Credit Where Credit is Due- Bulls-Lob City 12/30

Now that's what I'm talking about. Complete game on both sides of the ball for the first time this year. The ball movement was excellent, they knocked down open shots, and it seemed like most of the Clippers baskets that didn't come from oops came with a hand in the face of the shooter. Plenty of credit in this one, let's start at the top.

Derrick- 25%
I love when Derrick faces other top point guards. Despite what he says about not caring about the matchup, just trying to get the win (which is, of course, the right thing to say,) he cares about these games. Joakim will have to do his bragging for him (quote from Nick Friedell of ESPN):
"I think he takes those games as a challenge, I don't think it's another game for him. I think he circles those games in the calendar."
More tweets I love from last night (courtesty Adande again:)

VDN- 15%
This one's for you, Ethan. At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers have the ball and the chance to take the final shot. The "play" involved CP3 dribbling around while Blake Griffin looked at the bench trying to figure out what the hell was going on, then throwing up an off-balance shot that had 0% chance of going in, while VDN flapped his arms around like a pterodactyl. VDN is getting some credit because the Clippers have all these great offensive weapons but no plays to take advantage of them besides "Blake and Jordan run to the rim and CP3 or Mo throws it 12 feet in the air up to them." When VDN is fired at midseason because the Clippers are underachieving and replaced by someone competent (Jeff Van Gundy?), the Clippers are going to be scary.

Taj Gibson- 15%
Time to start give more credit to Taj for everything he does at the defensive end. When Taj is on the floor, opponents have a significantly harder time attacking the basket. I know this is no great insight, but against teams with two good offensive bigs, we need Taj giving us good minutes to keep them off the boards, and he does it every time.

Luol Deng-10%
Ho-hum, 19 points, 8 boards, solid defense on Caron Butler. Expected at this point.

Joakim- 10%
Good offensive game from Joakim tonight, which is nice to see on occasion (especially since Taj has actually been the better on-ball defender lately.) 9-10 from the line, too.

Fredo- 7%
+16 in 10 minutes! After the beat down by Metta World Peace, Korver's actually held his own defensively the last few games. Or maybe we've just played coaches not bright enough to exploit him. We'll see.

TBN- 7%
Ronnie hasn't missed a shot in 2 games. I guess calling him out worked.

Carlos Boozer- 5%
When you're paying a guy 13.5 million, you would think 10 points, 6 boards in 30 minutes would be a disappointing game, not a solid one, but that's where we're at with him right now.

Rip- 5%
I want to see Rip start hitting some of those corner 3s, but I'll be fine with this line going forward.

Turkish D- 1%
If only for that nice pass to Taj on the baseline.

No Credit
TT
While I want to give him credit for the small lineup, I believe Hollinger pointed out last night that he can't keep playing his starters these minutes in this condensed season. He has to have more faith in the Bench Mob to carry the load, and cut Derrick and Luol back to about 40 minutes a night (ideally less).

CJ Watson
Had 3 solid games to start the season, so I'll take a .750 batting average from CJ.