The Chicago Bulls Season- Never Say Never

[bullsfan009]

Actually, when you've played NBA Live for a while, those things come naturally. Those things about the fast break- no one ever taught me, and I never even thought about it. It just came naturally during the course of the game.

So the motto is: Play more, more experience.

agreed

[bullsfan009]

Game 11: Chicago Bulls (3-7) @ Detroit Pistons (7-5)

The Bulls visited the reigning Eastern Conference champion Pistons, and with their dismal 3-7 record, Chicago was focused on turning around their season before it was too late.

The first quarter was marked by great team basketball from both squads. Each shot better than 50% from the field, and each handed out 5 assists in the period. Chicago's Kirk Hinrich nailed a 17-footer at the buzzer to put his Bulls up 23-20 after 1.

In the second, the Bulls stepped up their D big-time. They hounded the Pistons into a 35% shooting effort, including 0-for-5 from 3-land. Offensively, Hinrich was leading the way, running up his point total to 15. Thanks to him and others, Chicago overcame 6 turnovers in the period to lead 41-35 at halftime.

Each squad stormed out of the break offensively, shooting at blistering rates from the field. Detroit's Chauncey Billups started knocking down 3s, and as a team, the Pistons nailed 5 of them in the period. Their 56% FG shooting was overshadowed by a stellar 59.1% effort by Chicago, whose 8 3rd quarter assists showed how well their offense was clicking. The Bulls led 74-71 after 3. Could they hold on and pull off a great upset against the powerhouse Pistons? In Detroit?

As it turned out, they could! The Bulls got back to their great D that they displayed in the 2nd quarter, and stifled Detroit into a 13-point quarter. With Hinrich, Darius Songaila, and Tyson Chandler all chipping in, the Bulls proved to be too much on this night. They came away with a huge victory, 97-84.

KEY PLAYERS
Bulls: Kirk Hinrich had 31 points on 12-25 shooting to lead Chicago. To complement him, Darius Songaila had much success against the Wallaces down low, garnering 17 points and 13 boards. Others who chipped in for the Bulls with nice games were Tyson Chandler (10 pts, 12 rebs, 2 blk), Andres Nocioni (12 pts, 6 ast), and Ben Gordon (10 pts off the bench).

Pistons: Billups and Rasheed Wallace each scored 25 points to lead Detroit, but other normally dangerous Pistons players struggled to cancel out those solid performances. Rip Hamilton scored just 6 points on 3-5 shooting, and Tayshaun Prince really struggled, going 4-for-15 on the night. He and Lindsay Hunter EACH shot 1-for-9 from 3.

HIGHLIGHTS
Tyson Chandler follows a miss with a 1-handed putback slamma jamma

Chauncey Billups is a tough matchup every opposing point guard, every night.

STATS
Bulls: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2011%20Chi.txt

Pistons: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2011%20Det.txt

Team Stats: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2011.txt


BULLS' RECORD: 4-7

[H Rock]

You held Chauncey Billups to only 8-19 shooting. One thing I've noticed it that a lot of players you play against take tons of threes and miss most of them, but make most of their 2-pointers. Billups shot 3-11 from three, but made 6 of his 8 2 pointers. Live is still a bit strange.

But nevertheless, you beat the Pistons at their own game, holding them to only 18% three-point shooting, and 42% overall. This was a huge win that was desperately needed, and to get it against the Pistons is even better.

[bullsfan009]

I've played another game, but just haven't got around to posting...I'll get to it next week hopefully (going out of town).

Take care y'all

[HonorGlow]

Yeh keep these Dynasty going! It's cool that you've spend quite a bit of time on your dynasty postings and we really hope that you can keep going with this...NBA Live 2004 revival...I know that H Rock is really getting into his San Antonio one..keep up the good work, and again, I'd love to evaluate your efficiency score once you get a quarter of the season done!

[bullsfan009]

Game 12: Chicago Bulls (4-7) @ Utah Jazz (6-7)

The Bulls and Jazz squared off in Salt Lake City in a matchup of two of the better defensive teams in the league. Here's a look at the starting lineups:



Both squads started off neck-and-neck, with the score 10-10 early on. But Chicago ran off a 9-0 run to lead 19-10, and the Jazz had to refocus their efforts. They did, shaving off 8 points from that lead to trial by just 2, 29-27, after the first quarter. Chris Duhon's 12 points on 5-for-7 FGs led the way for the Bulls.

Chicago added on 3 points to their advantage by the half thanks to a sloppily-played 2nd quarter, but then busted out offensively in the 3rd. In the period they shot 70.6% (12-for-17 FGs), and made all 3 of their 3s to score 34 points in the period. On the defensive end, the Jazz were shut down to just 18 points on 7-for-23 shooting (30.4% ). Suddenly, the Bulls found themselves up 21 heading into the 4th!

It would have taken a very special effort from the Jazz to come back from the hole they found themselves in, which they didn't have on this night. Only 4 points were taken off of the Bulls' lead, and Chicago cruised to what turned out to be a stress-free "W", 102-85.


Chicago is happy to come out of this game with the win.

HIGHLIGHTS

Ben Gordon sinks the triple from the corner


Gordon Giricek gives his team his maximum effort as he dives for the loose ball

KEY PERFORMERS
For the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich exploded with a 27-point 2nd half . He finished with 34 points, 3 rebs, and 5 ast. Chris Duhon chipped in 21 pts, and Andres Nocioni scored 15. Defensively, Darius Songaila had a monster rebouding game with 19 boards , and Tyson Chandler added 12.

For the Jazz, 4 players scored in double figures, led by Mehmet Okur's 16 pts. Carlos Boozer had 11 rebounds and rookie PG Deron Williams dished out 8 assists, but it all wasn't enough to handle the Bulls on this night.

STATS SECTION
Bulls Players: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2012%20Bulls.txt
Jazz Players: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2012%20Jazz.txt
Team Stats: http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/Game%2012%20Team%20Stats.txt

BULLS RECORD: 5-7

[bullsfan009]

Extra

Here are the Bulls' players stats for the first 12 games of this season.

TEAM LEADERS- POINTS PER GAME
Kirk Hinrich: 16.9
Ben Gordon: 13.8
Luol Deng: 11.7

REBOUNDS PER GAME
Tyson Chandler: 8.2
Darius Songaila: 6.8
Michael Sweetney: 5.8

ASSISTS PER GAME
Kirk Hinrich: 4.5
Chris Duhon: 4.2
Ben Gordon: 2.8

http://bullsfan09.atspace.com/After%2012%20Gms%20Bulls%20Stats.txt

[HonorGlow]

I love this hustle play!



I know you haven't posted your dynasty in almost a week...are you continuing it? I sure hope so!

[H Rock]

That was the other team. Not to mention it was out-of-bounds.

[bullsfan009]

I'm sorry guys, but I've decided not to continue this season, or Live 2004 at all. The gameplay of the game has been disappointing (Live 2000 still is better IMO), and also I've been busy and will get busier as I'm starting college in the fall.

So thank you to all who followed. I'll still be around NSLC, for awhile at least.

Peace, y'all