SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Blog a Bull

Bulls 110, Nets 95: Bulls continue to play to win, and do so convincingly

The Nets defense in action. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Jonathan Daniel - Getty Images

The Nets defense in action. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

It was another injury-plagued permutation of players for the Bulls tonight, as Taj Gibson and John Lucas were out, and the big news being Luol Deng missing his first game in the last season-plus. Deng's left wrist diagnosis is still up in the air, with the 'surgery' pre-game mention by Thibodeau being enough to freak everyone (including myself) out. It may not come to that, and post-game KC Johnson reported that Luol may try to rest it instead and play through the pain. That's not exactly better news on the same day that Derrick Rose conceded he'll likely never be 100% this season with his own toe injury.

Meanwhile, Rose did return, and the team put in another dominating performance over an overmatched opponent. Rose looked solid in his first game back with 22 points on 16 shots. He had a few boneheaded turnovers but those were his only few of the entire game. Tough to really gauge how much the toe hurt, as while he pulled off a couple elite finishes it wasn't a game where he was tested to do so constantly.

And with Taj and Deng (the only SF who can plausibly play PF) out, Brian Scalabrine actually played 23 minutes at the 4, and the Bulls weren't killed in that time. The Nets started small and stayed that way all game, so it was an actually somewhat-plausible move to see so much Scal and so little Asik (10 minutes), though nothing any Bulls fan should actually wish for. If the same players are available in future contests, you'd hope we'd see more of the tandem named 'JOmer' (Joakim+Omer) instead of 'Butterball Turkey' (Scal+Omer). No matter the combination in this one, the Bulls frontcourt dominated the glass and inside scoring. Asik was outstanding in his 1st half stint, and Noah was a force again around the rim with 7 trips to the line on his way to 16 points (and only 1 personal foul!), supplemented by Boozer's 14.

The big story on offense was the way the Bulls shared the ball, getting a season-high 33 assists. And the man behind the nearly a third of those was Rip Hamilton, who continues to impress. The Bulls and Hamilton are making it look so easy when he's on the court: relentlessly moving Rip off-the-ball, forcing the opponent to react and him either hitting a midrange jumper of dumping it to a Bulls big. The latter option has actually been the stronger suit of Rip all season, and I'm hoping teams never adjust and instead keep aggressively trapping, as he's proven constantly that he's willing and able to find the open man.

It was likely that opportunity to see Rip and Rose together that gave Thibodeau the idea to keep both in yet another very late and clearly-decided game. If that was the reason, or just the general order of taking every minute seriously, it's somewhat accepted at this point: This is Thibsball, and why you both get a full roster of guys playing their hearts out for a single goal, but also some unnecessary over-extending of minutes. And, in a word, that's what it is: 'unnecessary'. Hamilton, Rose, and Noah are all coming back from injury, and even if there's something to be said for game-time together, against the Nets second unit while owning a double-digit lead isn't exactly meaningful time.

Thibs has certainly been consistent on this, but one can be consistently wrong (I would know). And though you can't truly tie any of these present injuries to overexertion, that doesn't mean it's not better to play it safe, or even mildly cautious. However, the upshot is the Bulls just win, and swept through some dreadful opponents battling through myriad injuries. But with the schedule ramping up with the Pacers and Bucks before a Sunday showdown in Miami, the Bulls not only will encounter challenges from injury, but from their opponents as well.

0 recs  |  244 comments

Comments

It was good to see Noah with a double double.

That may be another reason we did not see as much of Omer.

But Taj, please get well soon. Scalabrine may be okay against a small-line-up Nets team on a back-to-back-to-back, but I do not want a steady diet of him.

So far, Hamilton is playing much better than I expected. Korver, however, had an off game. Does Korver play better when Hamilton is out?

Thibs said he does not think Luol will need surgery. That should not freak anyone out, should it? Isn’t that good news?

well, its on his non shooting hand

and pain killers may be the route deng might be willing to take, lol.

I'd rather have him 100% in the playoffs

If he sucks it up it could affect his rebound and what is more important: he will be vulnerable in the playoffs. One hard foul on that wrist could bring his game out of balance

The Bulls w/o Deng and Taj are really vulnerable to a stretch 4

We all know Boozer can’t move and Noah’s instincts are to stay in the paint. Thibs went to Scals when Williams started knocking down open shots. That is a scary scenario against a better team.

its very good that rip has some left in the tank, and its obvious the extra dimension

he brings, and the bulls’ general ability to move the ball and move themselves without the ball, makes beating the crap defensive teams even easier than last year. indy is a very good defensive team though, which should make it a decent test (no deng hurts of course) of what “the rip effect” can do against elite defenses. i always worry that off ball stuff wont really work against teams that know what they’re doing. hope im wrong (again).

I am happy that Rip has something left...

But I am concerned that he can only bring it in about half the games this season (and next). Hopefully, he will be able to stay on the court through the playoffs.

I found the story i was looking for

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/06/03/attention_to_detail/?page=1

glad i did, because my recollection of the article was poor, here are the key excerpts that can be scrutinized today….

Thibodeau was on a fast track to a head coaching gig this past winter when a seemingly routine January home game against Atlanta threatened to derail his reputation.
The Celtics were leading by 10 when Doc Rivers was ejected for arguing a flagrant foul called on Davis. Assistant coach Armond Hill was also tagged with a T, and by the time the Hawks were done shooting free throws, the 67-57 lead had been reduced to 6.
Thibodeau was entrusted with the job of stopping the bleeding, but as Joe Johnson starting drilling shots for the Hawks, the Celtics went cold. In the final 18:16, Thibodeau did not make a single substitution, and Boston lost the game.

So what happened in that Jan. 11 game? Contrary to those who suspected Thibodeau was "unprepared,’’ it was his intimate knowledge of the fourth-quarter matchups that stopped him from making a move. The Hawks had sent point guard Mike Bibby to the bench and left Jamal Crawford to cover the point. Usually Bibby returns for the stretch run.

….

ahhh i cant do any more excerpts cuz i guess once you finish the story, the website forces you to join in order to see the context….yea….lame…

at any rate the story discusses two stories when thibs managing minutes shows up. The first is this one about the hawks, the second is about the celtics when they started off real bad. Tom wanted to figure out ways to work them harder, and doc decided to rest them saying “Legs before Brains”

I think the main point about this is that thibs might be the type who forgets players are human and have limitations….

I really didn't want Rose to play in this game

then after this dunk I really didn’t want him to play in the game.

I guess the good news is that he didn’t appear to hurt himself any worse, and now he knows how his toe will react in advance of the tougher game against the Pacers

sigh

I meant this dunk. I had pulled that first dunk as a way of comparing the relative height that Derrick jumped on his fast break dunk.

both of those he did halfway.

only dumbasses go for some showtime shit on breakaways if they’re injured.

true

but on the second one he did seem to have a little bit of a limp on the jog back D:

yeah. i thought he shouldn't have even played in this game.
The whole game

I never got the feeling Rose was running naturally. Seemed like he was running tenderly, on broken glass.

I had the same feeling

but could be just a precaution

He pushes his players cuz he should. The bulls havent won anything. They dont have a right to rest. Till thibs style of coaching proves to be a failure, i say all the griping about minutes should cease. The bulls are trying to win a championship. When we become champs then we can pace ourselves. Right now we dont have a clue what this team is capable of. When i see rose come back out in the 4th and then noah, i have to know its for a reason that benefits the team and their championship aspirations.

But in order to win a championship you must be at your peak

this includes being healthy with bountiful supplies of energy

For the most part, the bulls got an idea of what it would take to beat miami in a seven game series. Why not use that edge thats needed in the regular season. Never giving in, always going hard. Rose falters playing a 24 minute second half against the heat last year. This year his body understands how to respond to that kind of adversity. There is a point where you run your body so much, that the effort it took before, you surpass it easily witout any extra exertion. At some certain point Deng body just got use to playing 40+ a game, and thats why he’s much better in the 4th quarter now than he’s ever been before.

Noah, Boozer, and Rose were all at less than 100% last year

When we lost to Miami

Noah came back from injury looking like crap. Boozer never adjusted to playing wit noah by the time the playoffs rolled around. And rose had never been that far before and just didnt know what it would take to get over. Deng’s game didnt falter tho. And he played more minutes than everybody. And then factor in RIP this year and everybody games get better. How do you really get tired with some of the easy victories?

I think it's hard to tell this particular group of players to not go hard

especially a group of supposed gym rats.

hmm, gym rats. I thought we got rid of this term with the Baby Bulls.

I'm beginning to think there's no point in really arguing about the minutes anymore.

I mean everyone has valid opinions, but Thibs is not going to change his ways. And the players themselves don’t want to sit out unless they absolutely have to. Even Rose wanted to play even though the medical staff advised against it. They mentioned in the pregame(Nets broadcasters) that the staff put in a special orthopedic insert in his shoe, so Rose could play. Derrick didn’t want to miss an opportunity to play against Derron, and he sure as hell wants to play against Indiana.

Show the world that the Bulls are even better than last year, win more games percentage wise, etc. This team holds true to Thibs Doctrine of 48 minutes of intensity. Even if it’s hobbled intensity. I’ve basically resigned to this fact. I just pray that everyone will be healthy enough during the season, and come playoffs. Because I doubt Thibs changes the minutes distribution. Might as well wait until the season is over, to really judge how it plays out.

Regarding the minutes

I think there is something to be said for rewarding players who play well with more playing time. As much as we’d like to see Thibs give Rose, Rip and Deng some more rest, let’s keep in mind that that’s probably not at all what the players want. The players want to play, not sit on the bench. I don’t want to speculate too much on what’s going own in their heads, but I’m willing to bet that there’s not a moment where Rose thinks to himself “I’m so tired I would rather sit on the bench than stay out here”. Rewarding players that give good effective effort with more playing time is a pretty good way to incentivize guys to play hard and stay disciplined while out there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Thibodeau’s consistency in that regard is a big reason why the Bulls are one of the hardest-working and most disciplined teams in the league.

Obviously there’s sometimes a tradeoff sometimes between rewarding guys who work hard and maximizing your chances of winning, but generally, Thibs has been very consistent when it comes to this, on both ends of the spectrum (giving Deng and Rip more minutes when they play well and benching Boozer/Noah when they play poorly). We’ve always framed this issue as Thibs thinking short-term and trying to win regular-season games at all costs, but I’m starting to think he might actually be thinking long-term by making sure that guys continue to have to work hard to earn their playing time.

I contend that a player really cannot tell the difference in game

between a 40 minute night and a 32 minute night. but over a season, their body can. As far as their ego goes relating to playing time, if we are 15+ points the whole game, starters aren’t going to care much over those 8 minutes that don’t mean much in one game, but as a trend help in the long run.

yeah but if you're boozer or noah you can definitely tell the difference between playing in the fourth and not playing

I like what poloplaya is suggesting

See I think those 8 minutes do matter to the players, at least a little bit

Like I said, players want to play, even in games that are, for the most part, decided. In the long run, yeah they’ll get over it, but still.

Anyways, I’m not saying Thibodeau is necessarily right to keep guys out there for extended minutes during blowouts. I’m just suggesting another possible motive behind his decisions.

I'm no pro in any sport

but playing sports as a kid, every second on a bench felt like eternity. Any time I felt like I was good to play I was furious to be taken out.

48 Minutes of Intensity...

…is actually the Van Lier Doctrine.

i dont know how to feel about this stuff
I think it all comes down to luck

that’s how I’ve always felt about injuries. I think the Bulls are a well-conditioned team. Thibs isn’t playing them 50 games a night. if they get injured, they get injured. shit happens. now, if a player develops chronic injury problems, then in my book he becomes a candidate for trade, but for the most part I don’t find myself count on or against injuries. it’s a luck whether they can get through a season healthy.

oh and let me just say this

Scal can ball! He might be our Brian Cardinal in the playoffs this year, i love his smart play.

No he can't.

Don’t be fulled. This was not a playoff-quality team, especially after three games in a row.

he's got a point tho, scal played pretty smart

as long as the crowd is gonna demand his presence i’m glad to see him not embarass himself

Scalabrine was seeing real minutes in the Finals two years ago

It was due to an injury, but still, that guy can actually play (which is what makes the chants all the more maddening)

yeah, anyone who thinks he doesn't have some skill is fooling themselves

because they think he’s a “goofy white player”.

WHO thinks goofy players are white?!?
nah, he can't really play

so lets hope he doesn’t.

He's not good, but he can play

I mean, he’s serviceable in a pinch. This isn’t a Chris Richard situation

I'm glsd y
I'm glad we agree on that

Considering his extreme lack of athleticism I’d say he’s a pretty damn good player.

i think the only logical explanation for the minutes

is that thibs sees garbage time as practice time seeing as to how in this shortened season we have absolutely 0 practices scheduled. so why not use the other team’s second string guys while we are blowing them out as practice dummies?

Homers, Hyperbole, and Hysteria...Oh my!

My BaB experience tonight

Rip Hamilton's stat line

His 22 point, 10 assist game on 10 of 16 shooting is the sixth time in his career that he has had a game of at least 20 points and 10 assists, and the highest percentage he has shot in such a game.

Rose approves
“He passes better than I do,” Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said with a laugh. “So he’s definitely going to help us.”

Link

Glad that he said it...

because it’s absolutely true.

Meh

Not really. They are different passers. Rose sets up passes with penetration and his own scoring. Rip sets his passing up by coming off screens and getting into the gaps. However, Rose is a solid passer. Rose’s ast% was 38.7% last year with a TOV% of only 13.1%. There have only been 25 times where a player had an assist% greater than 38 with a turnover% less than 14 and 5 of those times were Chris Paul! Here is the list. Needless to say, that is a pretty tough thing to do. Rip is a great passer for a 2 guard, but don’t be insane.

Friedell with some timeline
Nobody is quite sure if and when Luol Deng will return to the Chicago Bulls lineup. It could be a couple of days, or, if he has to have surgery on his injured left wrist, it could be a couple of months.

Link

in line with what Geo said

As a Marquette fan, I honestly hope the Bulls trade Jimmy Butler.

This is getting ridiculous and Thibs is playing with fire.

Are you freaking serious?
thats crazy. if jimmy makes it in the nba it'll be because he works really hard and is really smart.

even if he doesnt play much until next year, being on this team will help with both.

because thibs is a freakin awesome coach.
I am curious about Jimmy getting/not getting any burn during the season but at the same time

I can also really see the point in easing him into the rotation.

But more curious to me is what the long-term plan is for Jimmy here. Is he our 2/3 starting swingman of the future (given that we have an aging Rip Hamilton at the 2 for this year and the next at least, and Luol Deng with a not-to-distant contract expiring date and an unknown future)? Is he trade bait? Is he going to be a Bench Mobber? Of course it’s too soon for any of us to know what the expectations of him are internally, but I’ll be watching over this year and the next to see how it plays out.

Keep in mind he missed out on having a full off-season to work out with the coaches and rest of the team so it’s all a bit of a work in progress. I won’t sweat it if he doesn’t get every spare available minute.

I'm not concerned with every spare available minute

I’m concerned with him getting a DNP during a blowout win against one of the worst teams in the NBA, while Luol is hurt and Scalabrine is getting 23 minutes.

Either he’s THAT bad (which I don’t believe) or Thibs is just playing ‘his guys’, which is concerning because I don’t want to see Scalabrine on the floor in the playoffs.

rose aint missing the miami game

I know he has to have the games circled and set on his google calander

Probably amped for the Indy game as well.

Miami’s the main rival, but Indy is more of a punk-ass team with the way the played in the playoffs, fouling the shit outta Derrick every time he drove the lane.

Totally. Can anyone name two bigger punks in the NBA than Granger and Hibbert?

Other than Rondo.

well, there was posey not too long ago.
Tyler H
i think he's mostly just confused about what's happening in the game at any given time.
Tyler H is not a punk.

He is a dope.

Tyler Hansbrough is likely a a serial killer, so I'll opt to not talk shit in case he's monitoring this site
I just said Tyler H...
Indy Pacers= Detroit lions

Both dirty ass teams with douche coaches

They don't have the talent analogues of Stafford and Megatron, though.

But, yeah, Vogel does have that phony tough guy shtick like Schwartz.

granger is analagous to stafford, i'd say.
Stafford imo is overrated

I feel like any QB can lob to Megatron…Hell I seen him overthrow him a number of times….He’s good tho

Granger is an above average player

so is stafford. good, but not quite stars. so, analagous to me.

id love for him to miss that game

Indi is gonna aim at that toe for the whole game

Indy is number two in the standings right now.

They haven’t received much coverage, but that will change if they beat the Bulls. And they are a different team from the one the Bulls beat in the preseason.

also one of the few teams with an easier schedule thus far

but the Bulls injuries certainly close the gap.

They could also hold the Pacers to 57 points.

teams with lower strength-of-schedule than bulls, atm

cavs
magic
celtics
knicks
sixers
pacers

They're good, but I'm not afraid of them.

They still don’t have a star player, they remind me of the Skiles Bulls teams a little bit, or maybe they’re a more defensive minded but less offensively capable version of the Atlanta Hawks. Either way, they’re destined for first and second round exits, IMO.

They're a terrible offensive team even with the addition of West and Hibbert making the leap.

The Bulls may only score 80 tomorrow, but Indiana might not crack 70.

Is it too much to hope for them to only score 50

god I want to see them destroyed…I want tears coming from Fosters face, since I can’t see McRoberts tears anymore

Praying that Derrick wakes up with minimal pain today...
Lol at the Boozer picture.

It happens to be that he bricked that shot, but still funny nonetheless.

I think you are thinking of a different shot.. then where he got a really good aggressive rebound and jsut bricked it asking for a foul.... dunno...Okur seems to be to bar to be that play
Yeah, thats the play I was thinking of.

He had a fantastic offensive rebound and then just bricked the lay-in.

looking at the schedule, i still can't believe they let derrick play in this game.

and it’s pretty obvious they would have won it without him anyway. i mean, scal was balling on their asses. i don’t like it.

Memo to Howard

Look how good the Bulls make Scalabrine, John Lucas and Mike James look
Imagine what they can do with you…

Rose won't be 100% for the rest of the season?!?

That’s TERRIBLE!! Deng might need surgery?? Also sucks. Taj might be out for some time as well? Not good. While Lucas isn’t exactly one of our ‘weapons’ it’s good to have him be healthy so the bench can at least be somewhat healthy to back up our top guys. Let’s hope that we get better news in the near future. I would absolutely hate for us to become the Eastern version of the Trail Blazers. Looking at our play recently, we should be happy, considering the injuries that are mounting, and the best record in the league is also a testiment to the talent we have on the team and that Thibs is definitely one of the best coaches in the league and he has meshed this team very well since he’s come on board. I think with Rip in their, and with him getting more and more used to the style of play and the new environment, he could potentially be our no 2 guy with Deng out of the lineup. He could also help Rose (if Rose isn’t 100%) with the fast break baskets and fast paced games. It’s also good to see Ronnie having an impact, but I am a little concerned with our front players. Asik and Destroy hasn’t looked too impressive yet, Boozer has been up and down, and Noah isn’t himself, yet. Hopefully we can get everyone clicking at the same time sooner rather than later.

anyone who's played a lot of basketball over time knows you're never 100%

it’s just a question of how badly hurt or injured you are.

Rose:
"I didn’t mean it that way," he said. "If someone steps on it, it’s going to hurt. You never know. It might go the whole year and nobody touches it."
Every Pacer is going to try to step on Rose's toe.
No doubt about it.
step? they're going to jump with both feet
Seriously, I'm worried about this.
This is where the team will miss Kurt Thomas the most.

They need that brick wall to step up to these punks.

Need for Sheed

Sheed would step in the face of Foster’s mom

Tyler H

getting knocked out…

Second best part of that series (first was McRoberts getting ejected)

Imagine when Eddy Curry steps on his foot
to be fair

that’d flatten a healthy foot just as well

That's a dangerous game.

Stepping on another player’s feet is a prime way to sprain your own ankle or worse. Dirty players stick their feet under a jumping player for that very reason.

soccer players are so worse
When was the last time the Bulls had the most efficient offense in the NBA this late into the season?

It’s truly impressive. Last year they beat down on bad teams but most wins were a slopfest. This year they are getting out to big leads early and keeping it that way. Their transition game is absolutely incredible.

While i am not a fan of just throwing away the season fro the sake of being healthy...

I think if anybody is hurt, you need to just sit them…
Rose.. ok toe will not heal all year?…what about that those is a months recovery… so paced rest will help, help him avoind too many back-to-backs… or maybe bite the bulled for another week…. better he rests now than ..say teh last week of regular season and loose his edge due to too much rest at start of playoffs

Is anyone else here sick of the Scalibrine shit.

I hate the cheering, the fanposts, the fanshots, the photoshopping and all the other stuff with Scal. Just let the chubby white guy play a little….

REALLY does wonders for the Facebook page though!

Like Me!!!

i bet you'd get a million likes if you put up a photo of you destroying fanshots
but he just clowned the Nets

it was AMAZING.

luol going to talk to the media about his injury soon.
Radio?
nick friedell on espn 1000 only said he's going to speak soon.

wasn’t specific.

I'm also confused as to why people boo Kris Humphries.

What did he do to anybody? And btw, I caught an episode of that show he made with Kim and the Kardashians are fucked up worse than I thought. They were doing yoga with some naked black dude and when Humphries walked in and freaked out Kim got upset for him overreacting. You know you’re nuts when you think it’s normal to be doing naked yoga with someone other than your husband.

Cuz they're all fuckin idiots

Always give that dude props for bangin with PF/C’s and getting double digit boards in the process.

I read the word bangin' and was exptecting an entirely different sentence
Ha, just read that myself

Don’t know if even bangin a Kardashian was a good or bad thing

She's hot, but shes definitely not a normal person.
I've never watched the show but I thought people booed him because of his association with the Kardashians.

Is he like a villain or something on the show?

I think he came off as a real jerk on the show

One story I heard was that he made fun of some dude for not bringing any girls around, basically implying that the guy is gay. I don’t know – It seems like he was used pretty hard by Kim. On the other hand, I’d let her use me too.

I think the guy was actually gay
Shit......if thats the worst of him on that show, then he's just a normal guy.
"reality" shows are all scripted.

that people buy into that as a reason to boo this guy…i mean, jesus christ.

hahah i saw that episode too!

well i saw part of it. but yeah… can’t blame him for being pissed there.

Yeah, and Kim and her friends were saying

“he just doesn’t understand….” I would love to have the kind of money that the K’s have, but shit…..Hollywood really fucks people up. Naked yoga with another man? That’s messed up.

just on another level of "wrong"

its quite disgusting if you ask me. Real or scripted, I feel Humphries deserves better, esp as a professional athlete who I think isnt a bad player.

You guys are acting like he's been persecuted.

He dated a reality TV star, got burnt and is now getting mocked. Dude doesn’t really deserve any sympathy.

I'm not sympathetic to anything.

I’m just genuinely curious as to why fans, especially those in Chicago, are booing him? Why was he voted the most hated player in the league? I don’t feel bad for him and his failed marriage, real or not.

I don't know, maybe they hate ugly people.
Humphries is actually a good looking dude.

My GF thinks he’s a better looking dude than Kim K is a good looking chick.

um...

i don’t see it :/

It really seemed like his job offers this offseason were affected by the hate

Coming off a excellent season, he wasn’t getting any calls. If true, that’s pretty messed up. The Kardashians get final approval over everything that gets aired on their show, of course he’s going to come out looking like the bad guy. I just happen to think he shouldn’t get booed around the league.

Yeah, seriously.

Go Kris humphries. >.>

The Pacers should see an angry Orlando team tonight...

and it should be a pretty physical game…

I am thankful we have a day off before this one… Thibs needs to get everyone paying attention to that team and ready for a big-a** fight.

just going to be another beating.
If Orlando destroys the Pacers

we will be seeing an angry Pacers

The question is whether an angry Orlando team

can do anything except angrily shoot more 3 pointers and pray they go in.

Did Butler play any minutes last night?
Butler who?
No shit

Nets went small last night and we still kept Boozer and Noah on the court. Would’ve been the perfect time to run him out there, oh hell any point in that time.

Yeah, but who cares? 16-3

You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Blog a Bull to post a comment.