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.
Showing posts with label Jimmy Butler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Butler. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2012
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.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Quick Thoughts on Bulls/Wizards
Don't have a lot of time, but here are a few thoughts about the Bulls game tonight:
-Taj and Asik should be playing 36 minutes a night.
-I love what John Lucas did tonight...but here's his shot chart.
That's a lot of bricks. Thankfully we were playing the Wizards.
-I don't get why everyone loves the Wizards new unis so much. I get the Bullets nostalgia and whatnot, but the Bullets old uniforms were never that great, they were pretty...blah. And the new ones are too busy, and you can't even read the numbers on the jerseys. I am not a fan.
I told you the thoughts would be quick. Expect a much longer rant if Boozer and Noah don't get it together soon and start costing us games.
Free Jimmy Butler.
-Taj and Asik should be playing 36 minutes a night.
-I love what John Lucas did tonight...but here's his shot chart.
That's a lot of bricks. Thankfully we were playing the Wizards.
-I don't get why everyone loves the Wizards new unis so much. I get the Bullets nostalgia and whatnot, but the Bullets old uniforms were never that great, they were pretty...blah. And the new ones are too busy, and you can't even read the numbers on the jerseys. I am not a fan.
I told you the thoughts would be quick. Expect a much longer rant if Boozer and Noah don't get it together soon and start costing us games.
Free Jimmy Butler.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)