Deng expected to play tonight versus Pacers:
Somewhat lost amidst all the drama surrounding Tyrus Thomas was the fact that Luol Deng missed practice on Monday because of tendinitis in his right shoulder. However, he’s expected to play tonight against the Indiana Pacers. Deng missed 33 games last season thanks to a stress fracture in his right tibia, but he’s been an iron man this season, appearing in all 49 games despite playing with a fractured left thumb.
Remember what Deng said earlier this season: “Last year when I was sitting, I made a commitment to play all 82 games this season. Even though it wasn’t my fault last year, I didn’t want anyone to say anything about me being soft anymore. That’s why I don’t want to take any game off all year. I just want to do my job.”
The Bulls do not heart Indiana:
The Pacers (18-33) aren’t a very good team. In fact, they haven’t been a very good team since The Malice at the Place. Not that Indy’s descent into mediocrity and worse has benefitted the Bulls at all. Since it opened in 1999, Chicago is 3-17 at Conseco Fieldhouse…and the Pacers’ winning percentage in these games (.850) is its best over any East opponent at home during that stretch.
Last February, Derrick Rose had one of his worst-ever games as a Bull, scoring only 3 points on 1-for-9 shooting.
Joakim Noah starring in remake of “Das Boot”:
Okay, that’s a bad joke from my freshman year German class. At any rate, the Bulls medical staff is trying to speed up Joakim’s recovery from plantar fasciitis by having him wear a protective boot and undergo both massage and electric stimulation. He also had blood was taken from his arm and injected into the foot.
I swear that last part isn’t a witch doctor cure.
According to John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy — used in plastic surgery since the 1990s — has gotten more popular among athletes, getting a push when Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward credited the treatment with getting him on the field in time for last year’s Super Bowl, said Martin Leland, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon at the University of Chicago Medical Center who is not working with the Bulls.”
Vinny tepid on Tyrus Thomas’ return:
Regarding “Tirade” Thomas’ return to Bulls practice, Vinny said: “What happened, happened. It’s over with. Hopefully, Tyrus learns from it and gets better. But, it’s not the first thing that’s happened with Tyrus. He’s got to be smarter and he’s got to be committed to the team. Today was a good practice — not for him, but for everybody and now we’ve got to move on.”
On how Tyrus can earn more playing time (emphasis mine): “Tyrus has got to run the court. Play hard. Execute the game plan. Hit open 15-foot jumpers. Be committed to the team. Same thing everyone else does. Everyone has a job on this team. Certain guys do different things better than others. Everyone knows their role, knows what they need to do and now they have to go out and do it. And the guys that go out on a consistent basis and are coachable and want to buy into the team and give us the best chance to win — those are the guys that are going to be out there. It’s a very simple process.”
Well, I guess VDN actually wants Ty chucking up jumpers…
Barkley high on Del Negro, low on Thomas:
Even though Vinny has apparently given Thomas a green light to shoot, Charles Barkley is still campaigning for Del Negro. Said Sir Charles: “If he gets the Bulls back to the playoffs, Vinny Del Negro should be NBA Coach of the Year. Derrick Rose was hurt. Tyrus Thomas was hurt a lot and crazy a lot. If he gets that team back to the playoffs after losing Ben Gordon, I think that’s a hell of a year.”
Regarding what to do with Thomas after his blowup at Vinny: ”What I would say to him? Uh, listen, say it just didn’t work out here. ‘You’ve been traded to, uh … (laughs).”
Bulls earn C+ last week: From Pippin Ain’t Easy: “The win against Miami was big, but the 3 straight losses just helps to emphasize the Bulls inconsistencies coming off a 5-game road winning streak.”
Memo the the Bulls — Crash the boards:
According to Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald, from December 11 through February 2, the Bulls beat their opponents on the boards in 21 of 26 games. Now — with Joakim Noah first limited and then sidelined by plantar fasciitis — they’ve lost the rebound battle in three straight games. Enter Chris Richard.
Sure enough, it appears a “profanity-laced postgame outburst” at Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was the cause of Ty’s one-game vacation. It’s yet another chapter in the Saga of Tyrus. It’s a story that seems destined to end badly. At least so far as his career with the Bulls goes.
Thomas is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. He has infinite potential and unlimited immaturity. He’s a team-first player as long as he gets his minutes. He’s a big man who converts only 53 percent of his shots at the rim and would much rather take jump shot after jump shot than bang bodies down low. In fact, over half his shots are chucked up from the outside. Which is how he likes it.
As Tyrus put it last November: “I shoot a lot of shots a day, so when I’m in the game and I feel like I want to shoot the ball, I’m going to shoot it. I’m not going to take a shot I haven’t worked on, so whatever I shoot is a shot I know I can make, and if I miss it, oh well.”
That quote has been festering in my Bulls notebook all season. To me, it says almost everything you need to know about Tyrus Thomas the basketball player. But it’s also worth pointing out something about Tyrus Thomas the human being. Namely, this: Although Ty grew up in what was, by all accounts, a loving and supportive home, he may well be living in the shadow of a father who was in and out of prison for most of Thomas’ youth.
This manifested itself in a sometimes troubled adolescence. As Tyrus once put it: “I just couldn’t take other males telling me what to do. I’d be like, ‘You’re not my dad. You can’t tell me this. You can’t tell me that.’ It was kind of like a rebellious stage in my life.”
That troubled childhood has transformed into troubled adulthood. Even now, Thomas is still rebelling. Vinny Del Negro is not his dad. He can’t tell Tyrus what to do. The question is: Who can?
Maybe nobody. Or maybe a stronger coach could, someone capable of being a supportive father-like figure. Or maybe it’s impossible. Maybe the bad habits are set in the stone of Thomas’ stubborn personality. After all, he knows what shots he can hit, and if he misses, oh well.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune seems to believe that these problems could be solved by simply starting Thomas and bringing Taj Gibson off the bench. Is PT the correct method of therapy for a player who doesn’t get it and seems as though he never will? It’s a thorny situation. And anyway, what kind of precedent would the team set by giving in to an underperforming player who is determined to do things his own way. Remember, players earn minutes by accepting their role, making smart decisions and performing to the best of their abilities.
When has Tyrus ever done that on a consistent basis?
Even more damning to Thomas and his situation is the re-arrival of Chris Richard, who was waived before the season started but whom the Bulls signed to a 10-day contract after shutting Joakim Noah until after the All-Star break. Richard came dutifully off the bench against the Heat, snared 7 rebounds, blocked a couple shots, and banged every opposing body in his general vicinity. When he left the game, there was blood on his jersey. The crowd ate it up.
Said Richard: “I know what my role is no matter what team I’m on. I’ve just got to bring energy, defend, rebound, help, whatever I can do. I figured if I get lost on the offensive end, I can just go set a random screen. That’s a great thing about being a big.”
Imagine what Tyrus could accomplish with that attitude.
Potential can sustain coaches and fans for only so long. Eventually, a player must either perform like an All-Star or kill themselves for the team…or they will wear out their welcome. Thomas will return to practice today. Unless he pulls off a Hollywood movie-like transformation from heel to hero, he may discover the Windy City has pulled its welcome mat off the stoop.
Come to think of it, that may have already happened.
Said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro: ”It’s an internal matter. [Bulls GM] Gar [Forman] and myself will handle it. … It’s unfortunate timing, but in the short run there’s a responsibility. No one player is bigger than the team, and there’s a responsibility to do things right. And I think by handling the situation the right way, which I think we are, I know we are. It’s not one person. It’s a group. And you have to be committed to your teammates, your coaches, the organization. That doesn’t go just for Tyrus. It goes for everybody. The guys know how things run around here. That’s how it’s going to be.”
At least one thing is clear: That’s how “it” is going to be.
As for Thomas, shouldn’t we have seen this coming? After all, Tyrus had sky high hopes for this season. In case you don’t remember, Thomas believed he had a very real chance to become a 20-10 guy this year. This is what he had to say about that possibility last October: “First, I have to figure out my role as far as the offensive end. I have to figure out where I’m going to get my shots. But on the defensive end, definitely 10 (rebounds a game).”
Ty’s current averages: 8.5 PPG and 6.2 RPG. I guess you could say things haven’t quite gone according to plan.
Since that bold prediction, Thomas has fractured the radius bone in his left forearm during a weightlifting session at practice, missed 23 games, lost his starting job to rookie Taj Gibson, endured a constant stream of trade rumors, and watched his minutes slowly dwindle to the point that — even with Noah shut down until some time after the All-Star break — he logged only 16 minutes of PT in a loss to the Hawks in Atlanta.
Make no mistake: Thomas has the physical tools necessary to be an All-Star-caliber player. However, whenever his future is discussed, words like “enigmatic” and “mercurial” always pop up. Tyrus has over halfway through his fourth season as a pro, but the Bulls still have no idea what he’s going to give them on a nightly basis. He might score 20 points and grab 15 boards. He might go 2-for-13 from the field and finish with more turnovers and rebounds.
If it seems as though the coaching staff has lost faith in him, it’s probably because they have. There simply is no other way to explain his sporadic appearances. And whatever he said or did behind the scenes isn’t going to help his standing with his teammates, coaches or management.
Meanwhile, the Bulls — losers of three in a row — had a basketball game to play. And they had to squeeze 20 meaningful minutes out of Chris Richard, whom they waived in October but recently signed to a 10-day contract. Richard, who no doubt can be counted on to bust his butt without complaining about minutes, responded to his big chance with 7 rebounds (including 4 on the offensive end), 2 points, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots and a steal.
Just imagine if Richard had Thomas’ raw talent.
Richard wasn’t the only Chicago player who came up big. Luol Deng earned a game-high 11 free throw attempts and finished with a game-best 25 points. Derrick Rose added 24 points and made some big plays down the stretch. John Salmons came off the bench to score 15 points and dish out a team-high 5 assists. And Brad Miller chipped in with 13 points, 8 boards and a career-best 5 steals.
All this on the second night of back-to-backs after traveling back to Chicago from Atlanta. It was a real gut check. And it turns out the Bulls still have their guts intact.
Said Rose: “Definitely, we needed this one. It gives us more confidence. Our locker room was way more cheerful than it was the past couple of games. Now, we just got to keep it going.”
It won’t be easy. There were signs of trouble in this game, like how Chicago got outrebounded 52-41. However, they did have the edge in second-chance points (19-15), points in the paint (38-30), fastbreak points (20-12), points off turnovers (21-16) and free throw attempts (35-19). Both teams wanted this game…but the Bulls wanted it more.
Too bad Tyrus couldn’t be a part of that.
Timeout Tally:
1st timeout: Deng was fouled before the timeout (1-for-2)
2nd timeout: Bulls forced Miami into a turnover
3rd timeout: Udonis Haslem hit a jumper
4th timeout: Salmons missed a 14-footer
5th timeout: Deng was fouled (2-for-2)
6th timeout: Deng was fouled (2-for-2)
Vinny called one timeout after the Heat had already committed a fouls. He called two timeouts immediately after a Miami timeout when the Heat had possession of the ball. The final timeout was called at a point when Miami was forced the fouls. So the Bulls had only two offensive possessions coming out of a timeout. One resulted in a missed jump shot, the other in two free throws for Deng (thanks to a sweet feed by D-Rose) that put the Bulls up by five points with 37 seconds left.
Under the circumstances — no Joakim Noah, playing on the road against a great home team — the Bulls were pretty darn good through three quarters. And during that opening stretch, Derrick Rose gave us one of the great highlights of this season…or any other for that matter.
Freaking amazing, right?
Anyway, the Bulls played really well for three quarters and even entered the fourth with a 70-64 lead. Then they were outscored 27-11 in the final 12 minutes.
Offensive fail.
Credit the Hawks defense, and some truly shoddy play calling and execution, for the Bulls collapse. For your viewing displeasure, here’s a list of Chicago’s fourth-quarter possessions. Read ‘em and weep.
Kirk Hinrich turnover (pass stolen by Josh Smith)
Devin Brown missed 17-footer
John Salmons missed layup
Taj Gibson turnover (traveling)
Taj Gibson missed 20-footer
Offensive rebound
Salmons missed 14-footer
Salmons made jumper (Brad Miller assists)
Miller missed three-pointer
Salmons missed three-pointer
Luol Deng missed three-pointer
Rose missed 19-footer
Deng made 17-footer
Rose made 18-footer
Hinrich missed 8-footer
Rose made layup
Rose missed three-pointer
Hinrich missed 21-footer
Offensive rebound
Deng missed jumper
Deng missed jumper
Rose drew a fouls (1-for-2)
So…the Bulls went 4-for-18 (mostly on long jump shots), committed a couple turnovers and made only one trip to the line (with 24 seconds left in the game). Ugly.
Chicago also gave up five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, including two possessions in which the Hawks snared two offensive boards in the same sequence. After those five offensive boards, Atlanta got a layup by Joe Johnson (Hawks 76, Bulls 72), a putback by Josh Smith (Hawks 78, Bulls 72), and a three-point dagger by Mike Bibby with 2:10 left (Hawks 86, Bulls 78).
Those were three critical possessions. Man, the Bulls sure could have used Joakim Noah. They also could have used Rose’s jump shot, which was MIA most of the night. Derrick finished 6-for-9 at the rim and 3-for-12 away from it. His shot looked flat all night.
Even without Noah, the Bulls did a pretty good job of shutting down Atlanta’s fast break (12 points) and protecting the rim (where the Hawks were only 16-for-28). But Chicago’s defensive rotations weren’t as crisp as they could have been, and Atlanta burned the Bulls from long range (8-for-18 from downtown). Although, in all fairness, the Hawks hit some tough shots, especially when they ripped off an 8-0 run to start the final period.
And Josh Smith (18 points, 14 boards, 10 assists) played out of his mind.
Meanwhile, with Miller starting at center, the Bulls got almost nothing out of their bench (8 points, 4-for-14). Big Brad played 40 minutes but finished with only 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 turnovers. And Miller didn’t score in the second half. Meanwhile, Tyrus Thomas earned only 16 minutes and had 4 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. I really thought that, with Noah out, Thomas would play 20+ minutes.
Another factor in Chicago’s offensive woes is that they throw bad passes. The Bulls aren’t selfish, and the players genuinely try to hit open teammates, but there are way to many passes that end up at someone’s feet, at their waist, up by their shoulder, a foot to their left, a foot to their right, so on and so forth.
A good pass has to lead into a player’s natural shooting motion. When a player has to collect the ball and then redirect it into their shooting motion, they not only lose a critical split second during which the defense can react, they usually won’t be able to fire it up in rhythm. The Bulls are a bad shooting team this season despite having guys (like Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons) who have hit a pretty decent percentage of their field goal attempts in the past. And Devin Brown — who went 0-for-3 from the field in seven minutes off the bench — had to reach down to his knees for one pass. And yes, that pass led to a missed jumper.
It just seems like the Bulls would benefit from some work on their passing. Because when players are already struggling to find their shots, bad passes only makes things worse.
Let’s hope we see some better passes tonight against the Heat.
Timeout Tally:
This continues my effort to track the Bulls’ performance coming out of a timeout.
1st timeout: Rose missed a 21-foot jumper
2nd timeout: Miller hit a short jumper
3rd timeout: Deng missed a 20-footer
4th timeout: Miller commited a turnover
5th timeout: Gibson missed a 20-foot jump shot
6th timeout: Deng drilled a 17-footer (Rose with the assist)
7th timeout: Rose missed a long three-pointer
Summary: Out of seven timeouts, the Bulls went 2-for-6 and committed a turnover. Five of their six shot attempts were from deep. It’s worth noting that Derrick’s three-point attempt happened with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter when the Bulls were making a desperate comeback attempt. However, even discounting that shot, the Bulls ended up with several empty possessions after their timeouts.
Beating Atlanta without Joakim Noah is going to be…difficult. The Hawks are one of the best teams in the league, and they’re 20-5 at home this season. To pull off the upset, the Bulls will need every edge they can get. Here’s one, courtesy of ESPN Stats and Information:
The key to beating the Hawks is not allowing them easy baskets on the fastbreak. The Hawks are 4th in the NBA with 16.6 fastbreak points per game, but in their losses they have been held to just 11.5.
Most Fastbreak Points per Game
Golden State Warriors: 22.9
Philadelphia 76ers: 18.4
Memphis Grizzlies: 17.6
Atlanta Hawks: 16.6*
Phoenix Suns: 15.4
*19.4 in wins, 11.5 in losses
Let’s hope the Bulls can get back in transition tonight. And protect the rim. And slow down Joe Johnson (26 PPG versus the Bulls this season). And execute on offense. And, and, and…
Said Bulls general manager Gar Forman: “We’re shutting him down. It’s the best course of action right now. He’s coming back to Chicago to get rest and treatment. We’ll reevaluate it after the All-Star break.”
In case you aren’t familiar with plantar fasciitis, Mayo Clinic describes it as pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, which runs across the bottom of your foot, connecting your heel bone to your toes. It feels like a sharp pain in the heel of the foot…which can be particularly troubling for a professional basketball player.
The good news is that about 90 percent of the people who have plantar fasciitis recover with conservative treatments. Unfortunately, it usually takes a few months of not running and jumping on a hardwood court. In other words, what Noah needs most of all is a break from his chosen occupation.
Based on what happened against the Clippers and 76ers — when Noah’s minutes and contributions were limited due to the pain in his foot — the Bulls can’t afford to lose Joakim for a single game let alone a few months.
Noah could have been an All-Star. In fact, he probably would have been if the Bulls had a better record. After all, the only true center on the Eastern Conference All-Star team is Dwight Howard. Atlanta’s Al Horford is listed as a forward/center, and his presence on the team is most likely a function of his team’s place among the East’s elite.
But make no mistake: Noah has been fantastic all season. His raw numbers are pretty impressive on their own: 11.2 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.7 BPG in only 32.7 minutes. But let’s take a look at how Noah ranks league-wide:
3rd in Rebounds Per Game (12.0)
4th in Total Rebound Percentage (20.1)
5th in Offensive Rebounds (176)
5th in Offensive Rebound Percentage (13.0)
5th in Total Rebounds (552)
7th in Defensive Rebounds (376)
7th in Defensive Rebound Percentage (27.1)
8th in Defensive Rating (99.6)
9th in Defensive Win Shares (2.9)
By the numbers, Noah is both a dominant rebounder and an elite defensive force. His frenetic activity around the basket is a big reason why the Bulls currently rank 2nd (to the Orlando Magic) in Opponents At-The-Rim Field Goal Percentage (55.8).
But Noah’s contributions go well beyond facts and figures. Derrick Rose is Chicago’s best player — there’s no question about that now — but Noah is the team’s emotional leader. Basketball isn’t a job to him, it’s something worth walking through brick walls and eating broken glass for. His skill set may be relatively limited, he may never average 20 points per game, but Noah loves to play and wants to win as badly as anyone in the NBA. Every team needs a Joakim Noah. Especially the team he’s already on.
The Bulls are in a tough spot. Remember, they recently traded Aaron Gray the the New Orleans Hornets, which means that Brad Miller is the only center they have left right now. And Miller is no spring chicken. He’s a late winter chicken at best. And he’s suffering all the aches and pains older players go through. It’s hard to imagine the Bulls succeeding if they have to play Big Brad 35+ minutes per game.
The fact that Taj Gibson is also suffering from plantar fasciitis means Vinny Del Negro is facing a real quandary. He’s going to have to go with smaller lineups and give more minutes to Tyrus Thomas. Can Vinny make that change on the fly? Can Thomas step it up for more than a game or two? The Bulls are going to have to answer these questions to avoid a mini-collapse before the All-Star break.
When Chicago lost at home to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, I noted that as Derrick Rose goes, so go the Bulls. Rose didn’t play particularly well against the Clips (7-for-20, 4 turnovers), and the Bulls lost. And while that’s something of an oversimplification, his performance is a pretty good measure of how the team performs as a whole.
Well, Rose had a fantastic game last night against the Sixers: 30 points (10-for-22 from the field, 9-for-10 from the line), 4 rebounds, 9 assists. His scoring and assist totals were both game highs. He scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. And yet the Bulls lost their second consecutive game to a sub-.500 team…which in fact dropped them back below .500 in the process. So what happened?
Defense. Or rather the lack thereof.
Again, I don’t mean to oversimplify things here. However, Philly typically connects on about 45 percent of their field goals (20th in the league), and their average Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) is 48.6 (23rd in the league). Meanwhile, the Bulls usually hold their opponents to 43.6 percent shooting (3rd in the league) and an eFG% of 48.0 (6th in the league). So, all things being equal, Chicago should have shut the the Sixers down. With authoritah.
But they did not.
Philadelphia connected on 52.3 percent of their shots and finished with an eFG% of 55.2. Not only did those numbers exceed what the Sixers normally do and far surpass how Bulls opponents perform on average, they’re also significantly above what the league’s best team do on a nightly basis. The Utah Jazz currently lead the league in FGP (49.2) and the Phoenix Suns are tops in eFG% (54.1).
It was a classic defensive fail.
And mind you, the Sixers missed 11 of their 16 three-point attempts (31 percent) and hit only 11 of thier 19 fouls shots (58 percent). But the Bulls — who usually hold their foes to 55.8 percent shooting around the basket (2nd in the league) — allowed Philly to connect on 15 of their 20 shots at the rim (75 percent). For comparison’s sake, the Cleveland Cavaliers lead the league in at-the-rim FGP at 66.8.
Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah rank 1st and 2nd on the Bulls in both Defensive Rating and Blocked Shot Percentage. And yet Noah (6 points, 8 rebounds) logged only 27 minutes while Thomas (12 points, 6 boards, 1 steal) played a mere 15. And mind you, this game included an overtime session. Neither player blocked a single shot. In fact, as a team, the Bulls finished with zero swats. Since neither man was in foul trouble — Joakim finished with 2 personals while Tyrus had only 1 — we have to assume Noah was limited by his plantar fasciitis and that Thomas remains outside of coach Vinny Del Negro’s circle of trust.
Meanwhile, Brad Miller played 33 minutes and contributed 8 points and 1 lonely rebound. I have no idea how a seven-footer could log that many minutes and yet finish with a single board.
I should also point out that Taj Gibson — who is 3rd on the Bulls in Defensive Rating but is also struggling with his own case of plantar fasciitis — played horribly (0-for-4, zero points, 1 rebound) and appeared for only 16 minutes.
At any rate, the Bulls lost this game on the defensive end, which isn’t terribly surprising considering their three best defensive players (by the numbers) spent most of the game on their butts or passing out Gatorade in the team huddles. It also at least partially explains why Chicago was so badly exploited by former Bull Elton Brand (26 points, 12-for-22, 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots), Andre Iguodala (25 points, 11-for-19, 8 boards, 8 assists) and Samuel Dalembert (10 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks).
And did I mention the Bulls aren’t all that great on the second night of back-to-back games? It wasn’t just the limited PT for the big men. Everybody appeared to be a step slow. Let’s hope they get some rest — and that Joakim and Taj are feeling better — before Friday night’s game in Atlanta.
Timeout Tally:
Based on By The Horns reader Tony C.’s assessment that the Bulls typially fail after a timeout, I decided to start tracking the actual results on a game-by-game basis. Last night, Vinny called a total of nine timouts.
1st timeout: Thomas scored a layup (Rose assist)
2nd timeout: Luol Deng hit a 15-footer
3rd timeout: Deng nailed a three-pointer (Rose assist)
4th timeout: Brad Miller knocked down a jumper (Rose assist)
5th timeout: Rose missed a 5-footer
6th timeout: Rose missed a tough 18-footer at the end of regulation
7th timeout: Bulls commit a shot clock violation
8th timeout: John Salmons scored a layup (Miller assist)
9th timeout: Kirk Hinrich turned the ball over
So five of the timeouts resulted in a score, two were Rose misses (the second of which was a bit of a wash) and the other two resulted in costly turnovers in OT.
Derrick Rose and the Bulls got punched in the mouth by the Clippers.
Back when I was four or five years old, my mom once dragged me to visit my great grandmother on a Friday night. That was the last thing I wanted to do, not because I didn’t love my great grandma, but because Friday night was when CBS aired my favorite television show: The Incredible Hulk. I finally nagged my mom into leaving so I wouldn’t miss Bill Bixby’s first transformation into Lou Ferrigno. No sooner had we pulled into the garage than I jumped out of the car and raced to the living room…where I promptly tripped over our dog and faceplanted directly onto the TV stand.
I ended up making a trip to the emergency room, losing a tooth and missing the entire Hulk episode. My point? Sometimes you go home and fall flat on your face. Just ask the Chicago Bulls.
Then the Bulls got thumped by the Los Angeles Clippers in their first game back in the United Center. Talk about a buzz kill.
And ah, those zany Clippers. Last week, they lost back-to-back road games by double digits to the New Jersey Nets (4-42) and Minnesota Timberwolves (11-38) before getting obliterated by the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Let’s face it, The Other L.A. Team was reeling. This game should have been a gimmie for the red-hot Bulls. Or so I thought.
Well, apparently the Bulls thought so too, because they showed up and played like a team that expected the win to be given to them. But this is the NBA. Wins aren’t gift wrapped and handed out, teams have to take them. Well, Vinny didn’t have his team prepared to do that, and the players obviously weren’t ready to face a Clippers squad that was desperate to salvage a little pride after their recent disasters.
The result: Chicago shot 38 percent as a team and gave up 24 points off 20 turnovers. And mind you, the Bulls had a full three days off after beating the Hornets in New Orleans on Friday night, which made their sloppy, disjointed effort even more disappointing.
Nobody played well. Nobody. Derrick Rose went 7-for-20 from the field (including 2-for-12 on jumpers) and finished with just as many turnovers as assists (4 and 4). Luol Deng was 6-for-14 and made some incredibly stupid plays, like overdribbling for 10 seconds and then trying to shoot over Marcus Camby. Kirk Hinrich finished 3-for-9 and appeared to have lost confidence in his shot by the end of the game. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson played like their feet were hurting. The bench missed 17 of 24 shots.
What happened to that “us against the world” mentality? The Bulls came out flat and, at times, looked intimidated by the Clippers’ 18th ranked defense. Marcus Camby (11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 blocks) was an impenetrable wall. Chris Kaman (21 points, 11 boards) was a bully. And the Chicago players apparently needed a map to locate Eric Goron (a game-high 24 points, including 18 in the first half). Ditto for Rasual Butler (16 points, 6-for-8, 3-for-3 from downtown).
Said Rose: “We were just making bad plays, making bad decisions. It was tough the whole night.”
Added Captain Kirk: “We were doing what it takes to win on the road. Tonight we lacked intensity and got beat for it.”
Okay, okay, sure. But that’s al “Captain Obvious” type of stuff. The better question to answer is: Why? Why did they play like that after performing so well on the road? They appeared to be a step slow on defense, and there was waaaaaay too much standing around on offense. The Bulls do not have talented one-on-one players, and yet there were countless possessions that were one-pass-and-shoot, or even no-pass-and-shoot.
Said Vinny: “…our activity was so complacent as far as ball movement.”
No kidding.
Of course, the road trip should have taught us that as Rose goes, so go the Bulls. And Derrick simply didn’t have it last night. Said Rose: “I was definitely off. My rhythm wasn’t there. It seemed all game we were turning it over, making bad decisions.”
It’s a brutal reminder that, as well as the team has played lately, their margin of error is exceedingly slim.
“We’re not a team that can take anyone lightly,” said Vinny. “When your top players don’t play well, it’s hard to beat good teams. It’s hard to beat any team, for that matter.”
Again I say: No kidding.
By the way, By The Horns reader Tony C. disagreed with the props that Barkley (and this blog) gave out to Del Negro and felt that this game was a perfect example of bad coaching: “Case in point: roughly 2:30 to go in the third quarter tonight, VDN calls a timeout. The Bulls come out and immediately turn the ball over. This is absolutely typical – and damning – of Del Negro’s quality as a coach. Timeouts crystalize coaches’ decision making; they are much like chess moves, in that the coach has far more control over that single play than the vast majority of (more spontaneous) plays. The Bulls are typically terrible out of timeouts, underscoring just how bad a tactician VDN is. Oh, and after that timeout, the Bills went from down six or eight to down eighteen in a matter of two minutes. VDN sat and watched the Clippers’ momentum building, rather than calling another timeout to stop the bleeding.”
And so here we are again, question the Bulls, their talent, their desire, and, naturally, their coaching. Maybe we’ll get some answers tonight in Philly.
TrueHoop Network: Kevin Arnovitz of ClipperBlog: “Chris Kaman appears a lot more comfortable as a jump shooter than as a post practitioner, but you’d never know he’s nursing a bad ankle. He grabs 11 rebounds, dishes out some pretty assists. The Clips are now a .500 team when Kaman suits up. Whether it’s because he’s talented, or because his coach has made him the entry point for the offense, or because he’s a lot more valuable than his defensive replacements, it’s increasingly clear that the Clippers aren’t going to compete without a healthy Kaman.”
Said Sir Charles: “Vinny has done a good job. I couldn’t understand why they were trying to [throw] him under the bus. The truth of the matter was Derrick Rose was not playing well [early in the season]. They say he was injured, so I give him a pass on that, but the reason the Bulls weren’t playing well was Derrick Rose wasn’t playing well. I don’t think it was fair they were thinking about firing Vinny. Let me preface this by saying Vinny is a friend of mine, so I’m a little biased, but Vinny did not deserve to get fired.”
Seriously? Seriously.
Added Barkley: “Give Vinny some credit. I mean, they’ve done a good job. They could have cracked under pressure, because I tell you, I’ve been around teams when there are a bunch of trade rumors and thinking about the coach [getting fired], and the team packs it in and folds. So give Vinny some credit. He’s done a good job.”
You know what? As usual, Chuck has a point. Although I’m not ready to start campaigning for Del Negro as Coach of the Year, and I won’t scribbling “Vinny and the Bulls 4 Ever” on my Trapper Keeper any time soon, the reality is this: Vinny really has done a pretty good job all things considered.
Remember, Del Negro had his head on the block last season when Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf declared Chicago’s season “a disaster” and “embarrassing.” The Bulls responded with a late-season push into playoffs, where they nearly dethroned the defending champion Boston Celtics in one of the greatest first-round postseason series of all time. The Bulls endured another slow start this season, thanks to the loss of leading scorer Ben Gordon, injuries to key players (Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas), and, of course, a schedule that was front-loaded with difficult road games.
But, as I’ve noted in some of my game recaps, Vinny has made some key adjustments that turned things around, the biggest of which has been starting Kirk Hinrich at shooting guard. That gives the starting lineup two playmakers and shifts Kirk onto the opposing team’s best backcourt player…which frees up Derrick Rose to expend most of his energy on the offensive end. And considering Rose has been playing All-Star basketball lately, it’s hard to argue with the results.
But more impressive has been the Chicago’s transition to a defense-first team. Last season, the team was 18th in Defensive Rating. In December of 2008, they gave up 105.5 PPG, and they surrendered about 104 PPG between February and March of 2009. The Bulls were basically beating teams by outscoring them, which is a double-edged sword in team sports. Especially for teams like the Bulls, who lack an inside scoring threat and therefore live and die by the jump shot.
Vinny preached defense to the press all summer, and it looks like he meant it. The Bulls currently rank 1st in Blocks Per Game (6.5), 2nd in Opponents Field Goal Percentage (.436), 4th in Opponents At-The-Rim Field Goal Percentage (.564), 7th in Opponents Turnovers (13.5), 7th in Defensive Efficiency and 8th in Opponents Three-point Percentage (.341). Believe it or not, the Bulls are an elite defensive unit.
All that being said, I’m still not 100 percent sold on Vinny as Chicago’s Coach of the Future. But Barkley is correct. After all the bashing that’s been done, Del Negro deserves a little credit for the Bulls’ success.
Speaking of credit for the Bulls success, Charles also thinks Joakim Noah should be getting some. Like, in the form of an All-Star nod.
Said Chuckles: “I was a little disappointed that Noah did not make the All-Star team. Me and Doug Collins were pushing for Noah. Noah’s become one of my favorite players to watch, and I was really pulling for him to make the All-Star team. Because he’s been the most consistent player all season long for the Bulls. Derrick Rose is clearly their best player and plays well, but Noah’s been their most consistent player all year, and I wanted him to make the All-Star team.”
However, let’s not get too excited. Not quite yet, anyway. After all, Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis), Taj Gibson (ditto) and Brad Miller (sore knee) sat out of practice yesterday. And the Bulls have some work to do before they can get any rest.
From tomorrow through February 10 — Chicago’s last night on the job before the All-Star break — the Bulls have six games. They play three bad teams, one mediocre team, and two of the top three teams in their conference. A strong push could put the Bulls in a great position for the second half of the season.
Versus the Los Angeles Clippers:
The Clips (20-27) are coming off back-to-back-to-back blowout losses against the league’s two worst teams (the New Jersey Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves) and its best (the Cleveland Cavaliers). As usual, it’s a bad time to be a member of The Other L.A. Team.
But the Bulls need to beware. Wounded animals are always dangerous. Especially when they have big, sharp, pointy teeth…which the Clippers don’t now that I think about it. They rank 24th in Offensive Rating (103.8) and 18th in Defensive Rating (107.7). If the Bulls are going to make the playoffs and maybe earn the fifth or sixth seed, they pretty much have to win at home against bad teams.
At Philadelphia:
Considering the amount of talent they have on the roster, the 76ers (16-31) are one of the league’s most disappointing teams. But, again, they have a lot of talent on the roster, including former Bull Elton Brand. Chicago will need to take care of the ball, because Philly ranks 6th in Opponents’ Turnover Percentage (.143).
At Atlanta:
The Hawks (30-16) are the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls (23-22) are a half-game out of sixth. See where I’m going with this? There’s a very distinct possibility these teams could meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Chicago would be well-served by a very strong effort, especially since they lost 118-83 the last time they faced Atlanta’s Air Force on the road. The Bulls will need a particularly strong defensive showing, considering the Hawks rank 4th in Offensive Rating (111.4).
Versus the Miami Heat:
The Heat (24-23) have been on-again, off-again all season. They’re only 5-5 in their last ten games, and four of those wins were against bad teams (the Wizards, Pacers, Kings and Pistons). Plus, Mario Chalmers (partially torn ligament in left thumb), Michael Beasley (hyperextended right knee) and Dwyane Wade (back spasms) are all hurt.
Meanwhile, the Bulls — thanks to the emergence of newly minted All-Star Derrick Rose — are a team on the rise. Which mean, of course, there may not be a better time to audition the team for Chicago native and free-agent-to-be Dwyane Wade. Memo to D-Wade: You really can come home again.
At Indiana:
The Pacers (16-32) are bad. They’re one of only three teams (along with the Nets and Timberwolves) with a worse offensive rating than the Bulls (101.1 versus 101.6). And while Chicago currently ranks 9th in Defensive Rating (104.2), Indy is 16th (106.9). Let’s hope that defensive edge is enough. It was when the Bulls beat the Pacers 104-95 in Chicago back on December 29.
Versus the Orlando Magic:
The Bulls faced the Magic at home on January 2…and they won 101-93. Of course, Orlando is currently 2nd in the East while the Bulls are ranked 7th. In other words, this is another potential playoff preview. And although I know it’s a little early to be talking about the playoffs, the fact that “Bulls” and “playoffs” can appear in the same sentence feels kind of good.
Anyway, the Magic currently rank 1st in Defensive Rebounding Percentage (,776), fourth in Effective Field Goal Percentage (.522), 5th in Defensive Rating (103.0) and 5th in Opponents Effective Field Goal Percentage (.477). In other words, this is going to be a tough one.
