John Lucas III- 37%
This is basically the opposite of the last JL3 shot chart I posted:
That's what streak shooters do. Stacey mentioned it last night, but you know you're a legit NBA player when the other team is switching LeBron on to you in the 4th quarter for key possessions...and you score anyway.
There were 2 parts of Lucas' game that impressed me the most yesterday:
1. His ability to get his shot off over larger defenders was great. I know it's something he's had to do his whole career, but the Heat are one of the better defensive teams out there, and he usually doesn't have 6'8" guys guarding him.
2. The Heat ran the Derrick Rose double team at JL3 a few times in the 4th, and he kept his head and made the right pass every time. I feel like it would be very easy for him to get rattled and turn the ball over, but he stayed calm and collected, which the Bulls desperately needed late.
TT- 20%
I was struggling with how much credit to give TT. On one hand, yes, he deserves a lot of credit for the xs and os, where he was constantly a step ahead of Spoelstra. It was pretty dumb of Spoelstra to run the double at JL3, considering how TT's 1-1-3 counter is usually pretty successful against it. Let's go to the BMo Harris Telestrator:
Derrick (or JL3) get's met at halfcourt, and Joakim (usually) comes out to set the pick, but rolls back to the 3 point line as soon as his man comes to double. Derrick (or JL3) retreats near halfcourt to give the other 4 as much time as possible for the 4-on-3. Joakim gets the ball near the top of the key, with Boozer near the basket and 2 of the 3 from Deng/Korver/Ronnie hanging out in opposite corners. Now Boozer's man has to either give Joakim an open shot from the paint, step up and hope Jo can't hit Boozer for a dunk, or hope the help gets there in time, which leaves one of the shooters wide open in the corner. Either way, more often than not the 1-1-3 results in an easy shot for a big man in the paint, or a wide open corner three.
I have to dock him some credit for some weird personnel choices in the 4th quarter, though. The Heat went small with Battier at the 4, and for some weird reason TT decided to replace Taj with Boozer at the 7:39 mark, despite the fact that Taj was playing his usual great help D, and Boozer had contributed nothing. Then at 5:35, TT makes the even weirder decision to put Korver in for Noah, leaving Boozer as the only big on the floor, which is basically like putting a giant welcome mat in front of the rim. The Heat then predictably scored 8 easy points on their next 4 possessions until TT snapped out of his daze and put Joakim back in.
Taj- 15%
Notice that Wade didn't even try to block Taj's monster dunk in the 2nd quarter? He remembers this:
Taj probably would have gotten more credit had he, I don't know, played more than 18 minutes, TT. Seriously, he was changing the game on both ends, and his dunking range on the pick and roll apparently extends out to about 12 feet from the basket. Boozer can't dunk on the pick and roll without a trampoline. There's no reason for Boozer playing 9 more minutes than Taj in a game like this.
Joakim- 10%
Gotta give a lot of credit to Jo for locking Chris Bosh down, which I know doesn't sound like a Herculean effort, but Bosh has had some nice games against the Bulls in the past. Solid
rebounding and help D late, too.
JFB- 10%
Official Chitown-Sports nickname: Jimmy Butler= Jimmy Fucking Butler (JFB for short, since I try not to swear too much.) JFB just makes plays that make you say "Jimmy...Fucking...Butler!" While I'd like to see him start actually passing the ball on the 2-on-1 fast break when the guy he's with has a better shot, but his defense on LeBron was better than Deng's in my opinion, and he makes the smart play on offense (most of the time). I hope he gets more of a shot than JJ did.
Fred0-5%
Defense wasn't great, but he made his clutch free throws late, which is worth something.
TBN- 2%
He didn't exactly lock D. Wade down (which is why Wade went 16-26 from the field.) But 5-10 from the field ain't bad.
Deng- 1%
I can't give Deng no credit, but the difference between him and JFB was almost as pronounced as the difference between Boozer and Taj. I know he wants to play the big games, and I admire that, but 4-13 from the field suggests maybe he should wait until the pain goes down.
No Credit
Boozer- Boozer is useless. I'm done with him again. Every minute Boozer plays in a close game is a waste of time when Taj could be actually helping the team. It's really stupid, and has got to stop.
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