Previous player capsules can be found here: Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng

Name: Jimmy Butler
Height/Weight: 6’7″ / 220 lbs
Age: 23
NBA Seasons: 2

Regular Season Stats: 82 games, 8.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 spg, 46.7 FG%, 80.3 FT%

Post-Season Stats: 12 games, 13.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.5 spg, 43.5 FG%, 81.8 FT%

Season Grade: A+

Recap:
Coming into the season very few people predicted Jimmy Butler to make a name for himself this season and even fewer predicted him to burst onto the scene as grandly as he did. On offensive he provided a solid spark for Chicago by creating his own shot, developed a fairly reliable spot up game (particularly the corner three), and ran in circles for 43 minutes per game grabbing offensive boards, cutting to the hoop, or creating enough space for himself for a spot up shot. Defensively, Butler showed his prowess with quick hands, quick feet on rotations, and by making life extremely difficult for superstars such as Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron James.

Because Butler came off of the bench for 62 games last season to play an average of 20 minutes per game, Butler’s per game numbers took a hit. When looking at only his per game statistics as a starter, Butler averaged 14.5 points on 45.7% shooting (45.8% from three point range), 7.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Impressive numbers for a second year player. There is cause for concern that these numbers are inflated with such a small sample size, but analysis of advanced statistics show that this may not be the case.

According to Synergy Sports Technology, Butler averaged 1.02 points per possession (ppp) over the course of the season, good for 39th overall in the league. Further breakdown shows he averaged over 1.0 ppp in spot-up situations, cuts, and possessions in which he secured an offensive rebound and between 0.8 to 0.95 ppp in post up situations and pick & roll plays as both the roll man and ball handler. Not too shabby for someone who had limited experience on the floor.

In laymen’s terms- Butler did extremely well this season.

Future:
Butler took over the starting shooting guard spot during the playoffs and seems to have secured that spot going into the next season. Butler is under a rookie contract for a few more years so unless an irresistible trade offer comes along he’ll be a member of the Bulls for a good while. This offseason Butler will likely work on developing a more consistent offensive game to pair along side Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah. Should he succeed both he and the Chicago Bulls will flourish.

The post 2012-2013 Player Capsule- Jimmy Butler appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Los Angeles Injury Report:
Pau Gasol: out (partially torn plantar fascia)
Jordan Hill: out (hip surgery)

Overview:
The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season right now, finally turning it on after months of underperforming and contending for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Bulls are floundering, dropping seven of their last 12 in a tough part of their season, currently in the fifth spot out East.

Kobe Bryant has recorded 40+ points and 10+ assists in his last two games, the first Laker to do that since Jerry West in 1970, according to Elias. Bryant is on a tear, averaging 36.0 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the field and 45.9 percent from deep over his last five games to go with 7.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds. Over his last ten games, he’s averaging 32.3 points on 53.9 percent shooting, 7.3 assists and 6.1 rebounds per contest. What that means is that Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler are going to have their hands full in this one.

Kobe’s heroics have been carrying the Lakers, as they’ve won seven of their last nine, but they haven’t all been very convincing wins. It took overtime to beat the Raptors by just two points, it took a 20-point comeback against the Hornets to escape New Orleans with a win, they beat the Hawks by one and both the Mavericks and Blazers by four. Both of their losses over that stretch, to the Thunder and Kings, were by double digits, as were victories over the Celtics and Timberwolves.

This isn’t to take away from the Lakers streak, but it does show, especially the last two games, that the Lakers, though winning, are very beatable.

The Bulls took the first game in this series, a double-digit win at home, which gave the Lakers six straight losses away from the Staples Center. But Los Angeles is much better at home, compiling a 21-11 record in the sunshine and smog, compared to 11-20 on the road.

Kobe was held to 16 points on 7-22 shooting in that first contest against Chicago. Without Deng in the line-up, Butler did a solid job on Bryant, while also scoring ten points and grabbing eight boards of his own. The Bulls will be without Kirk Hinrich again, who led Chicago in scoring with 22 points on 9-11 from the field in January matchup with Los Angeles. Kirk added eight assists and seven rebounds in what was his best all-around game this season. Rip Hamilton, who will also be out once again and didn’t travel with Chicago for the three-game road trip, added 13 points on 18 shots.

The Bulls were out-rebounded by ten, but shot 9-17 (52.9 percent) from three compared to 3-17 (17.6 percent) for the Lakers. The Bulls also won the turnover battle (16-8) and dished more assists (25-15).

The Lakers will be missing their own starter, as they will still be without Pau Gasol who is fighting a partially torn plantar fascia. Gasol had 15 points and 12 boards against the Bulls. And even with Hinrich playing, who is the Bulls best point guard defender, Steve Nash shot 5-12 and finished with 18 points. Nash and Nate Robinson are basically going to let the other one do whatever they want to on the offensive end.

It was all knotted up after three quarters in the first contest between the teams, before the Bulls outscored the Lakers 26-14 in the final frame. Chicago held LA to 26.3 percent from the field and forced six turnovers, while the Bulls shot 45.8 percent.

That solid fourth quarter defense is unusual for the Bulls, as the final twelve minutes is usually their worst. The Bulls allow opponent to score 23.6 points per fourth quarter, which is tenth in the league. That number doesn’t seem so bad, a top ten fourth quarter defense; however, the Bulls are 25^th in the league in fourth quarter scoring themselves, at 22.5. And when it comes to opponent scoring in the other three quarters, the Bulls are near the top of the league. They are second (first quarter), third (second quarter) and fourth (third quarter) in opponent scoring in the first three periods.

I apologize that last sentence was confusing, let me say it another way. The Bulls are a top four defensive team through the first three quarters, and then drop all the way to tenth. It is fascinating that the Bulls get worse and worse throughout the game. I can’t be the only one drawing connections from heavy minutes for starters to lackluster fourth quarter play.

The Bulls were sloppy in the fourth against Utah, shooting 20.8 percent in the quarter, while allowing the Jazz to shoot 43.8 from the field. Luckily the Bulls brought down nine rebounds to salvage the game and escape with the win.

The biggest thing for the Bulls to keep up for all four quarters will be their defense. Despite struggling to win games this season, the Lakers offense has been quite good; it’s the defense that has been letting them down, and with Dwight Howard coming back into form, that is improving as well. Los Angeles is eight in offensive rating and just 21^st in defensive rating.

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

The Good:
Despite their poor overall shooting, the Bulls went 9-for-17 from three-point range (52.9 percent) and scored at a rate of 108.4 points per 100 possessions (according to Basketball-Reference). They also committed only 8 turnovers for 7 points going the other way.

The Better:
Chicago’s D completely stymied L.A.’s superstar-laden offense. Jimmy Butler made Kobe Bryant’s life a living hell, limiting the Mamba to 7-for-22 from the field and 0-for-6 from downtown. Dwight Howard finished with 8 points on only five shot attempts and Pau Gasol was only 6-for-14.

Overall, the Lakers were 32-for-81 from the field (39.5 percent) and 3-for-17 from beyond the arc (17.6 percent). The Bulls blocked 11 shots, forced 16 turnovers, and held L.A. to 94.7 points per 100 possessions.

Player of the Game:
This is a tie between Kirk Hinrich and Jimmy Butler.

Chicago’s starters were 28-for-64 (43.8 percent). Minus Hinrich, they were 19-for-53 (35.8 percent). Hinrich exploded out of a season’s worth of offensive lethargy by going a sizzling 9-for-11 from the field (including 3-for-4 on threes). Captain Kirk also had 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal.

Hinrich drilled back-to-back threes in the first quarter as the Bulls were establishing themselves and he also played great in the final six minutes of the fourth:

5:52: Hit a 21-footer to put the Bulls up 79-75
5:05: Rebounds a missed shot by Gasol
4:54: Drains a 13-footer to put the Bulls up 81-75
4:37: Rebounds a missed shot by Kobe
4:11: Assists on a Butler jumper to put the Bulls up 83-75
2:11: Rebounds a missed shot by Kobe
1:55: Nails a 19-footer to put the Bulls up 91-79
1:31: Assists on a Boozer jumper to put the Bulls up 93-79

Hinrich played about as well as he could possibly play. It was his best game of the season.

Butler was nearly as good. His raw stats aren’t jaw-dropping — 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal — but the way he stood his ground against Bryant was awesome. So awesome Nate Robinson was chanting “Kobe stopper! Kobe stopper!” in the locker room after the game.

Said Buter:”It was all about getting into his space. But it wasn’t just me defending him, it was four other guys out there. If I was beat, Joakim [Noah] or [Carlos Boozer], somebody was always there. So we defended him as a team, I should say.”

Added Joakim Noah: “Jimmy Boy was huge. Defensively it’s great for him. He’s making a name for himself. He’s proving that not only is he a great defensive player, but he’s showing his athleticism. He’s showing that he hit a huge shot at the end there, a big jump shot, it makes us that much tougher to know that we have guys like that that we can rely on.”

Predictably, Kobe — who has spent a career listening to “Kobe Stopper” theories — gave most of the credit to Chicago’s defensive schemes: “Thibs does a great job. Every time he faces me he does a great job. Most of the looks I had tonight were tough shots. Some of the credit goes to the young fellow, Butler did a good job defensively. A lot of that is on me and us, having to try to manufacture something 30 feet from the hoop with a low shot clock is tough.”

The message, as always, is that only Kobe really stops Kobe. Just ask Kobe.

The Blazing Belinelli:
Rip Hamilton got off to a good start that devolved into something else. Hamilton somehow squeezed off 18 shots in 25 minutes but managed only 13 points.

Belinelli, on the other hand, was the model of efficiency: 5-for-8 from the field, 3-for-3 on threes and 2-for-2 from the line. Marco scored 8 of his points — on two foul shots and back-to-back triples — during the 18-4 run the Bulls used to shut the Lakers down.

Back from the Bench:
Much ado was made about Noah’s benching in Saturday’s loss to the Grizzlies…but in the end it was much ado about nothing.

Said Noah: “That was all me. I admit it. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have said the things I said.”

See the video for Joakim’s full comments:

Credit Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau for having the guts to sit a player down — even a player as valuable as Noah — when said players needs to be sat. But also credit Noah for taking his medicine and acknowledging that he, not the coach, was the problem.

Jo then responded with a typical Jo game. He had only 6 points on 2-for-8 shooting, but he ripped down a game-best 13 rebounds while blocking a season-best 6 shots. He also 3 assists and 2 steals.

My favorite of those blocks:

One Up and One Down:
Nate Robinson had a nice impact off the bench: 15 minutes, 11 points, 4-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 on threes, 3 steals, 2 assists and his typical 3 wacky turnovers.

Meanwhile, Taj Gibson was the Invisible Man: 13 minutes, 4 points, 2-for-8, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot.

Key Stat:
Other than Pau Gasol (15 points), the Lakers managed only 2 points from their reserves.

Speaking of Gasol…

Odd Coaching Decision:
Earl Clark logged more minutes at PF for the Lakers (35) than Gasol (26). During his abbreviated court time, Gasol attempted four shots at the rim and seven shots from 16-23 feet. He got very few post up attempts. So…you know…thank you, Mike D’Antoni.

Between that and Howard’s five shot attempts, Kobe was not pleased.

Said Bryant: “We’re going to have to look at some things. We’re going to have to change something. Probably going to have to post the ball a lot more, slow the game down a lot more. That’s just my intuition, but that’s my gut right now. I have to take a look at the film again, but we’re definitely going to have to change something.”

Quote of the Night:
Kobe Bryant — whose team is 17-24 and has dropped six straight on the road — said: “Very, very tough, very, very frustrating, trying to keep my cool. It is embarrassing. It is not even embarrassing. I am a big history guy. Playing here in this arena with these incredible fans, you’re in the house of MJ, Pippen, PJ (Phil Jackson) built, to put this kind of brand of basketball on the floor is just not acceptable.”

Final Thoughts:
A win over the Lakers used to feel pretty good. This one was a nice win…and that’s about it. These Lakers are a dysfunctional, out-of-sync mess. You can just tell their top players aren’t comfortable with each other or D’Antoni’s system. The Bulls may have less talent, but they were clearly the better team. Even without Luol Deng.

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

The post Game Recap: Bulls 95, Lakers 83 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Lakers Injury Report:
Steve Blake: out (abdominal surgery)
Jordan Hill: out (hip)

Overview:
The struggling Lakers visit the United Center, looking to become the next team to benefit from Chicago’s home court woes. Los Angeles is truly struggling away from home, having dropped their last five away from the Staples Center.

It’s not just on the road that the Lakers are having troubles though, it’s everywhere. The Lakers are 17-23, 2-8 over their last ten games; they are third in their division and on the outside looking in on the playoffs currently. They have had some injuries, but their real problem all season has been their defense. LA ranks 20^th in defensive rating (106.8), even with Dwight Howard, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Pau Gasol scored 25 points on 15 shots but the Lakers fell to Toronto Sunday night. Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, but went just 10-32 from the field, including 3-12 from three. Bryant went to the line just three times, and had six turnovers.

Dwight Howard will be well rested after getting ejected in the second quarter. Howard played 17 minutes, recording five points and two rebounds before getting his second technical late in the first half. In the three games leading up to the Raps contest, Howard was averaging 22.0 points and 15.3 rebounds.

In 14 games against Joakim Noah, Howard is averaging 19.7 points and 12.9 rebounds. Noah averages 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds against Dwight. In those 14 games, Howard’s team is 9-5.

Steve Nash tallied 16 points and nine assists against Toronto, while Earl Clark posted 14 points and 14 boards off the bench. The Raptors shot 54.8 percent from the field and finished with 27 assists.

“I didn’t feel like we were ready to play,” Nash said about the Toronto loss. “We cut too many corners at too many different times in the game and had too big a hole to climb out of. We’re just not finding any consistent level out of our group.”

The Bulls are coming off an overtime loss to the Grizzlies, in which they shot 36.5 percent from the field. Jimmy Butler led Chicago in scoring, with 18 points in his first career start. Memphis recorded 21 fast break points to pull out the win, after Chicago outscored them 29-16 in the fourth quarter.

That fourth quarter was a nice change of pace, as it’s usually the Bulls that are blowing a double-digit lead. Joakim Noah was glaringly missing from the comeback, as he played a season-low 27 minutes before being benched throughout the fourth and overtime.

Injury note: Luol Deng did not participate in shootaround Monday and is expected to be out tonight.

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

In case you missed it, there was a post about Derrick Rose on TrueHoop yesterday. It highlighted a recent post on HoopSpeak in which bloggers Beckley Mason and Ethan Sherwood Strauss took pot shots at everything from Rose’s personality (or, in their view, his lack thereof) to his performance in that classic Bulls-Celtics playoff series from Derrick’s rookie season (they basically downrate his performance).

The TrueHoop post then goes on to quote ESPN’s John Hollinger, who attacks a familiar subject, namely Rose’s relative lack of free throw attempts. Based on that fact, Hollinger has decided that Rose — get this — is not an elite point guard.

Said Hollinger: “It seems mundane, as though we’re nitpicking, to bemoan Rose’s lack of free throws, but it’s a notable shortcoming when comparing Rose to the other elite players at his position. Until he earns more whistles, Rose won’t ascend to the top of the league’s point guard mountain.”

Hollinger’s research is meaningful because the raw data can be misleading. After all, Rose’s 5.5 free throw attempts per game puts him ahead of Chris Paul (4.5 this season), Steve Nash (4.6 this season and 2.8 for his career) and Rajon Rondo (2.1 this season and 2.8 for his carerer). However, Rose takes more shots than those guys. And he attacks the rim much more often. Yet he earns fewer foul shots per field goal attempt than 32 of the league’s 62 qualifying point guards. That includes his backup, C.J. Watson.

You can look at this a lot of ways — Bulls fans would tell you he doesn’t get some of the calls he deserves — but the reality seems to be that Derrick is too fast, strong and insanely athletic for his own good.

But still…denying Rose “elite point guard” status based on the unconventional nature of his game? Why not look at the results? The guys at HoopSpeak paid lip service to doing this: “These Bulls munch cud to the tune of 12-8. The lineup looks impeccable and some experts prefer them to the Heat, Celtics or Magic. But we haven’t seen success yet. It only feels imminent.”

Of course — in their rush to write creative analogies — Mason and Strauss very conveniently failed to provide any context. For instance, when considering Chicago’s win-loss record, did they happen to mention that Carlos Boozer missed the first 15 games of the season and is still getting into playing shape? That the Bulls have had to endure a killer early schedule that included their annual seven-game circus road trip? Or that they finished with the first plus-.500 record on that road trip since the Michael Jordan era mostly because Rose was going nuts, scoring 30 or more points in five of the six games he played (he missed the game at Denver due to neck spasms)?

Now consider the Bulls’ schedule-to-date.

I’m not just talking about the road trip. I’m talking about the competition.

In their first 21 games, they’ve played the defending champion Lakers twice. They’ve also played the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics twice…both times in Boston. They’ve played the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder twice each. They’ve also had road games against the San Antonio Spurs (who have the best record in the league) and the Dallas Mavericks (who are 18-4 and on an 11-game winning streak).

In fact, the last team to beat the Mavs? Da Bulls.

Oh, and they’ve played the Orlando Magic, too.

Heck, I might as well throw their game against the New York Knicks in there, considering the Knicks have won seven in a row — and 12 of 13 overall — and suddenly look like a force.

In fact, if you check out Hollinger’s power rankings, you’ll notice that, so far this season, the Bulls have had the hardest strength of schedule in the league. That kind of mitigates the win-loss record, right? By comparison, the Spurs — who, again, have the league’s best record — rank 20th in strength of schedule.

Perspective matters.

Maybe I should cut Hollinger and the HoopSpeak guys some slack. I follow the Bulls on a daily basis. Presumably, they don’t. Which means they have to gauge Rose and his ability based on statistical indicators and snapshot views provided by whichever Bulls games they manage to see.

Well, I hope they saw last night’s game. If they did, maybe they’ll have a better understanding of what Derrick Rose is all about. Kobe Bryant had that understanding going in. This is what Bryant said about Rose on Thursday:

“I can tell when a player truly wants to be better and does what it takes to improve. It was a quality I had when I was growing up. … I admire that about him. I could really see it from last year to this year. He’s got a long-range ball now. He can pop behind the pick and shoot the jumper. He can pull up off the dribble and shoot it, and him getting to the rim goes unquestioned. He’s putting the time in the gym, and I certainly respect that.”

Kobe sees what I’ve seen.

Derrick Rose is 22 years old. This is his third season in the NBA. Sure, he was the number one overall pick back in the 2008 NBA Draft, but he was pretty raw and had various holes in his game. Yet he’s gotten better every single season. He’s addressed the gaps in his skill set. His three-point shooting isn’t great, but he’s converting 38 percent of his triples, and that’s not bad. His 8.2 APG is up from 6.0 last season. His defense has improved. He may not make the All-Defensive team, but both his Block and Steal Percentages have gone up while his Defensive Rating has gone down. And guys aren’t just walking around him the way they used to.

This kid has gotten nothing but better. And he’s going to keep doing it.

Of course, when the United Center crowd starts chanting “M-V-P!” for Rose — as they did last night — it serves as a reminder that, as good as he may become, Rose is already pretty great.

His night included game-highs in points (29) and assists (9). He went 12-for-25 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyong the arc. (Naturally, he went only 2-for-4 from the line.) Most important were his nine fourth quarter points. And it wasn’t just that he was hitting shots. He was hitting tough shots. Shots that seem to give rude hand gestures to the Laws of Physics. For example:

Oh yeah. He shrugged.

(I’m going to show this video the next time somebody claims Rose has no personality. I think people tend to misunderstand his quiet demeanor, which is more a product of his natural humility than a true dearth of charisma.)

Later, with 25 seconds left, the Bulls clinging to a three-point lead, and the shot clock about to expire, Rose ran circles aound grinding defense before nailing a 14-footer that virtually sealed the deal.

This kid is special. He’s amazing.

No, he doesn’t get to the line as much as his coaches, his fans, and the experts would like. But make no mistake about it: This kid is a rising superstar.

Other notables:

Carlos Boozer had a modest double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. However, I got the feeling Boozington (as Joakim Noah calls him) wanted more shots. The Bulls didn’t always do a good job of finding him when he was open last night. In fact, there were times when, due to a switch, he had a smaller player (such as Derek Fisher) on him and the Bulls failed to exploit the mismatch. Eh, work in progress.

Noah (3-for-10, 9 points, 9 rebounds, no blocks or steals) had a rough game versus Pau Gasol (21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocked shots). That’ll happen. Still, Jo anchored a Bulls defense that held the Lakers to 83 points on 43 percent shooting. Plus, he got more physical with Gasol after Pau dropped 10 points on him in the first quarter. And it had an effect.

Said Phil Jackson: “They got physical with him and Pau got disconcerted. He started worrying about whether he was getting fouled or not. It changed how he played.”

Luol Deng had another quietly efficient night: 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

Keith Bogans needs to come off the bench. Bogans finished with zero points on 0-for-3 shooting (all on threes) and the Bulls were -16 during his 11 minutes on the floor. Look, it’s time to start Ronnie Brewer, who by comparison played 24 minutes, went 6-for-6 from the line, and finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals an assist and a block. The Bulls were +6 with Ronnie in the game.

Kyle Korver could also start at the shooting guard position. Korver once again provided a scoring spark off the bench, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc — including a huge three-pointer in the fourth — and contributing 13 points to the winning cause. And if you’re wondering whether Chicago’s offense runs more smoothly when his presence is spreading out the opposing defense, note his game-high plus-minu score of +11.

Taj Gibson is slowly withering away on the bench. Last night’s performance — 12 minutes, 0-for-4, zero points — was the continuation of his downward trend since Boozer returned. In his last five games, Taj is averaging 5.2 PPG on 9-for-27 shooting (33 percent). He’s finding that life was much easier for him while playing with the other starters.

Quote of the night:
Said Rose: “I’m not a star. I just play in the NBA. I’m just trying to do anything to get my team the win, go out there and get wins. And that’s passing the ball or doing whatever. But you can see the difference between a star and a superstar, especially in this league where superstars like Kobe and all the other players, there’s only a [small] amount of them. Where they can take over games and do it on a consistent basis.”

Almost quote of the night:
Said Noah: “It’s feels great because a lot of people were saying … I had never beat The Lake Show before. So beating the Lake Show, if you say is just another game on the schedule, that’s a lie. That’s what coaches say. As players, that’s not true. They’re back to back champs. It was a great atmosphere in there and it’s always a good feeling to beat the Lake Show.”

Bonus highlight:

Bonus stat:
From ESPN Stats and Information: “The Bulls have been very impressive against Western Conference teams this season. In fact 10 of their 13 wins this season are against the West. That .714 win percentage against the WEST is best among teams in the EAST.”

TrueHoop Network:
Darius Soriano of Forum Blue and Gold: “In the end though, this game resembled so many of the other recent Lakers’ losses. The Lakers shooting isn’t what it was to start the season and their big men tire down the stretch. This leads to poor offensive execution and too many defensive possessions where interior rotations are slow (or non existent) and defensive rebounds aren’t corralled.”

ESPNChicago:
Nick Friedell: “Rose may not consider himself a star just yet, but almost everyone else does. That’s why the United Center repeatedly serenaded him with ‘MVP’ chants throughout the night. Like he said, only a few players can take over games at the end — he’s one of them. No, he’s not on Bryant’s level yet (no one is right now) and no, a torch was not passed on Friday night. But, Rose yet again proved that he has elevated his game to yet another level, one that frightens the rest of the league.”

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

The post Game 21 Recap: Bull 88, Lakers 84 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

"Not so fast, young fella..."

For three quarters, the Bulls played their most inspired basketball of the season. They hustled. They scrapped. They crashed the boards with a manic vengeance. And, most improbably, they held a 73-72 lead over the defending champions going into the fourth quarter.

It was last spring all over again, only this time the Bulls were facing the Lakers instead of the Celtics, and the game represented only one of 82 regular season contests rather than a heated playoff showdown.

But it sure felt as important as a playoff game, didn’t it?

The Bulls have been going through hell lately. It hasn’t just been the losing — now 10 of the last 12 games — it has been the manner in which the losing has occurred: blowout losses to good teams, blowout losses to bad teams, home losses to terrible teams.

Simply put: embarrassing.

But for tonight, the Bulls overlooked their limitations — which, frankly, are many — and flat out competed. That hasn’t happened a lot lately.

Mind you, Chicago has a serious weakness inside, and L.A. has the most imposing frontcourt in the league (Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest). But the suddenly rock ’em, sock ’em Bulls outrebounded the Lakers 51-37 and even outscored them in the paint 38-34.

I’m not sure where that came from, but I liked it.

Unfortunately, other problems remained the same. Such as shooting (38.5 percent as a team) and an utter lack of three-point marksmanship (2-for-11 on the night). And the Bulls offense — such as it is — got blanked to start the fourth, putting up only four points in the first six and a half minutes. That scoring drought allowed the Lakers to pull ahead for good. Chicago ended up going 6-for-27 (22 percent) from the field in the final quarter.

Actually, the Bulls might still have won this game if not for the heroics of Kobe Bryant. Despite a broken finger and persistent defense from various Chicago defenders, Bryant went 15-for-26 from the field and 11-for-15 from the foul line on his way to scoring a season-high 42 points.

All the Bulls could do was watch…and listen to their own crowd cheer and chant “MVP!” for the man who was beating them almost singlehandedly.

Said Kirk Hinrich: “I played him tough. He was just making shots. There wasn’t many times I thought I could’ve done something different. There was handful of times I felt like ‘Damn should have done this or that,’ but for the most part he made shots.”

That’s what superstars do, although it has become increasingly easy to forget that in the Windy City. Michael Jordan has been gone for more than a decade, and the closest thing the Bulls had to a clutch scorer is now playing in Detroit.

Maybe Derrick Rose can be that guy some day. Maybe the encouragement Kobe gave him will help. We don’t know yet. Rose had an above-average game (21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists) despite straining a left rib during the first quarter.  But he accounted for only 2 points and an assist in the final 12 minutes, when his team needed him most. Of course, he was injured. But still.

In the final analysis, the Bulls fought, and they came one superstar performance away from upending a superior team. And that’s something. Joakim Noah — who got his hands on a mind-boggling 14 offensive rebounds — said: “When you’re getting blown out by 30 points, how can you say we’re improving? But I think tonight, we can look at ourselves and say we gave it everything we had and put ourselves in a situation to win the game and we just missed some open shots and some layups. I think if we bring that energy we should be happy with ourselves.”

True. Of course, I can’t help but wonder what might have been — specifically in losses against the Bucks, Heat, Nets and Raptors — if the Bulls could only play with that kind of passion and intensity every night.

I hope we get to find out.

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

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Hat tip: NESW Sports via TrueHoop.

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The will to win everything…that’s cool. But personally, I hope that Derrick picked up a few defensive tips from Kobe, who is a nine-time member of the NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team.

Meanwhile, Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald reports about Tyrus Thomas’ recent charity work. And while his efforts certainly deserve mention — in the past several months, Ty started an outreach program for at-risk kids in Baton Rouge, La., sponsored a school supply giveaway, and spoke to students at the new Chicago Bulls College Prep high school — as a Bulls fan I’m more interested in the work he’s been putting in on his game.

According to McGraw: “Thomas spent the summer working on his shot — his spot-up jumpers and some moves that initiate in the post. ‘I was watching Magic Johnson and he said every summer he just wanted to add one thing, get real good at that,’ Thomas said. ‘I focused on being able to consistently knock down the 15-17 foot jumper. I’m real comfortable with that.’ Don’t cringe. Remember, the one time the Bulls won a road playoff game in Boston, the game-winning basket was a 21-foot Thomas jumper. There have been a few times in the regular season when Thomas made some clutch baskets. With Ben Gordon gone, the Bulls need a variety of offensive contributors. ‘I see myself improving a lot,’ Thomas said. ‘I know where I want to be and where I could be. Right now I’m in a situation where I just have to find my exact role on this team. Once that’s defined, I’ll probably give you more of a prediction.'”

Okay, I’m glad that Tyrus gleaned a little wisdom from Magic Johnson. However, two things about these quotes really bothered me. First was this: “I focused on being able to consistently knock down the 15-17 foot jumper. I’m real comfortable with that.” You know what? I’m not comfortable with that. Let D-Rose, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Jannero Pargo and even Brad Miller shoot the jumpers on this team. The Bulls don’t need another jump-shooting big. We need a big man who wants to slam dunk and own the paint. But Tyrus focused his summer efforts on knocking down the 15-17 foot jumper?! Facepalm.

The second thing that bugged me was: “Right now I’m in a situation where I just have to find my exact role on this team. Once that’s defined, I’ll probably give you more of a prediction.” I don’t know if this illustrates Tyrus’ lack of basketball IQ or Vinny Del Negro’s basic failing as a coach. I understand there’s been some turnover this summer, but that was in the backcourt. Shouldn’t Thomas’ role be pretty well-defined? I know what I think Ty’s role should encompass: rebounding, shot blocking, interior defense, help side defense, running the court on the fast break, taking the ball hard to the hoop and jamming it down as hard a humanly possible.

Man, if Tyrus was going to imitate Magic, why couldn’t he have learned the baby sky hook?

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Phil Jackson won six NBA championships during his nine years as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. And yet many of his critics were always quick to point out — often with an almost sadistic glee — that his success was due as much (or more so) to luck than his coaching acumen. And by “luck” what they actually meant was “Michael Jordan.” (Or, in some cases, “Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.”)

Then Phil went to L.A. and immediately won another three championships in a row, bringing his total to nine, which tied him with the legendary Red Auerbach for most NBA titles won by a head coach. Rather than validating Phil in the eyes of his critics, it actually intensified the cynicism. At that point, the “luck” assessment was expanded to something along the lines of, “Yeah, well, anybody could win a championship with MJ and Scottie or Shaq and Kobe.”

It was like no coach had won with superstars before.

Now Phil has won a record-setting 10th NBA title. I think it’s safe to say all the winning is no fluke. Yes, Phil had an all-timer (Kobe Bryant), but Pau Gasol is no Shaq and Lamar Odom is certainly no Scottie Pippen. In fact, this is probably the worst squad — talent-wise — of Jackson’s 10 championship teams. But that fact won’t keep the ring off Phil’s finger.

So, what’s the secret of his success? Said Kobe: “I think it’s his ability to bring people together. The biggest thing that he does so well is he continues to coach the group, continues to coach unity and chemistry and togetherness. And that’s the biggest thing, because when you’re together you can withstand adversity. If you’re not, you can easily break apart and become a team of individuals. That’s his biggest characteristic of what he does well.”

Added Derek Fisher: “He doesn’t try to control you as a coach. He empowers you to be who you are. And if you want to be the best, and if you believe in your team and if you believe you can win a title, then this is what can happen. He doesn’t put himself in the way. He lets us do it. And this is the result.”

Now, the greatness that began here in the Windy City is locked in, historically speaking. So congratulations to Phil Jackson. I only wish that he could have coached all 10 of his titles here in Chicago.

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Maybe I’m just a cynic, but when the Bulls took a 14-point halftime lead against the Lakers last night, I felt really nervous. Everything went Chicago’s way in that first half, right down to their final two possessions of the second quarter: A double-pump layup by Derrick Rose with 28 seconds left and a buzzer-beating three by John Salmons to end the half. It was a charmed 24 minutes.

And I just didn’t believe it would last.

The Bulls honestly couldn’t have played much better. I knew the Lakers, on the other hand, were capable of playing much better…particularly since they had a halftime to get psyched up and make the necessary adjustments. I was afraid if L.A. upped the intensity of the game, the Bulls might come unglued. Turns out that’s pretty much what happened.

The Bulls committed turnover after turnover — they finished with 23 — and the Lakers took advantage, scoring 27 points off those miscues. L.A. had trimmed the lead to six (87-81) by the start of the fourth quarter and then the wheels came off completely. Joakim Noah got called for a three-second violation on Chicago’s first possession. Less than a minute later, Sasha Vujacic stole a pass from Kirk Hinrich. A little over a minute after that, Lamar Odom intercepted Derrick Rose. Luke Walton stole Ben Gordon’s pass on the Bulls’ next possession. A little while later, Ben Gordon was called for traveling. Rose lost the ball (to Jordan Farmar) on the next possession. Then Brad Miller had a pass swiped by Odom.

The next thing you know, the Lakers had ripped off a 21-6 run to open the quarter…all while Kobe Bryant (28 points, a game-high 7 assists and a game-high 5 steals) was watching from the bench. And L.A. never looked back. Said Rose: “We were turning the ball over and when you do that in this league, anyone will beat you.” Especially when that “anyone” is (depending on whom you ask) the first or second-best team in the league.

Nobody was more careless with the ball than Gordon, who lost the rock seven times while shooting 5-for-14 and missing six of his eight three-point attempts. Rose (25 points, 10-for-19, 5 rebounds, 4 assists), Salmons (a game-high 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting) and Tyrus Thomas (15 points, 7-for-13, a game-high 16 boards and 3 blocks) all played really well, but the Lakers took 14 more shots (but only one fewer free throw), hit five more three-pointers and turned the ball over only 11 times. Those are pretty significant advantages.

So, basically, turnovers killed the Bulls. And the biggest turnover of the night was when a few pockets of the United Center crowed broke into an “M-V-P!” chant for Kobe. That’s what we call salt in the wound.

The only positive is that the loss didn’t cost Chicago in the standings: The Bulls still lead the Bobcats by a full game, the Bucks and Nets by a 1.5 games and the Pacers and Knicks by 3.5 games.

The jump shot watch: Tyrus missed only six shots. But it’s worth noting that two of those misses were from 20 feet and two of them were from 19 feet. (The other was a 12-footer.)

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

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