If you’re currently experiencing an intense and overwhelming feeling of stunned amazement at what they Bulls are doing in these playoffs, don’t be alarmed. It indicates only that you are still sane. You know the drill by now. The Bulls are a depleted team. No Derrick Rose. Kirk Hinrich is day-to-day with a bum calf. […]
Author Archive | Matt McHale
Game 7 Recap: These Bulls are Joakim Noah’s team
I freely admit it. I didn’t think the Bulls would win their Game 7 showdown against the Nets in Brooklyn. I was wrong. Obviously. The Bulls continue to defy the odds. They’ve been doing it for well over a year now. I should know better than to doubt them at this point, but in some […]
Game 6 Recap: A heartbreaking (and possibly backbreaking) loss
Okay, seriously, are the Bulls cursed? On the surface, that question seems irrational and misguided, because there are no such things as curses. But it sure feels like a witch doctor somewhere worked some major voodoo on this team. For the past two seasons, the Bulls have had championship potential that was ultimately undone by […]
Game 4 Recap: The Legend of Nate Robinson
It seems fitting somehow that in a playoff game where the teams involved combined to score 276 points, had a whopping 13 players in double figures, and needed three overtimes to decide the outcome, the smallest player on the floor had the biggest impact of all. Mind you, there were significant contributions on both sides. […]
Chicago takes the series lead: Bulls 79, Nets 76
Now that was some good old-fashioned defense. The Bulls shook off an awful start — falling behind 17-5 halfway through the first quarter and earning a hot-and-nasty earful from coach Tom Thibodeau — to give a vicious defensive performance against the Nets. For the 36 minutes anyway. Here are Brookyn’s shooting stats for the first […]
Joakim Noah recognized in Defensive Player of the Year voting
Joakim Noah did not win Defensive Player of the Year. Marc Gasol did. And deservedly so. Gasol was fifth in the league in Defensive Rating and second overall in Defensive Win Shares. He averaged 1.7 blocks per game and 1.0 steals. Perhaps most importantly, the Memphis Grizzlies held opponents to 88.7 points per game, the […]
First Round Game 2 Recap: Noah and the Bulls respond
The Bulls were embarrassed and humbled by their blowout loss in Game 1 of this first round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets. But under coach Tom Thibodeau, this has never been a group to hang its head and meekly accept defeat. Despite the ongoing absence of Derrick Rose and a variety of guys playing […]
First Round Game 1 Recap: A humbling defeat
Historically speaking, Game 1 blowouts aren’t necessarily indicative of how a series will proceed. Just ask the Bulls. They defeated the Miami Heat by 21 points in Game 1 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals and then went on to lose the next four games. Whether a team loses by one point or one hundred, […]
Bulls-Nets Playoff Preview
Schedule: Game 1 in Brooklyn: Saturday at 7 p.m. Game 2 in Brooklyn: Monday at 7 p.m. Game 3 in Chicago: Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Game 4 in Chicago on Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. Game 5* in Brooklyn on Monday, April 29 (TBD) Game 6* in Chicago on Thursday, May 2 […]
A crazy regular season ends with a win
In many ways — and perhaps fittingly — last night’s regular-season finale seemed to epitomize the roller coaster ride the Bulls have been on all season. With Derrick Rose’s season officially a wash (even if no official announcement to that effect has been made), the Bulls had a chance to secure the fifth seed in […]