Nothing Like Preseason NBA, Postseason Baseball

Midweek musings: There’s nothing quite like overtime in an NBA exhibition game. Which was exactly what the Chicago Bulls had Tuesday night. They lost 111-109 to the Pistons in Detroit. A guesstimate (from the comfort of your humble correspondent’s sofa) is there were more points scored by both teams combined in the contest than there were fans in the stands at the end of the game.

Video below of Playboy’s Devin Justine for your hump day perusal.

* Speaking of NBA exhibition games and overtime, couldn’t they have some form of sudden death in which the first team to score a field goal wins — with each team having at least one offensive possession?

* Still speaking of the Bulls, guard Derrick Rose played for the second consecutive contest and lived to tell about it. Center Joakim Noah sat out the game. Rose had six points in 14 minutes and went 0-for-4 from the field. Pretty sure he will do better in the regular season.

* Pretty sure the Bulls (0-2) will do better, too. The pressure of trying to repeat as preseason champions must have been too much for them this time around.

* In the wonderful world of Bulls rookies, Nikola Mirotic took a step backwards. Maybe several steps. He was 0-for-1 from the field in a scoreless 14 minutes. He might have played more, but he fouled out. He also had a team-high five turnovers. Doug McDermott had a team high, too. Minutes played: 34. He had 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting (including 1-for-6 from three-point range). Better games are ahead. Either that, or more bench time. But, hey, it’s exhibition games, folks. No need to start searching for any panic buttons.

* Bill Mueller exits as Cubs batting coach (because typing Cubs hitting coach terrifies me that I won’t leave the space between Cubs and hitting). Not that it necessarily was his fault, but the Cubs led big-league baseball in strikeouts this season and were 28th of the 30 teams in on-base percentage. Meaning it will be difficult for his successor to do much worse. Also meaning once again the Cubs have set the bar so low that almost mediocre would look like a vast improvement.

Speaking of the Cubs, the major difference between them and the St. Louis Cardinals, who elminited the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games in the NLDS with a 3-2 victory Tuesday, is one team’s top prospects have been performing in the postseason the last two years. Not giving any more hints.

* Speaking of the Cardinals, they scored all their runs in another seventh-inning rally against L.A. Matt Adams hit a three-run home run to overcome a 2-0 deficit. Not a good day for any “7th Heaven” headlines. Check the internet, if you don’t understand why.

* Still speaking of the Cardinals, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit more home runs (32 in 524 at-bats) than Cards’ first baseman Adams (15 homers in 527 at-bats) during regular season. If that’s any consolation to Cubs fans (and there may be some souls ought there who actually do find consolation in those numbers).

* Speaking of Adams’ homer, if your humble correspondent’s eyes were working correctly, former White Sox catcher and current Cardinal A.J. Pierzynski was among the first — if not the first — to hop out of the dugout after the homer. And Pierzynski wasn’t even on the NLDS roster.

* Speaking of former White Sox, Jake Peavy is advancing to the NLCS with the San Francisco Giants defeating the Washington Nationals 3-2. Something says he just might have more time in front of the cameras than Pierzynski but not by much, if A.J. can help it.

* Cardinals rookie left-hander Marco Gonzales went 2-0. He might be the first pitcher to go 2-0 in a best-of-five series and not be MVP. Then again, he pitched all of three scoreless innings total in three games and happened to be in the right place at the right time to gain credit for the victories.

* Can you talk about media members whose questions in postgame press conferences (such as the Dodgers-Cardinals series) begin with, “Can you talk about … ?” The answer to the question should be: “Yes, I can.” And leave it at that. Those whose questions begin that way should have their credentials revoked. Or those whose questions begin that way should be flogged in public. Maybe both.

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