Planting a (7) seed

Well, the Bulls couldn't quite pull off the upset over the Celtics, but they got some much needed experience for youngsters like Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas and even coach Vinny Del Negro. For Del Negro to match wits with Doc Rivers while Rose battled Rajon Rondo, Noah found ways to exploit his energy and contribute to a winning cause, and a team came together at the right time to nearly pull off something nobody expected--all in the most watched opening round series in NBA playoff history--well that just might be the start of something good.

Don't get me wrong, epic series or no, this was still a 41-41 team. And if Kevin Garnett had played in the series, the Bulls surely would have made a quick exit. But a banged up Celtics team gave the Bulls an opportunity to grow and build a foundation for next year. With a maturing Derrick Rose, a healthy Luol Deng, and some solid pieces in John Salmons, Brad Miller, Noah and others, the Bulls should be able to put the .500 mark in the rear view mirror and compete in the East. Their best opponent this year was often themselves, as they lacked intensity at times and had a tendency to lose focus. But the Bulls were 18-11 after the All-Star break, and they certainly showed some passion in the series against the Celtics, a series which I believe requires a warning to viewers who may be pregnant or nursing, or who have a heart condition.

The big question for now: What happens with Ben Gordon? He says he wants to be in Chicago, but has turned down contracts worth $50 million or more each of the last two offseasons. To sign Gordon, the Bulls would need to move payroll or risk entering luxury tax territory. John Paxson has some work to do over the next few months, but the Bulls provided their fans a level of excitement we haven't seen since the 20th century, and hopefully this experience planted a seed that will help them climb higher than the seven seed they attained this year.

Cubs win, but do they lose Zambrano?
The Cubs offense continued to produce Sunday in a 6-4 victory over the Marlins, their third in a row. It's the third time this season the Cubs have won three in a row--they'll go for a season-high four in a row Monday against the Giants. Dempster would love to get a win in game one of this short two-game set, because Tuesday the Cubs will face reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Good news from Sunday? Derrek Lee hit another home run--a grand slam--and Fontenot added his fifth of the year. Lee's slam--which traveled over 400 feet to straightaway center--marked the first time he had homered in back-to-back games since last April15-16 versus the Reds. Soto also showed signs of breaking out of his early season slump, drilling a double off the wall in right, hitting a hard liner to center, and driving one deep to left center in the 8th.

But the bad news could be really bad: Zambrano laid down a beautiful bunt in the 5th inning but strained his left hamstring as he beat it out. If Zambrano has to go on the DL, expect to see a fill-in from Triple-A Iowa. It could be Randy Wells (eight career appearances), Jose Ascanio (six appearances out of the 'pen last year, 7.94 ERA), or Mitch Atkins (never appeared in majors).

So we await news on Zambrano's hamstring, and hopefully he won't miss much time. Zambrano has never gone on the DL for any type of leg problem.

MLB notes
-The Rays' Carl Crawford stole six bases against the Red Sox Sunday. That ties the modern major league record and it's just the fourth time the feat has been accomplished since 1900.

-Only two of the top 10 batting averages in the majors are held by National Leaguers (Carlos Beltran and Joey Votto).

-The Giants have scored just 82 runs in 23 games this year, though they still find themselves with a 12-11 record. They beat the Rockies Sunday 1-0 in 10 innings.

Boston OT party

The Bulls found a way to force another overtime against the Celtics, but ended up down just two points and one tooth. Brad Miller needed two free throws to tie it with two seconds left in OT, but missed the first, possibly because he had lost several ounces of blood after getting a tooth knocked out.

Though Ben Gordon had a team-high 26 points, Kirk Hinrich was probably their best player. Gordon played through a strained hamstring, but continually forced up bad shots--he was just 6-for-21 from the floor. Hinrich scored 19 points on just 12 shots from off the bench, and it was the Bulls' 24-5 point advantage off the bench that kept them in the game.

Derrick Rose was tentative as he was in Game 2, settling for jump shots instead of driving the lane. Look, no one expected the Bulls to battle in this series, and Rose set the bar unreasonably high for himself with his stellar Game 1 performance, so while I don't want to be overly critical, Rose needs to be more aggressive and create more opportunities for himself and his teammates for the Bulls to have a chance. He has shown the ability to penetrate and be a leader, but has failed to do so in Games 2, 3 and 5. To his credit, he grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists to go along with his 14 points on Tuesday.

How about Joakim Noah? He had another double-double in Game 5, and is averaging a double-double for the series. Noah had just two double-doubles in the last 18 games of the regular season.

And what a series it's been overall. Four overtimes total, and the first playoff series in NBA history to have three different games go into overtime. There have been nearly 50 tie scores throughout the first five games, and over 80 lead changes.

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If you have not seen "Extras," you are not a good person

In honor of all the extra periods in the Bulls-Celtics series, I want to take this opportunity to share a clip from the HBO series "Extras," starring Ricky Gervais. It's a great show that you should check out if you haven't already:



Cubs notes
-Milton Bradley was back in the lineup Tuesday, and he had two hits, a walk and a run. Though Bradley never went on the DL, he ended up on the shelf (except for a few pinch-hit appearances and one start) for 16 days, one more than the minimum DL stint. Had the Cubs known he'd be limited to rare pinch-hit appearances for that long, they could have called up Jake Fox.

Fox is absolutely tearing it up in Iowa. He's batting .443 with a .506 on-base percentage, and he's already whacked 11 home runs, seven doubles and a triple. Word is he can't play a lick of defense, but neither could Bradley for the last two weeks!

-Every Cubs starter had at least one hit in the 11-3 victory, including Carlos Zambrano who had three. Zambrano also scored three runs, meaning he came across the plate as many times as he allowed the Diamondbacks to do so.

-The Cubs starting lineup had seven consecutive lefties (including switch-hitters batting lefty). Anyone know the record for most left-handed hitters in the same lineup? Considering D'Backs starter Yusmeiro Petit allows lefties to hit 25 points higher than righties, he was probably not real thrilled when he saw Piniella's lineup.

With Lee and Ramirez still expected out on Wednesday, the Cubs could have a difficult matchup against lefty Doug Davis, who you may recall beat them in the playoffs back in '07.

Having a Ball

Is it just me, or are the NBA playoffs about 180 degrees (okay, maybe 150 degrees) different from the regular season? It's the selfishness, the lackadaisical play, the lack of teamwork that limits my interest in the sport from October through March. But the first round of the playoffs--highlighted by the Bulls-Celtics series--has nearly lived up to the not-so-great slogan, Where Amazing Happens.

The 76ers came back from an 18-point deficit in Game 1 to beat Orlando, then hit a game-winning shot with two seconds left in Game 3, and had a chance to tie Game 4 at the buzzer.

Three of the four Rockets-Blazers games have been decided by four points or less.

Deron Williams hit a game-winning shot with under five seconds left in Game 3 to keep the Jazz in their series with the Lakers.

But the best of them all has been the Bulls and Celtics. Game 4 managed to top the Game 1 thriller, as Ben Gordon grabbed the ball (pun intended) and drilled a game-tying three-pointer to send the game into double overtime. Ben Gordon must never need an ice bath after games because he's got ice-cold blood running through his veins. He's also got something in his shorts he'd like you to see:



After playing Game 3 as if they thought it was a best-of-two series, the Balls--I mean Bulls showed up in a big way Sunday, going back and forth with the defending champs and giving the United Center faithful a game to remember. Young guards Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose engaged in battle, and with one more Rose assist, they both would have finished with triple-doubles.

All seven Bulls who saw action scored in double figures, and all five Celtics starters did the same. The win guaranteed that the United Center will see more NBA playoff action, and while it's anyone's guess as to which Bulls team will take the court that day, here's hoping for some more excitement the likes of which we haven't seen since last June. Hopefully Ben Gordon will be at full strength for Game 5--he strained his left hamstring during Game 4.

Cubs salvage one
The Cubs are quickly turning into an Abbott and Costello routine. Ramirez and Marmol were unavailable Sunday, and after Lee left the game early with neck spasms, it appeared for a second after Soriano was hit in the helmet by a pitch that Lou Piniella would have to add himself to the 40-man roster and play left field (remember, Bradley's out as well). For most of Sunday's 10-3 victory, the Cubs had an atrocious defensive infield comprised of Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, Aaron Miles and Micah Hoffpauir.

Luckily, they don't expect Lee to go on the DL, and Ramirez and Marmol could be ready as early as today. Bradley's status remains more mysterious than that polar bear on Lost.

Despite all the injuries, the Cubs offense finally exploded, scoring 10 runs behind Fukudome's five RBI (on his 32nd birthday), Micah Hoffpauir's second homer of the season, and a solid six innings from Rich Harden. Fukudome is now fourth in the league in batting and tied for eighth in RBI. Kosuke started strong last year as well, so I'm not quite ready to assume he'll do this all year. But he sure looks a lot more confident at the plate than he did post-All-Star Break last year. And it's worth pointing out that through April last year, Fukudome had one home run and 10 RBI; so far this year he has four home runs and 15 RBI.

The Cubs now head to the desert to face a struggling 7-11 Diamondbacks team with no Stephen Drew. Lilly, Zambrano and Dempster will face Dan Haren, Yusmeiro Petit and lefty Doug Davis.

Did you know ...
-Fukudome's home run Sunday was the 14th of his career, but his first off a left-hander.

-The Rays have struggled and find themselves in last place, 6.5 games out of first.

Bulls are in it to win it

In Game 1, the Bulls were nine point underdogs. After shocking Boston with a 105-103 victory, the Bulls were ... 8.5 point underdogs in Game 2. Well, the Bulls couldn't quite pull off another upset, but they once again played with Boston the entire game and lost on a Ray Allen 3-pointer with just two seconds remaining. No one--including yours truly--gave the Bulls a real shot to win this series, but they have thus far scored at will and been unfazed by the defending NBA champions. Now the Bulls will try to do what the Blackhawks just did--win two playoff games at the United Center.

Ben Gordon kept the Bulls in Game 2 with 42 points, including six threes. But the Bulls were killed on the boards, allowing the Celtics to claim 21 offensive rebounds and take 96 shots compared to 80 for the Bulls. One would hope that the energy in the United Center Thursday will help the Bulls clean up the glass more effectively.

The young Bulls were once again composed, remaining calm despite going down by 12 in the first quarter. Vinny del Negro didn't always have his guys focused this season, but they've been locked in during the playoffs. It's also becoming more and more clear that the midseason trades made by the Bulls were good ones, as trade acquisitions Brad Miller and John Salmons combined for 33 points Monday.

Bulls notes
-The Bulls set a franchise playoff record with 14 blocks, including six by human pogo stick Tyrus Thomas.

-The Bulls shot 50% and scored 115 points on the heels of their 105 in Game 1--this despite the fact that Boston allowed just 93.4 ppg during the regular season, good for third in the NBA.

Samardzija watch
Jeff started for the second time Saturday, going six innings and allowing two ER on just one hit. He walked one and struck out five. The outing dropped Samardzija's ERA to 3.75.

-In other minor (league) matters, OF Jake Fox is absolutely tearing it up with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. He's batting .478 with seven home runs and 22 RBI in just 11 games. Fox was the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week last week, and leads the Minors in homers, RBI and hits.

In spring training with the Cubs this year, Fox played in 22 games, batting .350 with four home runs and 16 RBI. Fox is 26 years old.