young.
July 19, 200421 yr The most overrated college player last year. He is a bust, just like the rest of the Duke guards. Just Duke Guards? You are going to limit Duke's busts to guards? It's more than guards.
July 19, 200421 yr This years time is better than last years... PG-More experienced Kirk SG-Gordon not quite as good as last years JC, but will be eventually SF-Nocioni/Deng>?JYD/LJ3/Jefferies PF-Healthy Chandler>Unhealthy Chandler C-Just gonna hold my breath on this one Hopefully that makes sense, I am tired.
July 19, 200421 yr Author What should we expect from this kid? He's a Matt Harpring type, but more athletic, I think. He's gives 110% all the time, and can play defense pretty well. If anyone hasn't seen the dunk Nocioni made over KG and Duncan back in 2000, you should see it; it's awesome! I'll try to find the clip and put a link to it here later.
July 19, 200421 yr butchering the English language. Heck we can get that from the HS kids on this team...
July 20, 200421 yr Author Bulls improve to 3-0 in summer league play. Deng with 20 pts. and 7 rebs., and Gordon added 19 pts. off the bench. Box Score
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