Day Late Bulls Links Are Better Than No Bulls Links

The story of the day yesterday wasn't much of a revelation, but that never stopped a good blog post. Tom Thibodeau is a Jeff Mangum-level recluse (BREAKING) and we should all try as hard at our jobs as he tries at his. Or at least I think that's the message. Either way, the hilarious D. Rose quotes put this over the top:

"I've never played for a coach who was that focused," Rose said of Tom Thibodeau, admiringly. "There's nothing else -- no kids, no wife, no leisure time to watch TV. I'm dead serious. There's nothing else going on.

"I've never heard about Thibs being out eating. I never ran into him eating anywhere. No matter what city we're in, I won't see him until the next day. I never been around a coach like him."
.....
"Nah, he's healthy," Rose said. "We're winning. He seems like he's enjoying himself. So I'm fine with it."

LOL, Derrick.

Rose: 'He seems like he's enjoying himself so I'm fine with it'

Can you imagine D. Rose handling a similar situation in which he's not 'fine with it'? I bet he'd be really confused and have a lot of mixed emotions. It would probably be really funny.

Eric Freeman had the joke of the day over at Ball Don't Lie:

In Thibodeau's defense, Rose's previous coaches were John Calipari, who probably spends most off-hours at a dog track, and Vinny Del Negro, who reportedly just wanders around whatever city he's in looking for cotton candy.

Trey probably came in second:

As the wise philosopher Sherylphylus Crowitus once said, "If it makes you happy, then it can't be that baaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aad." And it really does seem like Tom Thibodeau really just wants to do basketball stuff, even if that devotion is probably a little bit unhealthy. More power to him.

Matt from Blog-a-Bull correctly pointed out that 'crazy' is precisely how D. Rose describes everyone and everything, so maybe this is all overblown. My buddy Brandon wondered aloud on his Tumblr if Thibodeau is the most uptight robot since C3PO.


And since TUP must always be unruly contrarians ("Rondoooooooo"), I'm morally obligated to point out that it wasn't so long ago that Thibodeau was a party boy. In the back, at least.


-- Basketball-Reference says Rose is Iverson.

All told, Rose and Iverson's MVP campaigns are almost eerily similar. Each player was worth approximately 6-7 points of on-court offensive rating above average for a middling offensive team, and each was essentially an average defender on a very strong defensive squad. Each man's role was to carry the offense (almost single-handedly -- with apologies to Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, & Aaron McKie) and let his surrounding role players handle their defensive duties.

Both Iverson and Rose also capitalized on down years from more physically gifted MVP competitors, rivals who should have beaten them on pure talent but were diminished in the voters' minds for various reasons.

<3 <3 <3. My favs.

-- Speaking of Rose, Stan Van says he's got 'MVP' written across his forehead. No duh.

"I don't think it's wide open. The media seems to have made their decision, and they're the ones that vote. So I think it's over," Van Gundy said Wednesday night as his Orlando Magic prepared to play the New York Knicks. "I mean, I just listen and read. I think it's over. Derrick Rose has it. I haven't really read or heard a media guy who is going another way at this point. I'd be shocked if he doesn't win it."

And to all the Bulls fans *still* saying Rose doesn't deserve to win, I'll plagiarize myself here to bring up the most critical point: who the fuck cares? Why must this title -- MVP -- be treated with kids gloves? What does it even mean? Why is everyone so concerned about getting it "right"?

The fact of the matter is that Derrick Rose is going to win MVP, and that is awesome. It's awesome because he's on our favorite team, and because he is the light of the world. It's not called The Best Player In The World Award; the entire concept is sort of superfluous. It's super cool, but also sort of super dumb. I could really care less if Dirk or Dwight or LBJ is more deserving. Rose should win because he's the only player who's ever made me Google synonyms for "Jesus". And also because I'm a fan of the team he plays for, and because he's quite possibly my favorite living human. What the hell has Dwight Howard ever done in his life?  

-- "Money" Mayweather won a bunch of it betting on the Bulls on Tuesday.

According to the photo, Mayweather made a halftime bet that the Hawks wouldn't outscore the Bulls by six points or more in the second half. The Bulls made 73.8 percent of their shots in the first half, which ended with a Rose 3-pointer, to go up 72-43.

Mayweather apparently laid down the expensive halftime bet with the Bulls getting 5.5 points.

The visiting Bulls outscored Atlanta 42-38 in the second half, easily winning the bet for Mayweather.

Floyd Mayweather: Not too proud to shy away from a bet just because the team's backup point guard got with his girl. That's something, I guess. Related: C.J. Watson (excited).

-- MJ finally makes an appearance at Molly Lambert's(Simmons' girl) latest side-project: