Chicago, IL - This time we had better seats. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a better game. When we watched the Bulls-Knicks game at the United Center last Saturday, we were seated all the way up in what is the equivalent of Upper Box A if we use the Araneta Coliseum as reference. For the Bulls-Sixers game last night, I received 4 complimentary tickets from the NBA Commissioner’s Office.

We didn’t know how good our seats would be. All I knew was that they should be better than the 60 USD seats we had days ago. As it turned out, I was right.

We were guided to Section 112, just three rows away from the basketball court and two steps away from Vince Vaughn.

My sincerest thanks to Joanitte Rodriguez, Senior Manager for  the NBA’s International Distribution, and Martin David, BTV Network Manager, for helping us secure such a great view of the game.

Okay we had a fantastic view of a not-so-fantastic game. Well, if you’re a Bulls fan, I guess the outcome was as good as a dramatic one-point win at the buzzer. The Bulls gored the Sixers as early as the first half. Derrick Rose blasted by opponents. Kirk Hinrich knocked home open jumpers. Taj Gibson was a force on both offense and defense. By the end of the third quarter, the game was over. The Bulls eventually notched their 4th straight win and looked like a legitimate playoff team on the floor.

In contrast, the Sixers have had an up and down season. They win against big teams, then, they lose big to mid-level teams. The three biggest names on their roster are Allen Iverson, Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand.

Iverson really looked like a senior citizen out there last night. He still has that boyish defiance in his eyes. He used to defy odds, criticism, authority. Nowadays, he’s preoccupied with defying father time. Never knew sporting cornrows had no age limit. It’s always tough to watch a former 6-feet force of nature finally succumb to gravity. Hey Iverson can still light it up. He has 6 games with 20 or more points to prove it. Last night, however, he looked more like a 14-year veteran than a 2010 All-Star.

The Bulls’ biggest name is one of the league’s youngest stars. Rose is the cornerstone of a franchise that hopes to sustain what it started last season. He shoots, rebounds and distributes. The only thing he doesn’t do for the organization is dress up as Benny the Bull.

And the Bulls have surrounded Rose with acrobats. Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and new acquisition Hakim Warrick help Rose in the speed department. Gibson and Warrick even conspired for several open-court slam dunks against the Sixers. While Brad Miller and Kirk Hinrich, who became the Bulls’ all-time 3-point FG leader last night, provide experience, it is Rose who’ll determine if Chicago blossoms in the playoffs or not. MH    

If the NBA Finals is all business, NBA All-Star Week is all fun. At least as much one can have in the worst snow storm in Dallas in over 20 years. Read the rest of this entry »