Chicago Bulls 2004/2005 (Road to the 2005 Playoffs)

[Seraph]

NICE dynasty man

Keep using CHAPU NOCIONI he will be great......

[JP_Frost]

nice dynasty so far, Andrew.

Maybe you could post the box scores at the end of the game. I think it would be nice ( I'm a sucker for stats ).

I'm also using the bulls. I'm in my 2nd year after going 28-54 in the first season.

My lineup is:

C: Eddy Curry
PF: Tyson Chandler
SF: Luol Deng
SG: Ben Gordon
PG: Kirk Hinrich

bench:

SG: Ronald Murray ( signed him during the offseason )
C: Jared Jones ( created player....solid player )
PG: Rafer Alston ( got him in a trade )
PF: Vladimir Radmanovic ( also singed as a free agent during the offseason)
SF: Rodrick Wolf ( My drafted rookie. He's a 7'0'' small forward with great rebounding skills )

didn't mean to clutter your thread, but I felt like sharing my team with another bulls fan

[paradizecityz]

hey Andrew, now that Chandler is healed, how are you going to do your rotation between Chandler, Clark and Nocioni?

[bhyphen]

I'm just glad to see a Bulls dynasty, mine will be coming soon.

[Andrew]

nice dynasty so far, Andrew.

Maybe you could post the box scores at the end of the game. I think it would be nice ( I'm a sucker for stats ).

Thanks JP, I'll be sure to post some more stats. To remain 56k friendly, I'll try to keep most of them in text format (but perhaps I'll glitz up the big games with some screenshots - they'd also be good proof if Eddy Curry happens to go Wilt Chamberlain on some team ).

Your lineup sounds nice, who's your leading scorer? Right now, Curry and Chandler are tied at 24 ppg, but I'm sure that will change now that I'm getting used to other players.

hey Andrew, now that Chandler is healed, how are you going to do your rotation between Chandler, Clark and Nocioni?

I'll be starting Chandler at PF, with Clark as the backup PF and Nocioni backing up Deng. I'm sure that Chapu will spend some time at PF though, and he'll also get minutes when Deng is playing at shooting guard. I do use Piatkowski but only when I need to, or when he's hitting a few shots. Nocioni will get his minutes especially since he's been playing so well, I'm sure Clark will see some productive time too. I like to play my guys at their secondary positions.

[JP_Frost]

My leading scorer is Gordon at the moment, he averages about 18 points a game. He gets real sweet in the second season. He's 73 overall I believe and unstoppable on the penetration. Only gripe I have with Gordon is that he's too small. Alot of 2 guards overpower him and can shoot it even though he tries to block the shot.

Curry is a beast. I've had a couple of 20 and 20 games with him. He's also one of the strongest centers in the east, plus...he'll be listed 7'0'' after your first year.

Yeah, text is good for box scores.

btw...I'm using your sliders with a few tweaks of my own. It is great, but the cpu gets alot of fastbreaks. Maybe it's because I just moved up to all star....do you know how to fix this - with sliders, or maybe just some tactical changes? ( I use set plays for the cpu btw, so that's not the problem )

[paradizecityz]

My leading scorer is Gordon at the moment, he averages about 18 points a game. He gets real sweet in the second season. He's 73 overall I believe and unstoppable on the penetration. Only gripe I have with Gordon is that he's too small. Alot of 2 guards overpower him and can shoot it even though he tries to block the shot.

Curry is a beast. I've had a couple of 20 and 20 games with him. He's also one of the strongest centers in the east, plus...he'll be listed 7'0'' after your first year.

Yeah, text is good for box scores.

btw...I'm using your sliders with a few tweaks of my own. It is great, but the cpu gets alot of fastbreaks. Maybe it's because I just moved up to all star....do you know how to fix this - with sliders, or maybe just some tactical changes? ( I use set plays for the cpu btw, so that's not the problem )

hey Gordon sounds like another Iverson at the SG position, I would think leave him there and try to just keep a hand in opponent face so on offense you can blow by the defender...
I am also using Andrew's slider with my own tweaks but I don't get that much fastbreak...but I'm not sure how you tweak yours....and by the way, do you use set plays from the thread on here or you use your own set plays for the CPU opponent?

[JP_Frost]

they were posted here I believe. Even though they work better than leaving the team strategy at dynamic, I still notice that the backcourt gets way too many shots. I played against Dallas ( 110-101 OT win... I came back from 24 points down ) and Nowitzki didn't get that many touches. In fact he finished the game with 14 points. Now, I'm creative enough to convince myself that he had a bad shooting night, but I can only fool myself once.

anyhow...let's continue this conversation in another thread. We don't wanna turn Andrew's dynasty in a live gripe discussion.

btw...could you send me your sliders ? pm or email me - jimvander_voort@hotmail.com

[Andrew]

Chicago 105, LA Clippers 100

Tyson Chandler's first appearance since opening night saw a stellar performance but early on it looked as though the game would be an upset victory for the Clippers. While Chandler had little trouble scoring 8 first quarter points, Marko Jaric, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette picked apart my defense for an early advantage. Though I trailed by eight at quarter time, I wasn't too worried. Big mistake.

I played great defense for the first two minutes of the third, but then my perimeter players began to get lazy. Jaric hit a few long jumpers including a couple of threes and before too long, the Clippers had built a 44-27 lead. By that time I'd had enough, so I called timeout in the hopes of stopping the run and settling down with a new plan. I played tight defense and double teamed Brand in the post while feeding Curry and Chandler at the other. It seemed to work as I closed the gap to six, 50-44, by the end of the first half.

But LA was far from complete collapse. A small run allowed them to push the deficit back to double figures once more but this time I was able to recover quickly thanks to the two Cs. By the end of the quarter I had made up the six points and we headed into the final stanza even at 66.

This time I was expecting the Clippers to come out with an uptempo offense in an effort to get a couple of quick baskets up on the board, so I quick to double Brand down low and not give guys like Maggette and Jaric enough room to drive or pull up for an open jumper. Curry and Chandler continued to rack up points inside as well as controlling the boards at both ends. Hinrich, who only had two first half points, hit some big shots down the stretch as the lead changed hands a couple of times. It was his three pointer that put us ahead 89-86 that would prove to be the dagger in the Clippers' hearts.

From there on it was academic, as I slowed the game down to waste time and set up for a good shot. By the time LA started fouling, it was too late. Jaric, who finished the game 5/6 from downtown, hit a three and for a moment threatened to pull of a furious finish but the Clippers couldn't get any closer than five points. The final result, a 105-100 victory and a huge game for Tyson Chandler in his return to action.

Key Players

Tyson Chandler: 30 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists (Player of the Game)
Eddy Curry: 16 points, 17 rebounds
Kirk Hinrich: 17 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

Elton Brand: 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals
Corey Maggette: 31 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists
Marko Jaric: 27 points (5/6 3PT), 6 assists

Full Boxscores

Record: 3-1
Next Up: Sacramento Kings

Thoughts

Even though I won, I relied way too much on Tyson Chandler. Even though he delivered 30 points, I doubt he can do that night in, night out. My back court was pretty quiet apart from Hinrich, and Deng shot only 2/12 from the field (though he quietly added 5 boards and 5 assists). I'll endeavour to get everyone more involved next game, though I won't be afraid to pound the ball in to the two Cs if need be.

[Beast_03]

nice dynasty i like the CHAPU nocioni

[Andrew]

Rather than providing the same sort of recaps throughout the season, I think I'll mix it up a little with diaries, musings, recaps and maybe a couple of columns.

November 16th, 2004
Sacramento 108, Chicago 92
[ Boxscores ]

This was simply not a good game. The Kings got hot in the second quarter led by Peja Stojakovic and never looked back. My defense got worse as the game went on and with a double digit deficit, I called it a night with three minutes left and let my bench players have a run. I left Gordon in until the final minute however, as he was having a good game and I wanted him to finish in double digits for scoring. He ended up scoring 11, grabbing a team high 8 rebounds and handing out 5 assists.

I was trying to get my backcourt more involved on offense in this one while Curry and Chandler were getting their points in the flow of the game rather than being the focus of the offense. It might have worked but my defense was just too poor to compensate for the lack of a single player putting up a 20+ point performance. Nevertheless, I'll still try to keep the scoring distribution fairly even while I try to get my backcourt playing better at the offensive end.

November 17th, 2004
Chicago 88, Golden State 79
[ Boxscores ]

A much better performance, though for a while it looked as though I would fall victim to the same fate as I did in the Sacramento game. I only trailed briefly though and was soon back in the lead. Gordon had another impressive performance which was nice to see. Previously, his two best games were both Bulls losses. Overall, this was a much better game and despite Hinrich's shooting troubles, a stronger endorsement for the backcourt taking on more of the scoring load. Gordon is really starting to play well.

Luol Deng is quietly having a very solid season. His 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds were really under the radar in this game. Like the two Cs in the Sacramento game, his scoring came in the flow of the game and the rebounds and assists were just there. I'm very happy with the way the rookies are playing as of late. Nocioni has been quiet in the last two games but I know what he's capable of so here's always there to step in if need be.

Current Record: 4-2

[Matthew]

How are you using Deng? I wanted to trade for him in my twolves dynasty at one point but his bad outside shooting rating scared me off. Is he effective midrange?

[Andrew]

November 19th, 2004
Denver 107, Chicago 105 OT
[ Boxscore ]

This was one was an exceptionally hard loss to swallow. While we had a good, balanced attack throughout the game and our defense was pretty tight throughout, the Nuggets stayed with us all night and looked like edging us in the fourth quarter. Mercifully we were able to hold on and force the overtime.

After blowing an OT lead to Phoenix earlier this season, I was very conscious of falling victim to the same fate in this contest. I decided to bench Kirk Hinrich for the extra period. While he had played a good game, he missed a layup that would have given us the lead in the final minute and was proving unable to push the ball up the floor the way as quickly as I would have liked. So, I moved Gordon to the point and played Piatkowski at shooting guard.

After a couple of traded baskets, we jumped out to a four point lead. Calmer but still wary of making careless errors, I decided to slow the pace and settle into a more methodical offense. Then Carmelo Anthony struck. Melo only played 17 minutes due to foul trouble - he picked up his fifth foul midway through the third - but in the overtime he returned and made us pay from long range. Consecutive threes by Melo turned our 105-101 lead into a 107-105 Denver lead.

Eddy Curry tried to answer at the other end, but he missed badly and we had to foul. As soon as they made both free throws, it was academic. Pike tried to draw a foul on a three but failed to make the shot or draw contact. A very disappointing loss, and we're back one game over .500.

November 21st, 2004
Los Angeles Lakers 93, Chicago 89
[ Boxscore ]

Still reeling from the loss in Denver, I was hoping to bounce back against the Lakers but from the opening quarter, it just wasn't our game. Kobe and Odom did the most damage in the first quarter while Atkins also chipped in a few baskets to give the Lakers the advantage at the end of the first.

The pleasant surprise of this game was the play of Chris Duhon. With Gordon and Hinrich picking up early fouls and tiring early as LA's backcourt wore them out, Duhon was able to play most of the second quarter. He ended up playing just 15 minutes, but scored 12 points and had 3 assists. The assists have been there off the bench in other games, but this has been his best scoring game thus far.

The Lakers had plenty of double digits leads during the game but we seemed to battle back whenever they eased up. This continued until the fourth quarter when we were really able to make a run and found ourselves in a dogfight in the final minutes. Hinrich's steal with 40 seconds left allowed us to pull within two, 91-89, but then Deng's layup was blocked by Butler and the Lakers wasted time, forcing us to foul.

I knew there wasn't much point setting up a final play trailing 93-89 with only 1.9 seconds left, but I decided to call a timeout and once again try for a four point play. At the very least, it would provide experience of these situations and let me decide who should be the first option in such situations. Again I chose Hinrich, but his shot bounced off the back of the rim. Another loss, but I'm not too heartbroken. Had we won, we would not have deserved it.

Record: 4-4
Next Opponent: Phoenix Suns

How are you using Deng? I wanted to trade for him in my twolves dynasty at one point but his bad outside shooting rating scared me off. Is he effective midrange?

Deng scores most of his points off midrange jumpers and drives to the basket. I'm finding him to be pretty reliable from midrange and he'll hit a three every once in a while, but don't count on him to him to hit a lot of shots from beyond the arc.

[Matthew]

Wo two close losses.. can deng create his own shot well or is it off pentration by hinrich and gordon? 4-4... are you in a playoff spot at the moment? This season looks like a challenge

[Andrew]

Deng can create for himself but he works well off penetration too. With Marbury on your team, you'd probably find that works to your advantage.

I'm currently sixth in the East, second in the Central (Cleveland is first, 7-2). I haven't sunk to the bottom but the teams below me are snapping at my heels now so I can't afford to tread water for too long.

[Andrew]

November 22nd, 2004
Phoenix 112, Chicago 103
[ Boxscores ]

This was another disappointing effort, with Hinrich and Gordon again shooting a woeful percentage. Hinrich wasn't doing much of a job distributing either. He had 4 assists but our offense was very stagnant with a few shot clock violations and plenty of bad shots.

It didn't help that Amare was simply tearing it up. We double teamed him for most of the game but he managed to elude the second defender with quick spins and drop steps for some easy inside buckets - we gave him way too many dunks. Marion had 17 points but needed 24 shots to get them. Nash once again had the hot hand with 25 points on 10/17 shooting. He too only had 4 assists but it didn't matter. The Suns ran all over us from start to finish.

We should have lost by a lot more, but a small burst by our eager reserves made the final margin a little more respectable. Still, this was the third straight loss and our record has dropped to 4-5. I'm starting to wonder whether I should make any changes.

November 24th, 2004
Chicago 122, Utah 99
[ Boxscores ]

Until the end of the third quarter, my feeling throughout this one was "If we win this one, we won't really deserve it." Conscious of falling behind early and struggling to keep up for the rest of the game, we tried an uptempo offense getting everyone involved early and at first, everything seemed fine. Then our defense got lazy and despite an eight point lead at the end of the first quarter, I wasn't really happy.

I took Curry and Chandler out of the game after the first five minutes, disappointed at their lack of production at the offensive end and their failure to clog the lane defending our basket. I kept them out the rest of the half and AD ended up scoring 20 points for us by halftime. The strategy wasn't a complete success though, the Jazz only trailed by two at the half.

I thought we'd collape again in the third when the Jazz took the lead, but Hinrich and Piatkowski finished the third on an amazing shooting streak. Three pointers rained down and suddenly we were up by 15 again. By this time I had brought the two Cs back and they were having solid games; perhaps the benching did some good afterall.

We defended our lead well in the fourth and finished up with a 23 point victory. I was very impressed with the way our bench played in this contest. AD, Pike and Keon Clark all scored in double figures, Keon also had 13 boards while AD had eight. Duhon also had six assists in only 11 minutes. It was clearly Hinirch's best game of the season, while Gordon and Deng continued their strong play. We won't win every game this way, but it turned out to be a really good win for us.

Hopefully these last two games will be the wakeup call and confidence boost we need to climb back to the top of the East.


Record: 5-5
Next Opponent: Cleveland (8-4)

[Donatello]

you provide a very good read....but your boxscore links aren't working......and did both games have the same score? 112-103? and both against phoenix? just a copy/paste error, i know, but just to be a pest

good luck vs lebron!!

[Andrew]

Oops, sorry about that. I'll fix that up.

[Matthew]

I'm starting to wonder whether I should make any changes.

Get vince!!

5-5, this dynasty is great at the moment. Are you confident you can make the playoffs with your team as it stands at the moment?

[Andrew]

I think this team can weather the storm, especially with all the upcoming home games. I won't leave it too late to make a deal though. The idea of getting Vince is tempting, as I'm lacking a consistent scorer. I'd like to give the current crew a chance to make it work though - right now, I'm hoping that allowing a different person to be the go to guy on any given night will have the same success it did for the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

But I don't want to go through 82 games on 12 minute quarters just to come up short, so if I have to make a deal to improve the roster I will.

[Matthew]

But I don't want to go through 82 games on 12 minute quarters just to come up short, so if I have to make a deal to improve the roster I will.

In live 99 i had a pistons team, with a trade for marbury, so i had stack, hill and marbury they came up short in 7 games against the bulls in the conference finals. Even though I lost, it was such a fun season.. kind of makes me wish i continued a few more seasons with them...

Do you plan on keeping Chandler and/or Curry at seasons end?

[Andrew]

Even if I don't win the championship I'm sure I'll have a fun season, though I'd like to have a decent shot at it.

Right now, I'd like to keep them around so I haven't come up with a plan B in case they refuse to re-sign. If it's just not working and I need to make some sweeping changes, I'll probably have to change my stance on that though. If I feel I can afford to give one or both of them up in moves that will better the team, I'll quite likely pull the trigger.

[The X]

hmmm.....sounds like it could be bye bye for Curry or Chandler, or both.....

[mp3]

IMO you should keep both of the teen towers but i had to get rid of one then id drop Curry.

Interesting read Andrew, gotta follow the progress of a London Boy (Deng)

[Andrew]

(Perhaps it's a by-product of reading Phil Jackson's latest book, but my recaps are starting to sound like his season journal entries - actually, it's not exactly accidental. Having said that...)

Between Games

As I often do between games, I caught up with Matt Damian. After the usual small talk, the conversation turned to the Bulls. I'd been considering the possibiliy of shaking things up with the team struggling over the past week, and Matt was ready with some suggestions.

"Vince! Get Vince!" he urged. I had to admit, the idea was appealing. We're lacking a consistent scorer, something Vince could easily be in the right system. I know he wants out of Toronto, he's been pushing the issue since the offseason. The question is, how do I get him? How desperate are the Raptors to unload him? And what about Deng and Gordon, assuming they're still around after the trade? They're both starting to play really well, I'd hate to send one of them to the bench. Still, the idea remains too appealing to dismiss so easily; that scenario won't go away.

"What about Kidd?" This too, I had to admit, was an interesting idea. Jason Kidd is also unhappy in New Jersey, so perhaps there's still some pressure there to find him a new team. If the Nets were willing to make a deal, I'd certainly consider it. His salary, health and the Nets' asking price is a matter for concern. There's also the question of Hinrich. He's one of the most consistent players on the team, but he's shooting poorly and Chris Duhon racks up assists just as easily - Kidd would hand out even more. Even if I traded for Kidd I'd like to keep Hinrich, but I'm sure the Nets would want him to be included in the deal.

Nevertheless, both scenarios have given me something to think about. I'm not ready to deal yet, but those are two possibilities that could prove to be advantageous.