Chicago fans didn’t expect the Bulls to give them a lump of coal like this, not at home on Christmas Day against the team that used a contract with a “poison pill” to steal Omer Asik away from them last summer.

The numbers are painful to review. Better bite your lip before reading on.

Houston scored 120 points. That’s a season-high for Bulls opponents.

The Rockets had 31 fast break points and 66 points in the paint. They led by as many as 35 points.

Houston shot 56 percent from the field and 40 percent on threes. They went 20-for-24 at the line (83.3 percent). Their Effective Field Goal Percentage (61.0), True Shooting Percentage (64.8) and Offensive Rating (130.4 points per 100 possessions) were absurd.

As if that weren’t enough, the Rockets outrebounded the Bulls 45-31. That included a 10-7 edge in offensive rebounds. But the offensive rebounding situation was actually worse than the raw numbers indicate given the differences in the teams’ shooting percentages. Houston’s Offensive Rebounding Percentage (29.4) was almost comically better than Chicago’s (16.7).

Essentially, the Bulls were outworked and outclassed in every conceivable way.

Said Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau: “(We were) completely outplayed right from the start. My job is to have them ready and obviously we were not ready so that part’s on me … the thing is we had a bad fourth quarter in New York, we had a bad performance in Atlanta, and we followed it up today. So things can change very quickly in this league. If you’re not right and ready and you don’t have an edge, you’re not going to win without playing with the right amount of intensity.”

Nate Robinson — who at times seemed like the only Bulls player with a pulse last night — begged to differ.

Said Robinson: “It’s on us. It has nothing to do with coach. Coach does a great job of preparing us and getting us ready for the games. It’s all on us so we’re not going to let him take the blame on that and we got to do better (Wednesday) and we will.”

Little Nate was a ball of fire, scorching the Rockets for 27 points in 28 minutes while shooting 9-for-16 from the field, drilling four three-pointers and earning a team-best seven free throw attempts.

Unfortunately, Robinson’s energy wasn’t enough to snap the rest of the team out of their their collective defensive stupor.

Of course, this meltdown didn’t hit the Bulls out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue. It seems to have started last Friday in New York when the Knicks dropped 45 points on them in the fourth quarter. It continued the next night in Atlanta when the Hawks beat the Bulls like a red-headed step child.

Those five quarters of basketball were about as un-Bulls-like as they come. I figured they would come out ready last night. No team wants to get punked at home on Christmas. No way that was going to happen.

But here we are. And — more good news! — Luol Deng has a sprained ankle and is questionable for tonight’s game in Indiana.

Making matters even worse was Asik’s performance: 20 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 1 assist and a game-best plus-minus score of +41 in 35 minutes. Omer so thoroughly outplayed presumed All-Star-to-be Joakim Noah (8 points, 9 rebounds, 5 turnovers, -20) that the Bulls front office probably would have agreed to a mid-game trade if such a thing had been possible.

When the Bulls made a mini-run in the fourth, Asik was there, clogging up the paint and intimidating any Bulls player who dared to make googly eyes at the rim.

Said Houston coach Kevin McHale: “Omer is a big-time player in the middle. Tonight he was blocking shots, getting rebounds and outletting the ball for us. He’s got a big body and sets wide picks for us. This was a very good game for him.”

Asik was 9-for-13 from the field. As you can see, all but one of those shot attempts were right at the rim.

Said Noah: “I think he was great just rolling to the basket, off pick and rolls. They play four out, one in, and he was able to get a lot of easy things around the rim. I think we should have fouled him more around the rim, made him earn it a little bit more around the rim but he played very well.”

Fouling Asik might have helped. But when an opposing team has 31 fast break points and 66 points in the paint, forcing a poor foul shooter to hit a couple free throws probably wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

James Harden (26 points, 7-for-13 from the field, 11-for-13 at the line), Jeremy Lin (20 points, 8-for-12, 11 assists) and Chandler Parsons (23 points, 9-for-15 from the field, 4-for-5 on threes) all took turns lighting the Bulls up. The defense wasn’t just bad. It was embarrassing. The effort an intensity just wasn’t there.

Said Thibs: “If you are not right and don’t have an edge, you are not going to win without the right amount of intensity. They completely outplayed us from the start.”

There’s not much more you can say. And there’s not much more you can say about the loss.

Tonight’s game against the Pacers will be a real gut check.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.

The post Game Recap: Rockets 120, Bulls 97 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Brad Miller auditions for the New York Lyric Opera

Last year, the Bulls turned their season around by acquiring Brad Miller and John Salmons from the Sacramento Kings. This year, Chicago is sending Salmons to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson. I’m sorry, make that the expiring contracts of Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson. That distinction is pretty important.

Update! This trade may change so that the Bulls end up with Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander instead of Thomas and Elson. Which doesn’t change all that much from Chicago’s perspective. They’re just different expiring contracts.

This trade wasn’t pushed through to make the Bulls a better team. Not right now, anyway. But it will clear almost $6 million worth of salary off Chicago’s books for next season. That means the Bulls will be about $20 million under the cap for the already legendary Summer of 2010.

Of course, Cleveland’s move for Antawn Jamison should put to rest any thoughts in Chicago — or New York, or anywhere else outside of Cleveland — of landing LeBron James. However, Amar’e Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and others are all theoretically still in play. Of course, John Paxson and Gar Forman will have plenty of competition from the Clippers, Heat, Knicks, Nets and Wizards…all of whom will have the same kind of wheelin’, dealin’ cash.

In the meantime, the Bulls are a little worse.

Don’t get me wrong. Salmons hasn’t had a great season by any stretch of the imagination. But he’s still the team’s second-best three-point shooter and its third-leading scorer. Make that was. I guess it’s time for Devin Brown and Jannero Pargo to step up.

Said Derrick Rose: “Man, that’s crazy thinking about John leaving. He just came here [in a trade with the Kings on Feb. 18, 2009]. But, it’s the NBA. If he does get traded we’ll definitely miss him, but [the season] must continue. … It hurts your team a little bit. Like when you have a game right after [a trade]. But that’s just how the NBA goes.”

Added coach Vinny Del Negro: “It’s never easy. It’s never fun. We’re dealing with good character people. It’s part of the business. You just have to deal with it, and move forward.”

It’s part of the business. That about sums it up. That doesn’t make it feel any less awkward, though.

And how awkward must it have been for Salmons before last night’s game against the Knicks? Del Negro got a call before the game telling him to leave Salmons at the team’s hotel. Not a very nice way to say goodbye.

But, yeah, it’s just business.

That left the Bulls — who are still without Joakim Noah (plantar faciitis) — two men down for the second game of their home-and-home series with the Knicks. Fortunately, the Knicks are still the Knicks. And they have so many irons in the trading fire that they probably had some focus problems of their own.

Nate Robinson, who was rumored to be on his way to Boston, missed the game with “flu-like symptoms.” Jared Jeffries, who was supposed to be involed in a trade for Tracy McGrady that is now off the table, played only six minutes after hyperextending his right knee.

But hey, with or without those two guys, it’s not like the Knicks play defense.

Still, New York sprinted out to a 64-53 lead at the half and went up 74-60 when Al Harrington drilled a three-pointer with 8:33 left in the third quarter. But believe it or not, the Bulls were saved from a blowout by an offensive explosion from Brad Miller. Miller — who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds — scored 13 huge points in the third, and he did it in a variety of ways.

Miller started things off by nailing a trey, which meant his defender (David Lee) now had to respect his jumper. If you know anything about Big Brad, you know what that led to: an up fake followed by slow, loping, but ridiculously effective drives to the basket…and one. Miller than went to a rare post up and executed an up-and-under for another three-point play. After that came another up-fake-and-drive that Miller finished off with a running eight-footer. In between all that, he grabbed an offensive rebound, got fouled and hit both free throws.

After that running jumper, Miller grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end and threw a full-court pass to Kirk Hinrich for a layup that pulled the Bulls to within 78-74 with 5:43 left in the third, forcing Mike D’Antoni to call a timeout. But the damage had been done.

Chicago pulled to within two points by the end of the quarter and you could tell the players were stocked. Everybody wanted in on the action. Pargo opened the fourth quarter by canning a three-pointer. James Johnson drove in for a layup. Miller hit an 18-footer. Tyrus Thomas knocked down a couple buckets. Hinrich drove in for a layup. Deng earned (and hit) a couple foul shots. Rose swooped in for a layup. Miller hit another three. Deng connected from 19 feet. Rose got another layup. Deng got a layup. And so on.

All Mike D’Antoni — sorry, make that Mike ‘Antoni — could do was call timeouts and pray the Bulls would stop hitting shots. You can’t start teaching defensive right before the trade deadline. Chicago ended up outscoring the New York 33-25 in the fourth quarter. Game, set, match.

Seriously, just a dreadful defensive game for the Knicks. The Bulls hit 27 shots at the rim and scored 70 points in the paint. On the road. I sure hope anybody who played for the “bloodbath” Knicks teams of the 1990s weren’t watching this game. It would have been enough to drive them to drink.

I should also mention that Derrick Rose was huge. He finished with a co-game-high 27 points (10-for-19) and helped out Miller by scoring six points in a 12-2 third-quarter run. He also had 6 assists. It’s hard to believe the kid is dealing with a bruised hip and a sore back. I guess sometimes playing the Knicks is the best prescription for a player’s aches and pains.

Timeout Tally:
1st timeout: Thomas missed a layup
2nd timeout: The Knicks had free throws coming
3rd timeout: New York had free throws coming again
4th timeout: Deng got fouled (2-for-2)
5th timeout: Hinrich hit a jumper
6th timeout: The Knicks were forced to foul

Quick trade thoughts:
As of right now, it looks like the Bulls are finished making trades, which will probably leave their fans either yawning or feeling a little disappointed. I’m guessing people wanted management to either seal a deal to free up even more cap room for next summer or pull of a trade that would — how shall I put this? — actually benefit the 2009-10 Chicago Bulls.

Again, as of right now, not gonna happen.

Fiscal responsibility and future planning are the co-names of the game. Especially with the Bulls one game over .500 (27-26). Maybe if Chicago hadn’t been able to recover from that 10-17 start, disappointment might have forced a more aggressive approach. But if management knows this team can play .500-ish basketball and compete for a playoff spot, they probably figure they won’t have to face a fan revolt this season…which makes pinning all their hopes on next season that much easier.

On a personal level, I’m bummed about the Salmons trade. I like the guy, and I hope he succeeds in Milwaukee. I’m also mildly put off that the Bulls couldn’t swing something that could benefit them in the short term as well as the long term.

But hey, it’s just part of the business, right?

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Goodbye, John Salmons: Bulls 115, Knicks 109 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Just call me Nostradamus.

It wasn’t too hard to figure, really. The Celtics had a day of rest going for them, and they were playing at home. The Bulls were coming off a big home win against a championship contender, and they had to hit the road immediately afterward to play another contender. (Note that the Bulls arrived at their Boston hotel at around 3 a.m. An hour later, a malfunctioning fire alarm went off for several hours. Must have been Red Auerbackhs ghost.) And remember how flat the Spur looked on the second night of back-to-backs?

Still, that 118-90 beatdown was a real bummer of a loss. Only Joakim Noah (16 points, 7-for-10, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots) played well. Derrick Rose couldn’t create shots for his teammates and dished only two assists in 24 minutes. Luol Deng bricked his first five field goal attempts and scored only four points on eight shots. Tyrus Thomas almost had a double-double (10 points, 8 boards) but went 3-for-7 (including 1-for-3 on layups and 0-for-2 on jumpers). And John Salmons (missed his first six shots, finished 2-for-14) played even worse than he did against the Spurs…which I didn’t think was possible.

Said Brad Miller: “That was an old-fashioned ass-whooping. You can go across the board with everything. They kicked our ass in. They were more physical. They moved the ball. They hit a lot of 3s and our defense obviously wasn’t there.”

More physical is right. There was plenty of uncalled contact last night, especially when the Bulls dared to venture into the paint, which is why they hit only 10 of their 21 layup attempts. A team missing more than half of its point-blank shots is a bad sign. So is missing almost 70 percent of its jumpers (including only 2-for-14 from downtown).

If the offense was bad, the defense was road kill. The Celtics shot almost 60 percent from the field despite Rasheed Wallace’s 2-for-9 performance.  Boston also canned 50 percent of their treys. It was just that kind of night.

“Uh oh” Watch:
Salmons is now 5-for-29 in the first two games (2-for-14 in threes). According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “Asked if he’s OK with his shot selection, Salmons paused for 27 seconds, uttered one ‘um’ and took three deep breaths before answering. ‘I’ll go to the film and see what the defense is doing, see what I’m doing wrong and adjust,’ Salmons said. ‘I’ve never been this bad. I have to do something different.'” God I hope so.

This is probably a bad time to mention that Ben Gordon is averaging 23.5 PPG and hitting 50 percent of his threes for the Pistons so far this season.

TrueHoop Network:
Zach Lowe from Celtics Hub: “So, to clarify: Rondo’s teammates took 21 shots directly off of Rondo passes — Rondo would have been credited with 21 assists had they made them all. Rose, in 24 minutes of playing time, created a whopping 5 shots for his teammates. Once again: Rajon created 21 shots in 30 minutes for his teammates; Rose created 5 in 24. You take Derrick, I’ll take Rajon.”

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Not exactly the playoff rematch everybody was expecting appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Let me be frank: When your opponent shoots over 54 percent and (according to the game recap) sets a new franchise high for points scored, chances are you didn’t win the ballgame. And the Bulls did not, dropping a 134-129 overtime decision to the Raptors in Toronto.

It’s called “a hand in the face,” guys. Try it.

Somewhat ironically, Neil Funk and Stacey King began today’s broadcast by noting that defense was the foundation of Chicago’s recently improved play. I couldn’t help but think, “Isn’t this the same team that let Pacers rookie Brandon Rush light them up for a career-high 29 points yesterday?” But hey, they’re the ones who get paid to call the games. I just blog about them.

Nonetheless, I guess it was just Chicago’s weekend to surrender career-highs, as Toronto’s Jose Calderon established a personal best by dishing out 19 assists, which matched Damon Stoudamire’s franchise-high. Maybe the Bulls were worn down by a hectic schedule — they’ve played six games in the last nine days — or maybe they didn’t expect the second-worst team in their conference to shoot lights out, but the Raptors hit a better percentage on jumpers (31-for-56) than layups (12-for-25). So kudos on your inside D, guys. But as for the perimeter defense…well, like I said, it’s called “a hand in the face” for a reason.

Even when the Bulls rallied back in the fourth quarter after falling behind 103-86 with 8:05 left to play, the Raptors still put up 29 points in the period. So the comeback was fueled more by offense (hence the 42-point outburst) than defense. And that’s what doomed the Bulls in overtime.

Derrick Rose had just put Chicago up by a point (127-126) with 29 ticks left in the extra session. After Toronto called timeout, Vinny Del Negro subbed in a cold Joakim Noah to check Chris Bosh (31 points, 15 boards). Noah must have forgotten that Bosh is a lefty, because he gave Chris the left-handed drive. Bosh got to the basket with frightening ease, and even though he bonked the the layup, he had beaten Joakim so badly that he easily grabbed the offensive rebound and put it in. Even worse, Rose fouled him on the attempt. Bosh hit the free throw to complete the three-point play, putting the Raptors up 129-127 with 14 seconds left.

Now it’s worth noting at this point that John Salmons didn’t get any daylight down the stretch or in overtime. According to Vinny, it was because John was suffering the effects of a “tight groin.” But the Bulls missed him in the clutch. Not so much because he was shooting all that well — he finished 3-for-7 from the field — but because he’s a scoring threat from outside and on the drive. Without Salmons in the game, Toronto’s D had a tactical advantage. They were able to double and collapse and harass Rose and Gordon into giving up the ball. Sometimes to the wrong team.

And so it was that, after Bosh’s three-point play, Rose drove into the paint and drew three defenders, leaving Tyrus Thomas alone underneath the basket (and Brad Miller unguarded from 15 feet out, for that matter). Derrick tried to slip the ball through the triple-team, but it got snatched away. Chicago was forced to foul Andrea Bargnani (28 points, 10-for-20), who nailed both foul shots, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Said Rose: “I thought I had an opening to pass the ball to Tyrus [Thomas] and one of their guys tipped the ball and I lost it. It’s disappointing and that’s why I’ll put this game on me tonight.”

In all fairness to Derrick, the game wasn’t lost on that play. It was lost on the defensive end. Let’s face it, when a team hits 55 percent of its shots…offense is not the problem. Which means it’s either time to commit to both ends of the court or invest in an inflatable defender.

The net result: The Bulls went from seventh to eighth — just like that! — and are now one game behind the Pistons for seventh and two games ahead of the Bobcats.

Player notes: Gordon was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring a game-high 37 points on 15-for-26 shooting, not to mention the clutch 22-footer at the fourth-quarter buzzer that forced overtime. Strangely, BG ended up with a plus-minus score of -6. Huh. Rose had 23 points (9-for-13) and a team-high 9 assists. Noah put up 16 on near-perfect shooting (8-for-10), which can happen when all of your shots come within five feet. Speaking of which, Tyrus was back to his old tricks, going 2-for-8 from the outside (and, sadly, only 1-for-3 on layups). Ty did have a game-high 4 blocks, though. Miller provided some nice off-the-bench productivity with 14 points (6-for-10), 10 boards, 5 assists and the highest plus-minus score on the team (+7).

Extras: Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Repelled by the Raptors appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.