By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer 11 minutes ago
SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP)—The Chicago Bulls won the NBA’s draft lottery Tuesday
night, giving them the right to choose between star freshmen Michael Beasley and
Derrick Rose.
Coming off a miserable season and still without a coach, the Bulls vaulted
from the No. 9 spot, where they had just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the top
choice.
They will almost certainly choose between Beasley, the Kansas State forward
who averaged 26.5 points and an NCAA-best 12.5 rebounds, or Rose, the point
guard who carried Memphis within minutes of the national title.
“After this season, we needed a break and I think we just got one
tonight,” said Steve Schanwald, the Bulls’ executive vice president of business
operations who represented them on the podium.
The Miami Heat, who had a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick thanks
to their NBA-worst 15-67 record, fell to second. The Minnesota Timberwolves will
go third.
Chicago came into the season with high expectations after reaching the
Eastern Conference semifinals last season. But the Bulls never recovered from a
dismal start and finished 33-49. They fired coach Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve
and have already decided not to retain interim coach Jim Boylan.
The Bulls failed to land the coach they wanted, Mike D’Antoni, but the
position became much more appealing Tuesday. They could turn to hometown star
Rose, who D’Antoni said was like Jason Kidd with a jump shot.
“Everybody was picking us to go to the conference finals last year,
actually to the NBA finals because we won 49 games the year before and pushed
the Detroit Pistons to six games in the second round last year and we have a
very exciting good corps of young players, and we added Joakim Noah to that
mix,” Schanwald said. “Now we will get a chance to add another great player, a
really great player. So it is very exciting for us.”
The Seattle SuperSonics, who moved up to No. 2 last year to pick Rookie of
the Year Kevin Durant, fell from second to fourth. Memphis will pick fifth,
followed by New York, the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Charlotte and New
Jersey.
Indiana has the 11th pick, followed by Sacramento, Portland and Golden
State. The lottery settled the top three spots. The remainder of the first 14
picks are determined inverse order of their record.
Chicago got the No. 2 and 9 picks the last two years from New York as a
result of the trade for Eddy Curry. Schanwald gave a fist pump early on when he
realized he would move up, then took a deep breath and pumped both fists after
beating out the Heat, represented by All-Star guard Dwyane Wade.
Only twice have teams with the worst record won the lottery since the
current format began in 1994. Though the lottery is weighted to give teams with
the poorest records the best chance to win, the long shots keep finding a way.
Last year, Portland and Seattle moved up to grab the top spots, taking Greg
Oden and Durant. Once again, two star freshmen are the top prizes.
“Obviously the lottery as a precursor to the draft is a time of great
hope,” commissioner David Stern said.
The Bulls already had a busy offseason planned. Besides hiring a coach, they
have to make contract offers to restricted free agents Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
Now they’ve got another decision: Beasley or Rose?
That should quickly restore interest in the underachieving team. Interviewed
immediately following the result, Schanwald read the number for callers to buy
season tickets.
“I thought it was a waste of time. I thought coming here was an absolute
waste of time. I knew I would get a great meal out of it, but I thought it was a
waste of time,” Schanwald said of the Bulls’ chances.
“I’m on top of the world. I feel great. It’s the most exciting day of my
life.”
just like that. a crazy week concludes. 6 finals. 5 days. 0 all-nighters (woo hoo!) 4 steak and egg breakfasts!!! 1 12pack of Diet Pepsi MAX! its seriously TO THE MAX. 3 months of summer to look forward to! P2 year concludes. Thank You Jesus.
Summer Plans: Walgreens Management Internship UIC MTM Project UIC Geriatrics Project Peru Health Clinic!! Possible KOREA trip?! ehhh? Road-Trip. Marathon Training.... softball? .....?
Purchases: External Camera Flash camera spare batter grip? Looking into an automobile. : O anyone selling?! iphone...TBD PDA....TBD
Missions Partnerships: Christine + Grace + CFC et al to Japan Sean to Africa AAIV to Thailand and Cairo?!
Goals: Get healthy and fit. Future planning Family time
congratulations to all the graduates! best of luck in your future endeavors!
Saturday before finals.. and here I am on xanga. Thought i'd share a thought.
ideal. I was thinking about this concept earlier today.
wats an ideal?... is it perfection? completion? the most rational outcome? the best? the greatest?
an ideal. a radical reality. not impossible. But very far off from the societal norm. Demands a break from conformity and the accepted standards. fueled by something more than personal gain, insecurities. its not a fantasy, not something you endlessly strive for. But its something that you have to become and establish. an unwaivering, stubborn motivation. driven and guided by a unique and an unstaggering perspective, paradigm, purpose.
just a thought.
good luck on finals UIC-ers...and everywhere else......