Well that was fun. Wins like the blowout over Houston are great, but there’s nothing like out-hustling the Heat or out-muscling the Pacers. Judging by the players themselves, they feel that way too. The Bulls did what they do so well, and channeled their frustration over iffy calls, alleged flopping and the handful of heels on […]
Tonight is the final round of Bulls/Pacers, barring Chicago falling into Indiana’s side of the bracket, and then winning their first round series. The first three rounds have all been claimed by the home team, with the most recent coming last Friday, as Indiana pulled away from Chicago in the second half. Indiana has floundered […]
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. An undermanned Bulls team — currently missing their superstar (Derrick Rose), two starters (Kirk Hinrich and Rip Hamilton), and their top reserve (Taj Gibson) — playing with their backs against the wall against a top-notch opponent. It’s been that kind of season. Actually, it’s been this way […]
The Good: Despite shooting only 44.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from downtown, the shorthanded Bulls had seven players in double-figures. According to Basketball-Reference, Chicago scored at a rate of 110.3 points per 100 possessions against an Indiana team that leads the league in Defensive Efficiency at only 96.5 points surrendered per 100 […]
The subtitle of this game should be: The Night that Offense Died. The Bad: The Pacers shot 36 percent from the field, went 2-for-10 from three-point range, missed seven free throws…and won. The Worse: Chicago’s defense made Indiana’s offense look terrible — outside of Paul George — but The Bulls’ offense offset that. Big time. […]
Finally. Finally the Bulls played like the Bulls. I’m still not sure exactly what happened in Games 1-4. Maybe they just needed the wakeup call they got in Game 4. Maybe the Bulls were abducted by space aliens and replaced with android duplicates until right before Game 5. Maybe we’ll never know. Whatever the case, […]
Game 4 Stats Chicago: Joakim Noah: 21 points (8-13), 14 rebounds, -14 plus/minus Derrick Rose: 15 points (6-22, 1-9 from three), 10 assists, 4 steals Indiana: Danny Granger: 24 points (9-19), 10 rebounds, 4 assists Roy Hibbert: 16 points (6-12), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks Overview: First things first; according to K.J Johnson of the Chicago […]
It’s a simple lesson. Every child learns it. If you keep playing with fire…you’re going to get burned. Chicago finally got burned in Game 4. By repeatedly waiting until the final quarter — the final minutes actually — to play with all-out, winner-takes-all intensity, the Bulls have not only given Indiana life, the Pacers believe they can […]
Game 2 Stats: Chicago Luol Deng: 21 points (8-19 shooting), 6 rebounds, 6 assists Derrick Rose: 23 points (4-18 shooting, 13-15 from the line), 5 TOs Indiana Danny Granger: 21 points (10-21 shooting), 4 rebounds, 2 steals Overview: Looking to close out the Pacers, Chicago will try to finally put a complete game together in this series. In games one […]
Danny Granger got his wish. Before the series, Granger (rather infamously) said: “Chicago, they go as Derrick Rose goes. If you make a concerted effort to stop Derrick Rose, you have a better chance to beat them.” Over the first three games of this series, it has become very clear that “making a concerted effort […]
