The Sixers are not a good matchup for the Bulls. The gameplan to beat the Bulls is always "make them beat you from the outside", but not many teams have the right combination of perimeter defenders and athletic big men to make it happen. The Sixers are a team that's able to help aggressively when Derrick penetrates, and rotate in the paint well. They'll give Carlos and Ronnie open 18 footers at the expense of anything inside, which is exactly what I'd do if I had to play the Bulls.
Which brings me to the other matchup problem: coaching. I don't want this to turn into "nitpick TT into oblivion" time (like I frequently do here), but I feel like Doug Collins has TT's number. Calling Vucevic's number whenever Asik was in, forcing Asik outside (where he's not nearly as effective of a defender), was one of the main reasons the game was close. Then there was TT's misuse of timeouts (which we fortunately haven't seen in awhile), forcing Taj and Joakim to take clutch free throws instead of better shooters.
Of course, this is a credit post, not a blame one, and there's two main reasons for this:
Derrick- 40%
35 points on 12-23 from the field (4-7 from beyond the arc), and frequently against a double team. The biggest part of that was clearly the three point shooting. As we know, Derrick can run hot-and-cold from downtown, and if Derrick wasn't making those, the domino effect on defense might have made this game look an awful lot like the last time we played the Sixers.
Oh, and he hit a bunch of clutch, athletic shots in the 4th quarter that no one else in the NBA except maybe Kobe and LeBron can make. That too.
The Sixers lack of an offensive go-to-guy- 40%
Wow. The Sixers had plenty of chances to win this game, but the shots Andre Iguodala were putting up to try to tie the game were awful. Thaddeus Young's terrible 17-footer didn't help matters either. I know it's hard to attack the basket when the Bulls have Taj and Joakim in the game, but that's no excuse for not trying. This is a charge that's been leveled against the Sixers from way more reputable sources than me, but as I don't watch a lot of Sixers games when the Bulls aren't involved, this was my first chance to see it with my own eyes. And it was terrible. If the Sixers want to do anything in the playoffs, this needs to be addressed, quickly.
Joakim- 5%
I was giving Joakim crap early in the game for coming out lackadaisically, but he certainly picked it up in the 2nd half, attacking the boards on both ends and playing solid help D. It could have been not-close in the Bulls favor if he wasn't the only big man to have a decent all-around game.
CJ- 3%
It wasn't the Bench Mob's finest night, but CJ made some clutch shots in the 4th quarter, and was, as usual, the entire Bulls' offense in the beginning of the 2nd.
Rip- 2%
That's more like it, Rip. 4-6 from the field, and a little bit of pressure off of Derrick is what the Bulls signed him for. Hopefully we can get it for more than 19 minutes a night going forward.
The flip side to Rip playing more is Kyle Korver, who only played 5 minutes tonight (which I didn't even realize until I saw the box score.) It'll be interesting to see what happens with Fredo going forward.
No Credit:
Luol Deng (with an assist to TT)- Mainly because Deng is going back to standing around the 3 point circle waiting to shoot, instead of attacking the basket. Which is probably where the 3-11 came from. But whether it's because that's what he's supposed to do in the plays TT drew up, or just because he's tired due to how many minutes he's playing, either one is TT's fault. Free Jimmy Butler.
Taj Gibson- while 1-6 from the field isn't terribly unusual for Taj, the step slow on defensive rotations is. Also, make your clutch free throws, please.
Turkish D- While I'll defend Asik as a player, it's kind of a problem that he can't be trusted to guard anyone that can make him play D from more than 15 feet away from the basket.
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