Bulls 10-11

[philvb85]

The Pacers have really played well against us.  If not for our capability to make the comeback in the fourth quarter, this series could easily be 2-2 or even 3-1 the other way.  People underestimate the Pacers due to their record, which is really misleading.  Many overlook the fact under Frank Vogel the team was over .500.  I personally think the Pacers are on par with a 5-6 seed.  It has become clear that the Celtics got the easiest match up out of the top 3 seeds.

Although they listed Rose as questionable for tomorrow's game, he will still play.  X-rays and MRIs both came back negative, and with the the medical care that is available to professional sports teams he will be back to 75%.

I just hope the Pacers don't steal one in the U.C. and force us into a long series.  Rose will need all the rest he can get against Hinrich's D.

[Sr.]

Sprained ankle can be bad. I hear it's more worse off than people think. We will find out soon. Pacers big guys match up good with the Bulls. They are a good team. The ankle will decide this series.

[Dan Michler]

Finally.  After 4 games of failing to establish any sort of big lead in a game, the Bulls took care of business early.  It all started with Noah dominating the first 6 minutes of the game.  The early double digit lead seemed to just loosen up the entire team.  Rose finally got his J back.  Lieutenant Deng scored inside and outside and dominated defensively.  The 2nd unit came in and did what they did all season long.  Big confidence boost heading into Round 2.  The Pacers, and their strategy of sending four 6'10" white dudes out to elbow people in the face, will soon be forgotten like a slightly disturbing dream that you can't remember the details of.

Orlando laid the wood to the Hawks last night.  We'll see if ATL can get up off the floor or if they fold like last year.  If that series goes 7, Orlando is winning.  I really don't care who the Bulls play right now.

p.s.  Just read about Granger crying to the media that Noah took cheap shots.  I'm not going to deny that it happened.  But, that made the cheap shot tally something like   Bulls 1  Pacers 15     And they responded to that 1 cheap shot by trying to punch Noah in the back of the head.  The Bulls took how many shots to the face in this series and just kept playing through it instead of getting caught up in it?  Granger has to see the irony in him complaining about a cheap shot.  Go watch the video buddy.

[Mike Clark]

I find it funny as hell that anyone on the Pacers complained about cheap fouls. Grainger hasn't stopped running his mouth since before the series started. He is probably still talking smack somewhere. McRoberts himself didn't think that was a cheap shot from Noah. Foster and McRoberts are nothing but hacks. They have no business in the NBA.

As for the Bulls.

Sounds like Boozer now has turf toe. Ouch.

The good news is the team played a lot better last night. D.Rose looked good last night. I just hope he didn't have to shoot up his ankle to play, that is not good long term. 2 games in a row Bogens is hitting the 3. Deng has been solid. Noah has stepped up the past 2 games. Defense has been great at times, including D.Rose. That shutdown in the 3 period was nice. D.Rose blocking Hibbert, how sweet was that? Can't forget about Korver dunking and getting a lay up. That will make teams play him little different.

I am now looking forward to a 7 game series between the Magic and Hawks. I would like the Bulls to play Orlando so D.Rose can get his MVP trophy in front of Howard. Either way I see the Bulls winning. Atlanta has no big men or anyone who can guard D.Rose. Orlando can not win unless they are hitting 40% from 3 point land.

[Dan Michler]

Atlanta has no big men or anyone who can guard D.Rose.

Well, nobody can guard Rose.  But, Captain Kirk is a smart enough defender that he does about as well as anybody.  Rose's 3 performances versus Kirk this year:

5-21 FG
9-24 FG
11-20 FG

Thats 25-65 (38%) shooting.  Rose gets his points, but Kirk has made him take more perimeter shots than he likes.

Versus Orlando:
5-13
6-21 (w/ ulcers)
9-20
13-17

33-71 (46%). Thats above his season average.  D.Rose had an easier time against Orlando.  I'm still not sure who I'd rather face.  I don't really care.  Like Mike said, we're winning either way.  If I was another NBA team I'd be watching tape of that Bulls @ Golden State game.  GS did the best job of frustrating D.Rose with traps and double teams that anybody did all season.  I was actually a little frightened after that game that other teams would be able to duplicate that.

[pdga#7648]

Atlanta will not win the next series they play.

Bulls in 5.!

[Dan Michler]

Atlanta will not win the next series they play.

Bulls in 5.!

I'm going Bulls in 4.  Atlanta looked terrible most of that series.  39% shooting won't win a game versus Chicago.  Orlando has to blow up their team and start over.  That was humiliating.  Anybody still wishing the Bulls had signed Redick?  Could he have been more open?  Meanwhile Korver is Mr.Clutch everytime we've found him with the game on the line this whole season.

Predicting the Miami Boston series is significantly tougher.  I'm not really sure what I'm going to see, but I can't wait to see it.  Both teams are so unpredictable right now.  I'm sticking with Miami in 7, but I'm not totally confident in that pick.  I could even see Boston winning this thing in 5.

[philvb85]

I'm really happy ATL won that series.  I felt that if ORL had won it would have been a much tougher 2nd round for us.  We have a great shot at sweeping, especially with Kirk having tweaked his hamstring last night. 

One thing we have to do is make sure Crawford doesn't go off.  He is really streaky and is capable of putting 40 up in any given game, but his defense is so bad he is just as capable of giving up 40. 

The other player we really need to lock down is Horford.  He lit us up for 31-16 the only time we lost to ATL this season.  For those of you unfortunate enough to remember that game, we blew a 17 point half time lead and Korver shot an air ball at the end of the game.

[Dan Michler]

Okay, Atlanta shot 51% from the field and 54% from 3P range, which they most likely will not repeat.  I'm not so concerned that we lost the game to a team who happened to have an incredible night of perimeter shooting.

However, I am very concerned about the play of the MVP.  He shot a grand total of 0 free throws last night.  He protected himself from contact throughout the game.  It seems something is not right.  That minor ankle roll at the end showed that his left ankle is nowhere near healed from the sprain he suffered in the Indiana series.  We might be able to beat the Hawks with a perimeter shooting D.Rose, but we damn sure will not beat the Heat that way.  We need him barrelling into the lane drawing fouls and putting constant pressure on the other team's defense.  Without that, we are a mediocre team like the Hawks.

Game 2 is now a must-win.

[Mike Clark]

The Hawks and Joe Johnson had an amazing night from the perimeter. I do not think that will continue. The Hawks should not be over confident about the win. If they can duplicate that performance consistently they will win the NBA Championship. Which I do not think is going to happen.

Now The Bulls need to get the heads out of their collective arse. Deng was the only player to show up in the 1st half. Where was everyone else. Including D.Rose. The team played no defense except for a short stretch in the 3rd. The got pushed around under the boards all night. There was no rebounding or energy to speak of. They let Atlanta get 9 offensive rebounds and got out rebounded overall. Pathetic! Not to mention the the shooting stats Dan posted. That had to be one of the softest games I have seen The Bulls play all year. Are you kidding me this is the playoffs? Where the hell was Noah. Did he even dress for the game? What a joke. They had better show up on Wednesday or this season is over.

Oh I forgot 1 thing. Can anyone tell me why Kyle Korver is guarding Jamal Crawford. Are you kidding me?

[pdga#7648]

like we didn't know this was coming?




CHICAGO (AP)—Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose(notes) is the NBA's MVP, becoming the youngest player in league history to win the award, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke Monday night on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made. That could come Tuesday, with a formal presentation before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The news is hardly a surprise.


Derrick Rose averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists per game this season.

He ended the two-year MVP reign of LeBron James

[Dan Michler]

My wife asked me what Turf Toe is since they were saying Boozer is trying to play through it.  I looked this up:

"Athletes diagnosed with turf toe should avoid their sport at least three weeks to allow the joint capsule to heal. Without doing so, the injury can progress, and can lead to an even longer recuperation. It is not uncommon for athletes to try to come back too soon, or to try to play through the injury. Unfortunately, this usually leads to a more chronic injury, and ultimately a longer recovery."


So, I don't expect a healthy Boozer anytime soon.  Boozer's toe, Noah's ankle, Rose's ankle, Brewer's thumb....its starting to feel like this just isn't the year.  Going to be an interesting game tonight.  The energy level should be high at the start of the game after Rose receives his trophy.

[pdga#7648]

I know nobody cares, but OJ Simpson or Eic Dickerson had to retire from football for turf toe!  It has to be serious!

[Mike Clark]

It ended Eddie George and Dieon Sanders careers  as well. Those are the most recent football players forced to retire from turf toe that I can think of. I am sure there are a lot more.

From what I understand it is the torn ligament that creates most of the problem. And as with any torn ligament if you don't let it heal it is just going to get worse. Capsule not so much. The capsule usually will heal. The pain may never go away.The ligament stability issue can linger forever and that is when they are forced to retire.

[Mike Clark]

Good to see the Bulls defense show up last night. Their offense still needs to get going but with defense like that it is not as important. Noah did his job. Boozer is not scoring but I will take the 11 rebounds. Deng played some really good defense on Joe Johnson last night. Putting Korver on Teague and Deng on Johnson in second half was great. Forcing Johnson to play point was priceless. Korver actually found someone he can play effective defense against. He shutdown Teague when it counted late. Out rebounding the Hawks by 19. 33% from the field. That is more like it.

Do the Hawks take some bad shots or what? Wow...

[pdga#7648]

not looking very good Bulls fans. they need to win the next 2 games, to get their momentum back.
Miami looks very good right now to where the Bulls don't!

[philvb85]

I know that Miami may look pretty good right now, but how much of that is the Celtics looking bad?  Their age is showing in this series, as well as the gaping hole at center they have with Perkins gone.  Not to mention Rondo's injury.  Last night was a game last year's Celtics would have won handily, even with the Rondo injury. 

I think the Bulls stand the best chance of beating the Heat out of the Hawks/Bulls, but if we make it passed the Hawks we can not have more than 1 bad game in a 7 game series, and we absolutely have to lock down one of the "Big 3".  Either way, that is a tall order given the way we have played our first 2 series.

[pdga#7648]

They looked alot better tonight. Gibson was HUGE in the 4th!

[Dan Michler]

not looking very good Bulls fans. they need to win the next 2 games, to get their momentum back.
Miami looks very good right now to where the Bulls don't!

Actually, they only need to win 1 more.  I don't care if they lose Game 6 as long as they win Game 7.  Just get to the next round.  The next series is a new series.  When Boston won in '08 they went 7 games in the first round against ATL and 7 in the 2nd round against CLE and everybody wanted to talk about how they weren't playing good enough to win.  The NBA playoffs are never easy.  Just win 4 games and move on.

I think the Bulls stand the best chance of beating the Heat out of the Hawks/Bulls, but if we make it passed the Hawks we can not have more than 1 bad game in a 7 game series, and we absolutely have to lock down one of the "Big 3".

We can have 3 bad games in a 7 game series.  I'm good at math like that.  We've beaten the Heat before and we can do it again.  Its going to be a battle.  The Bulls will be the underdogs this time which might do some good for our mentality.

[Dan Michler]

How about the Celtics just completely throwing that game away last night?  They were in command most of the way and outshot the Heat 49% to 46%.  17 turnovers.  Most of those were not really forced by the Heat defense either.  Just ugly ugly BS.  This series was a lot more about the Celtics than the Heat.  If the Celts could close out a game without fumbling all over the place they'd be up 3-2 right now.

I love LeBron stating that the only reason he had to make The Decision was so he could beat the Celtics.  First of all, he could have beaten this Celtics team with the Cavs team he had last year.  Secondly, it was Round 2, a little early to be so self satisfied.  The toughest test for the Heat lies ahead.  His name is Derrick Rose, MVP.  Maybe LeBron has heard of him?