For Bulls, it’s a wide open-and-shoot situation

The Bulls have trouble, and contains little related to they not turning up Saturday in Atlanta.

This issue continues to be festering since tipoff of the season-opening victory within the Opposing team. Guard Derrick Rose has spoken about this several occasions. Coach Tom Thibodeau has addressed it. It's been talked about both at home and on the highway.

“The greatest factor with this particular team is we have to learn how to shoot open shots,” Rose stated. “We play too un-selfish sometimes. We finish up passing up good shots for bad shots.”

It’s no problem many teams face. More frequently, teams are afflicted by not discussing the ball. The Bulls getting the alternative issue is a good example of the type of team leader John Paxson and gm Gar Forman have put together. It states a great deal concerning the philosophy Thibodeau preaches and also the gamers subscribe to.

It’s an expression from the team’s leader. When Rose states he doesn’t care if he scores as lengthy because the team wins, he means it. That attitude spreads throughout they and often is really a hindrance.

“We discuss that constantly,” forward Carlos Boozer stated. “The great factor about we is we've a lot of good gamers that may create open shots for everyone else. We have to be among individuals teams that can take them. Sometimes, should you not go, you finish up going for a harder shot since you threw in the towel the simple shot thinking another person includes a better shot. Together, we must perform a better job of having open and shooting the ball.”

Rose continues to be saying it in the day Rip Hamilton showed up. Gamers have to take making open shots. Once they result in the extra pass rather, it frequently produces a turnover. Turnovers happen to be an issue both in from the Bulls’ deficits. They'd 19 from the Hawks.

There is a thin line between making the additional pass, locating the open guy and taking open shots. Bulls gamers think an excessive amount of sometimes.

“You can’t avoid a wide open shot,” Thibodeau stated. “Oftentimes, should you choose, that which you finish track of is really a contested shot next. If somebody’s open, we would like these to shoot. But, generally, I love our ball movement and readiness to talk about the ball striking outdoors guy.”

Put your mind around the rim. That’s what Thibodeau informs gamers. Before you take a go, think of the court in the perspective from the rim. Does another person possess a better chance? If that's the case, slowly move the ball. Otherwise, go ahead and take shot.

“Instead of using the shot, the men sometimes try to create a better play for someone else,” Ronnie Maker stated. “It doesn’t always exercise like this.”

Hamilton has seen this before. The Pistons team he assisted to win an National basketball association championship in 2004 didn't have a genuine celebrity. What separated that team was defense and also the same all-for-one attitude the Bulls have.

“As the growing season continues also it will get closer and nearer to the 2010 nfl playoffs, men will understand their role, and they’ll know what to do using the basketball and where you'll get their shot from,” Hamilton stated. “It’s still early. Everyone is feeding everyone else. It simply informs the men worry about one another and wish everyone to have fun enjoy yourself available.”

Several gamers sitting with ice wrapped around their knees looking vacantly into space following the blowout loss Saturday. Unselfishness wasn’t their greatest problem, but it’s an issue nevertheless.

“The one factor we all do is we play great defense every evening,” Boozer stated. “The greatest problem we've offensively is we’re too un-selfish. That’s an excellent problem to possess.”

Wichita State Wins N.I.T. And Hopes Best Is Ahead

Everyone knows not to run with scissors. But how about dancing?

Having just won the National Invitation Tournament championship by defeating Alabama, 66-57, the giddy Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall already had scissors in hand to cut down the net while accepting his N.I.T. watch. As a recording of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” played, he swung his hips on the Madison Square Garden floor, tapped his feet and cut the air with his scissors.

Before a small but partisan Shockers crowd of 4,873, Wichita State (29-8) won the N.I.T. for the first time in 12 appearances. The seniors Graham Hatch and J. T. Durley led Wichita State with 12 points apiece. Hatch, who called the night magical, made all four of his 3-point attempts and was named the tournament’s outstanding player.

“A special group of guys that deserve everything they now have coming to them,” Marshall said of his team.

The Crimson Tide, which ranked seventh in the country in scoring defense, frustrated the Shockers into 10 first-half turnovers with full-court pressure. But when Alabama’s leading scorer and rebounder, JaMychal Green, sat out for eight minutes after committing his fourth foul with 11 minutes to go, the Crimson Tide lost firepower.

What had been a tight game swung Wichita State’s way for good when Hatch made two 3-pointers to open a 12-point lead with three minutes remaining.

“I was just thankful to be there for my team when they needed me,” Hatch said. “I can die a happy man now.”

Tony Mitchell led Alabama (25-12) with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

After missing out on the Missouri Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the N.C.A.A. tournament, which Marshall said “decimated” his players, the Shockers ended the season on a positive note.

Wichita State, the No. 4 seed in the N.I.T., beat Nebraska of the Big 12, Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference, College of Charleston of the Southern Conference and Washington State of the Pac-10 on the way to the title game against Alabama of the Southeastern Conference. The Shockers, who beat Washington State by 31 points in the semifinals, won their five N.I.T. games by an average of 13.4 points.

Half the teams that played in the last four N.I.T. championship games have since earned an N.C.A.A. seeding of No. 3 or higher. Five of the top eight seeded teams in this year’s N.C.A.A. tournament (No. 1 Ohio State and the No. 2’s Florida, Notre Dame, San Diego State and North Carolina) advanced to the N.I.T. semifinals in the past three seasons.

“It should bode well for our future,” Marshall said.

Having set a program record for victories Tuesday, the Shockers can consider themselves a part of the Garden history that mesmerized Marshall when he first walked the halls this week — past photos of Mick Jagger and Red Buttons performing.

Nearby, a snapshot of the 1970 N.B.A. champion Knicks caught Marshall’s eye. The picture included two former Wichita State players, Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman. Another alumnus, Xavier McDaniel, played for the Knicks in the 1991-92 season.

As Wichita State’s cheerleaders danced like the Rockettes in the postgame celebration, and Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “New York, New York” played on the public-address system, Marshall danced again. This time with a net in hand.

CONNECTICUT LOOK TO UPSET SAN DIEGO STATE ON TSN2

Anahemim, CA (Sports Network) - An epic season for the San Diego State Aztecs moves forward tonight as the team clashes with the Connecticut Huskies in the West Regional Semifinals of the 2011 NCAA Tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

It's a game that you can catch on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt.

Back home in the Golden State, the second-seeded Aztecs have far exceeded the success of any season previous to 2010-11, standing at 34-2 and having finally won a game in the NCAA Tournament after showing a 0-6 record heading into the event. The Mountain West Conference Tournament champions, the Aztecs defeated Northern Colorado in the second round of the tourney last week with a 68-50 final in Tucson, but then needed double-overtime to dismiss a pesky Temple Owls group over the weekend, 71-64.

As for the third-seeded Huskies, they improved their record to 16-1 in their opening-round games in the NCAA Tournament since 1990 with their 81-52 romp over Bucknell at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. just days after UConn turned the Big East Conference on its ear by winning five games in five days in order to capture the tournament title in New York City. Head coach Jim Calhoun, who is in his 25th season with UConn, guided his group to a hard- fought 69-58 victory against fellow Big East member Cincinnati last Saturday in order to advance to the Sweet 16.

For the Aztecs, getting this far in the postseason at the Division I level is new territory, but for UConn it is nothing new as the team owns NCAA championships from both 1999 and 2004 and is now 46-27 overall in the event all-time.

The winner of this first-ever meeting between these two schools will clash with the winner of the Duke/Arizona matchup on Saturday for the right to move on to the Final Four in Houston next weekend.

Recently named a finalist for National Player of the Year honors, the amazing Kemba Walker had another huge game for the Huskies last weekend as he delivered a game-high 33 points in the 11-point win over Cincinnati in the nation's capital. Walker knocked down a decent 8-of-20 from the floor but a far-more-impressive 14-of-14 at the free-throw line for a team that connected on 25-of-30 collectively at the charity stripe, compared to just 10-of-14 for the Bearcats. Jeremy Lamb added 14 points, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel 10 points off the bench and Alex Oriakhi a team-best 11 rebounds, but the big man in the middle missed on all six of his field goal attempts and finished with just four points. Oriakhi, who ranks second in the Big East in rebounding with almost nine per game, has accounted for a combined 21 rebounds in the first two games of the tournament for the Huskies, but he has been a forgotten part of the offense in terms of scoring with just 13 points after scoring in double figures in all but one of the team's five contests in the conference tournament. Clearly, the scoring has become even more crucial for Walker as the season has worn on and as one of the nation's leaders in that department with 23.6 ppg now is not the time to defer to anyone else anyway.

Playing in their first overtime game of the season, the Aztecs needed some strong efforts in the paint to get them over the hump against the Temple Owls on Saturday in Tucson. Billy White responded with a double-double consisting of 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds as four of the SDSU starters scored in double figures. Kawhi Leonard dropped in 16 points and cleared nine rebounds, followed by Malcolm Thomas with 13 points and nine boards as well, while Chase Tapley tallied 12 points on a solid 4-of-5 shooting behind the three-point line. However, for the second time in as many games, starting guard D.J. Gay had a hard time shooting the ball as he converted just 3-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-4 behind the three-point line. Although, the game was not a complete loss for Gay as he registered nine points, six rebounds and five assists in 50 minutes of action. In the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament win two days earlier, Gay was limited to just five points on 2-of-11 shooting from the floor and still the Aztecs cruised to the win so one has to assume that once he gets into gear SDSU will be that much tougher to slow down. As important as Gay is to this group, Leonard continues to be the one that opponents have to keep sight of as they plan for how to stop the All- MWC First Team selection and one of the top defenders in the conference in 2010-11 as well. Leonard, who played 46 minutes against the Owls, isn't flashy but he does get the job done and is a potential double-double waiting to happen.