Credit Where Credit is Due- Bulls/Suns

I introduced "The Blame Game" in the beginning of this blog's life, where we assign percentage values to everyone responsible party in a game. Credit Where Credit is Due is the flipside to that, where we assign percentage values to the heroes in important games (or in this case, "character-building, season defining wins"). The envelope please:

Derrick Rose- 25%
I love that Derrick took 33 shots, and I don't even mind that some of them were forced. I know I would be killing Ben Gordon if he had the same stat line at the end of the night (14-33 from the field, 1-5 from downtown) but the difference is many of the shots Derrick missed were good shots, where he got some separation or at least was in position to draw a foul. Ben would have drawn the same line by taking bad fall away threes over two defenders. It also doesn't feel like everyone else is taken out of the game when Derrick goes into takeover mode, but that might be a testament to the next name on the list.

Tom Thibodeau- 25%
I texted a few buddies when TT was drawing up the last play in the 2nd OT with "Derrick to the rack. Book it." Everyone in the building thought that play was a high pick and roll with Rose and Noah, which is why it worked so well. That was the kind of play VDN never had the creativity to come up with nor the guts to call. I've heard in the past that the only time an NBA head coach really has a direct effect on the game is coming out of a timeout. With VDN, 9 times out of 10 the play was " dribbles around for a little bit and jacks up a shot." Now we have a coach who calls real plays! It's very refreshing.

Joakim Noah- 20%
Maybe it's unfair, but from Joakim I've come to expect at least two great hustle plays in a close game, plus for him to get every rebound in sight. Noah gets extra credit for treating Nash like his personal ATM every time he switched on to him, and for both great passes in OT (the back-cut to Rose and the feed for Korver cutting to the basket). I love that Noah can do all these unique things most big men can't, I love that I'm never more confident in our defense and rebounding than when Noah is in the game, and I love that I'm going to Joakim Noah bobblehead night next Wednesday.

Ronnie Brewer- 10%
If you just look at the stats, you'll wonder why Brewer is getting so much credit. His final line is 1-2 for 3 points, 5 rebounds, and a -17 on the night. But the +/- is so low because he was on the court for a lot of the first quarter, but that mess wasn't really his fault, and he played amazing defense on Grant Hill and Jason Richardson in the overtimes, forcing them to take bad, contested shots. And I thought Bogans was supposed to be the defensive stopper.

James Johnson- 5%
I got a text from my buddy Smitty during the game suggesting JJ is Tyrus Thomas 2.0. I want to give him until the end a season where he has actual coaching and doesn't have him minutes jerked around (although TT has already done a little of that, and probably will see even more of it when Boozer is healthy.) But I think JJ's immaturity can be fixed. If not, the nice thing is we're deep enough for it not to be too big of a deal. Until then we'll see a lot of sequences like the end of regulation where he hits a huge 3 to cut the lead to 1, then bails Nash out with a dumb foul on the other end.

Luol Deng- 5%
I know, I know, he dropped 27, he deserves more credit, I'm a Deng hater, whatever. At the end of close game you can't miss open layups and let Hedo freaking' Turkoglu get rebounds over you.

Grant Hill- 5%
I don't fault Hill for getting beat on the back-cut by Rose. But a lot of open looks were created throughout the game by taking Hill to his left or running around screens. Hill can't keep up anymore, and the Suns are going to have a hard time being competitive this year if they need to rely on Hill as their wing defensive specialist.

Kyle Korver- 3%
I'll give Korver a little credit for hitting some shots to help bring us back in the 4th, but my god did he suck in the overtimes, and was a huge defensive liability. Any open look the Suns got was when Korver wasn't quick enough to help and recover. I know you need him on the court to spread the floor for Rose on offense, but then he needs to make his open looks.

And that shot he took on the play Derrick fouled out on was moronic. Even had it went in, it's better to run 24 seconds off the clock than take that shot. Be aware of the game situation, Korver.

Jason Richardson- 2%
Thanks for missing your second free throw and keeping the window open!

There you go, feel free to dispute my grading in the comments.