Chicago Bulls 2004-2005 Season - 10 months

Hi - thought I'd share. No real stories throughout the season, just to say I began an 82 game season early in May last year. I planned to finish it before Christmas and never thought it would take so long - but things crop up and things take time.

I'd never completed a full season before and the furthest I got was 55 games into Nba Live 1996 (when I was 15). Well I'm 25 now and just had a fantastic season.

I began 4-0 after losing 8 of 11 pre-season games. Played 6 min quarters for a few games into the season before dropping it to 5 and leaving the simmed scores the cpu had to 6 minutes.

I aim for everything to be roughly half of a real season, half the ppg etc etc.

Will post the scores -

November Opponent Box Score W-L High Pts High Reb
Fri 5 New Jersey W 62-58(ot) 1-0 BG EC
Sat 6 @ Indiana W 49-48 2-0 EC EC
Tue 9 Phoenix W 66-55 3-0 EC EC
Sat 13 L.A. Clippers W 63-55(ot) 4-0 AD/KH AD
Tue 16 @ Sacramento L 55-61 4-1 AN/BG OH
Wed 17 @ Golden State L 41-52 4-2 EC EC
Fri 19 @ Denver L 63-65 4-3 BG TC
Sun 21 @ L.A. Lakers L 54-56 4-4 EC EC/TC
Mon 22 @ Phoenix W 64-60 5-4 EC EC
Wed 24 @ Utah W 50-42 6-4 BG TC
Sat 27 @ Cleveland W 47-43 7-4 EC/LD AD

The dates are not when I played them - rather the actual bulls schedule. My aim was to win 47 games (1 more than the real Bulls did) and grab 4th place and homecourt advantage).

The west teams proved the largest problem.

December Opponent Box Score W-L High Pts High Reb
Wed 1 L.A. Lakers L 40-47 7-5 AD TC
Fri 3 Miami L 46-50 7-6 TC KH/TC
Sat 4 @ Washington L 40-46 7-7 BG EC/TC
Mon 6 San Antonio L 40-44 7-8 EC EC
Wed 8 Cleveland W 50-46 8-8 CD EC
Fri 10 Philadelphia W 47-46 9-8 BG AD
Sat 11 Minnesota W 43-36 10-8 EC EC
Mon 13 Dallas L 76-79(2ot) 10-9 BG TC
Wed 15 @ Memphis L 42-44 10-10 CD/EC/TC TC
Thu 16 Milwaukee W 50-46 11-10 EC EC
Sat 18 Indiana L 57-63(ot) 11-11 EC EC
Mon 20 Portland L 49-56(ot) 11-12 EC EC
Wed 22 @ Detroit L 51-55(ot) 11-13 EC EC
Sun 26 @ Milwaukee W 39-30 12-13 EC/TC EC
Tue 28 New Jersey W 52-47 13-13 EC/TC EC

I improved immensily as the season went on. I remember losing game 5 of the season late on the Sac to drop me to 4-1 and then came the big west teams. Regrouped to 7-4 after Nov but due to not playing as regularily as I would like my skills dropped and I didn't quite stay as calm in late situations.

I realised later in the season to never go for that steal which would expose the middle, to never take a fake on the perim and to calm down and stick to what I knew best.

Note: I controlled 1 played on the court - Duhon starting with Gordon taking his place. Played PG and some SG with Gordon.

Starting line-up all season was

Curry
Davis
Deng
Hinrich
Duhon - contolled by me.

January Opponent Box Score W-L High Pts High Reb
Sat 1 Orlando W 52-50 14-13 EC EC
Mon 3 Detroit W 46-42 15-13 BG AD/EC
Wed 5 @ New Orleans W 47-45 16-13 BG EC
Fri 7 Utah W 52-38 17-13 LD AD
Sat 8 Boston W 54-47 18-13 BG LD
Mon 10 Golden State L 53-54 18-14 KH/LD AD
Wed 12 Philadelphia W 36-33 19-14 BG TC
Sat 15 New York L 43-52 19-15 BG AD/EC
Mon 17 @ New York W 53-50 20-15 KH/LD EC/TC
Wed 19 @ Boston W 48-35 21-15 BG AD
Fri 21 Atlanta W 48-38 22-15 BG EC
Sat 22 @ Detroit L 42-36 22-16 EC EC
Mon 24 @ Atlanta L 37-40 22-17 TC AD/CD
Tue 25 Denver W 49-45 23-17 BG TC
Thu 27 Charlotte W 56-48 24-17 CD/KH AD/TC
Sat 29 Boston L 42-48 24-18 BG AD/EC

Really began to improve - would lose two consecutive games once more all season (not including the playoffs).

Main problems were getting some scoring out of Deng or Nocioni at SF. Would play Piatkowski there whenever the opposition had a weak SF who didn't present much of an offensive threat.

Hinrich's percentage would stay around 35 all season long. Just too many blocks against him.

Curry and Gordon were called on many times (as you can see with BG or EC) for high scorer.

February Opponent Box Score W-L High Pts High Reb
Tue 1 @ New Jersey W 50-47(ot) 25-18 EC EC
Sat 5 @ Miami L 49-52 25-19 BG EC
Tue 8 @ Dallas W 50-48 26-19 EC EC
Wed 9 @ Houston L 45-50 26-20 EC AD
Sun 13 @ Minnesota W 59-57(ot) 27-20 KH EC
Tue 15 Sacramento W 47-46 28-20 EC CD
Wed 16 @ Toronto L 45-52 28-21 CD EC
All Star Break EastW 53-51 MVP O'Neal
Tue 22 Miami W 56-53 29-21 BG EC
Wed 23 @ Cleveland W 47-43 30-21 AD/BG/EC AD
Fri 25 Washington W 51-48 31-21 BG/EC EC
Sat 26 @ Charlotte W 47-38 32-21 EC EC/OH/TC

Went 8-3 in Feb and won both the Rookie and All-Star game. Controlled Duhon and Gordon in the Rookie game beating the Sop's.

Curry entered the All-Star game as a started with O'Neal behind him. Stayed to what I knew best though controlling Allen Iverson at PG and Kidd/Marbury behind him. Won the game 53-51 on an Iverson 3 pointer.

Was happy at the mid point. Had only been under .500 for a couple of games and had gone 15-8 after a 13-13 start. Won the last four in Feb to move to 32-21 and felt I had a strong chance to win 15 of the last 29 to get that 47 wins.

The calendar was on paper easier in March - my pre-season expectations were set out like this -

Nov 6 5
Dec 8 7
Jan 9 7
Feb 5 6
Mar 14 4
Apr 6 5
Total 48 34

I knew if I beat every team rated 87 and under I'd get 48 wins. The plan was to win as much as I could again strong teams than my Bulls and not drop too many of these games.

March - a poor month.

Won 11 lost 7. Not what I expected and put some doubt on my ability. I wasn't getting as much free time to play regularily and my first quarters were often poor. I knew the key was to get that 6 point lead going into the 4th quarter. I also would finish up winning 42 and losing 9 when I kept the other team to under 10 free throws made. Keeping the other team away from the bucket was the key.

March Opponent Box Score W-L
Tue 1 Houston L 48-53 32-22
Fri 4 @ San Antonio W 41-34 33-22
Sat 5 @ Milwaukee L 50-53 33-23
Mon 7 Milwaukee W 50-45 34-23
Wed 9 @ Portland L 34-40 34-24
Fri 11 @ Seattle W 53-51 35-24
Sun 13 @ L.A. Clippers L 38-45 35-25
Tue 15 Seattle L 51-56 35-26
Wed 16 @ New Jersey W 54-50 36-26
Fri 18 New Orleans W 53-48 37-26
Sat 19 @ Philadelphia W 55-46 38-26
Mon 21 Atlanta W 70-66(2ot) 39-26
Wed 23 @ Toronto W 41-40 40-26
Fri 25 @ Boston L 41-46 40-27
Sat 26 Indiana W 44-42 41-27
Mon 28 Memphis L 50-53 41-28
Wed 30 @ Charlotte W 52-49 42-28
Thu 31 Cleveland W 53-48 43-28

April - 8-3 to finish 51-31.

Finished 4 games above my target. Lost only to Det (rated 93) and twice to Orl (rated 88). The second loss was upsetting. After staying close my finget accidentally hit the select button (calling a Time Out when I had none left). The Tech sent them to the line and provided the victory.

My win over 1st place Miami really gave me the confidence I could do well after losing to them earlier in the season. I knew (or at least thought) I'd have to get past them in the Playoffs.

Sat 2 Charlotte W 47-33 44-28
Tue 5 @ Miami W 53-45 45-28
Wed 6 @ Orlando L 43-47 45-29
Fri 8 @ New York W 49-47 46-29
Sat 9 Toronto W 57-49 47-29
Mon 11 Detroit L 39-41 47-30
Wed 13 @ Washington W 50-48 48-30
Fri 15 Orlando L 48-54 48-31
Sat 16 @ Atlanta W 41-40 49-31
Tue 19 New York W 54-44 50-31
Wed 20 @ Indiana W 58-56 51-31

So - to recap

I went 13-13 at the start, pushed that to 35-26 before going 16 and 6 down the stretch.

Won some key games and finished 2nd in the east a couple of games ahead of Detroit who beat me 3-1 in the regular season.

Versus Won Lost
Atlanta 3 1
Boston 2 2
Charlotte 4
Cleveland 4
Dallas 1 1
Denver 1 1
Detroit 1 3
Golden State 2
Houston 2
Indiana 3 1
LA Clippers 1 1
LA Lakers 2
Memphis 2
Miami 2 2
Milwaukee 3 1
Minnesota 2
New Jersey 4
New Orleans 2
New York 3 1
Orlando 1 2
Philadelphia 3
Phoenix 2
Portland 2
Sacramento 1 1
San Antonio 1 1
Seattle 1 1
Toronto 2 1
Utah 2
Washington 2 1

Total 51 31

Venue Won Lost %
Home 27 14 0.659
Away 24 17 0.585

Total 51 31 0.622

W L
WestHome 7 8
WestAway 7 8

EastHome 20 6
EastAway 17 9

After winning 20 and losing only 6 at home to the east teams I felt confident I could get past Toronto in the first round. They had edged out Boston who dropped to 6th and would play Indiana.

Toronto were rather 82 to Bostons 93.

My record against teams rated 88 and higher wasn't great.

W vs 88+ 14
W vs 87- 37

L vs 88+ 20
L vs 87- 11

Curry was in the 1st nba team
Duhon and Gordon the rookie team.

Curry finished 5th in the MVP voting and Gordon won 6th man.

So to the playoffs...

A tough 1st round, won the 1st before losing the 2nd game. Rose provide the problem. He averaged 14.2 ppg againt me and Hinrich couldn't stop him.

It was in game 3 I decided to play Nocioni at the 3 and slide Deng to the 2 in the second half of games to slow Rose down.

It worked - I won the first game by 5, lost the 2nd by 5 and then went on to win games 3,4 and 5 by 2 or 3 points each.

Playoffs
Round 1 Beat Tor 4-1

Miami fell to 8th Place Philly and in the west 8th place Memphis knocked out 1st place San Antonio.

I moved on to play Boston who I'd gone 2-2 with in the regular season. The winner would meet Detroit.

Stayed with the Deng at 2 in the second half tactic to slow Pierce. It worked. Deng led the playoffs and would continue to in blocks and I swept the Celtics 4-0.

Pierce shot the final shot just after the buzzer in game 4 to stop them winning the game and making in 3-1. I found my play was much better than it had been in the season. I was focusing for each game, and when I remained calm I didn't make silly mistakes.

East Semis Beat Bos 4-0

So to the East Finals. I was 8-1 so far and content with the 8 months +. I didn't expect to get past the Pistons the one team who I couldn't contend with in the regular season going 1 and 3.

To my surprise I had greatly improved. The games were close, I started well and each time managed to pull away at the end. Game two I sank key free throws with BG later on. Putting right my poor FT performance from the season.

Games 3 and 4 were won easily in the 4th. I found key plays worked. Deng just flat out stopped Hamilton and Curry and Duhon outplayed Ben Wallace and Billups.

So, on to the finals... somewhere I never thought I'd reach to play the Sonics who I had gone 1-1 with. I expected to win now. Yes I had struggled against the west but these were the 80 rated Sonics.

Finals Beat Sea 4-2

Curry Finals MVP

Says it all - I won.

Started 2-0. The key was slowing Lewis and Allen. Deng again played the 2 more than Hinrich who Allen abused. I never changed the starting line-up - not once in all 101 games allowing Hinrich the chance to shine. He did - game 2.

At 2-0 I thought it was over. I thought I could go 16-1. But no. Fittingly like the 1996 finals my Bulls would beat the Sonics but not before thay won game 3 in Overtime and before my 4th quarter collapse in game 4.

I was nervous, my play erratic. I knew I'd win if only I could calm down.

Game 5 - in Sea. I played awful. They started 10-2 and were up by 11 late in the 2nd before a Gordon 3 brought it to 8 at the half. With only 2 5 minute quarters left I felt I'd lose it all. 10 month's for nothing.

No, not yet. I upped my game. Gordon the high scorer in game 1 and 2 but not so in 3 and 4 played his best game. I was making steals, pressuring the defence and would finish with 28 points in 4 5 min quarters. 9 points by him in the 3rd and 13 in the 5 mintue 4th to win by a couple.

Elation.

Game 6.

Gordon again would finish high scorer. When he scored the most the Bulls won. Winning the 4 finals games with him as high scorer in each. Surprised then when Curry won MVP.

I again played poor. Down 7 most of the way and down 7 going into the last 2 mins+ left. Then a Curry score and foul, a Deng stop, a score for them, one for me and it was 55-53 them with 1.09 left.

I drew level. Gordon driving to the basket. 55 all. Less than a min. My blood pressure high.

A stop - yes a stop. A timeout and a wonderful play. With 26.9 seconds left Gordon nailed a 3 to put in 58-55. Was this it? Would I win the championship.

I was a wonderful play. Gordon at the top of the key into Nocioni at the 3 in the corner. Into Curry. They moved to double. Curry threw it to Noc who passed it to me - wide open with the Seattle PG closing in.

Swosh...

They would go up court only to lose it to Deng. Timeout. Pass into Gordon. Thew fouled. 2 shots.

After going under 70% at the line all season I did think about throwing it to a cpu controlled player but it had to be me. I had to take the shots.

Sunk both. It was over. 10 months with initial expectations of just getting to the playoffs turned into a championship.

Final points -


8-22 when opponents sink 10+ free throws
43-9 when opponents kept under 10 made free throws

27-8 when BG is top or joint top scorer for Bulls
16 of last 18 BG top scorer Bulls win in reg.

Wow interesting recap of your season there

Thanks - I imagine everyone's moved on to 2006 but I wanted to finish it rather than in years past when I'd just go to the playoffs as the new game release got closer to finish it in time.

Am going to move up to the hardest level as I went 32 and 9 from around half way in the season. Am basically using live 2005 and going to leave all the teams as normal except the Lakers.

Am going to play as if Shaq stayed instead of getting traded to Miami.

Has meant a little reseach, i.e. the knock on trades.

Will have pretty much the 2003-04 squad in 2005 season.

Thanks - I imagine everyone's moved on to 2006 but I wanted to finish it rather than in years past when I'd just go to the playoffs as the new game release got closer to finish it in time.

Am going to move up to the hardest level as I went 32 and 9 from around half way in the season. Am basically using live 2005 and going to leave all the teams as normal except the Lakers.

Am going to play as if Shaq stayed instead of getting traded to Miami.

Has meant a little reseach, i.e. the knock on trades.

Will have pretty much the 2003-04 squad in 2005 season.

Im still using live 2005....click on the link in my sig to have a look at my dynasty... am bypassing 06 and waiting for 07