Quick Thoughts on Bulls/Sixers Game 1

-Well...fuck. Is anyone surprised that TT's penchant for playing starters into the ground came back to bite us? I like TT, but before we win a title with him as our coach, he needs to find his inner Popovich. The Doug Collinses and Jerry Sloans are good coaches, but never won titles. Most of the titles in the last 20 years have been won by Popovich and, of course, Phil Jackson, who are known for having a mellow streak along with the intensity. TT needs to learn this skill. Hopefully this is lesson #1.

-Like I said before, though, the Bulls can win this series without Derrick. There might be a few closer games, and I wouldn't predict a sweep anymore, but I'd be shocked if the Bulls don't win this round anyway. After that I'm not so sure, so while this goes without saying, let's hope it isn't serious.

-I feel like what the Bulls needed last year in the playoffs (a job that should have gone to Kurt Thomas), is someone to get in the other teams face when they pull some cheap shit. Thank you, Rip Hamilton. If you shoot like you did today, and bring that attitude a championship team needs, you could live up to your contract yet.

-I love seeing Jo locked in. There's no reason we should see anything besides 100% intense Jo from here on out, which we'll need the rest of the way.

-Man, I hope JL3 can do his thing in the playoffs.

-Kind of the opposite from last year, I think it might be time to start rolling some of TBN's minutes Fredo's way. Korver's a good enough defender to handle Evan Turner, and the offense opened up significantly with him in the game. I kind of want to see more Korver/Rip time in this series. That's a combination we haven't seen a lot of this year, but it's one I think will open up a lot of space for our big men inside.

-The Bulls should be a little embarrassed they gave up 91 points to the 76ers. I don't want to see the Sixers go over 90 the rest of the series, whether Derrick plays or not. Elton Brand had too many open looks off of slow rotations, and Holiday and Lou Williams got too deep on the penetration. Tighten the D up guys.

-Get better soon, Derrick. At least for the sake of me not going off on TT.

Update: TT, trying to spin things:

What???? You were up 12 with 1:10 to play. You could have put in all your assistant coaches. Had them just hold the ball until the 24 second clock was up, then let the Sixers immediately hit a three, and you still would have won the game. This is not a valid excuse. Someone please explain math to TT before the next game.