…it would be very, very, very easy to focus too much attention on the Bulls’ last chance of winning this game.
There were 22 seconds left and the Bulls were down 92-90. The Indiana defense collapsed on a driving Derrick Rose. Rather than force up a contested shot, Rose passed to Brian Scalabrine for a wiiiiiiiide open three-pointer that would have given Chicago the lead.
Scal missed. The Bulls were forced to foul. Game over.
I knew it was going to go down that way. When Rose bolted toward Chicago’s offensive end with Scalabrine still on the floor, I knew the Pacers would opt to leave Scal open. Let’s face it, the Pacers knew what they were doing. That’s the man they wanted taking the last meaningful shot against them. And that’s what they got.
But don’t expect any apologies from the Bulls.
Following the loss, everybody on the team — from the coaching staff to the players — formed a united front: Rose made the correct basketball play. It just didn’t work.
Said Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau: “We were looking for Derrick in the open floor and he made the right play. The defensive help was there. They collapsed on Derrick and Scalabrine was wide open in the corner for a 3. It is a make-or-miss league and he missed.”
Added Ronnie Brewer: “D. Rose is D. Rose. He makes plays for himself, he makes plays for others. It shows his unselfishness that he made a play. A guy was wide open in the corner, [Rose] could have took a shot with a guy on him or passed the ball to a wide-open person. He passed the ball to a wide-open person who had a great shot, who works on that shot every day. It’s a good shot, unfortunately it didn’t go in for him.”
Why on earth didn’t LeBron, who was driving toward the hoop much like Rose was last night, take the burden on himself? Isn’t that what superstars do?
Said LeBron afterward: “I go for the winning play. If two guys come at you and your teammate is open, then give it up. Simple as that.”
LeBron was correct back then. Rose was correct last night. That’s the beauty and damnation of sports. Sometimes making the right decision doesn’t work. And sometimes making the wrong decision does.
But you have to figure making the right decision will have better long-term results.
At any rate, you can question whether Scal should have gotten that last shot, or whether he should have been on the floor at all in that situation, but this loss wasn’t about that fateful shot.
Said Rose: “I think it was a good shot. At the time, I thought I didn’t have a shot. And I think I made the right play. But if anything, I’m going to learn from it. We’re going to learn from it as a team. We’re not going to try and put ourselves in this position anymore. And put teams away early.”
And there we have it.
Rose got to the heart of the matter.
To me, this defeat – the Bulls’ first home loss of the season — came down to little things. Minor mistakes and defensive lapses. Especially in the second half.
During the third quarter, the Pacers grabbed four offensive rebounds and hit seven shots at the rim.
In the fourth, they hauled in another three offensive boards and got three slam dunks.
The Pacers ended up outscoring the Bulls 50-40 in the paint and outrebounding them 44-41.
Yes, Chicago shot poorly (40 percent) while Indy shot unusually well (47.5 versus their season average of 42.1), especially Danny Granger (9-for-16 despite shooting 37 percent on the season).
Yes, Carlos Boozer (5-for-14) and Rip Hamilton (6-for-20) were shooting with blinders on.
Yes, the absences of Luol Deng (wrist) and Taj Gibson (ankle) likely affected the outcome.
But the rebounds, the layups and dunks, all the effort and hustle plays that went the Pacers’ way…
…those are the reasons the Bulls lost.
The Bulls put themselves in a position to lose by getting sloppy to start the third quarter. By letting the Pacers outwork them throughout the second half. Everybody on that Indiana team showed up locked in and ready to go to war. The Bulls, on the other hand, didn’t have their hard hats on. They weren’t mentally prepared for a slugfest.
Said Thibs: “I didn’t think we were as aggressive as we needed to be. … It’s pretty simple. We do the same things. It starts in practice and at shootaround. Come in, be serious and get ready. When the ball goes up, you’ve got to know what you’re doing. Getting ready to play is a big part of this league. You’ve got to be ready to play every night. I think as soon as you start feeling good about yourself, you’re going to get knocked on your ass. That’s the way it is.”
Well, the Bulls certainly got knocked on theirs last night. Not because of injuries or Scalabrines off-target shot. But because the Pacers wanted it more.
Said Rose: “Looking back, we could have focused better at shootaround. They were the aggressor. They were getting to the rebounds, loose balls. Usually, we outrebound teams.”
Rose is right. The Bulls usually outwork their opponents. Last night, they didn’t, and they lost because of it. And the Pacers let them know it on their way off the floor last night. Which may have been a boo boo.
Said Rose: I will never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game. I can’t wait to play them again.”
Pacers Injury Report:
Jeff Foster: expected to miss at least two weeks (back)
Overview:
Chicago takes on their first real test in quite some time as they try to stay undefeated in the United Center against the visiting Pacers. Apparently the Bulls couldn’t play sub-.500 teams forever (I guess the NBA couldn’t schedule it that way, although I’m sure Gar Forman requested it), so Chicago takes on the 11-5 Pacers in Chicago.
Indiana is on the second night of a back-to-back though, after losing to Orlando last night. The Pacers were perfect from the line (18-18), but shot only 39.7 percent from the field. Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert each scored 16 points, while Darren Collison pitched in eleven more. But the Pacers only had eight assists and allowed the Magic to shoot 40.6 percent from three (13-32).
The Bulls might not benefit from the Pacers’ tired legs though, since Indiana’s starters didn’t play huge minutes. Most played right around 30 minutes with the exception of Paul George who played 35.
The Bulls had a full day of rest and are extremely good defensively at home this year, holding opponents to 76.9 points on 39.3 percent shooting. Now they haven’t been playing the crème of the NBA at home, but it’s still impressive.
However, Chicago will once again be short-handed. And this time, on the injury carousel, it’s Taj Gibson and Luol Deng who will be sitting out. Deng’s injury is more serious than previously thought, but he doesn’t need surgery.
The team that was once praised for their depth is learning to play with fewer guys, and more importantly, is finding new players to step up each game.
Against the Nets, Brian Scalabrine played 23 minutes, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and dished four assists. Now, “Scalabrine played 23 minutes” is something I never thought I’d type, but he did alright. He isn’t close to Gibson’s or Deng’s productivity, but he did enough. And that’s all the Bulls have to do to get through this injury patch. They need to plug the gaps, so the ship doesn’t go down while awaiting the return of key players.
Back to tonight’s match-up, Indiana is sixth in defensive rating this year, posting a 99.1 defensive rating. Chicago is second in that category (96.2). Indy is holding opponents to the third worst effective field goal percentage (.453).
But the Bulls are actually first in offensive rating, so we will see how the Bulls can score against a very good defense. The Bulls won’t have all of their players though, so their offense won’t be as strong as it could be. Deng and Gibson are big helps on the offensive side of the ball, compared to their back-ups.
Chicago was 3-1 in the regular season against the Pacers last year, their only loss coming in overtime. In the four games, Rose averaged 27.0 points (43 percent shooting), 5.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists. In two games against Indiana, Noah averaged 14.5 points and (only) four rebounds. Boozer went for 20.0 points and 11.3 rebounds in three regular season games against Indiana.
For Indy, Granger averaged 20 points and six rebounds in three games against Chicago. Collison scored 11.8 points and dished 5.3 assists while Hibbert added 6.3 points and 5.5 rebounds.
The Bulls also beat the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs 4-1. All the games, with the exception of the deciding game, were within six points, so the Pacers played Chicago hard. Rose averaged 27.6 points, 6.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds, but he only shot 37.1 percent from the field. As everyone remembers, the playoffs were when lots of people disappeared for Chicago, and opponents keyed on Rose.
Boozer averaged ten points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 turnovers while shooting 35.8 percent, or what Jazz fans like to call “Playoff Boozer.” Noah averaged 12.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.8 assists.
For the Pacers, Danny Granger scored 21.6 points, grabbed 5.6 rebounds and threw 3.2 assists per game in the playoff series. Roy Hibbert averaged 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds though the five games.
These two teams also played each other in the shortened preseason. The Bulls beat the Pacers in both preseason games this year, but those are preseason games. Something to watch for from these games, though, will be whether Tyler Hansbrough can once again make Chicago’s defense look silly. Psycho-T went for 19 points and eleven rebounds in the first preseason matchup, and 24 and 13 in the second.
Chicago will have to deal with another power forward, David West, who was signed this offseason by the Pacers. West is averaging 11.4 points and 6.6 rebounds so far this season. West scored eight points and grabbed four boards in the second preseason matchup, after sitting out the first game.
Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “He’s going to be out for awhile. It’s a pain tolerance thing.”
Uh oh.
Added Deng: “I know it’s a bad injury, and it sounds terrible, but I’ll be fine. I really feel like we have a very good chance of doing something special. And I feel like without the surgery I’ll be fine. I just know what I can do with it and what I can’t do. And I really think I’m going to be very effective out there. There’s going to be days when it’s sore.
“It could always be worse. Injuries happen. And this happened in the fourth quarter of a game. But it is what is. It’s just, ‘What do we do from here.’ I’m very confident that I’ll be fine. It’s sore, but the soreness is going down a lot in two days. So every day [I'll] keep treating it and see if I can get rid of the soreness and just try to be back there as soon as possible.
“I’m definitely going to miss a few games here. I don’t know how many, but I’m very confident the guys will be fine. But as soon as I can be out there, I will be out there.”
“Deng’s rookie season ended and he missed the 2005 playoff run when he opted for surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. Deng said this injury is the same and he confirmed a Tribune report that Dr. Susan Craig-Scott, who performed that 2005 surgery, is involved in the process.”
Said Deng: “This time around I’m familiar with it. It’s on my left [wrist] which is not like having it on my right. I know how it feels pain-wise. Just trying to get it down to a certain level where I can play again.”
This is a real hit for the Bulls. Lu leads the team in Minutes Per Game (38.3) and is averaging 15.9 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.2 SPG. His Player Efficiency Rating is only 16.4, but he’s third on the team in Win Shares (2.3) behind Carlos Boozer (2.5) and Derrick Rose (2.6). Further, Deng is one of the team’s most versatile defenders.
He’s also something of a stabilizing force when the reserves are in the game. And you can tell Thibs hates to sit him. After all, Lu has logged 40+ minutes in eight of the Bulls’ 18 games and 38+ in five others. Still, the coach thinks the Bulls should be able to get by without Deng for a while.
Said Thibs: “We’ve got more than enough to win with. I thought Ronnie [Brewer] was terrific. [Brian] Scalabrine was terrific. Kyle [Korver] has played big minutes for us. Jimmy [Butler] can play. So we have a roster full of guys who can play. So we’re confident in their abilities.”
I’m okay with Brewer logging more minutes, but Korver is a defensive liability at that position, Butler is a rookie, and Scalabrine is a 12th man who’s not supposed to see playing time unless the team is up or down by 20+ points with a couple minutes to go in the game.
Let’s hope Deng can come back soon. Assuming he can return reasonably healthy that is.
Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were back in, Luol Deng (wrist) and Taj Gibson (ankle) were out, and the Bulls continued their streak of chewing up and spitting out inferior opponents.
The Nets are bad (5-13) and were playing their third game in a row on the road against the league’s best team (in terms of wins and losses). The outcome of this one was practically preordained.
The Bulls were going to win this one unless the earth opened up and swallowed the United Center.
So the drama of the game was less about the Nets and more about story lines.
Such as Chicago’s continuing exellence despite injuries to key players. And make no mistake: Deng and Gibson are crucial to the Bulls’ long-term success. But this team has the coaching and depth necessary to weather the storm of injuries and scheduling. It has so far anyway. I’ll be interested to see how the Bulls fair against the Pacers on Wednesday and the Heat on Sunday.
The Bulls continue to share the ball at a phenomenal rate. Last night, they dished out a season-best 33 assists on 43 made field goals, which is a major reason why they shot 57.3 percent as a team. Chicago currently ranks third (behind Denver and San Antonio) in assists per game (23.1) and fourth (behind Philadelphia, San Antonio and Atlanta) in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.65). Most importantly, they are tied for first (with Denver and San Antonio) in Assist Ratio (16.3), which measures the percentage of a team’s possessions that ends in an assist.
This has done wonders for the offense. Last season, the Bulls couldn’t quite crack the top 10 in Ofensive Efficiency. They currently rank second at 105.7 points per 100 possessions, just behind Miami’s 106.0 points per 100 possessions. Toss in the fact that they also rank second (behind Philly) in Defensive Efficiency (93.5) and first overall in both Offensive Rebounding Rate (75.0) and Rebounding Rate (53.9), and you have one pretty complete team.
The one mitigating factor: Chicago ranks 28th in Strength of Schedule (-2.41). Only the Magic (-2.83) and Pacers (-2.86) have had an easier go of it so far this season. So we’ll see what kind of team the Bulls can truly be when they start facing a little stiffer competition.
Nitpicking aside, it was good to see D-Rose back in action, even if he wasn’t running at full speed. He checked Deron Williams while going off for 22 points (9-for-16), 5 rebounds and 8 assists. I’ll admit I’m still worried about his lingering toe injury. But it is what it is.
Rip Hamilton is coming along. He had his second straight 20-point game (22 on 10-for-16 shooting) and added a team-high 10 assists. Rip has found his shooting touch and consistently makes smart plays. And I love his movement without the ball. That’s a key attribute, especially paired with a scoring point guard like Derrick Rose. Very few scoring guards can score 20 without a lot of ball handling and isolation plays. Hamilton can drop 20 and barely touch the rock. In related news, Rip scored his 15,000th career point last night.
Carlos Boozer continued his recent strong play, contributing 16 points (6-for-9), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots in 33 minutes. There’s not much to complain about regarding Booz right now.
The Bench Mob pitched in with 25 points (9-for-16), 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Coach Tom Thibodeau even squeezed 23 minutes out of Brian Scalabrine and the Bulls still won in a blowout.
In summary, the good times continue for the Bulls. The only dark clouds are the question of how the team will respond to games against better opponents, Rose’s sprained toe, and especially the status of Deng. I’ve read the word “surgery” used as a possibility for his injured wrist. Several times. That would be bad. As usual, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Nets Injury Report:
Damion James: out indefinitely (sprained right ankle/foot)
Brook Lopez: expected to miss 4-6 weeks (right foot surgery)
Shawne Williams: day-to-day (bruised right shin)
Overview:
The banged up Bulls look to win their fourth game in a row, perhaps with Derrick Rose back in the line-up tonight. And while more Bulls get injured, Chicago continues their run of sub-500 opponents, facing the Nets on the last night of a back-to-back-to-back.
The Nets aren’t a very good team when they are rested, but they get worse when they haven’t had time off. New Jersey is 1-5 so far this year with no rest. They are coming off their only no-rest-win of the season though, and have won two out of their last three.
New Jersey started this three-games-in-three-nights stretch against the Thunder. The Nets shot 31.0 percent and 3-23 from three in a losing effort. Last night against the Bobcats (the team Chicago just beat short-handed) New Jersey got their fifth win of the season. The Nets shot 14-15 from the line and outrebounded Charlotte by 13. Deron Williams just missed a triple double, with 19 points, nine rebounds and ten assists. But beating the Bobcats is like a science project participation award, it doesn’t mean you are good, it just means you were there.
In those two games, New Jersey’s players got big minutes, so expect some of the Nets to be pretty tired. Deron Williams (77 minutes played the past two nights), MarShon Brooks (70), Mehmet Okur (65), Kris Humphries (73), DeShawn Stevenson (46), Jordan Farmar (42) and Anthony Morrow (57) all should have heavy legs.
And the Bulls get back the reigning MVP, who hasn’t played in more than a week (which could be good or bad, we’ll see). It will be interesting to see how much Rose’s toe is still bothering him. It should be evident right away as he is going up against one of the best point guards in the league in Deron Williams, so he’ll need to be sharp.
Speaking of sharp, New Jersey is dead last in opponent effective field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot .535 eFG percentage (OK, that’s the opposite of sharp). The Bulls are fourth in that category, holding opponents to .451 eFG percentage (Sharp!).
Another area where the Bulls could hurt the Nets is on the glass. New Jersey is 29th in the league in defensive rebounding percentage (.713). The Bulls are first in offensive rebounding percentage at .317 (second place is .302, so the Bulls are doing work on the offensive boards).
But the Nets are fourth in offensive rebounding percentage (.290) so they are getting some of those boards back on that end. The Bulls are averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds per game, while New Jersey is grabbing 12.5.
The edge would normally go to Chicago in the rebounding category, but the Bulls are missing a lot of their bigs. Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah didn’t play in the last game and Luol Deng (7.5 rebounds per game) was injured against Charlotte. Luckily the Bulls have depth there, as was evidenced last year when injuries struck their bigs a lot, and also in their last game when Omer Asik stepped right in and grabbed 15 boards.
Last year, the Bulls took three out of four in this matchup. Chicago was outrebounded in two games, something that didn’t happen much. Deron Williams only played in one game with the Nets against Chicago, going 1-12 from the field and scoring just five points. He did have eleven assists. He also played the Bulls with Utah last year, scoring eleven points (5-13 shooting) and dishing 12 assists.
Even with Rose back, the Bulls may be without Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and John Lucas III. Who would’ve thought Carlos Boozer would be the healthiest starter this season? And I apologize in advance for jinxing Boozington’s health.
Carlos Boozer, the defensive juggernaut: Carlos Boozer is tied for first in the league in defensive win shares at 1.3. Luol Deng is also tied for first. Boozington has the fourth best individual defensive rating in the league (92.1). Omer Asik is first with an 89.6 defensive rating (stats from Basketball-Reference). What I’m trying to say is Boozer is really good at defense this year…just kidding, he’s still bad. But the guys around him are good.
But they certainly are taking care of business without him.
Mind you, the Bulls are also minus Joakim Noah (ankle), Taj Gibson (ankle) and John Lucas III (groin).
Depth? Neil Funk and Stacey King named Mike James (9 points and 10 assists) player of the game…and James was playing in the D-League two weeks ago.
Said James: “When you play with a team that really wants to make the extra pass for the next player and there is not a lot of selfishness on the team, you just have to blend in. You can’t be the lone wolf and think it’s all about you.
“You can just feel the vibe and the love because everyone wants to win. It’s not just about individual stats. That’s a championship locker room, that’s a championship team.”
What a team. What a system.
Don’t get me wrong. Taking down the Cavaliers and Bobcats on back-to-back nights without a handful of key players won’t win the Bulls a championship in June. It doesn’t even guarantee they’ll finish this lockout-shortened regular season with the league’s best record.
But the Bulls have the best record in the league right now. They’re weathering the brutal scheduling and inevitable injuries of this abbreviated season better than anybody else. And whatever the end result may be, that’s got to make Chicago fans feel good.
Said Rip Hamilton: “When guys are hurt, they cheer for guys that are out on the floor. In the NBA, that’s hard to find.”
Yeah, well, teams that go to war together the way the Bulls do are darn hard to find.
Hamilton had a season-high 20 points on efficient 9-for-15 shooting. That was a pretty heartening sign, considering Rip was brought in to give the team a little extra scoring punch to support D-Rose.
Speaking of extra scoring punch, Carlos Boozer (23 points and 9 rebounds) has been bringing it in Rose’s absense. Booz has averaged 24 points on 57 percent shooting over the past three games.
Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “Carlos has been playing at a very high level now for a number of games. He’s in rhythm, he’s walking into his shots, he’s got great balance.”
And let’s not forget the contributions of Luol Deng (22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), C.J. Watson (11 points and 9 assists), and Omer Asik (15 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots).
It was Asik’s first career start. Not too shabby.
Said Boozer: “Look at Omer. At the last minute, [we] find out that Jo can’t go. Omer comes in and has 15 rebounds, plays like a man in there. Get him in that rookie/sophomore game by the way. Vote for Omer Asik.”
Give John Paxson and Gar Forman a lot of credit. They have done an amazing job managing this team. And it is excellently coached by Thibs.
There’s very little not to like about this Bulls squad.
I’ll admit, I’m still wary of the Miami Heat, even if they did lose to the Milwaukee Bucks today. When push comes to playoff shove, will the Bulls have the firepower to go toe-to-toe with a (presumably) healthy Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James? Will anybody?
Of course, just last June, the Dallas Mavericks showed that great team chemistry can trump that trio of superstars (well, if you want to call Bosh a superstar, which may be stretching things a bit).
If any team this season could replicate that achievement, it would be these Bulls.
In the short term, though, injuries are becoming more and more of a concern, depth or no. Rose is still day-to-day with his toe injury. Ditto for Gibson. Also ditto for Deng, who sprained his left wrist against the Bobcats. Noah thinks he’ll be ready to go against the New Jersey Nets on Monday, but man, the Bulls are getting more shorthanded by the day.
But what can they do? Play. Just play. It’s been working pretty well so far.
Bobcats Injury Report:
DeSanga Diop: questionable (right knee inflammation)
Corey Maggette: out (strained left hamstring)
Eduoardo Najera: out (knee surgery)
Reggie Williams: out (knee surgery)
Overview:
Chicago returns home tonight and looks to win their third game in a row, all of which came without Derrick Rose. They will probably be without their star again when they try to improve to 7-0 at home, but if the last two games are any foreshadowing; the Bulls should be alright against Charlotte.
The Bobcats have had off since Tuesday though, while the Bulls are playing the second night of a back-to-back. Chicago should still be pretty well rested.
Carlos Boozer (31 minutes), Joakim Noah (32), Luol Deng (33), Richard Hamilton (26) and C.J. Watson (31) didn’t play huge minutes. When Deng only plays 33 minutes something went very right or very wrong in the game (or Thibodeau was kidnapped and replaced with someone who believes Deng can rest). And this time everything went right.
You also know things went right when Mike James and Brian Scalabrine get eight minutes of playing time. I could get used to Scalabrine getting minutes, because that means the Bulls are winning big and getting rest.
Chicago shot 55.4 percent from the field, 66.7 percent from three, 94.1 percent from the line and won by 39. The Bulls’ defense was back to their stifling ways, holding the Cavaliers to 75 points on 30.3 percent shooting. And the Bulls were also playing Cleveland, which usually helps make you look good.
I don’t want to just spit numbers at you, but I’m going to for a second. The Bobcats are 26th in offensive rating, 29th in defensive rating, 23rd in effective field goal percentage, 26th in opponent effective field goal percentage, and 28th in free throws per field goal attempt. Really you could pick almost any stat and the Bobcats would be in the lower half of the league, but those jump out. They can’t score, can’t defend and don’t get to the line. Not quite the recipe for success.
With all that said, the Bobcats have been trouble for Chicago recently. Last year, the Bulls split the four games with Charlotte, even losing one in Chicago.
The Bulls lost the first two matchups of the season. In those two games, the Bobcats only turned the ball over 14 times; while Chicago coughed it up 23 times. Charlotte is holding onto the ball this year as well, ranking ninth in turnover percentage. The first loss came without Noah and the second loss came without Noah and Boozington.
Boozer scored 23 in the first game, while Deng added 22. Rose scored 17 in this game, but shot 29 percent. In game two, Rose found his touch and shot 50 percent, but no other starter shot better than 33 percent. Deng scored only ten points and the Bulls fell by one point. The Bobcats went 0-13 from three and still found a way to win that game.
Chicago flipped the script and won the next two each by double digits.
Back to this year, Chicago returns to the United Center where they are undefeated this season and allowing just 71.8 points on 36.7 shooting.
But the Bulls have their injury problems. Obviously Rose is hurt, and unlikely to play, but Taj Gibson left Friday’s game with an ankle injury and was seen afterwards with a walking boot. John Lucas was also injured in the Cavs game, but should be ready to go tonight. The Bulls are starting to look like the Tune Squad at the end of Space Jam.
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That’s what Cleveland coach Byron Scott said shortly before tipoff when he found out Derrick Rose would miss the game due to his toe injury.
But after the Bulls beat his team by 39 points — the biggest home loss in Cavaliers franchise history — I had to wonder what kind of prayers Byron has been saying.
I guess the Basketball Gods have a sense of humor.
The Bulls shot a blistering 55.4 percent from the field and held the Cadavers, er, Cavaliers to 30 percent shooting while sharing the ball like it was Christmas (27 assists) and owning the boards (55-38). And Chicago’s Offensive Rebounding Rate was nearly 40 percent.
How dominating were the Bulls? They led by as many as 42 points despite committing 20 turnovers. There was Cavalier blood in the water and the Bulls were the sharks.
And after this execution, Scott wasn’t talking about prayers. He was talking cold, hard reality: “Chicago was aggressive and physical and the more (shots) they hit, the more we took steps back. We didn’t react to their physical play whatsoever — besides the whining. You can not let a good team like they are come in and play harder, be more physical, more aggressive and expect to win or even be in the game. We have a long way to go. Simple as that. We have a lot of work to do.”
Meanwhile, the Bulls are destroying opponents without the league’s reigning MVP. Plus Taj Gibson (sprained left ankle) and John Lucas III (strained left groin) got hurt during the game.
Said Carlos Boozer: “Deepest team I’ve ever played on, 100 percent,” Boozer said. “Other than All-Star and Olympic teams, this is the deepest team. Most teams go to their bench and hold their own. We got to our bench and they can open the lead.”
It was another all-around team effort. Luol Deng led the team in scoring with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Carlos Boozer had a big-time double-double (19 points and 14 rebounds). Joakim Noah barely missed a double-double (10 rebounds and 8 points). C.J. Watson had 15 points and 7 assists. Rip Hamilton chipped in 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The Bench Mob contributed 38 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
And of course there was the defense that held the Cavs to 78.9 points per 100 possessions.
Look, I expected the Bulls to win, even without Rose. But I didn’t expect the outcome to be this lopsided. I mean, the Cavaliers aren’t great, or even good, but they’re not terrible.
I guess those Bullies are pretty good.
After this team overachieved last season, experts and pundits openly questioned whether the Bulls could go all out every night again. Whether they could exhibit the same desire, effort, and intensity for a full season.
Well, it hasn’t been a full season yet, but it sure looks like they can and they will, doesn’t it?
I hate to go all cliche here, but the Bulls play basketball the right way. This is a fun team to watch.
Unless you’re a Cleveland fan.
As for the status of Gibson and Lucas for tonight’s game against the Bobcats?
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said: “Day-to-day. They’re nicked up a little bit, but they’ll be fine. [Bulls team trainer] Fred [Tedeschi] will have a better read on it [Saturday].”
Added Gibson: “I could play tomorrow probably, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
You know, at one time, I would have been worried. But the way things are going, I feel like the Bulls will be fine either way.
Cleveland Injury Report:
Anthony Parker: probable (sore lower back)
Overview:
Derrick Rose could miss his third straight game when the Bulls try to win in Cleveland tonight.
The Cavaliers and Chicago have both had off since Tuesday. The Bulls dominated the Suns on Tuesday, without the reigning MVP, while Cleveland lost to Golden State. That loss to the Warriors was the Cavs homecoming after a seven game road trip. Kyrie Irving had himself an impressive stat line in a losing effort, scoring 18 points and adding eight rebounds and five assists. Anderson Varejao recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.
Irving is averaging 17.7 points, 5.2 assists and is shooting 48.6 percent from the field (he is also shooting better than 44 percent from three in his last ten games).
Some of the Bulls had some very impressive games against Phoenix. C.J. Watson scored 23 points and dished five assists filling in for Rose. Watson had zero turnovers in 33 minutes as well. Carlos Boozer scored 26 points in the first half, and finished with 31 points and six rebounds. The 31 points is a season high for Boozington. Rip Hamilton returned from injury to score eleven and added six assists. Joakim Noah got back on track with 13 points and 12 rebounds, his third double-double of the season.
Part of this was the Suns inability, and apathy, on defense, but still these were impressive numbers by the Bulls’ players in a game in which they needed to step up.
But the Bulls allowed the Suns to shoot 51.4 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from three and score 97 points. Not quite the great Bulls defense that is expected when they play in the United Center.
And it doesn’t appear that Derrick Rose will be playing tonight. ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell tweeted earlier today “Doesn’t sound like Derrick’s playing tonight. Said this turf toe injury is worse than the one he had two years ago.” Rose didn’t participate in the morning shootaround and will be a game-time decision. Derrick did say that he did want to play, but I think it is better that he rests.
This is the best time for Derrick to sit out some games, and actually heal. Chicago plays Cleveland, Charlotte and New Jersey in their next three games, which should be wins even without Rose. Add to that the Phoenix game Derrick just missed, and this is probably the easiest four game stretch the Bulls have all season.
Plus C.J. Watson played well, and has always played well, in Rose’s absence. Watson averages better than 24 points in games which Rose is out. Even John Lucas stepped up that one time Derrick was out. You remember that, right? When he had 28 shot attempts…good times, good times.
It would’ve been fun to see Derrick Rose go against rookie Kyrie Irving, but we will have to settle for Watson and Lucas most likely. And until Rose is actually healthy, that’s the way it should stay. The first game the Bulls should need Rose is Wednesday against Indiana.
Last season the Bulls were 4-0 against Cleveland. Chicago won by an average of nearly ten points, with their biggest win being by thirteen. So the games weren’t big blowouts like some may have expected.
The Cavs were one of the few teams to bring down more offensive rebounds when playing the Bulls. Cleveland averaged 11.5 offensive rebounds per game, while Chicago averaged just 8.0. That was the Bulls’ lowest offensive rebounding total against any team last season. Chicago did average more total rebounds than the Cavs though.
Antawn Jamison averaged 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds against Chicago last year. While, Carlos Boozer averaged 21.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in the last three games against Cleveland. In the first game he scored just four points and grabbed three rebounds in more than 20 minutes.
If Derrick Rose is once again out, the Bulls will need players to continue to step up. Who is it going to be tonight?
The Bulls were still without Derrick Rose (toe injury), but they were at home and facing a Phoenix Suns team that was playing defense like…
…well, okay, the Suns weren’t playing any defense. None that I could see anyway.
The Bulls got whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. I mean, 118 points on 53.5 percent shooting is crazy, especially considering the extended garbage time. And check out these advanced stats: Their Offensive Rebounding Rate was 27.9 and their Free Throw Rate was 27.3.
So, basically, the Bullies either a) hit the shot, b) rebounded their miss, or c) got fouled.
Chicago scored a season-high 39 points in the first quarter and finished the first half with a season-best 67 points.
And boy oh boy was the ball moving. The Bulls ended up with 31 assists on 47 made baskets. With only 6 turnovers!
Said Carlos Boozer: “We’re a very unselfish team. We had a meeting earlier this season saying guys were too unselfish and passing up open shots. We know when we have 20-plus assists we’re moving the ball well and most games we have that.”
Speaking of Boozer, he played like he was in NBA2K with the Difficulty Level set to “Rookie.” Booz finished with a season-high 31 points on ridiculous 14-for-21 shooting.
C.J. Watson played like an All-Star: 33 minutes, 23 points, 8-for-12 from the field, 3-for-3 from downtown, 4-for-4 from the line, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and zero turnovers.
Joakim Noah finally played, well, the way Bulls fans have been waiting for him to play, finishing with 13 points (6-for-10), 12 boards, 3 assists and a steal. He also tied Boozer with a game-high plus-minus score of +24.
Oh, and Rip Hamilton returned to the starting lineup, contributing 11 points and 6 assists in 21 minutes.
Said Boozer: “We came out with a great sense of focus. For us, we wanted to get back out there and play after playing so poorly last night.”
Added Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “I thought it was great. We had a lot of guys play well.”
No kidding.
The Bulls got open shot after open shot. And they were hitting them. Via Hoopdata, here’s a breakdown of how they fared from each shot location:
At the rim: 14-for-21 (66.7%)
3-9 feet: 6-for-12 (50.0%)
10-15 feet: 5-for-9 (55.6%)
16-23 feet: 17-for-33 (51.6%)
Three-pointers: 5-for-10 (50.0%)
Here’s where I get to be a killjoy. Know which of those numbers jumps out at me? The 33 attempts from 16-23 feet. That’s the worst zone a basketball team can shoot from: the long two-pointer. The Bulls attempted more field goals from that than any other.
And they were extremely hot.
Normally, Chicago shoots 37.1 percent from 16-23 feet, which ranks 17th in the league.
All I’m saying is this: They played great and the blowout was fun and games…but it was also a bit of an abberration. As much as their blowout loss to the Grizzlies was the night before.
But then again, looking around the league at all the odd results, this seems like it’s going to be a season full of abberrations.
But enough naysaying. The Bulls dominated a bad team without their leader and best player. And C.J. Watson was great in replacement. I quoted the stats above. In only his second game back from a dislocated elbow, he played a nearly perfect game. Credit him for staying in shape and practicing his butt off during his two-week layoff. The kid works. Make no mistake: Watson wants to be a starter, but his only opportunity to do so on this team is when Rose is out.
Said Boozer: “It’s crazy tough [to be in that situation]. Look how good he’s been playing. He played great [Monday] off the bench, to the point where Thibs was like, ‘I got to go and start this guy with D. Rose being out.’ He came back tonight and had another great game. That’s the thing about it, though. C.J.’s been a great player his whole career. He’s always played behind guys that were very good. It’s tough playing behind the MVP this year … He leads our Bench Mob when we’ve got a full roster. He’s a very good pro to say the least.”
It was a good night and the post-game mojo was great. After that Rose-less performance, it’s pretty likely the team will go ahead and rest Derrick for this weekend’s games against the Cavaliers and Bobcats.