It all ends – and begins – in Charlotte tonight.

The Bulls regular season ends with a game against the playoff-bound Bobcats, fighting for position with the Washington Wizards.

Chicago can take the third seed with a win and Toronto Raptors loss in New York.

However, no matter the atmosphere of never giving up Tom Thibodeau has cultivated over the last few years, the Bulls will likely concede this game with little fight.

Chicago has it’s heart set on the fifth seed and likely playoff matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, or, should results go their way tonight, the Washington Wizards.

Should the Bulls make it through the first round, the unstable and unfancied Indiana Pacers would await, a much more palatable series than a meeting with Miami, the consensus pick to return to the NBA Finals.

Tonight’s game should be a strange affair for Bulls fans not used to seeing their team play with no drive to win. Joakim Noah should sit, and although most teams would rest entire starting fives, Tom Thibodeau will probably still play most of them.

Kirk Hinrich should sit, as should the likes of Jimmy Butler and D.J. Augustin. Expect the likes of Jimmer Fredette, Tony Snell and Ronnie Brewer to see larger minutes allocations tonight.

While I think Thibodeau will sit his stars, there’s a chance they start and play few minutes.

Probable (these are just guesses) Starters:

Chicago Bulls:

PG: Kirk Hinrich, 11th season. 9.1 points per game, 3.9 assists per game.

SG: Jimmy Butler, 3rd season. 13.1 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game.

SF: Mike Dunleavy, 12th season. 11.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game.

PF: Carlos Boozer, 12th season. 13.7 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game.

C: Joakim Noah, 7th season. 12.6 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game.

Charlotte Bobcats

PG: Kemba Walker, 3rd season. 17.6 points per game, 6.1 assists per game.

SG: Gerald Henderson, 5th season. 14.1 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game.

SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 2nd season. 7.2 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game.

PF: Josh McRoberts, 7th season. 8.5 points per game, 4,8 rebounds per game.

C: Al Jefferson, 10th season. 22.0 points per game, 10.8 rebounds per game.

The post Game #82 Preview: Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Bobcats appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Image from Flickr via Pacdog

Welcome back to the Bulls by the Horns weekly mailbag where we will answer some of your reader submitted questions about the Chicago Bulls and the NBA every Friday. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form or shoot a tweet to @AvikarSaini. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

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Charlotte is the 5th seed in the East. Do you think they’ll hang onto that spot so Chicago will get their draft pick this year?
Jesus E.

I doubt that the Bobcats will be able to hang onto the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference since htye have one of the league’s worst offenses (29th in points scored per game and 29th ranked offensive rating); however, I do think that there is a decent chance that Chicago could get Charlotte’s top-10 protected draft pick this offseason. The Bobcats currently have one of the league’s best defenses (2nd fewest points per game allowed and third ranked defensive rating) which will help them win a good number of games, despite the fact that their offense is anemic. Charlotte having the 3rd easiest schedule in the league this season the Eastern Conference being so bad definitely plays into Chicago’s favor.

With how bad the Bulls have been playing, it’s looking more and more like this roster is done and the Bulls are going to move some players. Who is the player most likely to be moved and to where?
Andrew H

Of all the players on Chicago’s roster, Luol Deng is most likely to be moved. The Bulls aren’t financially in a position to offer Deng the kind of contract he wants and because of that it looks like he’ll be gone this offseason. After experiencing what it was like to get nothing in return for Omer Asik, the Bulls have (hopefully) learned to take back what you can and not lose assets for nothing. Where Deng goes ultimately comes down to what the Bulls want in return for him. I personally believe Deng could end up with the Phoenix Suns because they need a wing player and are offering up draft picks. However that is pure speculation on my part and is based on no news reports or rumors, just my gut.

Waddle and Silvey asked “Would you rather have D-Rose or would you rather trade him for No. 1 pick, which probs would be Jabari?” on Twitter. What would you do?
Brett N

When I heard this question I thought it was an interesting question, but to me there’s only one way to go with this- trade Rose for the number 1 pick. I love Rose and all that he’s given to the franchise. I hope he recovers and can become the player he once was. But if given the opportunity I make that trade in a heartbeat. Rose isn’t guaranteed to become the player he once was (though I hang onto hope he’ll make a comeback), so his $20+ million contract could be a burden on the Bulls for the next few years. If Chicago could unload his contract and get a player like Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins (who look to be guaranteed stars in the NBA) for only $5 million per year, you have to make that trade.

Will the Bulls win another game this season?
Will Marsh (@IAmWillMarsh) via Twitter

With how bad things have been going, it looks so hard to believe they will, but I have confidence they’ll win some. They still have to play Miami and Indiana a few more times and always bring their A-game for them.

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag- 12/20/2013 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

From Flickr via FLC

The Bulls come off Saturday night’s morale-boosting win over the Pacers to host a Charlotte team looking to prove they have turned a corner this season.

Chicago’s win Saturday against the previously-unbeaten Pacers was built on the kind of play Chicago was expected to dominate with before the season began. They worked hard on defense – Luol Deng holding Paul George to a 3-14 shooting night – and the offense looked good coming off stronger showings against Toronto, Cleveland and Utah.

The Bulls have now won their last four games, all by a margin of at least 15 points, and will look to make it five before embarking on the annual “Circus Trip” of road games against Western Conference teams.

Charlotte flies into Chicago sitting with a 5-5 record and have some talking about a corner being turned since the signing of former Jazz big man Al Jefferson, though Cats fans will quickly remember the team won six of their first 10 last season before going 16-56 to end the year as the worst team in the league again.

Against the Cats Chicago will look to force Kemba Walker to create as much offense as possible, something he has failed to do all season. Walker is shooting an abysmal 34% from the field and has next to no outside threats around him. This allows opposing defenses to collapse on his drives and force him into tough, well-defended and inefficient shots, something the Bulls strive to achieve on every defensive possession.

Big Al has missed 7 of their 10 games already and is a doubt ahead of the game at the United Center, though whether he plays the Bulls game-plan remains the same. Derrick Rose will seek to continue to ease his way closer to the form he exhibited in preseason and looked as close to that as we’ve seen all season in Saturday’s win.

It’s very tough to predict the Cats having much success against Thibodeau’s overload-the-strong-side defense considering their lack of quality shooters to space the floor and punish overzealous Bulls rotations. That should allow Butler and Deng to rotate over to cut off driving and passing lanes around the ball and, should Big Al play, double him if Noah struggles with his size.

One big positive so far this season has been the consistent play of Carlos Boozer who has at times kept the Bulls within touching distance of an opponent. The shooting figures (57% from the field, 87% from the line) look good but the advanced stats belie other improvements too. His offensive rating of 117 easily bests any of his previous seasons and his assist percentages and PER are both at levels not seen since his All-Star seasons in Salt Lake City.

A win Monday night would set the Bulls on the right path as they kick off their annual long trip west to face the Nuggets in the first of six straight road games that includes trips to Portland and Los Angeles.

The post Game #9: Chicago Bulls vs Charlotte Bobcats Preview: Bulls target fifth straigh appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

The Good:
Luol Deng (31 minutes, 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) returned after missing five straight games with a hamstring injury and the Bulls managed to avoid losing at home to a lesser team…something that has happened six other times this season (including to the Bobcats).

The Better:
While Luol Deng was out, Jimmy Butler started in his place, averaging about 45 minutes per game. With Deng back, Butler logged only 31 minutes of PT, but his performance sure didn’t suffer any. He scored a career-high 19 points on sizzling 7-for-10 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. What’s more, Jimmy attempted a game-best seven free throws (and made five).

Butler also scored three clutch baskets as the Bobcats were making their final push:

5:16: Made a 21-footer to put the Bulls up 82-71
3:01: Hit a layup off an offensive rebound to put the Bulls up 84-74
1:53: Hit a layup off an offensive rebound to put the Bulls up 86-78

These three scores were huge for multiple reasons. The last two were big time hustle plays. They perfectly illustrated the persistence and desire that are powering Butler’s breakout. His final bucket was particularly amazing. Kirk Hinrich had missed a three-pointer and it looked like the Bobcats had come away with the board. Suddenly, the ball was in Jimmy’s hands, and he spun around hit a whirling layup (while, frankly, getting fouled without the call) and converted the dagger bucket (watch it here at around the 1:54 mark).

Now let’s talk about that long jumper. Going into the season, critics said Butler’s lack of shooting touch was going to hold back his development. In the opening weeks, Butler was incredibly hesitant to launch from distance, and his outside shooting stats aren’t great. According to Basketball-Reference, he’s only 7-for-29 on threes (24 percent) and 36-for-113 on jump shots (31 percent).

That said, Butler is 6-for-16 from 10-15 feet (37 percent) and 22-for-54 from 16-24 feet (40 percent), which aren’t terrible shooting percentages. What’s really holding him back is his three-point shooting.

Still, when you add his outstanding defense to the equation, Butler’s progress has been fantastic. He has become a dangerous weapon off the bench — now a clear and obvious upgrade from Ronnie Brewer — and might actually allow coach Tom Thibdodeau to get Deng a little rest now and then.

Said Deng: “Jimmy’s playing great. Jimmy’s playing great for us right now. We need that. It helps with the depth of our team. He’s just got to keep growing. He’s just got to keep growing, keep getting better — he plays so hard. This is what we’ve been doing all year. But he’s been patient, he’s been working on his game and I’m just so happy for him. I’m so happy for him that … sometimes it takes time to understand the game, the NBA, and what you can do. There’s a lot of areas he can get better at but what he’s shown so far is just his hard work and he’s going to keep on getting better.”

Added Butler: “I think it hit home the most whenever Lu came up to me and said, ‘You can do this. It’s your time. Step in and just keep playing the way you’ve been playing.’ When you hear that from an All-Star, from him, from Derrick [Rose], from [Joakim Noah], that’s big. And me only being here for almost two years now, I think that’s what I needed to hear. It’s not my play that gained confidence, it’s my teammates telling me that I can do it and that I’m out there producing. That’s what gains confidence more than my play.”

Player of the Game Runner Up:
If Butler was the player of the game — and he was — then Nate Robinson was the runner up. Little Nate’s packed a whole lot of performance into his 26 minutes off the bench: 15 points (6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from downtown), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots and only 1 turnover. Did you notice he had three blocked shots? The dude is four feet tall!

Nate also ignited Chicago’s offense to open the fourth quarter. He started things off with a three-pointer. Next he assisted on a breakaway dunk by Butler. Then he nailed another three. He followed that with a layup.

Considering Robinson is playing on a minimum contract, he is absolutely killing it. He leads the team in Assist Percentage (31.2), Steal Percentage (2.4) and Player Efficiency Rating (17.8). He’s second in Effective Field Goal Percentage (.501), True Shooting Percentage (.533), Offensive Rating (108 points per 100 possessions) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.152).

Bench Mobbing:
Chicago’s bench vastly outperformed their Charlotte counterparts, finishing with more points (45-29), rebounds (21-11), assists (7-4), steals (3-1) and blocked shots (7-2). Heck, based on the plus-minus stats, you could argue they vastly outplayed Chicago’s starters:

Starting Unit:
Joakim Noah (+7)
Kirk Hinrich (-1)
Rip Hamilton (-7)
Luol Deng (-7)
Carlos Boozer (-12)

Bench:
Taj Gibson (+21)
Nate Robinson (+14)
Marco Belinelli (+12)
Jimmy Butler (+12)

Look, fans still miss the old Bench Mob, and that’s fair. But it may be time to give management some props. The combination of Butler Robinson, Belinelli and Gibson are starting to really gel. According to Hoopstats, the Bulls bench currently ranks 11th in Efficiency and sixth in Efficiency Differential.

Said Boozer: “Our chemistry with our second group now is awesome. They come in the game (with) great confidence, making big plays, important plays, and I think our whole group is growing.”

Added Noah: “It’s huge. And I think that to get to where we want to get to we need everybody. It’s not about starters or bench, it’s us as a team. I think that a lot of guys have stepped up throughout this year and that’s the strength of this team is any given night Nate [Robinson] can really go off, Marco, Rip, Jimmy, everybody, Taj. Everybody has a role and we just feel like we can even play better.”

Playing Like an All-Star:
Noah sure isn’t resting on his laurels now that he’s finally made the All-Star team. Last night’s line: 45 minutes, 18 rebounds, 13 points, 7 assists, 5 blocked shots and a steal. His defense and rebounding were huge. His passing was phenomenal…Noah is without question the best passing big man in the game.

Over the last four games, Noah has pulled down 18, 16, 17 and 18 rebounds. He’s also dished out 2, 4, 10 and 7 assists.

He’s also leading the league in Defensive Win Shares (3.6) and third in rebounds per game (11.3).

If I have any concerns with Noah this season, it’s his shooting. His field goal percentage (45.8) is lower than it should be when you consider 320 of his 432 field goal attempts have come inside of nine feet. Here’s his shooting broken down by zones (via Basketball-Reference):

At the Rim: 131-for-237 (55.3 percent)
3-9 feet: 27-for-83 (32.5 percent)
10-15 feet: 12-for-25 (48 percent)
16-23 feet: 28-for-84 (33.3 percent)
3-pt: 0-for-3 (zero percent)

And now broken down by shot type:

Dunks: 42-for-45 (93.3 percent)
Tip shot: 27-for-68 (39.7 percent)
Layup: 65-for-129 (50.4 percent)
Hook shot: 14-for-42 (33.3 percent)
Jump shot: 50-for-148 (33.8 percent)

Now Noah’s overall shooting percentage obviously takes a hit from all the missed tip shots. But still, he’s converting only 55 percent of his shots at the rim and only half his layups. Those aren’t good percentages for an elite center. And 33 percent on hook shots? Kareem isn’t happy with you, Jo.

Noah absolutely deserves to be an All-Star and I would rank his all-around skill set as high or higher than any other big man in the league. But it would be nice to see Noah put the ball in the basket with a higher rate of efficiency.

Key Stats Part 1:
The Bulls once again hit more shots at the rim (20) than their opponent even attempted (19). Unfortunately, Charlotte was 7-for-11 from 3-9 feet, so Chicago’s advantage in points in the paint (44-38) wasn’t as big as it probably should have been.

Key Stats Part 2:
The Bulls had 22 assists on 35 baskets. The Bobcats had 12 assists on 32 baskets.

Having Flashbacks:
Was that a Ben Gordon sighting? It sure was. Air Gordon lit up his former team by hitting four of his five three-point attempts and scoring 18 points in 28 minutes. That’s the kind of performance Bulls fans remember, although the Bobcat faithful isn’t seeing a lot of it.

Gordon’s actually playing well this season. He’s near career-highs in field goal percentage (.450) and three-point percentage (.425) and he’s averaging 21.7 points per 36 minutes. And his PER of 17.2 is the second-best mark of his career. But he’s playing only 22 minutes off the bench for an 11-33 team. And a lot of nights you can tell he’s not into it the way he used to be.

Speaking of flashbacks, there was Tyrus Thomas too, launching (and missing) three jumpers and finishing with zero points and a plus-minus of -11 in seven minutes. I can’t say I miss that.

Quote of the Night:
Deng on his return: “[The injured hamstring] felt great. It felt great. Honestly, I was a little worried. I haven’t gone full speed like that. With the game I was worried a little bit about the change of speed. So I’m happy that I was able to not have any setbacks or any problems … It felt a little tight but it didn’t feel like it felt before I (injured) it last time or how it felt when I first (injured) it in Toronto. It was definitely a different feeling.”

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

The post Game Recap: Bulls 93, Bobcats 85 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Then there was the 21-point road defeat by the Los Angeles Clippers that began a three-game losing streak.

Let’s not forget that time the Bulls choked away a 27-point lead to the Milwaukee Bucks and fell to one game below .500.

And then there were those back-to-back blowout losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets, the latter of which was a 23-point home setback that represented the Bulls’ biggest loss of the season.

With all that said…

…yesterday’s home loss to the Charlotte Bobcats may have been the worst of this season’s lowlights.

As you can tell by our preview, the Bobcats are a terrible team: 30th in Opponents PPG and Defensive Rating; 29th in Effective Field Goal Percentage, Defensive Rebound Percentage and Opponents Effective Field Goal Percentage; 18-game losing streak; and so on.

If you thought the Bulls squeaking out a victory against the four-win Washington Wizards was a bad omen, you were absolutely right. The Bulls played like they were the ones who entered the game having lost 18 in a row by an average of 13.3 points per game. The Bobcats took it right to the home team. They played harder and hungrier. And the Bulls never could quite pull out of their collective stupor.

Chicago’s defense forced 18 turnovers…but that was about it. The Bobcats came in shooting 42.2 percent as a team for the season. They shot 47 percent last night. They also got to the line 38 times — an absurdly high number — and might have blown the Bulls out had they converted better than 55 percent of those attempts. In fact, Charlotte’s missed free throws were what kept the Bulls in the game during the first half.

The Bobcats are one of the league’s poorest rebounding teams, yet they won the battle of the boards 52-49.

The Bobcats are one of the league’s worst defensive teams, yet they held the Bulls to 81 points on 35.1 percent shooting from the field and an Offensive Rating of 86.5 points per 100 possessions.

The Bulls shot 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the first quarter and 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) in the fourth.

Chicago got double-doubles out of Carlos Boozer (19 points and 14 rebounds) and Luol Deng (20 points and 12 boards), but they combined to shoot 16-for-37 from the field. Nate Robinson started in place of Kirk Hinrich — who missed the game due to “a compilation of things” — and went 2-for-11. The bench combined to shoot 9-for-33 for the game and 0-for-12 during the final 12 minutes.

And then there was Joakim Noah.

I have never seen Noah play a less inspired 30 minutes. He finished with 2 points on two shots and only four rebounds, none of which came on the offensive end.

Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “Jo wasn’t feeling well today. He gave us what he had.”

Maybe that’s why Chicago’s interior defense was so awful. According to Hoopdata, the Bulls rank seventh in the league in Opponents Field Goal Percentage at the rim. And according to Hoopstats, the Bobcats score fewer points in the paint per game than any other NBA team while Bulls opponents score the second fewest points in the paint on average.

None of those trends held true last night. The paint looked like a red carpet to the Bobcats, who strolled in for 22 fast break points and 34 points in the paint overall. And many of Charlotte’s 38 foul shots came from drives to the basket.

Bad defense, worse offense, and poor rebounding. No team can win that way. Especially a team that’s still missing its superstar.

Said Thibs: “We put ourselves in a hole right off the bat. The defense and the rebounding and the low turnovers, that has to be there every night and right now, we’re not getting that done, so we’ve got to figure out a way to get that corrected. You can live with the shots — some nights, you’re going to shoot it better than others — but the defense and the rebounding is not where it needs to be. Every team in this league is talented. You look at the guys coming off the bench: Ben Gordon and [Ramon] Sessions, those are two big-time scorers. Kemba Walker’s playing well. You’ve got three guys who can crack you off the dribble. Henderson has been a very good player in the league for a while now, so they’re good. You’ve got to give them credit. They played well, very well.

“You can’t get discouraged if you’re missing shots. Right now, we’re not a 48-minute team. For some reason — and I’ve got to figure this out — I have to have us ready at the start of the game. We have to have an edge at the start of the game. We can’t ease our way into the game and say, ‘Okay, we’re good. We’ll get it corrected.’ It doesn’t work like that.”

Added Deng: “Obviously we’re not playing as well as we can. We’ve played better this year, so we’re not going to make excuses. We’ve just got to find our way out of it. We didn’t get stops in the fourth and they went on a little run, got the lead and never looked back. We’ve been there before. We’ve just got to play hard. Obviously we want to win. It’s not the end of the world. Just stay positive, keep playing together. When you’re struggling like that, next game we’ve just got to come out and play harder.”

Playing harder would be good. Playing better would be, well, even better.

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

The post Game Summary: Bobcats 91, Bulls 81 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf believes that, as long as they stay healthy, these Bulls could win “at least four championships.”

Members of the Celtics got to spend time with Barack Obama on Tuesday night before a fundraiser at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the President wanted to talk about the Bulls. Specifically, Obama thanked the Celtics for “giving” coach Tom Thibodeau to the Bulls.

Talk about buzz.

With all that serving as a backdrop, the Bulls blew out the Bobcats in Charlotte, winning for the 11th time in 13 games, moving to within 1.5 games of the Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and clinching their sixth playoff berth in the last seven seasons.

Of course, no “dream come true” moment is complete without a sobering dose of reality. In this case, the reality check was delivered in the form of a flagrant foul by Kwame Brown that put Carlos Boozer on the ground and injured the big man’s ankle in the process.

The incident occurred with 4:24 left in the game and the Bulls leading 92-75. Considering the circumstances — Chicago was in full control and Taj Gibson (14 points, 6-for-7) was playing better than Boozer (10 points, 4-for-9) anyway — you have to wonder why Carlos was still in the game at all. But then again, Thibodeau has had a habit this season of leaving his starters in the game longer than absolutely necessary.

I’m not blaming Thibs. Not exactly. But Rose was sitting at the time. Why not Booz?

Oh well. No use crying over milk that’s already been spilled. Which means we have to move on to the more important subject: The extent of Boozer’s injury.

It sure looked bad, didn’t it? Boozer walked to the bench under his own power. But he declined to shoot his free throws — Kyle Korver knocked them down in his place — and limped gingerly to the locker room before play could resume. His night was over. And his season could be on hold for…nobody knows how long.

Said Thibodeau: ‘‘The X-rays were negative. It’s too early. We’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow what type of swelling he has. It’s his left ankle. He came down pretty hard. I’m hoping it’s just his ankle.’’

Well, that tells us a fat lot of nothing.

Said Joakim Noah (12 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks): “[Boozer] said it hurts but it’s not too bad or broken or anything. Carlos brings a lot because of what he can do offensively. But we’re confident and capable. Taj is a helluva player. He’s someone you can rely on to step up and play physical and tough.”

Added Rose (20 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals): “It’s going to hurt us [if Boozer is out], but we still have to go out there and play the game. It’s going to take a lot more energy, a lot more focus going into games. And people are going to have to step up. If it happens, Taj did a great job when Carlos was out before. People are going to have to play big minutes. I think our team should be fine, but I hope he plays the next game.”

I hope so, too. But I also hope Taj is ready. Just in case.

Said Gibson: “I’ve been in this role many times the last two years. I have to get my mind right if it does happen, and just play my game, play with a lot of energy, and just try to hold it down while he’s down.”

As for the game, this was one of those “take care of business” wins. The Bobcats were without leading scorer Stephen Jackson (hamstring), sixth man Tyrus Thomas (knee surgery), backup center Joel Przybilla (knee) and reserve guard Matt Carroll (ankle). Charlotte shot lights out in the first half, but Chicago held them to 35 points in the second half to win going away.

Ultimately, the Bulls wore the Bobcats down with their defense and depth. Speaking of which, the reserves poured in 51 points, led by Kyle Korver (20 points on 7-for-10 shooting), Gibson (who, again, scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting) and Ronnie Brewer (10 points on 4-for-8 shooting).

Said Thibodeau: “We needed them. The first half, offensively we were good, defensively we were poor, very poor. The second half, the defense started coming around, and the bench was great. Carlos got in the early foul trouble, so that hurt us, but Taj came in, did a great job. Ronnie was playing really well, and, of course, Kyle, so they did a great job and C.J. was running the team well.”

The bench has been great this season. It really has. And it’ll have to be even better if Boozer has to miss many games. Okay, “have to be” may be overstating things. But the Bulls are trying to hold onto the second seed in the East while setting sights on the first seed. So, assuming the expectations remain high, the reserves will have to help carry the team through this crucial late-season stretch.

Jerry Reinsdorf, quote machine:
“If you don’t see something special in Derrick Rose, then you’re blind. We have an outstanding coach, an outstanding bunch of players, the team is deep, and if we stay healthy we have an awfully good chance of winning at least four championships.”

Michael Jordan, quote machine:
“[Rose] deserves [the MVP]. He’s playing that well. He deserves it. Without a doubt. And if he doesn’t get it, now he’ll see how I felt a lot of years.”

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

The post Expectations Rise: Bulls 101, Bobcats 84 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Charlotte Injury Report:
DeSagana Diop: ruptured right Achilles (out for season)
Matt Carroll: sprained left ankle (questionable for tonight’s game)
Stephen Jackson: strained left hamstring (probable for tonight’s game)
Tyrus Thomas: left knee surgery (probable for tonight’s game)

Overview:
The ghost of Michael Jordan is still hovering over the Bulls, not allowing them to dominate the Bobcats as they should this year. That’s probably not true, but Jordan can do anything in most Bulls fans’ opinions, and I wouldn’t put it past him.

The Bobcats are 2-1 against Chicago this year, taking the first two games between these squads (the Bobcats are 1-0 at home in the series). According to Stats LLC, the Bobcats are the only sub-.500 team to beat the Bulls more than once this season.

But Charlotte is struggling, and they made a lot of moves at the deadline that seemed to be waving the white flag. Knowing Jordan, it was possibly a golf flag.

Charlotte has lost 5 straight and are 6-10 since the start of February. They are in ninth place in the playoff race, one game back of the Pacers (27-36).

The Bulls on the other hand, have run through their last few games like its Pamplona. Chicago won 10 of their last 12. In those games, Chicago is allowing opponents to score just 87.75 points per game and that includes the 118 that Toronto put up in one of those losses. Over their last seven games, Chicago’s defense has been even better, allowing just 81.1 points per game. Charlotte only scores 93.4 points per game, second-to-last in the league, while the Bulls allow the least points in the league (91.5). I’m not good at math, but that looks great to me. And during this stretch, the Bulls have outscored opponents by seven points a game.

The task for the Bobcats will be even greater if Charlotte’s group of injured players can’t suit up. Ex-Bull Tyrus Thomas, who hasn’t played since the Bobcats beat Chicago on January 18, is expected to be back for the game. Thomas had 8 points and 2 rebound in 20 minutes of work during that game against Chicago.

Stephen Jackson also missed Charlotte’s last two games, but he too is expected to be back tonight. If he is out it will be a huge loss for the Bobcats. Jackson is their leading scorer and has averaged 16 points and more than 4 rebounds against Chicago this season. He averaged 23.3 points per game in the month of February, but is averaging just 7.5 points in his last two games (averaging 24.5 minutes).

The Jackson injury is escalated by the fact that he made the switch from shooting guard to small forward when Gerald Wallace was traded before the deadline. If Jackson is out, the Bobcats will have two players starting that weren’t in the starting lineup a few weeks ago. And they also have Kwame Brown starting. The only starting Brown should be doing, is the search for his next career.

Important matchup — D.J. Augustin vs. Derrick Rose:
Game 1: Bobcats win 96-91
Augustin: 22 points, 12 assists, 1 turnover
Rose: 17 points, 7 assists, 4 turnovers
Augustin outplays Rose and the Bobcats win.

Game 2: Bobcats win 83-82
Augustin: 15 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover
Rose: 33 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers
Rose outplayed Augustin but got little help from his fellow starters (28 points between the four other starters), Bobcats win.

Game 3: Bulls win 106-94
Augustin: 5 points, 5 assists, 3 turnovers
Rose: 18 points, 13 assists, 6 turnovers
Even with the turnovers, Rose crushed Augustin in this matchup. Augustin only played 21 minutes because his ineffectiveness. Shaun Livingston took many of those minutes, scoring 13 points in 27 minutes.

Augustin will have to play even better this time without Gerald Wallace and either playing with an injured Tyrus Thomas and Stephen Jackson or playing without the two of them.

And remember, this will be the first time this season that the Bulls are at full strength against the Bobcats.

About the Author:
Braedan Ritter was born and raised in Pennsylvania but was swayed by gifts from his aunt to follow the Chicago sports teams. It didn’t hurt that the Bulls had a guy named Michael Jordan playing for them, and the Sixers had…Derrick Coleman. Braedan has stuck with Chicago through thick and thin, and really thin (see: Chicago Cubs). And speaking of Coleman, Braedan is currently a student at Syracuse University.

The post Bulls-Bobcats Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

That’s what Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson had to say about Kyle Korver, Chicago’s Mr. Perfect, who scored 15 points in 15 minutes off the bench while going 5-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 from downtown and 2-for-2 from the line. Korver drilled two of those three-pointers and both of his free throws during the fourth quarter as the Bulls finally pulled away from the Bobcats.

It was another one of those “total team effort” games for the Bullies, who had to sweat out a rough night from Derrick Rose (5-for-14, 0-for-3 on threes, 6 turnovers). Of course, even on a bad night, Rose scored 18 points, went 8-for-9 from the line, and dished out a game-high 13 assists. Credit Rose for using his floor game to make up for his misguided shooting.

And credit Luol Deng for stepping up when needed, which has pretty much been the story of Deng’s season. Lu scored a game-high 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting and finished with a game-best plus-minus score of +22. This guy has been there when the team needs him, however the team needs him, all season long. In all honesty, he deserves a lot more credit than he’s ever going to get from bloggers, the media and even a lot of Bulls fans.

But, as ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedellpointed out, Deng is team-first all the way: “I was aggressive. I looked for my shot early. But it’s the kind of team we have. Some nights you’re going to get a lot of looks, some nights it’s going to be someone else. But we’re a deep team. And that’s what’s been so great about this year. The whole team, our mindset every night is just to win. Somebody’s going to get it for us and it’s been a different guy every time.”

Carlos Boozer (16 points, 9 rebounds) echoed those sentiments: “Guys are extremely confident. If you’re in the NBA, you can play. … We’re a team — not just one guy, two guys, three guys; we’re a group of guys. Everybody on this team, whether you’re starting or off the bench, can play in the NBA and play well.”

In related news, James Johnson made his return from the D-League, finishing with one airball in one minute of garbage time action.

It was a good win, and I’m happy with it, but in yesterday’s preview I noted how the Bobcats struggle in the second game of back-to-backs. Gerald Wallace (6 points on 3-for-9 shooting) looked gassed. Ditto for D.J. Augustin (5 points on 1-for-4 shooting), and he’s also dealing with a sprained left wrist.

As Charlotte coach Paul Silas said: “My starting guys just didn’t have it tonight.”

And really, they didn’t. That’s not to take anything away from the victory. The Bulls were focused and took care of business. But the Bobcats hung around and then just kind of faded in the fourth quarter. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens in the March 9 rematch in Charlotte. Both teams will be coming off a one-day layoff, and Chicago should have Joakim Noah back in uniform.

Shot locations:
In yesterday’s preview, I referenced Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook, who noted that the Bobcats enticed the Lakers to attack the rim and then forced a lot of in-close misses. Something similar happened last night, as the Bulls went 17-for-30 at the rim (56.7 percent). Normally, the Bulls convert about 63 percent of their shots at the rim, so Charlotte’s D did it’s job. Around the basket.

However, the Bulls were unusually hot from three-point range (7-for-14) and from 16-23 feet (12-for-22). A lot of that was Korver, but Boozer (2-for-2), Kurt “Big Sexy” Thomas (2-for-2) and Ronnie Brewer (2-for-3) also had it going from that 16-23 foot zone. And, of course, Keith Bogans couldn’t feel his face, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

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

The post Game 53 Recap: Bulls 106, Bobcats 94 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Bobcats Injury Report:
D.J. Augustin: Sprained left wrist (played last night vs. Lakers)
DeSagana Diop: Ruptured right Achilles (out for the season)
Tyrus Thomas: Left knee surgery (out for two months)

Overview:
The Bobcats destroyed the Lakers last night. It was L.A.’s most lopsided loss of the season. Afterwards, Phil Jackson said “I’m embarrassed about what we did that that’s it. Thanks you.” and walked away. End of press conference.

Charlotte has now won eight of their last 10 games against the defending champs.

Admittedly, it was the Lakers’ fourth game in five nights, all on the road, but the victory sort of underscores the Bobcats’ status as a real wildcard team. Check out their schedule: On any given night, they could either beat any team in the league or lose to any team.

Put the Bulls into that category of teams the ‘Cats can — and do — beat.

According to STATS LLC: “The Bulls (36-16) are an Eastern Conference-best 13-4 since Jan. 8, but two of those losses have come against the Bobcats (24-31). In losing to Charlotte, Chicago has plenty of company among the NBA’s elite. The Bobcats have won three of five, with the wins all coming against top contenders. They beat East-leading Boston on Feb. 7, won at Atlanta on Saturday, and rolled past the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 109-89 at home Monday.”

Of course, Charlotte’s two losses came against the Pacers (24-28) and Nets (17-39). So, with the ‘Cats, you never really know what you’re going to get. But there’s no question they’re dangerous. A real snake in the grass to the league’s better teams.

On the plus side, assuming you’re rooting for th Bullies, is that the Bobcats are playing on the second night of back-to-back games. According to TeamRankings.com, Charlotte is 4-12 in games with no rest, and they rank 27th in both Win Percentage (25.0) and Point Differential (-7.8). The only teams below them in Win Percentage are the Cavaliers (23.5), Wizards (15.4) and Nets (14.3). The only teams below them in differential are the Pistons (-8.0), Wizards (-9.5) and Cavaliers (-9.9).

Bottom line: If you’re going to catch the Bobcats, it’s best if you do it when they played the previous night.

It’s also worth pointing out that the Bobcats haven’t exactly dominated the Bulls this season. Their two wins came by a combined total of six points (96-91 in Charlotte and 83-82 in Chicago). Meanwhile, the Bulls have won five in a row at home and are 23-4 in the United Center. That’s the best home record in the Eastern Conference, by the way.

Update! Here’s something potentially ominous for Bulls fans: Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook breaks down how the Bobcats enticed the Lakers to attack the rim…where they (the ‘Cats) shut them (the Lakers) down. According to Hoopdata, the Bulls are 32-for-58 at the rim against the Bobcats this season.

The post Bobcats-Bulls Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Ugh.

Here are the top 10 things I hated about this loss:

10. The Revenge of Tyrus Thomas:
Heading into last night’s game, Thomas’ highest averages for PPG (14.3) and RPG (8.3) against any team were against the Bulls. Seriously. Check his career splits. If Ty had given the kind of consistent effort when he was with the Bulls that he now gives against the Bulls, he’d probably still be on the team.

Ah well.

Tyrus didn’t have big numbers last night — 8 points, 3-for-8, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block — but he had a game-high plus-minus score of +11. Thomas was a spark for the Bobcats. Better late than never I guess.

9. Turnovers:
Before this game, I had planned to mention how well the Bulls had been taking care of the ball lately. The team had been averaging only 12.1 in January, including a season-low seven turnovers last week against the Pacers.

Then they got careless, committing 14 turnovers, which turned into 25 points going the other way. I’m sure you’ll agree that 23 points are a lot to give away in a one-point loss. It also represents 30 percent of the points the Bobcats scored.

8. Stupid “and 1” fouls:
The Bulls committed ticky-tac fouls four times as a Charlotte player was attempting a layup. The most damaging of these was when Ronnie Brewer fouled Gerald Wallace in the act of shooting with 1:13 left in the game. Wallace converted both the shot and the free throw to transform a 78-76 Bulls lead into a 79-78 deficit. It was a killer play.

7. Time mismanagement:
Rose hit a five-footer to pull the Bulls to within a point (83-82) with 25 seconds left…then proceeded to let 15 seconds run off the clock without fouling.

Mind you, the Bulls did execute a trap that forced the Bobcats to call timeout with 10 seconds left, and they were awarded the ball (thanks to video review) with eight seconds left after poking the ball away but off of D.J. Augustine. But still. They let a lot of valuable time slip away.

6. Poor interior defense:
The Bobcats didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard. To wit: They converted only 40.2 percent of their 87 field goal attempts. But they did shoot 15-for-23 (65 percent) around the rim and scored 46 of their 83 points in the painted area.

Here’s some added perspective on Charlotte’s at-the-rim shooting percentage. On the season, the Bulls rank 8th in at-the-rim defense (60.8) and the Bobcats rank 25th in at-the-rim conversion (59.8). I’m just sayin’.

5. No inside game:
The Bulls really suffered from Carlos Boozer’s absence last night. They finished with only 28 points in the paint and simply couldn’t get anything going inside.

According to Hoopdata, only 19 of their 77 shot attempts were at the rim, and they converted only 10 of those attempts. Meanwhile, they went 8-for-31 (25 percent) from 16-23 feet. That’s the worst shot in basketball, by the way. Without Boozer, and to a lesser extent without Noah, the Bulls reverting back into a jump shooting team. Which might work if they had more shooters…

4. Terrible shooting:
Outside of D-Rose (14-for-28) and Ronnie Brewer (6-for-11), the Bulls couldn’t have lobbed a beach ball into the ocean.

They shot 39 percent as a team. Luol Deng went 2-for-11. Taj Gibson was 2-for-7. Kurt Thomas shot 2-for-6. Keith Bogans had his usual 1-for-3 performance. Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Omer Asik were a combined 3-for-11.

The Bulls went flat broke from the field. In all fairness, they were playing the second night of back-to-backs — and their fourth game in five nights — minus their second and third-best players…but it was ugly to watch. Very ugly.

3. Fatigue:
Okay, so, like I was saying, the Bulls were playing their fourth game in five nights. And last week, they concluded a stretch of five games in seven nights. Rose, Deng and Gibson all logged at least 40 minutes the previous night in Memphis, and poor Luol is averaging 40 MPG in January (and 39.2 MPG on the season).

I know this is a “no excuses” league. But the guys looked and played tired.

2. The “clutch” offense:
With 36 seconds left, Stephen Jackson hit a turnaround jumper over Kyle Korver. I saw that coming the whole way. I don’t know if anybody else has noticed this, but when an offensive player draws Korver as a defender, they almost always shoot the ball.

The worst part was that Kurt Thomas knew it was coming and made a passive lunge toward the play…and a quick double might have prevented or disrupted the shot. All I could think was, “If Joakim had been there, Jackson might have been eating that ball.”

So anyway, now it was Charlotte by a point (81-80).

The Bulls called timeout. Coach Thibodeau subbed in Brewer for Korver, which is kind of funny when you think about it: Keeping Kyle in for the defensive possession and then switching him out for Brewer for the offensive possession. But whatever. I’m not the coach. Rose drew a double-team and found Brewer under the hoop.

Now, personally, I thought Ronnie should have gone up with the ball. Yes, I realize that the Bobcats D was rotating. But Brewer is an athletic finisher and, who knows, maybe he could have drawn a foul. Instead, he passes to Luol Deng — who was 2-for-10 at the time — for a three-pointer. Granted, the shot was as wide open as they get, but you don’t want a fatigued player who’s having a bad shooting night firing from 26 feet with the game on the line.

At least, I don’t want that.

Then, on Chicago’s final offensive sequence, Kurt Thomas fired a pass to Korver under the hoop. Would I have minded Brewer taking that shot? No. Did I want Kyle taking that shot? Hell no. Sure enough, Tyrus swatted the ball out of bounds with three seconds left. The ball was inbounded to Rose, who, to his credit, got a semi-clean look from 19 feet out. But it wasn’t really the kind of shot teams win games with.

1. A wasted opportunity:
The Bulls (28-14) have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, behind the Celtics (31-9) and Heat (30-13). However, they’re barely a step ahead of Atlanta (28-15) and Orlando (26-15). The race is tight…and homecourt advantage could mean everything come playoff time.

At the end of the season, losses like this — not to mention losses to the Clippers, Nets and Sixers — could come back to haunt the Bulls.

Bonus video:
I didn’t include this in my top 10 list only because, for the most part, I try to avoid bringing officiating into the discussion. But what a way to end the first half. Augustine gets away with a very obvious traveling violation on a breakaway layup (with an official five feet from him) and then Rose gets called for a phantom offensive foul. As Charles Barkley would say: Turrible.

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

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