The Bulls' ninth win in their tenth home game was one of those where they built a cushion, never ran away with the game, but were never really threatened.
Credit the Bucks for coming out strong with a lot of hustle in the Bulls' 107-100 win at the United Center on Friday. They did a lot right in terms of how the players on the court performed. They played with a pace rarely seen by a Scott Skiles squad and attacked the Bulls offense with a Thibs-esque hyper-aggressive help scheme on top of the Skiles-esque glue gun man-pressure. The problem with this modification in Skiles' scheme is that the weak side of the defense just gets too weak. It leaves shooters and cutters open, while big men move out of rebounding position; and the Bulls made the right passes possession after possession, while establishing great positioning in those portions to elongate possessions with second chance points.
The Bucks were without Andrew Bogut, putting more pressure on Drew Gooden to anchor the paint, largely creating Milwaukee's deficiencies in the paint. Brandon Jennings did all he could to prevent Derrick Rose from areas of the court, but the help just wasn't there and -- well -- it's Derrick F'N Rose, FFS:
Rose came out with ferocity and had me not questioning his turf toe, scoring a season-high 34 points on a highly efficient 14-for-24 shooting and getting to the line for ten charity tosses (He bricked four, but whatever). Only three assists, but Milwaukee made it difficult for him to not reward them for half-assing their efforts to close his driving lanes -- relative to the effort necessary to make Rose over-hesitate and start jump passing tot he wrong team.
Oddly enough, it was the Bucks who benefitted from the faster paces of the first and fourth quarters in the halfcourt. The Bulls simply responded by using their size to attack loose balls and their speed to run up the floor, accumulating fastbreak points. When you look at the Bulls' 25 second chance points on their 20 (!!!) offensive rebounds and 56 points in the paint to the Bucks' 42, it's reasonable to wonder why the Bulls didn't win by more.
It was almost the curse they encountered by the combination of running the floor after the Bucks' wealth of bricks (39-for-92, 7-for-24 on 3s, .462 eFG%), slowing them down on following possessions. There were moments where Ronnie Brewer and Carlos Boozer were tossed in just too many directions by Jennings' speed. So even when the help was aggressive, the recovery suffered and sloppy fouls were accumulated by Boozer and Brewer just had too much on his plate to close-out on much taller shooters.
ENERGY!!!! The Bulls killed the Bucks in the "hustle" categories, proving that the most valuable energy comes from athleticism, talent, and a coach who encourages an opportunistic pace. The Bulls scored 25 points on Milwaukee's 15 turnovers and outscored them 16-8 on fastbreak points, along with dominating the glass.
Joakim Noah (15 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, three blocks) played like a top-five center. Sure, Bogut wasn't out there, but the fact that Noah so aggressively attacked when he smelled blood in the water was huge progress. Noah's worth is in him evolving from an "energy guy" to someone who'll kick you in your grave when you can't keep up with him. There's a huge difference between the two and the Bulls have made the commitment they've made to him to be the latter. It was refreshing to see him own the paint for eight offensive rebounds in only 33:34, making it feel like he played a lot longer. It makes him seem unstoppable when he handles the ball so well to turn those rebounds into easy buckets, igniting fastbreaks. It adds a dimension to offense when he gets four assists like Friday nights. And when he puts the ball on the floor, it's the difference between being Anderson Varejao and a fullcourt difference-maker with elements the best centers in the game can't handle.
Boozer deserves a token pat on the back. The defense isn't good and it never will be. Drew Gooden (yes, that one) scored 23 because he went 10-for-10 at the line, but Boozer translated the foul machine aggressiveness that factored in the Bulls' loss to the Pacers into strong shows. Jennings (22 points on 10-for-22) had a crazy start, but only eight points in the final three quarters, largely due to Boozer's shows forcing hesitation; and that's when Jennings brain farts. Booz's D wasn't great, but his efforts forced bad decisions from Bucks' ball handlers, largely contributing to the Bulls' 28-18 third quarter. More important, Booz played more big boy basketball on the offensive end (20 points on 8-for-15), not only grabbing eight defensive rebounds, but five on the offensive end. Nice to see him use his Starman; let's see it in Miami.
Ronnie Brewer's Starman-only mode isn't cut for Luol Deng minutes. Brewer was strong, but clearly gassed toward the end of the second half and from the mid-third for the duration of the game. He played 43:01 and his shot 2-for-13 in the process. Stephen Jackson was irrelevant partially because of Brewer's ball denial; but Jackson's a lot bigger and the task clearly took a toll, so he eventually got the ball, raising the call of duty for Brewer. With LeBron James on deck for Sunday, this could get ugly. He had a team-high six assists, relieving ball handling pressure from Rose here and there, but lost lift attempting to finish here and there.
Welcome to the starting lineup, Kyle Korver (nine points on 3-for-9). Now go back to being the bench sniper, please. Richard Hamilton (thigh) was a late scratch, so Korver started. Let's hope I don't have to write that again, mkay? He wasn't awful, the option to kick out to him helped, and he's moving his feet about as intelligent and aggressive as I've ever seen him, contesting shots as well as possible while being foul aversive. The problem is that his best fullcourt game is still bad for a title contender. In other words, Korver's a very good wing player, I'm a huge fan of the hot sauce; but not a player who plays 35-plus minutes on a very good team. With Dwyane Wade on deck for Sunday, this could... well, you know.
Usual "Bench Mobsters" weren't there much.Tom Thibodeau likes playing Omer Asik most with Taj Gibson. Taj only played 15:28 in his first game back since his high ankle sprain, looking O.K., but with no Bogut, Thibs used his Booz-Taj frontcourt for about two-thirds of Taj's minutes. Also, Booz and Noah were playing a really strong high-low game and it was nice to see Thibs ride it out. Hopefully, the tape proves to be valuable for some progress down there. Otherwise, with the Heat on deck for the Conference Finals...
Next up for the Bulls is the Heat. In Miami. Likely without Luol Deng; if not, with a crippled one. Hamilton's day-to-day. I'm pre-emptively breathing in a paper bag.
This was a good game for Derrick. He attacked more than in previous games, but
Skiles didn’t really trap him this game which is weird, so I don’t know how to rate this particular performance. Hopefully Rip is good to go for the Miami game because he’s one of the few that doesn’t hesitate to put up a shot, and he has a quick release. Korver for 30 plus minutes trying to guard Wade won’t be fun, and I fear for the health of my fellow BAB’ers if he starts.
Jennings simply can’t defend him and with Bogut out there is nothing to stop penetration. Rose looked fearless which was awesome, and also Gooden SUCKS.
He looked totally lost/out of control on that play. After he “saved” the loose ball the defense was forced to play 4 on 5because Butler was in the stands for pretty much the rest of the possession.
It was a loose ball cause his d was good on that play. Then he jumped over a row of seats and had to step over the bucks bench to get back in the play, which he did and his d still was good. Out of control seems kinda extreme.
He’s not doing too well offensively, but his defense has looked pretty gd good. Idk, anyone else noticing that?
As for the team overall, I’ve gotta say, I don’t really like the way they’re looking heading into that Miami game. A lot of it surely has to do with the injuries (btw, someone should do a statistical breakdown of the defense with, and without Deng. Has to be pretty dramatic), but we just don’t seem to have the seem cohesion on both ends of the floor.
But whatever, with this crazy schedule, and how many games they’ve played early, there was bound to be some lulls. Hopefully a big game in Miami will be the kickstarter to getting them back on track.
I wonder what the hell is going on with Rip, and if this is something that’s gonna be bugging him all season. There was varying reports with most beat writers saying it was just a thigh bruise, but KC said it was the groin acting up again. Obviously the latter would suck much more.
reports say his hip flared up a little, but the bigger prob this time is the bruised thigh
Plus, i agree, korver D has been decent. Injuries have really hurted the bulls. Thats fine though, just get healthy after the all star break and i think our team should be alot better (knock on wood).
Btw, we can talk all day about certain things that Rose needs to get better at
but the way he refuses to be fucked with when another pg tries to go at him is really something special to watch. Even when Jennings was bombing all those threes, I was smiling because you just just knew Rose was not gonna let him get the best of him. An OKC/Bulls finals would be pretty fun to watch, because Westbrick is similar in that he goes after his counterpart (although less successfully)
he started the game extremely lazy, that jennings steal should never have happened. And then when jennings hit that 3 in roses face….i think rose just snapped. Hope to see him snap on sunday as well, he cant have forgotten the ecf
he has a tendency to kinda coast at times, and I think he thinks he’s just being a pure pg. But when he decides it’s time to play, there’s really no one better in the league in terms of taking over games.
That’s also why that Pacers game was so frustrating. I was shocked when that guy never showed up. When he checked in to “MVP” chants in the fourth quarter, I was absolutely positive he was gonna go nuts.
i think he really wants to end the NBA fans perception that hes not a pg, but rather a sg
i cant tell u how many people always telling me how rose is a sg, not a pg. They never acknowledge his passing skills and i think thats what rose is trying to do. Rose needs to realize there is a time and place for being conservative and passing the ball and also when its time to go into beast mode. Rose is a combo guard who can be a decent passer and a amazing scorer. He shouldn’t try to go towards one extreme, but rather become realize whats the situation of his team. For instance, lets say boozer andr rjp are knocking down jumpers and getting open for good shots. Ill say that would be the right time to become a bit mroe conservative and set up plays for booz and rip. However, like the game vs the pacers, rip and booz cooled down and rose should have realized he needed to go apeshit.
My only real beef with Rose is that I wish he was a little more aggressive
at penetrating and getting guys shots near the basket. The way teams play him, there’s so many opportunities for dump offs and lobs that he never seems to capitalize on (specifically lobs. has he thrown more than five in his entire NBA career?)
not really a "study", but a quick look at dengs defensive impact.
in the 3 games deng has missed the bulls have allowed an average offensive efficiency of 108 against opponents with an average season offensive rating of 102. 102 Ortg is about league average, so when deng has been out the bulls have made average offensive teams look like the best offensive teams in the league.
just to compare this to, say, derrick’s absence for a sense of perspective. in the 4 games derrick missed the bulls allowed an average offensive efficiency of 99 against opponents with an average season offensive rating of 99. so when derrick was out the bulls made bottom third offensive teams look like… bottom third offensive teams, which i guess prbably correlates to about an average defensive team.
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According to Stats, Inc., the Bulls have won 18 consecutive reg season games when Boozer has scored at least 14 points.
…as was noted in the recap. How big of a game was this for him?
It was the only game of Noah’s NBA career where he has scored at least 15 points, along with at least 15 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Oh, and he had 4 assists, too.
The Bulls are my home area team, Derrick Rose is my favorite professional athlete, and I root for the Bulls all the time whenever they don’t play the Magic. The Orlando Magic is my favorite NBA team, with the Bulls a close second.
To make a long story short as to why, my dad moved to the Orlando area in the mid-80s at around the time the Magic were awarded an NBA franchise. He would send me articles and columns all the time by mail regarding the Magic and their games (this was before the internet). He also was able to get me free tickets to Magic games (through his connections at work) whenever I went down there on vacation. He also was able to get me Magic player pictures and autographs and Magic Cheerleader pictures and autographs. So, with all the exposure I’ve had to the Magic and their organization since they came into the league, I’ve been hooked on them.
I always make it a point to see at least a couple of Magic games every year when I go down there to visit my sister and brother-in-law, since my dad passed away four years ago.
With three horrible losses by the Magic this week, and the prospect of Dwight Howard either being traded or leaving as a free agent, Magic fans are going through tough times, as you could imagine. I’m happy the Bulls are playing so well (with the exception of the loss to Indiana the other day) and hope they can keep it up and beat the Heat on Sunday.
and I don’t mean to totally discount what he did. But I just think the answer to whether he is finally playing the way we need him to play will come against teams that aren’t starting Drew Gooden at center.
Boozer is fine as a PF most of the time, but on defense he looks bad a lot. The Bulls may have trouble going inside against the Heat if we end up taking the 1 and 2 seeds again
Well, I may catch flack for this, but I am going to say it anyway.
First, Rose had an amazing game. I do think he should be trying to attack the rim a bit more. However, much of his success was driven by what the Milwaukee defense was giving him. Milwaukee’s defense does not hedge hard on screens. Indiana’s defense, Miami’s defense, and other teams like to hedge very hard on the high screens. Because Milwaukee chose not to do that, they allowed Rose to get to the FT line before he saw a defender. Irregardless of whether or not they clogged the paint at that time, once Rose gets that close, it almost seems like a forgone conclusion that he can get to the rim. Look here. The defense shows a little, but once the screener rolls Rose has space. Look here. On the 1-3 chip screen (love this play btw) Dunleavy barely throws a hand in there and Rose is off to the races. This happened a bunch with Gooden being defending the screen as well. I know people are looking for Derrick to attack more, but against teams that hedge hard on screens, the high screens simply won’t get Derrick as much room.
Hopefully I’m wrong and it was simply Rose being in attack mode, but I just don’t see this kind of production in the high screen roll game happening against other teams.
and it’s just more of an indicator to how great Rose truly is considering most teams do hedge and trap and he’s still one of the best players in the league. Also you’ve basically told the story of what Rose sees almost every night as oppose what Westbrook sees on most night.
Not to say that Westbrook isn’t a hell of a player because he is. But for those always complaining about Rose lack of aggression and are all smiles about his performance last night, understand that 1.)Hamitlon was out and 2.) He played a team that didn’t go all Jordan rules on him for the whole game. Rose has to play a patient, measured game when facing teams like GS, Miami, Ind, and others who can trap and bring their bigs up. No matter what Rose does, guys like Boozer and Hamilton has to make teams pay for this or we’ll see the same results as last year in the ECF.
but Sonty’s laying it on pretty thick with this recap. Noah’s never gonna be the guy to
kick you in the grave
nor will he ever be “unstoppable” in any capacity. He’s more like the bird pecking away at your flesh while you’re laying there dying. Rose is the guy burying other teams.
Jo had a fine game, though he and the Booz-cruise got raped on defense by a couple of bums. But before people start going nuts about Noah, what he did tonight doesn’t change anything going forwards. He needs more consistent high-level play and no more fourth quarter benchings against good teams before we should all think we have a game-changer at the position.
Until Noah utilizes his energy to exploit weaknesses as a staple in his game, he isn't worth what he's receiving....
Hence, his worth is only in evolving. Everyone knows this, but just about no one can pin point what type of player makes Noah not only worth the money, but the portion of the salary cap he consumes and the years to which the Bulls are committed.
You may have misread what I wrote to say that Noah is the player we saw Friday night. All to expect from him night-to-night is still a louder Anderson Varejao with better handles and that isn’t good enough. I’m saying that this isn’t an “it is what it is” situation because his potential is clearly higher.
In terms of his evolution, I don’t really know if there’s anything more to Jo. In terms of his energy play, I don’t really know if there’s more there. On some nights the energy will look great, on other nights where the other team brings energy, Noah won’t impact the game as much. I think Jo is what he’s going to be throughout his career: A (very) limited scorer but a good team defender with speed and some handles, though the handles don’t really add anything other than some entertainment on the break. People make a big deal about his ability to run the break, but really, is he ever a better option on a fast break than DRose? I don’t think so.
In the end of the day, with Asik showing that he can be a dominating defensive presence, Noah is a pretty fungible asset. It’s not like I would like to see Noah gone, but if it betters the team he and his front-court mate are the first guys I would look to deal, especially in a deal for Dwight. Imagine a frontcourt rotation with Dwight, Taj, Omer, ______. That defense might go down as one of the greatest of all time.
This was a good game for Derrick. He attacked more than in previous games, but
Skiles didn’t really trap him this game which is weird, so I don’t know how to rate this particular performance. Hopefully Rip is good to go for the Miami game because he’s one of the few that doesn’t hesitate to put up a shot, and he has a quick release. Korver for 30 plus minutes trying to guard Wade won’t be fun, and I fear for the health of my fellow BAB’ers if he starts.
BlackStar - January 27, 2012
Skiles had little to do with the D on Rose...
Jennings simply can’t defend him and with Bogut out there is nothing to stop penetration. Rose looked fearless which was awesome, and also Gooden SUCKS.
Khalid El-Amin - January 27, 2012
how butler look?
Belize - January 27, 2012 via mobile
He looked o.k...
Got abused at least once by Stephen Jackson, but played decent D for a rookie.
Khalid El-Amin - January 27, 2012
He did have one really nice hustle sequence too...
Fell out of bounds chasing down a loose ball, and came back in the same play and helped force a shot clock violation I think.
Khalid El-Amin - January 27, 2012
Yeah, not gonna lie.
He looked totally lost/out of control on that play. After he “saved” the loose ball the defense was forced to play 4 on 5because Butler was in the stands for pretty much the rest of the possession.
Hustle is pretty useless if it’s not focused.
tuff-gong - January 28, 2012
It was a loose ball cause his d was good on that play. Then he jumped over a row of seats and had to step over the bucks bench to get back in the play, which he did and his d still was good. Out of control seems kinda extreme.
Rose2RipKaboom! - January 28, 2012 via Android app
That's not close to how I remember it.
I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
tuff-gong - January 28, 2012
he needs to move more often on offense.
but i like the hustle plays.
JLbuLL - January 28, 2012
as a raw player and with more exp, hell def improve on defense and can become a defender like brewer
on offense, i want him to develop a mid range jumper. Prob next yr hell start to become more prevalent from the bench.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
very rookish, imo
JustAnotherFan - January 28, 2012
thx everyone
I thoheht he was suppose to start tho…::::yeezy shrug::::
Belize - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Korver has actually surprised me a bit
He’s not doing too well offensively, but his defense has looked pretty gd good. Idk, anyone else noticing that?
As for the team overall, I’ve gotta say, I don’t really like the way they’re looking heading into that Miami game. A lot of it surely has to do with the injuries (btw, someone should do a statistical breakdown of the defense with, and without Deng. Has to be pretty dramatic), but we just don’t seem to have the seem cohesion on both ends of the floor.
But whatever, with this crazy schedule, and how many games they’ve played early, there was bound to be some lulls. Hopefully a big game in Miami will be the kickstarter to getting them back on track.
I wonder what the hell is going on with Rip, and if this is something that’s gonna be bugging him all season. There was varying reports with most beat writers saying it was just a thigh bruise, but KC said it was the groin acting up again. Obviously the latter would suck much more.
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
reports say his hip flared up a little, but the bigger prob this time is the bruised thigh
Plus, i agree, korver D has been decent. Injuries have really hurted the bulls. Thats fine though, just get healthy after the all star break and i think our team should be alot better (knock on wood).
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
sorry, heres the link
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-spt-0128-bits-bulls-bucks-chicago—20120128,0,580184.story
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
Thanks. This is refreshing to hear:
Hopefully he’s good to go Sunday. We most definitely need him in that game
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
yes, we need him badly this road trip
losing deng hurts ALOT and with rip our offense can be more versatile and crisp than tonights offense.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
plus, i have developed a new disliking for the pacers, mainly granger...
esp granger who mauled the shit outta rip. Its that fuckers fault for messing up rip.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
Btw, we can talk all day about certain things that Rose needs to get better at
but the way he refuses to be fucked with when another pg tries to go at him is really something special to watch. Even when Jennings was bombing all those threes, I was smiling because you just just knew Rose was not gonna let him get the best of him. An OKC/Bulls finals would be pretty fun to watch, because Westbrick is similar in that he goes after his counterpart (although less successfully)
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
yea i agree
he started the game extremely lazy, that jennings steal should never have happened. And then when jennings hit that 3 in roses face….i think rose just snapped. Hope to see him snap on sunday as well, he cant have forgotten the ecf
piccolomair - January 28, 2012
Yeah, the thing about Rose is
he has a tendency to kinda coast at times, and I think he thinks he’s just being a pure pg. But when he decides it’s time to play, there’s really no one better in the league in terms of taking over games.
That’s also why that Pacers game was so frustrating. I was shocked when that guy never showed up. When he checked in to “MVP” chants in the fourth quarter, I was absolutely positive he was gonna go nuts.
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
i think he really wants to end the NBA fans perception that hes not a pg, but rather a sg
i cant tell u how many people always telling me how rose is a sg, not a pg. They never acknowledge his passing skills and i think thats what rose is trying to do. Rose needs to realize there is a time and place for being conservative and passing the ball and also when its time to go into beast mode. Rose is a combo guard who can be a decent passer and a amazing scorer. He shouldn’t try to go towards one extreme, but rather become realize whats the situation of his team. For instance, lets say boozer andr rjp are knocking down jumpers and getting open for good shots. Ill say that would be the right time to become a bit mroe conservative and set up plays for booz and rip. However, like the game vs the pacers, rip and booz cooled down and rose should have realized he needed to go apeshit.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
My only real beef with Rose is that I wish he was a little more aggressive
at penetrating and getting guys shots near the basket. The way teams play him, there’s so many opportunities for dump offs and lobs that he never seems to capitalize on (specifically lobs. has he thrown more than five in his entire NBA career?)
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
i remember a couple, one of them to asik
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
Haven't we had this conversation before?
Option27 - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Maybe you can ;)
tuluse - January 28, 2012
Put him and the dakoose in a room together
they will find a way
T.Moore - January 28, 2012
not really a "study", but a quick look at dengs defensive impact.
in the 3 games deng has missed the bulls have allowed an average offensive efficiency of 108 against opponents with an average season offensive rating of 102. 102 Ortg is about league average, so when deng has been out the bulls have made average offensive teams look like the best offensive teams in the league.
just to compare this to, say, derrick’s absence for a sense of perspective. in the 4 games derrick missed the bulls allowed an average offensive efficiency of 99 against opponents with an average season offensive rating of 99. so when derrick was out the bulls made bottom third offensive teams look like… bottom third offensive teams, which i guess prbably correlates to about an average defensive team.
TheMoon - January 28, 2012
Deng missed 3 games already?
JustAnotherFan - January 28, 2012
nj, ind, mil.
TheMoon - January 28, 2012
There's nothing specifically wrong with Rip, he's old and injury-prone.
Ozzie Montana - January 28, 2012
trig - January 28, 2012
NEW CHEAT CODE!!!!!!
piccolomair - January 28, 2012
quick, send it to thibs!
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
WORTH TEH MONEEEE
obnoxious american - January 28, 2012
The key there is "regular season games."
dakoose - January 28, 2012
An awesome all-around game for Noah
…as was noted in the recap. How big of a game was this for him?
It was the only game of Noah’s NBA career where he has scored at least 15 points, along with at least 15 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Oh, and he had 4 assists, too.
Mike from Illinois - January 28, 2012
Just curious, are you a Bulls fan or a Magic fan?
I’ve seen you on Orlando Pin Striped, and with your sig and all
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
No prob...
The Bulls are my home area team, Derrick Rose is my favorite professional athlete, and I root for the Bulls all the time whenever they don’t play the Magic. The Orlando Magic is my favorite NBA team, with the Bulls a close second.
To make a long story short as to why, my dad moved to the Orlando area in the mid-80s at around the time the Magic were awarded an NBA franchise. He would send me articles and columns all the time by mail regarding the Magic and their games (this was before the internet). He also was able to get me free tickets to Magic games (through his connections at work) whenever I went down there on vacation. He also was able to get me Magic player pictures and autographs and Magic Cheerleader pictures and autographs. So, with all the exposure I’ve had to the Magic and their organization since they came into the league, I’ve been hooked on them.
I always make it a point to see at least a couple of Magic games every year when I go down there to visit my sister and brother-in-law, since my dad passed away four years ago.
With three horrible losses by the Magic this week, and the prospect of Dwight Howard either being traded or leaving as a free agent, Magic fans are going through tough times, as you could imagine. I’m happy the Bulls are playing so well (with the exception of the loss to Indiana the other day) and hope they can keep it up and beat the Heat on Sunday.
Mike from Illinois - January 28, 2012
Cool, yeah it just seemed a little strange because you were a fan of all the other Chicago teams, but liked the Magic
Sorry about your dad
Juiceboxjerry - January 28, 2012
i'm not going to go crazy about Noah's numbers from this game
he has to do it against better/bigger competition.
Basketball Smurf - January 28, 2012
he looks a lot better, though.
like he finally got into game shape.
obnoxious american - January 28, 2012
true
and I don’t mean to totally discount what he did. But I just think the answer to whether he is finally playing the way we need him to play will come against teams that aren’t starting Drew Gooden at center.
Basketball Smurf - January 28, 2012
I really believe in this
In those games without Deng Brew played great 1st half offensively but then vanished in the second
JustAnotherFan - January 28, 2012
we need two starmen
Prevenge - January 29, 2012
So most likely no Rip and Deng on Sunday, Wade is back and looked really good.
I may have to avoid that game for my sanity.
Ozzie Montana - January 28, 2012
the knicks took 41 three's against the heat?
my god.
obnoxious american - January 28, 2012
they should have taken more since they couldnt make any 2s.
TheMoon - January 28, 2012
there are no 4's
ThorCo - January 28, 2012
still doesn't beat the time
they shot 47 against us. holy crap.
Jaina - January 28, 2012
what a disgrace
obnoxious american - January 28, 2012
Meanwhile
Im still laughing at sin…and facepalming at the same time
T.Moore - January 28, 2012
I think it was 43, they made 18
They had no inside presence the entire game
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
Isn't that the whole reason they got Chandler
so they would have an inside presence?
ThorCo - January 28, 2012
inside presence on defense, maybe.
obnoxious american - January 28, 2012
Chandler isn't much on offense
Ben Wallace didn’t help the Bulls on offense (or anything really)
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
Ya, but he's gotta be enough of an inside force
against the Heat so that the Knicks don’t need 43 3 point attempts
ThorCo - January 28, 2012
They shouldn't have signed him if that's what they needed
Stoudemire can play the post but Chandler isn’t going to develop that part of his game this late in his career
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
i know we have beaten down this subject several times, but they should have gotten sammy-D and gotten a legit HEALTHY pg
however, i think they should be better be baron davis.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
with baron davis.
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
A good center would be really nice.
Boozer is fine as a PF most of the time, but on defense he looks bad a lot. The Bulls may have trouble going inside against the Heat if we end up taking the 1 and 2 seeds again
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
The Heat were a 3 seed last year weren't they? I forget. Just that they met in the Conf Finals
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
im pretty sure thye were second..
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
yeah, 2nd
tuluse - January 28, 2012
chris kaman is available...
idk what they want for him
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
He's on a one year deal
They probably want someone young or a 1st round draft pick
Notorious PSC - January 28, 2012
Well, I may catch flack for this, but I am going to say it anyway.
First, Rose had an amazing game. I do think he should be trying to attack the rim a bit more. However, much of his success was driven by what the Milwaukee defense was giving him. Milwaukee’s defense does not hedge hard on screens. Indiana’s defense, Miami’s defense, and other teams like to hedge very hard on the high screens. Because Milwaukee chose not to do that, they allowed Rose to get to the FT line before he saw a defender. Irregardless of whether or not they clogged the paint at that time, once Rose gets that close, it almost seems like a forgone conclusion that he can get to the rim. Look here. The defense shows a little, but once the screener rolls Rose has space. Look here. On the 1-3 chip screen (love this play btw) Dunleavy barely throws a hand in there and Rose is off to the races. This happened a bunch with Gooden being defending the screen as well. I know people are looking for Derrick to attack more, but against teams that hedge hard on screens, the high screens simply won’t get Derrick as much room.
Hopefully I’m wrong and it was simply Rose being in attack mode, but I just don’t see this kind of production in the high screen roll game happening against other teams.
DRoseO1 - January 28, 2012
You shouldn't catch flack because it's the truth
and it’s just more of an indicator to how great Rose truly is considering most teams do hedge and trap and he’s still one of the best players in the league. Also you’ve basically told the story of what Rose sees almost every night as oppose what Westbrook sees on most night.
Not to say that Westbrook isn’t a hell of a player because he is. But for those always complaining about Rose lack of aggression and are all smiles about his performance last night, understand that 1.)Hamitlon was out and 2.) He played a team that didn’t go all Jordan rules on him for the whole game. Rose has to play a patient, measured game when facing teams like GS, Miami, Ind, and others who can trap and bring their bigs up. No matter what Rose does, guys like Boozer and Hamilton has to make teams pay for this or we’ll see the same results as last year in the ECF.
Dils - January 28, 2012
Noah played very well,
but Sonty’s laying it on pretty thick with this recap. Noah’s never gonna be the guy to
nor will he ever be “unstoppable” in any capacity. He’s more like the bird pecking away at your flesh while you’re laying there dying. Rose is the guy burying other teams.
Jo had a fine game, though he and the Booz-cruise got raped on defense by a couple of bums. But before people start going nuts about Noah, what he did tonight doesn’t change anything going forwards. He needs more consistent high-level play and no more fourth quarter benchings against good teams before we should all think we have a game-changer at the position.
dakoose - January 28, 2012
Until Noah utilizes his energy to exploit weaknesses as a staple in his game, he isn't worth what he's receiving....
Hence, his worth is only in evolving. Everyone knows this, but just about no one can pin point what type of player makes Noah not only worth the money, but the portion of the salary cap he consumes and the years to which the Bulls are committed.
You may have misread what I wrote to say that Noah is the player we saw Friday night. All to expect from him night-to-night is still a louder Anderson Varejao with better handles and that isn’t good enough. I’m saying that this isn’t an “it is what it is” situation because his potential is clearly higher.
Alex Sonty - January 28, 2012
if he can play at the level last yr before he got injured, then every analyst better put the bulls at a 50-50 chance against the heat
lets hope Noah can “evolve” into the all star center we saw last yr before the all star break (knock on wood)
Geo4MVP - January 28, 2012
He needs to be better than that....
Considering what LaMarcus Aldridge, Jermaine O’Neal, Luis Scola, Tim Duncan, Hakim Warrick, Nene, Samuel Dalembert, Jason Thompson, and Anderson Varejao did to him before the All-Star break last year, Chris Bosh shouldn’t have many problems with early 2010-11 Joakim Noah.
Alex Sonty - January 29, 2012
We're just pretending Joakim Noah defended every single one of those guys on every single possession because why?
Ozzie Montana - January 29, 2012
I recapped every one of those games. Why it was so easy to recall.
Alex Sonty - January 31, 2012
That's more in line what I think of him.
In terms of his evolution, I don’t really know if there’s anything more to Jo. In terms of his energy play, I don’t really know if there’s more there. On some nights the energy will look great, on other nights where the other team brings energy, Noah won’t impact the game as much. I think Jo is what he’s going to be throughout his career: A (very) limited scorer but a good team defender with speed and some handles, though the handles don’t really add anything other than some entertainment on the break. People make a big deal about his ability to run the break, but really, is he ever a better option on a fast break than DRose? I don’t think so.
In the end of the day, with Asik showing that he can be a dominating defensive presence, Noah is a pretty fungible asset. It’s not like I would like to see Noah gone, but if it betters the team he and his front-court mate are the first guys I would look to deal, especially in a deal for Dwight. Imagine a frontcourt rotation with Dwight, Taj, Omer, ______. That defense might go down as one of the greatest of all time.
dakoose - January 29, 2012
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