Chicago Bulls Thread

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Tue May 08, 2007 10:15 pm

More of the same...I know I'm stating the obvious here but they need to win the next two in the United Center if they want to have any chance of making this a series.

by **Matt** on Tue May 08, 2007 11:31 pm

Needless to say i'm happy with the result. The Pistons are really crowding Deng & Gordon and going at them on the other end. It's obvious the Bulls need a low post scorer if they want a championship.

by **c0nr4d** on Wed May 09, 2007 2:22 am

Matt wrote:Needless to say i'm happy with the result. The Pistons are really crowding Deng & Gordon and going at them on the other end. It's obvious the Bulls need a low post scorer if they want a championship.

agreed...

i dont think the Bulls have a chance tho, they're not experienced enuff to rattle the battle-worn Pistons...i'll give the Bulls 1 game, 2 at the most...

by **maes** on Wed May 09, 2007 10:46 am

Matt wrote:Needless to say i'm happy with the result. The Pistons are really crowding Deng & Gordon and going at them on the other end. It's obvious the Bulls need a low post scorer if they want a championship.

Signing Webber mid-season was pretty cheap...what's the point of overpaying to take Ben away if you just stick C-Webb in there instead and he drops 22?

Pistons should play only Nazr if they are good sportsmen.

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Wed May 09, 2007 10:42 pm

c0nr4d wrote:i dont think the Bulls have a chance tho, they're not experienced enuff to rattle the battle-worn Pistons...i'll give the Bulls 1 game, 2 at the most...

Being a Bulls fan I'd like to think they still have a chance, albeit a remote one. I'd feel much more confident about that if the first two games weren't blowouts.

Bulls/Pistons Game 3 will now be shown on Foxtel this Friday, starting at 11 AM. (Y)

by **Its_asdf** on Thu May 10, 2007 7:14 am

Just a question for the Bulls fans out there. Who would you think on the Bulls should be the "star" player on offence? I mean I know the Bulls have probably the most well-balanced scoring punch in the league, but who'd you rank as the main guns for Chicago?

by **Dean** on Thu May 10, 2007 2:24 pm

For me its obviously Luol Deng and Ben Gordon

by **Matt** on Thu May 10, 2007 4:13 pm

I mean I know the Bulls have probably the most well-balanced scoring punch in the league

phoenix?

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Thu May 10, 2007 10:09 pm

Its_asdf wrote:Just a question for the Bulls fans out there. Who would you think on the Bulls should be the "star" player on offence? I mean I know the Bulls have probably the most well-balanced scoring punch in the league, but who'd you rank as the main guns for Chicago?

Either Ben Gordon or Luol Deng.

by **Matt** on Fri May 11, 2007 1:34 pm

Rasheed played a monster defensive game. He really looks focused in these playoffs. Billups really took over in the 2nd half....actually the Bulls 2nd quarter run happened when he was on the bench. Prince once again an excellent game.

2nd half only 2 TO's, and neither was the type that gives away a break away layup. Given Detroit's closeout history (11-1) i call sweep!

by **cheater1034** on Fri May 11, 2007 1:35 pm

Whoa, unfortunately chicago is down 3-0 which no one could of ever predicted :\

Hopefully chicago can win atleast game 4 and 5 to not get swept.

Damn detroit batards, lets hope they'll get eliminated in the conf. finals

by **maes** on Fri May 11, 2007 2:19 pm

LOL you can't "call" sweep at 3-0!

What's sad is that this team still has the same problems as last year's. We need a guard that can create & penetrate or a scoring big man, someone who demands a double team. We start 2 jump shooting combo guards and against tight playoff coverage they didn't do anything.

At 3 games in a row, it's not a bad night, it's a rather obvious problem.

I thought the D was pretty good, especially early. Holding the Pistons to low 80s is all you can ask from the D and the Bulls outrebounded the crap out of the Pistons, but the offense was just that bad.

On the bright side, this probably needed to happen to show Paxson/Reinsdorf that this isn't a championship team yet. They've been awfully primadonna so far, thinking they're so good they don't need the help of Gasol (or any big man). Webber drops 22 in game 2. Then Sheed gets a nice double double + 5 blocks in game 3. These guys are _old_, what's Amare & Duncan going to do the Bulls?

by **beau_boy04** on Fri May 11, 2007 2:29 pm

cheater1034 wrote:Whoa, unfortunately chicago is down 3-0 which no one could of ever predicted :\

Hopefully chicago can win atleast game 4 and 5 to not get swept.

Damn detroit batards, lets hope they'll get eliminated in the conf. finals

we need Derrick Rose in Chicago and all his dissarray will hopefully stop

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Fri May 11, 2007 2:50 pm

The first half was a tremendous performance. The execution was crisp, their hustle and defense was outstanding...it didn't occur to me until about two minutes left in the second quarter that the Bulls had only allowed eight points in the quarter only reaching ten after giving up two free throws at the end, the first of the night for the Pistons.

Then they reverted back to some old habits in the third quarter. The careless turnovers, overpassing and overdribbling, letting a big lead slip away. Admittedly the Pistons broke out of their first half funk and started knocking down shots left and right but the Bulls looked rattled and as usual, the lead kept slipping once Detroit started to chip away at it.

I wouldn't say the Bulls are being "primadonna" about the lack of a scoring presence in the form of a big man. There weren't too many complaints about the decision not to trade for Gasol while the Bulls were in the midst of sweeping Miami, quite the opposite. I'm sure the Bulls are aware of their deficiency there but what are they supposed to do, come out and admit they have no chance with the personnel they've got? These are the cards they've holding right now and they're making the best of the situation. Besides, I'm not sure they'd even be in the second round now if they'd acquired Gasol in exchange for Gordon and Deng, or Deng and Hinrich, or Hinrich and Gordon as the Grizzlies were supposedly demanding.

Finally, I don't want to be one of those fans that points the finger at the officials after every loss because the fact of the matter is the Bulls didn't play as well in the second half as they did in the first while the Pistons came out on a mission, but they so often go unrewarded when they guys like Deng or Gordon get to the basket and I believe that's a small part of the reason they rely so heavily on the jumpshot (obviously the lack of a dominant scoring presence in the post remains the major factor in adopting that approach on offense). I don't know if there's a player in the league that hits the floor more often than Ben Gordon without getting a whistle. The non-call against Deng at the end of the third was a disgrace, as was Webber's block of Hinrich's layup (if Thomas' block attempt in the first quarter was goaltending then surely Webber's was as well). Curious how a lot of those calls came after Hinrich accidentally collided with Ron Garrettson.

Still, it does come back to the fact they were rattled by a couple of calls that went against them (good or bad) and a surging Pistons team. They were outplayed in the second half and blew a comfortable lead, plain and simple. The deficiencies in their roster are being exploited but as I said before, I don't think it's a matter of them believing they can win without that post scorer, simply the fact they are trying to win without that post scorer. Let's see what the Draft brings them or what moves they can make this offseason. I don't think they should blow up the team a weakness in one area (especially if they need to completely sacrifice their strengths to address that weakness, which is what trading away any combination of Deng, Hinrich and Gordon would have been doing) any more than the Mavericks need to start from scratch because the Warriors pulled off the upset. We saw what changing the blueprint every season and wheeling and dealing did for the Bulls rebuilding effort earlier this decade and it wasn't pretty.

I'd like to think they can take game four in the United Center to avoid the sweep and give them something positive to take out of this series but after this loss and with the way the Pistons have been playing it'll be no easy feat.

by **Dan's Brain** on Sat May 12, 2007 1:52 am

If you're going to be swept, you might as well be swept by the eventual champions. I have a feeling that's what it will come down to if the Bulls do lose game 4.

This Detroit team is phenomenal. Tayshaun Prince has to be one of the best 5th bananas to ever play the game, and Chauncey Billups... what can you say?

(if Thomas' block attempt in the first quarter was goaltending then surely Webber's was as well).

I dont think the officials realise yet just how good of a leaper Tyrus Thomas is. They probably called that goaltending because they simply didnt believe that he was able to get that high to block it. I did punch my couch at that point.

As for the Bulls not getting to the line enough. I absolutely agree, but given the way they were shooting their free throws, I probably wouldnt have been able to watch those extra attempts.

I had a bit of an early triple-double watch going for Kirk Hinrich, after i saw that he had 4 rebounds in the first quarter, and once the offense started to flow a bit in the second, he started racking up the assists and knocking down his shots. The third quarter put an end to that hope, when the Bulls were missing everything. He eventually got 13 points, 11 boards and 7 assists. The rebounds I'd say were a playoff career high for him. But ultimately his reluctance to drive to the bucket and his being too deferential on his 3 point shot cost him and the team.

PJ Brown was also great in the first half. He provided great leadership and the Bulls rallied behind it.

On a lighter note, how funny was Jim Gray's "interview" with Ben Wallace before the game.... Bah! I'm not ready to laugh yet.

by **maes** on Sat May 12, 2007 2:15 am

The foul calls were a non-issue for the series. Yeah they didn't get as many as they could have this game, but the last game they had FIFTY TWO foul shots and still couldn't win. In game 1, the Bulls were also +10 on foul shots. If anything, the ref bias is towards the Bulls not Pistons.

The real issue is they can't score, and they're a team based off scoring. They're averaging 76 ppg for the series, in game two they played for 48 minutes and could only convert 20 buckets, that's ridiculous.

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Sat May 12, 2007 8:09 pm

Hinrich_12 wrote:As for the Bulls not getting to the line enough. I absolutely agree, but given the way they were shooting their free throws, I probably wouldnt have been able to watch those extra attempts.

True, that was painful to watch. maes is right as well, on the whole I wouldn't say the referees have been against the Bulls all series and like I said before I'm not blaming the loss on them because the Pistons turned up the heat and the Bulls did buckle, but there were a few sketchy calls that came during the third quarter run that certainly didn't help the situation.

I still think that the Bulls don't get enough respect when they do go to the bucket, particularly Ben Gordon who's been shooting around the 87% mark from the line for most of the year. I guess that comes with the reputation of being a jump shooting team but it's disheartening to see players on other teams drop the shoulder on the drive to initiate contact and drawing a soft shooting foul call then seeing Gordon or Deng draw the contact on a drive, in some cases even hitting the floor and not getting the call.

Hinrich_12 wrote:On a lighter note, how funny was Jim Gray's "interview" with Ben Wallace before the game.... Bah! I'm not ready to laugh yet.

Yeah that was great. "I gotta go warm up." Interview over. Classic stuff. :lol:

maes wrote:The real issue is they can't score, and they're a team based off scoring. They're averaging 76 ppg for the series, in game two they played for 48 minutes and could only convert 20 buckets, that's ridiculous.

True, though I think you can give a good deal of credit to the Pistons' defense for that. I agree that the lack of a post scorer is hurting them but I still believe that's a piece that should be added to the current mix before looking to break up the current core, particularly Gordon, Deng and Hinrich.

by **Matt** on Mon May 14, 2007 11:23 am

Bah, we got our asses kicked...damn you ESPN for your 3:30 games!!!!
Rasheed Wallace with 12 3attempts????? take it to the post son!

Game 5 Wednesday Aus time...at least we get to finish off @home so everyone can thank Ben Wallace for leaving

by **c0nr4d** on Mon May 14, 2007 1:27 pm

yeah...it didnt seem like we were all into the game 2day. The Bulls did a great job in the paint tho, and they put on a nice show for the last home game of their season

...amen to the Sheed comment, and where the hell was Rip all game?

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Mon May 14, 2007 5:12 pm

That's one positive thing they'll be able to take from this series. They'll still need to address their deficiencies to be successful long term but this game was more reminiscent of Chicago's success against the Pistons during the regular season. I still believe they could've - and should've - been more competitive during the first three games of the series and the series should probably be 2-2 right now. That's not to take anything away from the play of the Pistons but I believe the season series demonstrated that the Bulls are capable of making it a much more even battle than they have done in this series, particularly in Games 1 and 2.

by **---** on Wed May 16, 2007 12:34 pm

Well I gotta say, I think the Bulls will win Game 6 at home and judging by tonights performance, Game 7 at the Palace is gonna be a toss up. Could be a comeback from 3-0, which would be the first time in NBA History. Great basketball tonight, play well enough at home and the Bulls really may be going to the conference finals.

God I cracked up when Tyrus got that steal, had a wide open lane for the dunk, decided not to get flashy and just score, so he took a layup - and missed.

Skiles facial expression was priceless. :lol:

Best of luck to the Bulls in Game 6, and hopefully, Game 7!

by **Matt** on Wed May 16, 2007 1:02 pm

wow....got torched for 57% at home. time to step up the game and put an end to this series like, last week.

by **Lamrock** on Wed May 16, 2007 1:11 pm

Wow... The Pistons sucked. Bulls will probably win Game 6; but I just don't see them winning Game 7 at the palace.

SIDE-NOTE: Why do the Pistons always almost lose in the second round every year? First they BARELY squeak by Nets in 2004; they go down 2-1 vs. Pacers in 2005; they barely beat inferior Cavs 4-3 in 2006; and now, where they will probably fall to Bulls but win Game 7...

by **Matt** on Wed May 16, 2007 1:25 pm

no idea, but they seem to be able to pull games out. That NJN series was touh though.....up 2-0, down 3-2, win 4-3....just like the Cavs series of last year.

by **Dan's Brain** on Wed May 16, 2007 1:59 pm

An absolutely brilliant performance by Chicago. And the mental strength that they've shown to get back into this series is awesome. Only the 9th team in NBA history to force a game 6 after being down 3-0.

While a series victory is still very much a longshot, i really cant see anything stopping this Bulls team next year. With an extra year's experience and further development of their core, Chicago could be one of the scariest teams in the NBA.

Terrific to see Ben Gordon getting his shot going, which had been lacking so far in this series.

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