SB Nation - Luol Deng

Lakers 96, Bulls 87: Effort slumps, talent doesn't

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:04:41 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Kobe Bryant reminds Derrick Rose that he'll be a free agent eventually, and L.A. is indeed sunny. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

Browse more photos »

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
LA Lakers	93.0	103.2	48.1%	25.3	17.1	14.0
Chicago		93.5	39.6%	11.5	41.5	12.9

Before firing up the DVR for this one, I checked ShouldIWatch?com, and figured the 20 point loss. Nope. And it wasn't a 15, nor 10 point loss either. It was a 9 point loss after Luol Deng hit a meaningless three as the clock expired. If only the algorithms could've been tweaked to account for such things...

Though I'm actually glad it didn't. Not that I wouldn't watch it anyway, but watching and knowing the result would've made this certainly less enjoyable, as even though it never really felt like the Bulls were going to beat the Lakers Tuesday night, it shockingly didn't feel like an impossibility either.

The Bulls certainly dished their best opening blow, shooting a crazy percentage and 31 points (the Bulls!). But Kobe Bryant had 20 on his own and the Lakers scored 31 too. Right then it was correct to be worried, and over the course of the game the Bulls reverted to their cruddy shooting percentage and offensive inefficiency.

But they did certainly bring more effort than they had against much worse opponents, most evident on the offensive glass, headlined by Noah's incredible 14 rebounds on that end (20 overall). Noah was all over the Lakers less-mobile frontcourt tonight, another achievement in his season, possibly the lone undeniable bright spot for the Bulls in the year so far.

Other solid nights from Brad Miller, Derrick Rose (who came back from an early rib(?) injury and exploited the Lakers poor defensive PGs) and Kirk Hinrich, who managed to make me think of his defense as simultaneously underrated for the way he guarded Kobe Bryant, yet overrated because it didn't matter. Bryant's game is so refined, and any further praise is better left to those watching him more, as I'm guessing we only got a sample. And while the Bulls would try help, the passes and movement (real 'ball movement', not the wing-it-around-the-perimeter-hot-potato-until-the-clock-runs-out stuff the Bulls do) would also make them pay, though an awful shooting night from Ron Artest and a fairly passive (though give Noah credit for this) night from Pau Gasol made the pain much less than the usual Lakers dominance.

And sure, if the Bulls played like this every night they may have won more games up until now. But while they (I dunno, someone's said it somewhere) say shooting can slump but effort doesn't, effort undoubtedly isn't there for all 82 games. It can't be, and the franchise's unreasonable reliance on it for success keeps them from being as good as the teams the rely on talent.

It does indicate that the Bulls haven't completely given up on VDN. They're still a professional group, and while it means they're not tanking games before they step on the court, they also know within a game when they don't have it. Tonight they started hot and stayed close. But we can't expect any trend to come of it, as the effort wouldn't always need to be there if they were a better assembled and coached team.

A couple random things that bugged me:

I'm going over old territory, but why does Neil Funk insist on ripping players from opposing teams? I'm all for making fun of the less fortunate or able (in basketball, and in life!), but the Bulls are one of the worst teams in the league. Pau Gasol is miles better than any player the team has had in 10 years. Yet they spent the whole game ripping his play. Can't they instead laud Joakim Noah for doing what he did against great players like Gasol? Neil Funk sucks and he's blind. (alright, I did like him and King using Kobe's performance to further rip dancin' Lebron)
Shannon Brown had a nice game, giving token pressure to Rose and shooting perfect from the field, ranging from a 3-pointer to a thunderous breakaway dunk. I won't fully commit a 'why couldn't my favorite sports team keep that guy they once had who is now good on another team!' rant, but it is a bit annoying that the Bulls couldn't even give him (even though he was an impending free agent) more than a 22 minute tryout during a completely lost season. A real Org. during such a year tells bozo interim coaches to play guys like this over Larry Hughes.

No need to panic: everything is going according to the Bulls plan

your friendly BullsBlogger — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:21:02 -0000

As I said after the Bulls loss in Utah, it does matter that the Bulls are getting blown out on this road trip in addition to merely losing. It matters in that it follows that this Bulls team is not likely to perform up to a .500 record the rest of the way at this current level.

But even with Thomas and Hinrich's absence bringing this team's performance down to far below average, their record is still 6-8, and the games they've lost so far on the trip were games they wouldn't have been favored in preseason anyway. At least if you figured they'd be at or near 41-41 at the end of this season and tempered the game-by-game expectations accordingly.

They may sign a fringe player at guard to a nonguaranteed deal if Hinrich's out for an extended period, but with little room under the tax they likely can't even give a prorated vet minimum as it'd completely close their options later in the year if another signing is necessary. It's a testament to poor planning and cap mismanagement on the Bulls part that they assembled such nonexistent-to-poor depth, as D-Leaguers could likely give the Bulls more than what Hunter/Gray/Pargo currently provide, and at half the cost. The fact that they're counting on spots 10-13 on the roster means that the season already hasn't worked out for the best, but it doesn't mean you throw away guaranteed money, especially with such a tight budget going into the offseason. It similarly makes any trades very difficult to complete.

But while depth has become a real issue, and though they are boring to watch (and really hard to blog about), the Bulls aren't in a dire situation. Not yet. The early part of every Bulls season is always the toughest, and then they surge towards mediocrity and an early playoff exit. With more games against their eastern peers (and the Nets) as well as Tyrus Thomas returning, it will likely happen again this year. There may be cries here for an Iverson (or anyone) signing to help 'save' this season, but there's nothing to save. A meaningful season was punted on July 1st, and the narrative surrounding the Bulls is acknowledging more by the loss that they may have been just blowing smoke when saying they'd make a step up this season due to...I don't know, 'ball movement' or something.

The idea that a full season of Salmons ('fluke rule') and Miller ('old and out of shape rule') would make a big difference has proven false. Hinrich was supposed to be a better complement to Rose (he can't be if the skills he provides are overshadowed by general suckage) and Rose himself was to be an All-Star now that nobody would be getting in his way on offense (wha?). The defense certainly looks ordinary again after a fast start, and that was one realistic hope for actual improvement.

But team improvement wasn't necessary in this grand franchise plan. In fact, the plan is not really a plan at all: it's to be lucky. The Bulls may be positioning (and not there yet, depending on some cap variables) to acquire a max free-agent, and it'll be tough for me to call it an achievement of the team if they're able to pull it off: it'll mostly just be a fortunate occurrence.

And if you look throughout NBA history for how teams become championship contenders, a lot of it is indeed luck. The Bulls already had more than their share given their improbable lottery victory two summers ago. But now, though seeing improvement from Noah and a bounce-back year from Deng is a big help, they need another massive stroke of luck to be relevant again. Whether they get that or not, it stinks that it's not only what the franchise could use, but what they're absolutely banking on. Their front office is certainly not making their way back to the top by being good at their jobs.

Preview: Bulls at Kings

Ziller — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:31 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

" HAHA! And then the Hamburglar was like, 'Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?' HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh my god, it was hilarious. ... You had to be there."

THE OPPONENT

The Bulls are doing it wrong. Whereas the Kings thrive on offense and pull through (sorta) on defense, Chicago does the opposite: good boring defense, bad boring offense. That is not the way to win hearts and minds! Ask San Antonio! Ask Detroit!

Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich deserve the defensive credit. Noah is second in the league in total rebound rate, and eighth in blocks per game. Deng is averaging 18/9 as a combo forward, and playing the stout man defense he is reputed for. Hinrich is a gnat, as you well know. I have no idea how John Salmons's defense has been, but I do know that it was wildly overrated in Sacramento, and I know that Salmons is still trying to find his offense. (His True Shooting is 41.3 percent. Seriously.)

Still, the Bulls are 5-4, just like the Kings. The team's only road win happened to come in Cleveland, which tends to count for a lot. The other road games have been losses in Boston, Miami and Toronto. This will be the first game of the Bulls' annual circus road trip, which stinks, because theoretically you'd like to catch them at the end, when they have tired mind and cold brain stems. I have a feeling their brain stems might be warmish to steamy. As it were, this is probably the "easiest" stop on the tour (which also visits the Lakers, Nuggets, Blazers, Bucks and Jazz), and as such could either be Vinny Del Negro's Alamo or his Waterloo. Let's find out.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Luol Deng	9	38.6	7.0	15.6	45.0	0.3	0.6	60.0	3.2	4.2	76.3	3.0	6.2	9.2	1.7	1.6	0.8	0.8	1.6	17.6
Derrick Rose	9	32.6	6.0	12.9	46.6	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.8	2.4	72.7	0.8	2.1	2.9	5.3	3.0	0.9	0.4	1.3	13.8
John Salmons	9	38.0	4.3	13.7	31.7	1.3	5.0	26.7	2.6	3.4	74.2	0.6	3.4	4.0	2.7	1.7	2.0	0.7	2.2	12.6
Joakim Noah	9	32.7	4.9	8.8	55.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	2.8	72.0	4.3	7.9	12.2	2.2	1.8	0.3	2.0	2.9	11.8
Kirk Hinrich	9	29.4	3.7	9.8	37.5	0.9	3.3	26.7	1.7	2.4	68.2	0.4	2.8	3.2	4.6	2.6	0.9	0.3	2.7	9.9
Tyrus Thomas	4	20.8	3.0	6.8	44.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.3	4.0	56.3	1.3	4.0	5.3	0.3	0.8	0.8	1.8	1.8	8.3
Brad Miller	9	22.6	2.8	6.4	43.1	0.2	1.0	22.2	2.4	3.2	75.9	0.9	3.8	4.7	2.0	1.4	0.3	0.2	2.6	8.2
Taj Gibson	9	23.1	3.2	6.8	47.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.7	53.3	2.2	2.7	4.9	0.7	1.0	0.9	1.0	2.9	7.3
Jannero Pargo	8	10.5	1.6	4.6	35.1	0.4	1.4	27.3	0.1	0.1	100.0	0.0	0.8	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.8	3.8
James Johnson	5	5.6	0.8	2.8	28.6	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.4	0.4	100.0	1.0	0.2	1.2	0.0	0.6	0.0	0.0	1.8	2.0
Lindsey Hunter	1	7.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Rose and Salmons vs. Udrih and Evans. Tyreke Evans took turns guarding Trevor Ariza (not well) and Aaron Brooks (well) on Friday, and I imagine the same will be true here. I assume Salmons will continue his pattern of shooting jumpers (a career-high five threes per game this season -- I know Ben Gordon, sir, and you, sir, are no Ben Gordon), though if he has a steamy brain stem in lieu of a warmish brain stem, he may remember Beno Udrih is not adept at defending the drive, and if he has the opportunity to line up across from Udrih may attempt to drive a little bit. We know firsthand Salmons is a fairly skilled finisher, and while Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson have improved as defenders at the rim there is no proof they can deny crafty finishers, of which John Salmons qualifies as such.

At the other end, Evans should be able to drive around or through either Bulls guard. You wonder if The Notorious VDN will opt to stick the long Deng (T.W.S.S.) on 'Reke, but then you realize that makes sense, which is something The N. VDN rarely does, so you stop wondering about that and begin wondering if Jarlsberg is a good choice for a grilled cheese sandwich. (Is it? If not, I have some Swiss, so let me know.)

As for Rose, I will say this: he is pretty good.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

OK, so, in case you don't know, the Kings are opening up a buffet from 6-7 for any fan with a ticket. (The promotion is currently the splash page of Kings.com. Seriously.) If this game sells out, I predict that the Kings will immediately move to the Silver Legacy casino in Reno. I will be watching the attendance figures with baited (by roast beef and tiny cobs of corn) breath. The only hurdle is accounting for the notoriously healthy Brad Miller Reunion bump. Half of Loomis might come out!

BOLD PROCLAMATION

John Salmons will pass the ball to Kevin Martin exactly as many times as he did all of last season.

DETAILS

The game begins at 7 PM, though the tip may be late if Scott Moak is allowed into the buffet. ("Please rise from your seats as we prepare to salute the ham smothered in au jus and garlic mashed potatoes and ranch dressing.") Game thread at 7, Game Thread II at 8, post-game thread at 9:45, recap in South Dakota.

3 In the Key - Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. Chicago

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:23 -0000

by Tony Dejak - AP

What does Shawn Rogers have to do with the Raptors? Well he is a good example of anchoring a defense. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

View full size photo »

After a brutal and highly criticized loss to a shorthanded Spurs team, the Raps come back to the (friendly?) ACC for a match-up against the Chicago Bulls before once again packing their bags for the West Coast.

Can the Raptors secure a win against the Chicago Bulls?

After the debaucle in San Antonio is there not a more fitting time for the league to release the 2009-2010 All-Star Ballot? I mean after the loss to the Spurs don't you just want to grab as many voting cards as you can and send all four of Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon to the All-Star game?!

Ok, so it is a little too early to think about All-Star selections, but it is true that the Ballot has been released and there are four current Raptors listed.

It's also true that if the team continues to play like they did Monday night that no-one outside of CB4 will have even the slightest chance of making the trip to Dallas to play in Sunday's game.

But let's leave the All-Star talk for later this season and leave Monday's disappointing effort behind and focus on the game at hand.

In fact, if I was Coach Triano that is the exact message I would be relaying to the players prior to tonight's game. There is, after all, at least defensively, no-where to go but up. It would almost be unfathomable for the Raps to give up more points then they have over the past two games. (If you were counting at home they have given up 260 points in the past two contests.)

Working in the Raptors favor is that Chicago might be one of the best opponents in the league for a team hoping to hold its opponent to less than...100 points.

After seven games the Bulls offence has only scored on average, 88.6 points per game. That puts them second last, just ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats. This is not a team built to win games by simply outscoring its opponent, but a team that likes to use the shot clock and get good looks at the hoop.

This approach has worked thus far mostly because their offensive style of play has been complemented by some solid defense. So far this season, the Bulls have only allowed one opponent to score over 100 points and over the past four games (3-1, the only loss coming last night to the Nuggets when a buzzer beater by Miller was denied) they have held their opponents to just under 87 points per game. Now that's some good defense.

Also working in the Raps favor tonight is that the Bulls, are not a strong 3 point shooting team. As a team their 3 point shooting percentage is below 25% (4-18 last night) and their best three-point shooter percentage wise is Luol Deng...but he has only taken four shots from beyond the arc all year. If the Raps intend to collapse the paint to prevent the likes of Derrick Rose, John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich from attacking the rim at will, the stats would indicate that this the team to do it against.

Of course these are NBA shooters and if you give them wide open looks time and time again eventually you will get burned.

It will be interesting to see how the Raps respond in tonight's match-up as their current mini-slide could easily turn into a full-blown slump considering their next opponents (Clippers, Suns, Nuggets, Jazz). If there is one game where a W is more likely than not, it is probably the one at home facing a team playing the second half of a back-to-back.

Of course if the team continues to have defensive woes don't expect the ACC crowd to sit idle. If the Raps show little effort I am sure the Boo-birds will be out in full force. If this were to happen I don't think I would have issue with it.

And here are tonight's three keys to the game.

Setting the tempo: Two teams with two completely different styles. The Raps can score and allow their opponents to score. The Bulls are the polar opposite. The team that dictates the tempo of the game for the greatest period of time should win. That might be over simplifying it but if the Raps can't keep a high tempo then the Bulls will grind them down. The Bulls may not be the most exciting team to watch but they are getting the job done, even without Tyrus Thomas and a slow starting Rose.

The Three Ball: The mantra for the 2009-2010 Raptors should really be "Live by the three, die by the three." If the Raps shooters are hot the Bulls won't have an answer. If the Raps shoot like they did in New Orleans or against Detroit you have to like their chances as the Bulls simply don't have the offensive firepower to keep up. If the shots don't drop then what are the Raps to do? I would suggest defend but....

Defence: For the foreseeable future defense will inevitably be one of the three keys. In any shape or form the Raptors have to show they at least have a pulse on the defensive end. Without it they have no chance of living up to the expectations of many.

In this match-up the thing to watch is Derrick Rose against Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack. The Raptors PG's have to slow him down and keep him from dominating. If they can't I would suggest Triano have Hedo run the point but stick Sonny Weems on Rose. Weems might be the only guy on the Raps roster with the quicks to put up some resistance.

This is a winnable game, but if the Raps fail to secure the W at least all those in attendance will have had the opportunity to thank Chuck Swirsky for all his work while with the team.

That's one positive...right?

To get the Bulls side of the story visit Blog a Bull.

Nuggets 90, Bulls 89: when 0.3 seconds isn't enough

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:57:03 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Look at Noah with his hands clasped. He's the best. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Browse more photos »

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Denver	91.0	98.9	44.6%	17.9	34.1	19.8
Chicago		97.8	46.0%	10.3	32.6	14.3

(more on the 4 factors box score)

Man, do I not like instant replay. I don't like it in any sport, to be honest. Because I feel like every time it's implemented, it winds up ruining the entertainment value of the game, with the increased stoppages where you watch old men peering into a monitor. I think it devalues the entertainment of watching the sport (which is all it is). I can't see many people that concerned about a point here or there unless they're gambling on the game, and I'd rather just assume one catches some breaks and misses some over the course of a sports-watching life.

Enough of that mini-rant, and back to this game. It's certainly possible that the referees would have ruled Brad Miller's shot no good when it occured if they knew they wouldn't have the crutch of replay, because I believe it's one of Newton's laws of physics that Brad Miller cannot catch and shoot a basketball in 0.3 seconds. But they called it good, and there are shots of the replay (ht: Sham) that indicate that it wasn't. When they started taking forever when looking at the replay, it seemed less and less likely that the on-court ruling would stand, and you could feel the crowd getting more nervous.

But honestly, we got to jump around and high-five like idiots (as did the Bulls) when Miller hit the shot, so we got that winning feeling, if only for a short time. That was fun.

This was a great game, and I was immensely impressed with the Bulls defense. I kept being surprised that they were staying in the game, and then to see them really lock down in the fourth quarter and take a lead was outstanding. With the season Carmelo Anthony is having, he's incredibly scary to see opposing your team in a close game, but the combination of Luol Deng and Joakim Noah made his life as difficult as possible, and both were fantastic on that end of the floor all night. Everyone was, pretty much, with the only defensive holes popping up sporadically was a free pass for Nene to dive down the middle of the lane without impediment. Though I wouldn't want to get in his way either.

The offense continues to stink, and I'm getting more used to it by the game. They can't shoot 3s, they don't get to the line (Rose was avoiding the lane it was a pit of lava and his only FTAs were on the late possession where Billups was trying to give a foul on the floor), traits taken to the extreme when they finished the first quarter with 20 points on 10 field-goals. It almost seems like they'd be better off just chucking the ball at the rim as early in the possession as possible to allow their offensive rebounding to take over, and that was actually how they scored their last basket, an offensive board and then Noah getting the ball stripped right into Rose's hands for a layup.

We know how the next possession went, a foul by Hinrich on Billups with .6 seconds left. He missed the second free throw leaving just enough time for a catch-and-shoot, though apparently not enough for Brad Miller to do so.

Can't say enough about how great Noah was tonight, and seeing 21 rebounds may not be to crazy for the next few weeks, with nearly nobody else on the Bulls able to cannibalize his boarding totals (and him being awesome and everything). As I mentioned, Rose was a bit too jump-shooty but made enough of them. Taj Gibson really impressed with some of his finishing around the rim. As far as the bad, Brad Miller had his worst game of the season, making one basket in 14 minutes and forcing a couple of awful passes from the high post resulting in turnovers. Salmons and Hinrich didn't shoot well and again don't hit enough threes. And Pargo sucks. Defensive rebounding remains a problem. Have I mentioned the offense is still bad?

The defense looks good though, and given their opponent tonight it was looking great. Having Luol Deng back makes all the difference, and Joakim Noah is becoming an absolute force.

Gameday Preview at Chicago Bulls

David Arnott — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:30:47 -0000

Pump Up Music: CKY -- "96 Quite Bitter Beings"

The Big Picture: I love this Bulls team way more than I probably should. First, if you don't like Derrick Rose's game, then you probably don't like basketball. We should all consider ourselves blessed to see him battle with Paul, Rondo, and any other young point guards to come up over the next fifteen years.

The number two reason is Brad Miller. Don't get me wrong: He has his limitations and is at the age where he might fall off a cliff at any moment, but his style falls under the same rubric as Sheed, the kind of big man I love. At this stage, he's there to provide adequate defense, pass the ball off the block, and pull their big man away from the basket by hitting threes.

Finally, the Bulls have three guys that, in my pre-Rufus days, I trashed and predicted the team would regret picking: Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas. None of them are All Stars, by any means, but none of them are even remotely busts, either. To my mind, those three have beaten the odds. None was particularly special in college, though Thomas's exceptional rebounding and shotblocking has carried over to the pros (rebounding might be the easiest skill to translate from college to the NBA), and they were each picked based more on imagination, prayers, and awe of their physicality than cold evaluation of their skills. Though Thomas and Noah have been in and out of Vinny Del Negro's doghouse at times, and Thomas won't play tonight due to a fractured forearm, all those guys are worthy contributors, and it's as if the Bulls turned a magic trick with each of them.

Key to Victory: The Bulls last played on Thursday, when they stunned the Cavaliers in Cleveland. The Cats are on the back half of a back to back. However, having spread the minutes out fairly evenly last night, Larry Brown has put his team in position to match the Bulls' energy. After tonight's game, they'll have two days off to recuperate before another back to back. We'll see what happens in the fourth quarter when the rested Bulls push the tempo.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: My best friend in middle school loved Vinny Del Negro for reasons that have still gone unexplained. It might have been because Del Negro rocked the blow dried look even while playing. My favorite basketball player happened to be Dennis Rodman, so in retrospect it was a weird coincidence that two kids in San Francisco had this odd fascination with two guys on the San Antonio Spurs, neither of whom was David Robinson.

Bulls 86, Cavs 85: If winning ugly's the only way to win, I'll take it.

your friendly BullsBlogger — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:28:31 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Precious Orange Roundie. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Browse more photos »

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Chicago	91.0	94.5	42.6%	12.5	13.0	6.6
Cleveland		93.4	45.1%	14.8	19.6	13.2

(more on the 4 factors box score)

The Cavs have been perennially one of the top defensive teams in the league since Mike Brown took over as coach. Tonight the Bulls looked like an even better unit out there.

Though it's not like the aforementioned Brown has ever had his teams looking very fluid on offense. The Bulls only had 6 TOs all night, forcing the Cavs into their ugly half-court 'sets'. And Shaq looked way too slow to be consistently effective, and playing him and Z together never made sense, and Mo Williams takes way too many rushed shots for someone who shares the floor with LeBron, and LeBron absolutely coasted all night to the point of embarrassment.

But it was Noah making life miserable for Shaq. And Deng staying in front of LeBron so well that Mike Fratello actually claimed that Deng had the size/speed combo to do so (he doesn't). Kirk Hinrich was everywhere defensively tonight, and I loved the play where LeBron was stuck in the paint with the defense collapsed on him, and Hinrich literally ripped the ball from his hands.

LeBron spent so much time looking like he couldn't care less hoisting jumpers that I think the referees forgot who he was on his final drive, and didn't give him the call as he flailed into Noah. I think LeBron lost the ball on the way up before even making contact, so while it shouldn't be praise to make the correct call, it was indeed unexpected given the circumstances.

While the Bulls defense held together all night (they shot 30% in the 3rd quarter and stayed within 5), I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and James to pull out the win with no comparable Bulls player existing to respond. It actually looked like it was going that way, with a James three-pointer followed by a block on Salmons. But Mo Williams hesitated a bit on a kick-out 3, then took an inexplicable running layup that wasn't even close. The Bulls own late-game ineptitude (didn't score with 3 possessions in the final 1:44) allowed James to still be able to be the hero down one with the ball, but Deng and Noah did the job. In fact, lets not say James didn't get the superstar call, but Noah did get one.

The Bulls offense still, more or less, blows. They weren't even able to hit the offensive glass tonight (a Cavs strength, denying that). Deng/Salmons/Hinrich shot a good percentage, but while Deng had a corner three-pointer (huge if he can do that) Hinrich and Salmons only chipped in 2 between them.

Is this the way it's going to be all year? The Bulls incapable of being even an average offensive team and having to hustle and defend their way to mediocrity? If so, even the wins will be ugly. But they have a long time to get better, and in April nobody will care how the Bulls beat the Cavs on the road, but that it was a win.

To the bullets...

I hope you 'Rise of Taj'-ers are happy. Now he's not only taking away Tyrus's playing time, but Noah wasn't in for the final stretch of minutes either (he was subbed in late for that final stand against James). With the announcing crew pumping up the rookie ('the coaching staff tells us...' said before each laudatory remark) it sure seemed like Gibson played better than a 5-12 shooting night and a pedestrian 7 rebounds (I think his OREBs are inflated due to catching his own misses) in 33 minutes. And while you can see how he helps in other areas, he's playing way way too much.
I do thank Taj Gibson for stepping up and being the new Chris Duhon of BlogABull. I heard there was a tearful passing of the torch ceremony and everything, though Duhon ruined the after party getting too drunk.
You just knew VDN would try throwin Pargo out there early to see if he was still hot from the Bucks game. Nope, the good-games streak ended at one, Pargo was 0-4 in 11 minutes.
Yet more on VDN: that 'inside trax' feature on TNT does not serve him well. I realize that it's good to keep things simple in the huddle, but 'shoot with confidence' (huh?) and 'RUN!' don't make me think he's the next great hardwood tactician. And I don't think I ever heard a single mention of defense, which isn't as much an indictment as it is just funny given the preseason hype. All that said, what does matter is that they're playing better defense, and as much as I roll my eyes at VDN's motivational ploys, they play hard. I'd think this group would play hard regardless and deep down know he's still in over his head, but still.
Tyrus Thomas wound up playing sick tonight after flying in late to meet up with the team. Wasn't quite the Jordan flu game, he hit a couple jumpers and didn't do anything else. Sure, it stinks that Taj has now risen to take his job and he'll be dealt for nothing or left to walk at the end of the season since Vinny's tired of him, but I'll enjoy the guy while we have him, and glad he gutted out this game to maybe possibly win back some of the coaching staff's trust.
Kudos to TBJ's Tas Melas for capturing the ridiculous way LeBron addressed the refs post-game, calling one over just to give a fake-confused 'let me get this straight' face while ultimately saying nothing. It's a dick move in an argument, and I know because I've pulled that move when I'm feeling dick-ish.
Luol didn't only hit a corner three tonight, but had a turnaround jumper over a Cavs guard after a defensive switch. If he can do both of those things more often, that's a new wrinkle, and it won't matter that he can't score in isolation off the dribble. Until the end of games when he's hoisting up shots barely hitting the rim, but that will be Rose time eventually (right?).
Speaking of Rose...that seemed like a quiet 14pt, 11ast night, though once again he contributed most in the 4th quarter (10 pts), which is fantastic. Only 2 TOs with those 11assists.
I don't get how the Bulls have beaten two top-tier teams while looking this bad either. Maybe the Spurs were tired and the Cavs aren't good right now. But it's so huge that they're getting these wins in the early toughest part of the schedule.

Bulls 83, Bucks 81: Bulls are bad, beat team that's worse

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:49:10 -0000

More photos » by Gary Dineen - NBAE/Getty Images

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 03: Derrick Rose #1 of the Chicago Bulls tries to wash the bad out of Bulls fans eyes with a good late-game performance. (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Browse more photos »

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Milwaukee	92.0	88.0	41.8%	5.5	20.4	12.0
Chicago		90.2	42.6%	27.0	29.2	19.6

(more on the 4 factors box score)

(I won't get into the Tyrus 'flu' controversy for this one. Though there was a bit of a snarky tone when describing it at halftime, nobody provided any additional information. Speaking of that pre/half/postgame show I couldn't really share Kendall Gill's puzzlement as to how Lindsey Hunter's speech at Monday's practice didn't carry over to this game. Honestly, what the hell do Bulls 'observers' believe win games in the NBA? Is 'talent' around 56th down the list?)

What an absolutely awful game to watch. As I've said, the Bulls need wins early in any way possible. So let's take it and run (to get slaughtered in Cleveland). But the lesson of it isn't what Luol Deng said postgame, that this proves Bulls are a group that cares about winning because they came back. (he said something silly like that, trust me).

The lesson is this team is not good, and need to get better to make the playoffs this season. This is a bad Bucks team, missing Michael Redd, and the Bulls had to surge in the second half to squeak out a win at home.

Let's hope that first half is the worst we see all season from the Bulls, shooting 27% with 12 TOs on their way to 29 points. And that was actually better numbers than they put up in the first quarter. We know that no matter how undermanned they seem, any Scott Skiles team will be active defensively, but those Bulls teams he led was rarely big on forcing turnovers. But the Bucks were very disruptive tonight completely frustrating the Bulls into turning the ball over and rushing their pick/roll plays. Brandon Jennings was getting his hands everywhere, including picking Rose's pocket on one occasion.

The Bucks would've been even farther ahead at the half if they didn't have such terrible shot selection (with terrible shot-makers). Their bench was especially abysmal all game, going 5-19 on the game with 10 points. They were a Bulls-esque 4-20 on three-pointers. It was fitting that their final shot was a 3-point airball from Iylasova.

The Bulls actually didn't get going until midway through the 3rd, when it was deemed Pargo time. As is the case once every dozen games, Pargo played well: scoring 10 in his 14 minutes, and helped carry the Bulls to a quality 3-point shooting night (Hinrich/Salmons were only 1-5, not good enough). The Bucks kept missing, the Bulls owned the glass (another good DREB% result), able to run to prevent the Skiles D to get set, and the Bulls eventually made up the entire deficit with a Brad Miller 3-pointer early in the 4th quarter.

One good we can take from this game was that after being outshone much of the game by Jennings, Derrick Rose then took over the final few minutes. He was using screens set by Miller and either shooting over Jennings, or finding his way to the rim off of Miller passes (Brad Miller rules, in case you forgot). He also had a big block on Jennings in the penultimate Bucks possession. In close-ups, you could see that Rose dwarfs over Jennings, and it was good to see him recognize and use that advantage. (credit to Hinrich as well, he started out really lagging behind Jennings' speed, but started to figure him out defensively as the game went along).

The other big story was Luol Deng's night, who had a career-high 20 rebounds to go with 24 points. He even hit a 3-pointer and and went to the line 11 times. Luol Deng certainly looks healthy, and it was great to see him fighting for rebounds and moving without the ball like he used to. But while Stacy King begged for the Bulls to 'go to' Luol more, he still hasn't shown any added ability to be a 'go-to' player. He doesn't have to be that to be effective, but this game doesn't mean he's taken some major step in his game, especially considering it was against a horrible Bucks group of forwards (and we know Skiles hates rebounding from his forwards in general). But this early season has shown Deng to be healthy and productive again, and that's needed for this season to be successful

So between Rose and Deng, If you're looking at this roster as only a very small group of actually important players, then this is a nice night. But I was hoping the Bulls would put on a good home performance and they did nearly the complete opposite of that. If not for a good game from Pargo, the Bulls likely don't come back and this season's projection looks apocalyptic. So should his random spurt of good shooting and an eeked-out victory really change that projection? Not much, though seeing Derrick Rose as the one to put the game away does help my mood.

Some other observations...

Noah missed his first jumper of the season, as he made a Tornado in each of the first 3 games.
Bogut at times seemed to be able to score so easy against the Bulls frontcourt, yet at other times seemed completely unable to do anything.
It'd be nice if our color commentator offered something to describe the Bulls bad play besides 'flat' and 'lacking energy'. Also, I get the desire for the Bulls to run, but every team likes to get easier looks when running. There were lineups out there not especially suited to run nor effective enough defensively to get transition going, so when you're a 'bad halfcourt offense team' you're just a bad offensive team.
Nice graphic to show after an absolutely abysmal first quarter: Bulls lead the league in average attendance from '99-'09. Yay, us! We don't expect much and have plenty of disposable income!
In the end-of-quarter possessions, Vinny actually had them running plays. First quarter had Rose/Miller high screen which Rose penetrated to find Deng for a (missed) corner 3. Second quarter saw Hinrich use a screen to hit a floater. He's hit a lot of those this season so far. Overall, better than the usual iso-and-stand-around.
Vinny did a good job on the short rotation tonight, independent as to however he's handling this Tyrus thing. Resisted the urge to keep Pargo in too long into crunch time even after his hot shooting.
Not worried about John Salmons yet, since I never expected him to replace Ben Gordon in the first place. He has to be better than this (3-15 tonight) but while some slide was expected from last season, it's likely not going to be a complete free-fall statistically for him.
Taj may be yet another symbol of the Org.'s love of grit over talent, and he may not be good at all, but he does fight for offensive rebounds.

Recap: Bulls 83, Bucks 81

Alex Boeder — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:57:57 -0000

Box Score

The Bucks ever-so-narrowly missed the chance to win in Chicago for the first time in eight tries. And they did so by missing by a lot. Twice.

With 14 second to go in the fourth and the Bulls up 83-81, Brandon Jennings pulled up for a jumper just past the free throw line, but Derrick Rose blocked the attempt with ease. For Rose, the play provided a bit of sweet redemption because Jennings had forced him into a turnover and then floated a jumper over him just two possessions earlier.

Still, the block gave the ball back to Chicago with little time and less hope. But Joakim Noah (he of the absurd free throw form) spun consecutive free throws off the rim to give Milwaukee hope with 12 seconds to spare.

Unfortunately, the final try proved just as futile as the previous one. Jennings found an all-too-hesitant Ersan Ilyasova beyond the arc who fired a shot that hardly got closer to the rim than when Rose stuffed Jennings. Airball, out of bounds, game over.

The under-one-minute sequences underscored Milwaukee's thin late-game offensive options. Jennings was again very good, but after taking the previous three shots the Bucks had to figure the defense would cave around him. So they tried to spring free Ilysasova, who with the game on the line came up just as his final line (0-3 for 0 points and 3 fouls.) indicates: empty.

Three Bucks

Brandon Jennings. There is style (personified by God Shammgod here) and there is substance (think Tim Duncan since the first time you saw him play until further notice). Jennings shows both plenty of style and plenty of substance. And not just "for a 20 year-old" either. Case in anecdotal point: late second-quarter, Young Buck knifes down the middle of the lane and every-so-slightly darts left, helping draw attention away from Dan Gadzuric, who is cutting to his right. A simple around-the-back pass results in a~~n easy~~ dunk for Gadzuric. Style and substance, at once.

Jennings certainly more than held his own in an initial matchup with Derrick Rose, an accomplishment in itself. Unafraid to assume the desperately-needed role of scoring point guard on a team with limited firepower and without its best scorer, the rook' netted a cool 25 points. As such, he's led the Bucks in scoring in all three games. And he's fast showing a defensive character. Jennings led the club with a pair of steals, and he defended Rose into a turnover on a decisive play with less than half a minute in the game. In fact, he stayed in front of Rose pretty nicely for much of the game, and contributed to Chicago's point guard pretty pedestrian 5 assist, 5 turnover line. For Jennings, 25 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, some learning, and even more growing. Well-done.

Andrew Bogut. The defense was mostly steady, and though we could use a few more offensive bursts with Redd sidelined, Bogut stepped up on both ends of the floor tonight. 'Drew threw in eight straight in the second quarter, with all but one shot coming from one or the other baseline on running half-hook types. The Bucks again found Bogut for a few scores in the fourth, and he finished with 16 points, a delightful sum after the first two games.

Maybe you watched the second Bucks/Bulls preseason game, probably not. Bogut didn't play, which worked out nicely for Joakim Noah, who pitched in 23 points and 20 boards. With the Bucks' big man back in the middle tonight, Noahwas nearly nothing until an emphatic slam late in the fourth quarter. Not coincidental.

Charlie Bell. Far from a poor showing in a fill-in role for Redd starting at the two, Bell began the night by frustrating John Salmons, which led to a 3-12, 4-turnover night for Chicago's starting shooting guard. And while he couldn't replicate a Redd-like scoring punch, he did notch 11 points on 5-11 from the field and hit a big three in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 78-75. In sum, Bell played a great game off the bench, only he was forced into the starting lineup before that could happen.

Three Numbers

2. Players not named Brandon Jennings (who made 3-4) on the Bucks combined to make two free throws tonight in Chicago. Not a terribly efficient two free throws either, considering it required six attempts. The Bulls absolutely hammered the Bucks at the line, making 20-31 compared to 5-10. That major descrepancy tipped the final score scale in Chicago's favor.

5. The Bulls connected on their final five attempts from long-distance. And that came after an 0-6 start on threes in the first half. Jannero Pargo (2-3) and Brad Miller (1-1) delivered off the bench for big threes and combined for 23 points -- a whole lot more than the combined eight points Milwaukee got from six different reserves. And the Bucks' bench shot 0-6 on three-pointers, including Ersan's Air.

12. Rose's block on Jennings was the most memorable (and reminiscent of this one against Rondo in the playoffs), but it was just one of 12 for the Bulls. Noah led the way with five while Deng and Salmons followed with a pair each. Each Bucks starter was blocked at least once, and Jennings and Delfino were each stuffed thrice. This group isn't going to make that many shots in the first place; can't afford that many with no hope whatsoever of making it to the basket. Meanwhile, Bogut registered three of Milwaukee's five blocks.

Three Good

Super Tuesday. Like every election day, statisticians tonight projected that candidates won political elections far before all of the votes were counted. Mattero'fact, even before everyone voted, they drew conclusions by considering populations and samples. And they always are able to do this with (varying degrees of) confidence. This type of scientific, qualitative predictive analysis would typically caution against reading too much into even a purely random sample size of 3 out of 82. Even if the results are overwhelming. And it's fine (if not wise) to keep that general line of logic in mind when considering the early Brandon Jennings Rookie of the Year campaign. Then again, Jennings has every look of a top contender thus far. He surely has the attention of voters here and now. After a More-Than-Good Friday in Philly and Stirring Saturday in Milwaukee, this was a rather Super Tuesday in Chicago for Jennings. Looking forward to this ____ Friday in Minneapolis.

Bogut/Jennings. As noted above. With Redd out, this inside-outside duo will need to produce games like this for Milwaukee to have a shot to win. And like tonight, that might not even be good enough. But these two can give the Bucks a chance.

Up... The Bucks carried their momentum from the triumph at the BC on Saturday to the Windy City in a most excellent first quarter, stealing a 25-13 lead after the first twelve. And they fought through the second on the back of Bogut to carry a healthy 14-point lead into the locker room. Really inspiring stuff. They looked like a club coached by Scott Skiles, and I mean that in only the best way: on the ground fighting for loose balls, hounding defensively both inside and out, everyone passing the ball, and generally making the most of a very limited unit.

Three Bad

...and Down. But in stark contrast to the game before, the Bucks deflated in the third quarter, and they couldn't keep pace with a free-flowing Bulls attack that moved the ball quickly offensively. After holding the Bulls to an awfully silly 29 points in the first half, the Bucks allowed 54 after halftime. A two-point loss in Chicago on the heels of losing Redd isn't so bad, but when you have an 18 point cushion on the road, don't lose it -- because this team won't have that very often in the first place.

Eight too much. The divisional and geographic rivals continue to fatten up against their northern neighbors: The Bulls have run off eight straight wins on their home floor against the Bucks.

Defending Deng. Luol Deng, Man of the Match. 24 points, 20 rebounds, and if that doesn't explain his aggressiveness enough then the fact he made 9-11 free throws compared to Milwaukee's entire team making 5-10 free throw should give you a feel. The Bucks threw some different people at Deng, but that didn't much matter; not tonight.

Heat 95, Bulls 87: Derrick Rose needs to be better, or the Bulls need bigger leads through 3 quarters

your friendly BullsBlogger — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:43:14 -0000

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Chicago	92.0	94.6	42.0%	14.8	28.9	14.1
Miami		103.3	51.4%	29.2	22.9	19.6

(more on the 4 factors box score)

These two teams were expected to be evenly matched, and they proved to be. That is, until the fourth quarter, when the Heat had Dwyane Wade and the Bulls have nothing of the sort.

They do have Derrick Rose, who should be somewhat similar to the sort, at the very least in terms of a late-game role, but Rose didn't look right all game and he certainly wasn't taking over possessions late. His defense was also quite poor, and Carlos Arroyo lit him up so bad in the 1st half VDN used Pargo for a 5 minute stretch when the situation arose in the 2nd(I think that was the reason anyway...). Those were crucial stretches as the Bulls should've been padding their lead with Wade on the bench. When it got to the 4th quarter the Bulls only scored 17 points, with the set offense not doing much made worse by nobody really stepping up in isolation.

But such late-game impotence could be expected: If it wasn't coming from Rose, who can really be counted on to generate shots late? That may be a theme all season (hopefully with the happy ending of Rose maturing and taking charge) but what is something that could be changed is how the minutes were distributed in that 4th quarter and much of the game. Tyrus Thomas came off the court with 3 minutes left in the 3rd, and never returned. He wound up with 21 minutes (and fairly pedestrian production), including a stint with him at SF (should those even count anymore? It's not a good role for him). Taj Gibson somehow played 17 minutes, and for the centers, Noah had 30 with Brad Miller at 24. It's crazy that Taj is cutting into the supposedly Vinny-proof 7 man unit, but apparently Taj has been elevated to another toy for Vinny to play with. It's bad: Noah and Thomas need to play more.

What has been especially concerning in VDN's use of Tyrus in both this game and the Spurs game, is that he feels his best unit late is Rose/Hinrich/Salmons/Deng and alternating Miller and Noah. I can see why Vinny feels this is getting his best players on the floor, but I wouldn't say that the wings are so far above Thomas that it implores that you go in with a small lineup (unlike the Spurs, the Heat did not oblige and kept two bigs on the floor) making Noah do almost entirely handle the rebounding role. Luckily Noah is fairly awesome, and doing his best at just that...in fact the Bulls once again did alright overall on the defensive glass, so that's a promising sign. I can understand Vinny wanting Hinrich out there late, but he shouldn't be caught in scenarios where it's keeping Thomas on the bench for an entire quarter. I wonder if that's always the plan, or will it be on a game-by-game basis of sitting who's struggling, with Hinrich replacing Deng or Salmons (never Rose, no matter how bad he may look in a particular game) at times.

(And there's always the long-term effect of this minutes cut meaning losing Thomas mentally for the season, only to make it official by letting him walk in the offseason. But I don't think there's some conspiracy to make Thomas look unimportant in order to have fans accept his already-decided departure. That'd imply some organizational forethought and planning (albeit evil). I think it's just a case of VDN trying to win every game he can, and he genuinely feels that Tyrus isn't his best option.)

There were good signs before that 4th quarter though, a good offensive game from the trio of Salmons/Deng/Hinrich, shooting 21-46. Deng even showed an impressive post game (and more importantly, recognition of when to use it) when the smaller Quentin Richardson was matched on him. Though with Richardson in the game late (he hit a huge three), why was that matchup never exploited in the 4th? Hinrich once again did his best to frustrate Wade all night, and Salmons had his best game of the season shooting the ball.

But, a problem with this trio remains: no 3 point shooting. The Bulls were 2 of 12 from beyond the arc, and one of those makes was from Brad Miller. It was a major question going into this season as to whether Hinrich and Salmons could compensate for the loss of 3-point shooting with Gordon's departure, and so far they haven't delivered. Doug Thonus nails it at ChicagoNow: if they're not increasing their efficiency through 3-pointers or getting to the line (an area where Rose HAS to get better), how can this team have an above-average offense this season?

And if our shooters aren't shooting well enough to space the floor (and they're not really much of a running unit either with Hinrich/Salmons/Miller), what is the big advantage of going small to close out games?