BULLS BACK AT WORK: Practice today in preparation for game three Tuesday night in Cleveland.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Spurs are the Spurs..I get it. However the offense at times became stagnant and the Bulls need to play with a higher tempo and beat teams down the floor to get easy buckets.
PLAYER PROFILE: Kay Felder: 5-9, 2nd year, Oakland University. Acquired off waivers from Atlanta.
Last season, Felder played for 42 games for the Cavaliers averaging 4 points and 1 assist. He also spent time in the G-League.
Felder may be new wearing a Bulls uniform but he’s familiar with the city of Chicago:
“I know a lot about it (Chicago). I used to come here when I was younger and things like the pre-draft process.”
Felder loves what Chicago offers in many areas including pizza, specifically deep dish pizza:
“Most definitely! I love pizza! I even had pizza last night but you have to watch how much pizza you eat with all that cheese clogging you up.“
He truly enjoyed his college years.
“That’s one of the reasons I have a tattoo “Oakland” because I dedicated three years of my life there and was dedicated to that program."
Two seasons ago, the Cavaliers secured a second round pick from Atlanta for nearly 2.5 million so they could draft Felder:
“Dan Gilbert (Cavs owner) is from Detroit and it was special. I got to hear my name called in front of my family and got to celebrate with them, it’s something I can tell my kids about it.”
Felder winds up in Cleveland and instead of watching LeBron James on television..he’s playing with the future Hall of Fame player on a nightly basis.
“I know LeBron likes veteran, experienced players, so I took all that knowledge and picked guys brains. It was a perfect situation for me."
How does Felder view his arrival in Chicago?
“I watched the Bulls during the Derrick Rose era, then Jimmy Butler came along. I got to play against him (Butler) a few times and playing against the Bulls was fun. They (Bulls) competed and played hard and that’s one thing Coach Fred (Hoiberg) instills in his guys, play hard at all times. My role is coming in off the bench, bringing that spark and toughness and “do anything” mentality along with leadership and experience.
NBA NEWS and NOTES:
The Suns parted ways with Head Coach Earl Watson....Watson is the 3rd NBA coach fired within three games of the start of the season. Jay Triano takes over on an interim basis. Great stat from @jkubatko. The Suns have allowed 386 points in the first three games of the season, the highest such total since the 1990-91 Nuggets gave up 447 points.
If you didn’t know it was the third week in October and you caught the OKC-Minnesota game, you’d totally buy in that that it had the feel of a late May playoff game. It was intense and dramatic. A wild finish, as Wiggins nailed the game winner with a pulled up topside 3 bank shot no less, at the buzzer.
LA’s Lonzo Ball for the second consecutive game nearly pulled off a triple double. Once again impressive across the board: 8-8-13. However, he missed 10 of 13 shots and all 5- 3point field goal attempts in the Lakers loss to the Pelicans.
D’Angelo Russell is enjoying his new home in Brooklyn. 16 points-10 assists- 7 rebounds and a steal as the Nets beat the Hawks. The Nets are the first team since the 88-89 Trailblazers to score 115+ points in each of their first 3 games. The Nets are above .500 for the 1st time since November of 2014. The Hawks Dennis Schroeder suffered an ankle in the game and is likely out tonight against the Heat.
The Clippers have lost starting point guard Milos Teodosic for an indefinite period of time with plantar fascia in the left foot.
Boston’s Kyrie Irving was fined 25-thousand dollars by the NBA for using inappropriate language responding to a fan.
CCI STAT OF THE DAY: Ok, it’s not basketball but a remarkable run is over in the NFL. Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas was injured in Sunday’s game against the Titans ending a consecutive snap streak of 10,363. Football is such a violent sport and for this man to go this long without missing a play is ridiculous. Congratulations. Oh, by the way..the Browns lost again.
E - mail me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls
Always a pleasure.