Blame Game- Bulls/Hawks Game 4

It's a chitownsports policy not to assign blame in a Blame Game to the refs. So I'll refrain from giving Bennett Salvatore any here. But I will say that the game wasn't over when Salvatore made an "inadvertent whistle" (where he clearly put his arm up signaling a foul, then somehow changed his mind.) So you blew the whistle and put your arm up on accident? Or did you make a call, then get embarrassed and make it worse? And why would it be a jump ball, and not Bulls' ball on the side? I've never seen a call like that made at any level. Anyways, on to the blame for those actually in the game.

Team Rotations on D- 50%

The biggest difference between this game and the others in the series was how many easy shots the Hawks got. The Bulls did an excellent job on most players individually (not Josh Smith, who we'll get to in a minute), but whenever they had to go through a screen, someone was left open. TT teams don't do that. I'm sure the Bulls will be going through tape tomorrow and fixing their mistakes. Hopefully they'll take the lessons to heart in game 5.

Derrick's shot selection- 20%
I was trying to figure out how Derrick went 12-32, when he only took 3 threes and 5 shots total from beyond 15 feet. It just seemed like tough layups that usually fall for Derrick weren't falling tonight. In the 4th, though, the Hawks did a much better job collapsing on Derrick, and he was throwing up shots anyway. He made just enough to keep doing it, but there were some key possessions when someone else was wide open. I have faith in Derrick, but we need to remember this is his 3rd year in the league. He's going to get better at deciding what to do with the ball in those moments. Hopefully quickly.

Fredo- 15%
1-8 from the field, -13. If he's not hitting, he's not helping. Maybe Derrick kicks some of those out to him if he wasn't quite so cold. He's a streak shooter though, so hopefully at home they start falling again.

Boozer's D- 5%
Don't get me wrong, Boozer had a good game on offense. But Josh Smith had 23 points, 16 rebounds, and a game-high +18. And most of that was on Boozer, who just couldn't keep up with him on or off the ball. He wasn't the only defensive liability for the Bulls tonight, but he was certainly the biggest. And Josh Smith having a good game inside is one of the main keys to the Hawks success.

Deng's 2nd half- 5%
He came out strong, but disappeared in the 2nd half. They need Deng to stay aggressive the whole game to take some of the load off of Derrick. But tonight Deng sat outside shooting jumpers and staying away from the basket, which wasn't helpful. The Bulls won Game 2 and 3 by outworking the Hawks, and Deng was a big part of that. Not having that in Game 4 was a problem.

The Bench Mob- 5%
14 points (9 of those Taj), 9 rebounds (8 of those Asik). The Bulls need much better numbers from the bench to win games 5 and 6. It would be nice if TT would give them a little more trust as well, though. They were pulled quickly in the 4th, and with Derrick in for the whole 4th, I felt like they never really got a rhythm going. I think they would have been better off giving Derrick a few minutes of rest and letting the Bench Mob work together.

I still expect the Bulls to win Games 5 and 6 and wrap this series up. They need to come out emphatically at home though, and work much better as a team defensively