It's been said numerous times yesterday and today, but it bears repeating. That was the performance we were waiting to see from the Bulls. Suffocating defense, creative offense, consistent jumpers, and finally the kind of swagger that's been on display all season (not to mention someone finally making a physical statement back in Indiana's direction.) The Bulls were firing on all cylinders.
With one notable exception.
I'm really not trying to be the turd in the punchbowl right now, but it was staggering the difference between the Bulls with Boozer on the floor and the Bulls with Gibson. I probably exaggerated a little last night when I said that Boozer playing only 16 minutes was the only reason we won, the way everyone else was playing they probably could have won in spite of more Boozer action, but man the difference was incredible. With Taj, every shot was contested, he found his way to the offensive glass, and was halfway competent on the offensive end, too. ESPN somehow only has him with 1 recorded block, which can't possibly be right, I remember him getting more than one block on the same possession.
Boozer is now where Ben Gordon was at a few years ago, where I'm actively rooting for him to be in foul trouble so he'll be on the bench, because he isn't really helping on the court. That really isn't what you want from your highest paid player. But enough of the negativity, let's get to the credit:
Taj- 35%
Taj hasn't had the greatest series up to this point, although it could be in part because of the lack of minutes. Either way, it was nice to see the Taj we knew in the regular season here. For some reason it seems like TT doesn't have a great amount of confidence in Taj, so hopefully this game can be the start of him at least evening up Taj and Boozer's minutes (although I've said that before.)
Bogans- 25%
I hate to toot my own horn (did I say hate? I meant love,) but I was probably one of the few people in Chicago that thought the solution to our offensive problems was more Bogans. 5-7 from downtown, and it seemed like every one of them, from the opening shot one, was a momentum killer for the Pacers and/or a jumpstart for the Bulls. Bogans hitting that open jumper is key to keeping the lane open for Derrick, so it couldn't have come at a better time, either.
Derrick- 10%
Speaking of excellent timing, I was quite nervous about Derrick's shot after the first half, but him finding his 3 ball in the second half is a great sign heading into the next series. Plus having a little time to rest his ankle is a nice bonus.
Joakim- 10%
While the antagonizing and physical play was nice, Jo's getting credit for the energy and defensive play we haven't seen much from his since before the ankle injury. Heck, his left hand hook shot looked as good as it has since before the hand injury, too. If it's the Hawks in the next round, we're going to need Jo to keep his old teammate Horford frustrated. And if it's the Magic, get Howard T'd up at least 3 times over the course of the series.
Deng- 10%
This could be much higher, considering Deng's final line of 24/6/7, 3 steals, 1 block, +31 (2nd to Jo's +34). But I kind of expect this from Deng nowadays. That's a damn good sign considering how I felt about Deng before the season started.
TT- 6%
I suppose TT could get more credit for keeping Boozer's ass on the bench, but he was helped by the foul situation. I wonder if TT would have had the stones to do that if Boozer wasn't in foul trouble. We'll probably find out soon, unfortunately.
CJ Watson- 3%
6 points, 7 assists, and not too many egregious mistakes. We're screwed if Derrick's less than 100%, but if CJ can just come in and play his game for 12 minutes, it'll go a long way to keeping Derrick fresh for the whole playoff run.
Fredo- 1%
Just for taking it to the hole strong for once, Fredo's getting a point. I like it.
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