So apparently I can just never write Bulls-Heat games up on the day of. At least we won this one, it would have been not fun to write a blame game about last night. But we'll get to the unpleasantness later, let's start with the fun stuff.
Credit:
CJ Watson- 30%
CJ earned every bit of that +38. It's been a little bit rough for CJ as of late, what with JL3 more than occasionally outplaying him with Derrick out, but last night he was great. And I don't think just because Derrick was making him look good by comparison. CJ was taking smart shots and playing strong defense (even on Wade for a few possessions).
There were a lot of good players last night, but CJ gets an extra 10% for having the presence of mind to pump fake and get out of D-Wade's way. I was getting ready to go off on him for making himself unbalanced, but upon further review if CJ shoots right away it would have been thrown into the 5th row.
Taj- 20%
Speaking of "throwing things into the third row", Taj was sensational. He only had 1 block in the box score, but he altered way more shots than that and as usual changed the game when he was in defensively. I firmly believe Taj could be a DPOY candidate if he was averaging more than 20 minutes a game.
My big worry with Taj, although it's a few years off, is that Taj is going to play his way into a contract too big for us to offer him. Boozer and Noah are going to be pulling down 8 figures for the Bulls for the next several years, but if I was playing a pickup game and had my choice of Bulls big men, I'd pick Taj first right now. Again, I know this isn't a concern for today, but I can't help but wonder if it's part of the reason he's averaging 20 minutes per game.
Fredo- 20%
After posts like this one from last year, I didn't think I'd see a Heat-Bulls game where Kyle and Boozer were our two leading scorers. But Kyle is turning it on at the right time from the field right now, dropping 5-6 from downtown, including that Dan Majerle-esque dagger from about 30. More importantly, Korver has been so much improved defensively it's absurd. I used to be stressed out about Fredo's defense when he was on the court. Now he's an improvement over Rip Hamilton, and is almost making TBN expendable against most NBA teams.
Turkish D- 10%
How do you go 0-2 from the field and end up +25? By altering every shot Taj doesn't, and pulling down huge rebounds. I feel like we forget that Turkish was hurt for some of the Heat series, and it's not a little matter. Making Wade and James throw up more difficult shots when they go to the hole all game is going to wear them down over the course of a long playoff series, and it's nice that the Bulls always have at least one above average defensive player on the court at all times, and sometimes two. Three of the four 5-man units that have a defensive rating under .9 (which is pretty darn good) have Asik in for Noah. (All 4, of course, have Gibson)
Boozer- 7%
Don't let the -15 fool you, Boozer is the only reason the game wasn't over by halftime. Smart, open shots, mixed with some aggressive basket-attacking, which is when Boozer is at his best. Boozer was actually in line for a lot more credit, but then he went back to Dr. Jeckyl in the 2nd half and started taking stupid contested fallaways until he was pulled. As Sam says all the time, "towards the basket, Booze!"
Luol Deng- 5%
I suppose I'm shortchanging Lu a little, since he hit some clutch shots and played much improved defense over the Melo torch-job the other day. But we saw some of the bad Deng, too, settling for too many jumpers instead of finding lanes to the basket, especially when LeBron wasn't guarding him. It might, of course be a result of him playing 43 minutes last night, which we'll get to shortly.
TT- 5%
Low? I give credit to TT for sitting Derrick at the end of the game and overtime, and completely rolling with the Bench Mob to win this game. That being said, I think if Derrick doesn't come back in late in the 4th at all, the Bulls win comfortably. He said after the game CJ needed a rest, but I'm calling BS on that since Taj came in at about the same time, and he wasn't getting pulled for Noah until he fouled out in OT. No, the best case scenario for TT was Derrick coming in for the last few minutes and helping the Bulls win, so there's no story about it the next day. Instead it was obvious Derrick was actively hurting the Bulls on both ends, and TT probably held on a possession too long. If the Heat go with the Wade-LeBron-Battier-Bosh-Turiaf 5 in crunch time in the playoffs, I hope TT follows the pattern of this game. On the most important possession of the game for the Heat, the 5 on the floor to defend them was TBN-Deng-JFB-Taj-Asik. That's why I love TT. But if you have that much trust in those guys, why not see them more often?
TBN- 2%
I said Korver was making TBN obsolete against most teams, but not the Heat. Ronnie guards Wade as well as anyone in the NBA, and some of those late shots Wade hit by praying them in, through no fault of Ronnie's. We might not need him more than 12 minutes a game to beat the Knicks and whoever we'll see in round 2 (knock on wood), but we'll need Ronnie against the Heat.
JFB- 1%
JFB was on the court for some of the most key possessions of the game (which I fully support, TT). So why the hell can't he play for 6 minutes in the 2nd quarter and get Deng a little more rest? I really need this explained to me.
No Credit-
Derrick- I'm just going to skip the negative stuff we can talk about here and focus on the positive. Derrick got a lot of love from ESPN today for being a true professional and team player, and being "the first off the bench to congratulate guys" last night. But that's not entirely true. JL3 and Boozer were always the first ones up. Derrick said and did all the right things, and was in the huddle at timeouts and encouraging CJ and whatnot. But you could tell inside he wasn't happy with the game. And I like that about Derrick. I want my alpha dog to be angry when he has a bad game, regardless of the outcome. I want him to take ownership of it. That's the way Derrick's wired, and it's going to help in the long run.
Joakim- I don't know what to say about Jo, though. There have been too many games lately where Jo has been our 4th best big man for my tastes. You can't use the "he's not in shape" excuse anymore, it's mid-April, Jo. I want to see this Joakim back, soon. We need him for the playoffs:
Showing posts with label CJ Watson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CJ Watson. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Credit Where Credit is Due- Bulls-Sixers 3/4
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.
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.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Groundhog Credit: Bulls-Knicks 2/2
Been awhile since a game was really deserving of a credit post. However, it's about bedtime, so I'm going to have to make it quick.
Derrick- 25%
Blah blah blah big shots yadda yadda completely unguardable. However, I have to dock him a little for some of the decisions he made at the end. There are times when you can take it one on three and finish, but it's not a great idea when Tyson Chandler is one of those three. Gotta think about finding an open guy on those drives, even if it's Jimmy Butler.
TT- 20%
As much as I questioned him last night, I feel like he made the right moves tonight, especially in regards to handling Jimmy Butler. He saw Ronnie wasn't getting the job done, and made a bold move. Maybe the stubbornness is dissipating?
Jimmy Butler- 20%
I know the offensive end was a roller-coaster, but we lose that game without Butler playing the whole 4th quarter. Melo was getting whatever he wanted on TBN, and while I usually defend Ronnie's defense, Butler's extra few inches were all the difference.
Joakim- 10%
Nice bounce-back game from Jo. It would be nice to not have to write that so much.
Taj- 10%
Next step for Taj: figuring out how to avoid foul trouble, so we avoid extended periods of Boozer in the 4th quarter.
CJ- 8%
I want more CJ and Derrick time on the court together. Especially if Rip stays injured.
Fredo- 6%
Better defensive effort from Kyle, and some big shots in the first quarter.
TBN- 1%
Twitter was abuzz about how nice the play they ran for Amare was, but I felt like the idea of the play was to have Ronnie switch off of Melo to guard Amare, leaving Melo with a mismatch. While I'm comfortable with the idea of Joakim guarding Melo, I'm also fine with Amare taking an open three in that situation, and I think Ronnie not leaving Melo was the right play. The reason TBN is only getting 1%? He just isn't making open shots lately. (I realize he was 2-3 from the field tonight, which is even worse. We need the Ronnie back that was hitting threes in the first few weeks.)
No credit-
Boozer- I just...I don't have the energy for you right now, Boozer. The less you play, the happier I am, and the better chance we have to win.
Derrick- 25%
Blah blah blah big shots yadda yadda completely unguardable. However, I have to dock him a little for some of the decisions he made at the end. There are times when you can take it one on three and finish, but it's not a great idea when Tyson Chandler is one of those three. Gotta think about finding an open guy on those drives, even if it's Jimmy Butler.
TT- 20%
As much as I questioned him last night, I feel like he made the right moves tonight, especially in regards to handling Jimmy Butler. He saw Ronnie wasn't getting the job done, and made a bold move. Maybe the stubbornness is dissipating?
Jimmy Butler- 20%
I know the offensive end was a roller-coaster, but we lose that game without Butler playing the whole 4th quarter. Melo was getting whatever he wanted on TBN, and while I usually defend Ronnie's defense, Butler's extra few inches were all the difference.
Joakim- 10%
Nice bounce-back game from Jo. It would be nice to not have to write that so much.
Taj- 10%
Next step for Taj: figuring out how to avoid foul trouble, so we avoid extended periods of Boozer in the 4th quarter.
CJ- 8%
I want more CJ and Derrick time on the court together. Especially if Rip stays injured.
Fredo- 6%
Better defensive effort from Kyle, and some big shots in the first quarter.
TBN- 1%
Twitter was abuzz about how nice the play they ran for Amare was, but I felt like the idea of the play was to have Ronnie switch off of Melo to guard Amare, leaving Melo with a mismatch. While I'm comfortable with the idea of Joakim guarding Melo, I'm also fine with Amare taking an open three in that situation, and I think Ronnie not leaving Melo was the right play. The reason TBN is only getting 1%? He just isn't making open shots lately. (I realize he was 2-3 from the field tonight, which is even worse. We need the Ronnie back that was hitting threes in the first few weeks.)
No credit-
Boozer- I just...I don't have the energy for you right now, Boozer. The less you play, the happier I am, and the better chance we have to win.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Quick Thoughts on Bulls/Pacers
No time for a full blame game (although I have some suspects), so we'll do this bullet-point style:
-I'm really not going to kill TT for having White Mamba in for the last minute. He was obviously in for a defense/offense switch with Boozer, but the Bulls got a fast break and TT didn't want to ruin the advantage with a timeout. While I'm not sure Scal is really a defensive upgrade over Boozer in terms of guarding David West, the whole last 5 minutes were really the type of game when having a healthy Taj would have changed the game. I think having either a healthy Taj or Lu would have meant a 10 point win for the Bulls, which is a comforting thought since we're playing one of the better teams in the East.
-I love that Derrick is the type of player to pass the potential game-winning shot off to the 12th best player on the team. We picked up an L tonight, but that decision will pay off down the line, when teams have to think twice about collapsing on Derrick in situations like that.
-Joakim looked alive again. If I was doing a blame game, I think he'd be absolved. Maybe Boozer too, although there were some brutal lazy defensive plays by him down the stretch.
-Rip, CJ, and TBN were a combined 0-12 in the 4th quarter. Looking at the stats, it's amazing it was even close.
-We really need Turkish to play better than that while Taj is out. 0 points in 13 minutes tonight. While I love Scal and think I'm probably on the upper half of the scale in terms of respect for him as an NBA player, it would be nice if TT could have faith in a Asik/Noah frontcourt when Boozer needs a rest, but that's a combination you rarely see, and it's not going to be more likely with Asik putting up gooseggs.
-Ahh...Jimmy Butler. I've been leading a #freejimmybutler twitter campaign, but this is not what I had in mind. I want to see Jimmy get some significant playing time, but maybe we should start with games where one or two possessions isn't going to be the difference. Tonight it was, and some of those 2nd quarter turnovers were ugly. I still like Butler getting about 8-10 minutes a game, though.
-I wonder if TT listened to critics in not putting Derrick back in until there were 7 minutes left in the 4th, despite CJ not being able to hit water from the ocean.
-Just watched the White Mamba shot again. The worst part of the play: Scal is standing in the corner, while Rip hangs out on the short corner of the baseline, clearly trying to spread the floor for Derrick, but Scal is already in the spot he'd normally go to. Taj, had he been in, would have been right where Rip was, while Rip would have been in position to take that shot, which would, of course, been a much more ideal situation.
-I'm really not going to kill TT for having White Mamba in for the last minute. He was obviously in for a defense/offense switch with Boozer, but the Bulls got a fast break and TT didn't want to ruin the advantage with a timeout. While I'm not sure Scal is really a defensive upgrade over Boozer in terms of guarding David West, the whole last 5 minutes were really the type of game when having a healthy Taj would have changed the game. I think having either a healthy Taj or Lu would have meant a 10 point win for the Bulls, which is a comforting thought since we're playing one of the better teams in the East.
-I love that Derrick is the type of player to pass the potential game-winning shot off to the 12th best player on the team. We picked up an L tonight, but that decision will pay off down the line, when teams have to think twice about collapsing on Derrick in situations like that.
-Joakim looked alive again. If I was doing a blame game, I think he'd be absolved. Maybe Boozer too, although there were some brutal lazy defensive plays by him down the stretch.
-Rip, CJ, and TBN were a combined 0-12 in the 4th quarter. Looking at the stats, it's amazing it was even close.
-We really need Turkish to play better than that while Taj is out. 0 points in 13 minutes tonight. While I love Scal and think I'm probably on the upper half of the scale in terms of respect for him as an NBA player, it would be nice if TT could have faith in a Asik/Noah frontcourt when Boozer needs a rest, but that's a combination you rarely see, and it's not going to be more likely with Asik putting up gooseggs.
-Ahh...Jimmy Butler. I've been leading a #freejimmybutler twitter campaign, but this is not what I had in mind. I want to see Jimmy get some significant playing time, but maybe we should start with games where one or two possessions isn't going to be the difference. Tonight it was, and some of those 2nd quarter turnovers were ugly. I still like Butler getting about 8-10 minutes a game, though.
-I wonder if TT listened to critics in not putting Derrick back in until there were 7 minutes left in the 4th, despite CJ not being able to hit water from the ocean.
-Just watched the White Mamba shot again. The worst part of the play: Scal is standing in the corner, while Rip hangs out on the short corner of the baseline, clearly trying to spread the floor for Derrick, but Scal is already in the spot he'd normally go to. Taj, had he been in, would have been right where Rip was, while Rip would have been in position to take that shot, which would, of course, been a much more ideal situation.
Monday, January 16, 2012
A Non-Violent Blame Game: Bulls-Grizzlies 1/16
How much of the flow of this game was the exact opposite of the Celtics game the other night? The Bulls came out flat and off-kilter on the offensive end, made a run to make a game of it in the 3rd quarter, then ran out of gas in the 4th. Why we were on the side of it-
TT- 40%
This is what happens when you play guys 40+ minutes a game. One of them can't play because on an injury and the other one looks like he couldn't hit water from the ocean. Deng ended with a line of 8-18 shooting, but 6 of those 8 were at the basket and most of the misses (2-9) from more than 15 feet away hit the front of the rim. He's tired. Know what would help? Not playing him for entire second halves.
After Jimmy Butler drove the length of the court for a dunk in garbage time I believe Doris Burke said "That's why they like him around here, because he can do things like that." Really? They like him around here? Then play him, just 4-6 minutes each half. I promise you it will not be the reason we lose a game, and will keep us from falling out of games like this.
Noah- 15%
I wish he had been able to keep the momentum from the weekend up, but he looked awful today. If you're not going to to help on the offensive end, Joakim, fine, but can you at least stop Marreese friggin' Speights from dropping 16 and 12 on you? That's where that -15 in 22 minutes came from.
Marc Gasol- 15%
I've only seen the Grizzlies play twice this year, the two times they've played the Bulls. In the first game he looked awful. Today, he looked like the kind of player worth 13 mil a year. If he hadn't settled the Grizzlies down when the Bench Mob went on their run, they might have fallen apart like the Hawks did. 19 points on 9-13 shooting and a game high +26
Boozer- 10%
Time for another round of "Is This What Boozer's Shot Chart Should Look Like?"
The answer, of course, is no. Especially because all of those xs off to the side are those stupid turnaround fadeaways with a hand in his face.
John Lucas III- 10%
I'm sorry, I know we love John Lucas because he's short. But the fact is the starting gap between Lucas and Mike Conley is just as big as the one between Derrick and Jeremy Pargo from the first game.
And also, TT, if CJ was capable of playing the entire 2nd half, why wasn't he capable of starting? He could have kept the game from getting out of hand.
TBN- 6%
He's been shooting so well we'll give him a pass for this one, but he had a couple ugly turnovers and just average D as well.
Deng- 4%
This would be much higher, but I blame TT more for how tired Deng looked. At least, I hope that's why Deng got torched by Rudy Gay and kept settling for outside jumpers instead of going to the basket.
Absolved:
Taj and Asik-
I think TT might need to take it one step further. It's not just playing Taj and Asik in the 4th quarter, it's putting them in when we need stops. I know I'm piling on TT today, but I really think that game might not have gotten out of hand if he had gone back to the bench mob with about three minutes left in the 2nd quarter (when Gasol and Gay were having their way at the rim).
CJ Watson- I listened to a Bullsbeat podcast over the weekend, mainly because it was the only recent all-Bulls podcast I could find, but I stopped it when he suggested Lucas should be getting some of CJ's minutes going forward. No. CJ is a legitimate NBA point guard who could play and contribute even more on a team that didn't have Derrick Rose. John Lucas is an injury back-up plan and that's it. Dropping 25 on the Wizards is nice, but today really showed the gap between the two.
OJ Mayo- 2-7 and somehow -12 in a blowout win. I did not want OJ Mayo on the Bulls, and I do not want OJ Mayo on the Bulls.
Free Jimmy Butler. Seriously TT, before more games like this happen.
TT- 40%
This is what happens when you play guys 40+ minutes a game. One of them can't play because on an injury and the other one looks like he couldn't hit water from the ocean. Deng ended with a line of 8-18 shooting, but 6 of those 8 were at the basket and most of the misses (2-9) from more than 15 feet away hit the front of the rim. He's tired. Know what would help? Not playing him for entire second halves.
After Jimmy Butler drove the length of the court for a dunk in garbage time I believe Doris Burke said "That's why they like him around here, because he can do things like that." Really? They like him around here? Then play him, just 4-6 minutes each half. I promise you it will not be the reason we lose a game, and will keep us from falling out of games like this.
Noah- 15%
I wish he had been able to keep the momentum from the weekend up, but he looked awful today. If you're not going to to help on the offensive end, Joakim, fine, but can you at least stop Marreese friggin' Speights from dropping 16 and 12 on you? That's where that -15 in 22 minutes came from.
Marc Gasol- 15%
I've only seen the Grizzlies play twice this year, the two times they've played the Bulls. In the first game he looked awful. Today, he looked like the kind of player worth 13 mil a year. If he hadn't settled the Grizzlies down when the Bench Mob went on their run, they might have fallen apart like the Hawks did. 19 points on 9-13 shooting and a game high +26
Boozer- 10%
Time for another round of "Is This What Boozer's Shot Chart Should Look Like?"
The answer, of course, is no. Especially because all of those xs off to the side are those stupid turnaround fadeaways with a hand in his face.
John Lucas III- 10%
I'm sorry, I know we love John Lucas because he's short. But the fact is the starting gap between Lucas and Mike Conley is just as big as the one between Derrick and Jeremy Pargo from the first game.
And also, TT, if CJ was capable of playing the entire 2nd half, why wasn't he capable of starting? He could have kept the game from getting out of hand.
TBN- 6%
He's been shooting so well we'll give him a pass for this one, but he had a couple ugly turnovers and just average D as well.
Deng- 4%
This would be much higher, but I blame TT more for how tired Deng looked. At least, I hope that's why Deng got torched by Rudy Gay and kept settling for outside jumpers instead of going to the basket.
Absolved:
Taj and Asik-
I think TT might need to take it one step further. It's not just playing Taj and Asik in the 4th quarter, it's putting them in when we need stops. I know I'm piling on TT today, but I really think that game might not have gotten out of hand if he had gone back to the bench mob with about three minutes left in the 2nd quarter (when Gasol and Gay were having their way at the rim).
CJ Watson- I listened to a Bullsbeat podcast over the weekend, mainly because it was the only recent all-Bulls podcast I could find, but I stopped it when he suggested Lucas should be getting some of CJ's minutes going forward. No. CJ is a legitimate NBA point guard who could play and contribute even more on a team that didn't have Derrick Rose. John Lucas is an injury back-up plan and that's it. Dropping 25 on the Wizards is nice, but today really showed the gap between the two.
OJ Mayo- 2-7 and somehow -12 in a blowout win. I did not want OJ Mayo on the Bulls, and I do not want OJ Mayo on the Bulls.
Free Jimmy Butler. Seriously TT, before more games like this happen.
Monday, January 9, 2012
The Bulls' Big Dilemma
Quick note: I'm writing this during tonight's Bulls-Pistons game, so all the stats I'm citing are subject to change.
I started writing this post in my head after Friday night's game, but never got a chance until now. Obviously there's a lot that can be said about the loss to the Hawks, but I'm not going to waste too much time on the game itself, other than to give TT a little credit for throwing in the towel and giving the starters (who got absolutely destroyed in the minutes they did play) a decent amount of rest.
However, I do want to focus on the Bulls' big men for a minute, and make another bold proclamation:
Taj Gibson is the Bulls' best big man.
And I'm really not panicking here about Noah's slow start. He'll get it together offensively, and not be the type of player you can leave open from 15 feet. I love Noah's passing and on-the-ball defense. But Taj has been better in every aspect of the game thus far this year. He's always been the Bulls' best help defender, but lately has been guarding other bigs as well if not better than Noah this year, and has been finishing around the rim better than anyone besides Rose and Deng. The Bulls have somehow only played 3 games this year decided by less than 10 points, and one of those was the Warriors game, which really was never in doubt. By my count 4 games have been undecided with about 8 minutes left, the Lakers and Hawks comebacks, the Clippers game, and the Magic. In those 4 games, here are the 4 big men +/- numbers:
Taj: +34
Noah: +6
Boozer: +2
Turkish: -1
I know +/- has a lot of noise, but this isn't a coincidence. Taj has been really good when it counts. I'm willing to bet most of that +34 number has to do with Taj altering shots of players attacking the rim (which I'm sitting here watching Boozer and Noah fail to do against Detroit).
Looking at 82games.com, the best 5-man unit for the Bulls at +21 is the current starters (with TBN in for Rip). The starting 5 with Rip isn't far behind at +18. But what's interesting is the 2nd best unit, Rose-Korver-Deng-Taj-Turkish, +20 in only 19 minutes (current starters have played 51 minutes together.)
A lot of that has to do with that 5 being on the floor for most of the Hawks comeback, but I'm willing to say that 5 makes me more confident than any other 5, assuming the opposing team doesn't take advantage of Korver defensively. But the way Korver is shooting, that's probably the best offensive backcourt we can send out there, along with two solid defensive bigs to protect the rim. At least until Noah gets it together, I want to see more of this.
***
Two quick unrelated notes-
ESPN...this is not CJ Watson:
Also, TT, THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT GAME TO PLAY JIMMY BUTLER. Deng is not having a good game, he's 2-12 from the field, and not playing particularly great defense on Tayshaun Prince (who isn't the toughest matchup in the world anyway,) yet Deng has played 34 minutes 3 minutes into the 4th. What could you possibly have to lose?
Free Jimmy Butler.
I started writing this post in my head after Friday night's game, but never got a chance until now. Obviously there's a lot that can be said about the loss to the Hawks, but I'm not going to waste too much time on the game itself, other than to give TT a little credit for throwing in the towel and giving the starters (who got absolutely destroyed in the minutes they did play) a decent amount of rest.
However, I do want to focus on the Bulls' big men for a minute, and make another bold proclamation:
Taj Gibson is the Bulls' best big man.
And I'm really not panicking here about Noah's slow start. He'll get it together offensively, and not be the type of player you can leave open from 15 feet. I love Noah's passing and on-the-ball defense. But Taj has been better in every aspect of the game thus far this year. He's always been the Bulls' best help defender, but lately has been guarding other bigs as well if not better than Noah this year, and has been finishing around the rim better than anyone besides Rose and Deng. The Bulls have somehow only played 3 games this year decided by less than 10 points, and one of those was the Warriors game, which really was never in doubt. By my count 4 games have been undecided with about 8 minutes left, the Lakers and Hawks comebacks, the Clippers game, and the Magic. In those 4 games, here are the 4 big men +/- numbers:
Taj: +34
Noah: +6
Boozer: +2
Turkish: -1
I know +/- has a lot of noise, but this isn't a coincidence. Taj has been really good when it counts. I'm willing to bet most of that +34 number has to do with Taj altering shots of players attacking the rim (which I'm sitting here watching Boozer and Noah fail to do against Detroit).
Looking at 82games.com, the best 5-man unit for the Bulls at +21 is the current starters (with TBN in for Rip). The starting 5 with Rip isn't far behind at +18. But what's interesting is the 2nd best unit, Rose-Korver-Deng-Taj-Turkish, +20 in only 19 minutes (current starters have played 51 minutes together.)
A lot of that has to do with that 5 being on the floor for most of the Hawks comeback, but I'm willing to say that 5 makes me more confident than any other 5, assuming the opposing team doesn't take advantage of Korver defensively. But the way Korver is shooting, that's probably the best offensive backcourt we can send out there, along with two solid defensive bigs to protect the rim. At least until Noah gets it together, I want to see more of this.
***
Two quick unrelated notes-
ESPN...this is not CJ Watson:
Also, TT, THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT GAME TO PLAY JIMMY BUTLER. Deng is not having a good game, he's 2-12 from the field, and not playing particularly great defense on Tayshaun Prince (who isn't the toughest matchup in the world anyway,) yet Deng has played 34 minutes 3 minutes into the 4th. What could you possibly have to lose?
Free Jimmy Butler.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Boxing Day Blame Game: Bulls-Warriors 12/26
I've had to talk multiple other Bulls fans off a ledge tonight, so I'll just say it here to everyone: Wait until we've played some freaking home games before declaring the Bulls the worst team to ever play basketball. One thing you're going to see a lot of this season is ugly, turnover-filled games. Hopefully going forward the Bulls will be on the other side of these games, but every now and then, the bar eats you (like, for example, in Golden State last year.)
Blame time:
Derrick- 30%
We're not going to win a lot of games when Derrick goes 4-17 for the field. More importantly (and more worrying), I think we're going to see a lot of teams this year follow the Warriors defensive blueprint of this game, which is to collapse everyone when Derrick drives, and make him finish over 3 people, kick it out, or pull up and shoot. For some reason Derrick didn't do a lot of option 3, but it didn't help that Derrick was 1-8 from beyond the arc. That's not going to free up a lot of driving lanes.
Mark Jackson and Monta Ellis- 20%
Mark Jackson was never known as an offensive mastermind, so I was expecting the Warriors' game plan to be "Monta Ellis dribbles around and shoots, Stephen Curry dribbles around as shoots, repeat as necessary." I was aggravatingly surprised by how many creative screen-and-rolls and backcuts were in the Warriors playbook, and how effectively they were run with David Lee in the middle and Dorell Wright keeping Deng honest on the perimeter.
And when the Bulls finally woke up and starting playing their A defense in the 4th quarter, Ellis did what Kobe couldn't last night and made big shots to kill the Bulls' momentum. That's the kind of thing the Warriors and Ellis do sometimes.
Carlos Boozer- 20%
When TT tries to tell me Boozer plays underrated defense (as he did this past offseason), I'm pointing to the play at 7:15 of the 2nd quarter as exhibit A in my rebuttal. Ellis gets by Derrick in the open court, and Boozer, despite being in perfect position to stop the ball and let Derrick recover, just sort of watches Ellis go by. At some point after it was too late it looks like Boozer thinks to himself, "oh, I'm supposed to help here", and springs into action. Thanks, Boozer.
And his non-help defense on David Lee left a lot to be desired, too. Last night Boozer didn't hurt us defensively and helped offensively. Tonight he didn't help on either end.
Rip Hamilton- 10%
The best we can hope for from Rip is what we saw in the 2nd preseason game against Indiana, where he was opening up shots for everyone, scoring in transition, and knocking down open jumpers. The worst case scenario? That was tonight, when he was Boozer 2.0. Rip was 5-12, but some of those 7 misses were wide open, and he just got absolutely torched by Monta when he was on him. You can't be a guy who's defensive liability and disappears on offense, Rip. We already have one of those.
TT- 5%
I very rarely felt like TT was outcoached last year, but he was tonight. TT is not dumb, he knows the right thing to do (switch to Deng on Kobe last night, bring in Taj to help protect the rim tonight), but it's taking him way too long to pull the trigger. I have no idea why that is.
On the flip side, I've always loved how if the bench mob takes a game that looks out of reach and makes it interesting, he leaves them in to finish. Kudos for that, TT.
Baseline Ninja- 3%
Ronnie, it makes it sooooo hard for me to defend you as a viable shooting guard on a championship team when you can't make shot to save your life, even from the free throw line. He had a game worst -16, but the D wasn't bad, Ellis just made tough shots over him.
Turkish D- 2%
Last night's rebound rate was 8 boards in 20 minutes. I like that. Tonight's rebound rate? 0 boards in 10 minutes. That's...not OK.
Absolved:
CJ Watson
3-10, yes, but he changed the momentum and the energy of the game when he came in. Tom tried to convince me the Bulls need what Bill Simmons calls an "irrational confidence guy". I think CJ fits the description.
Fredo
Just when you think we have him figured out, the Bulls defense actually improved with Korver on the floor in the 4th quarter (a lot of that is because he came in at the same time as Taj, but Kyle did his part and knocked some 3s down, which is all we can ask of him.)
Luol Deng
Lu continues to be our most consistent player, keeping us in the game in the 3rd quarter. Something I want to see from TT going forward: don't be afraid to switch Deng onto a smaller guard when they're hot. Deng might have made some of those shots Ellis hit a lot harder, and I think Rip and TBN could have handled Dorell Wright if he tried to post them up.
Think of this opening trip like the circus trip, people. If we come out of it .500 going home, we'll be OK. If you feel anxious, consult the Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy advice at the top of the post. Thank you and enjoy the flight.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Bulls as Ninja Turtles (Part 2)
Taj Gibson= Casey Jones
Like Casey, Taj can come in and have a big impact in support of the main guys, but sometimes lets his temper get the best of him and says something to make things worse (see: Chris Bosh in the ECF)
Ronnie Brewer= Karai
Mainly just because they're both ninjas.
CJ Watson= Shadow
(there are no good pictures of Shawdow on the internet)
I like to think CJ is Derrick's mentee, even though he's older.
Big Sexy= Splinter
I was thinking about Bogans for Splinter, but I thought about it a little more and decided Sexy was a perfect Splinter, since nowadays he's so old and slow he mainly just gets the other guys into trouble.
White Mamba= Zippy Lad
Mainly because when he's involved, you know the situation isn't too serious.
Like Casey, Taj can come in and have a big impact in support of the main guys, but sometimes lets his temper get the best of him and says something to make things worse (see: Chris Bosh in the ECF)
Ronnie Brewer= Karai
Mainly just because they're both ninjas.
CJ Watson= Shadow
(there are no good pictures of Shawdow on the internet)I like to think CJ is Derrick's mentee, even though he's older.
Big Sexy= Splinter
I was thinking about Bogans for Splinter, but I thought about it a little more and decided Sexy was a perfect Splinter, since nowadays he's so old and slow he mainly just gets the other guys into trouble.
White Mamba= Zippy Lad
Mainly because when he's involved, you know the situation isn't too serious.
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