Heat beat Bulls 95 to 87
Well my prediction on my podcast was off by two points, but not too bad. This game illustrated one of the points I made on the show, and we've discussed before. The Bulls have no three point shooting.
Salmons and Hinrich were 40% three point shooters last year, but both have been streaky in their careers. So far this year, they're a combined 5 for 32. The team as a whole is 7 for 43 from behind the arc. Frankly, it's a miracle they won a game at all shooting that bad from behind the arc, and that they hung in there with the Heat as long as they did.
Another issue I touched on in my podcast was the Bulls not changing the side of the attack on each possession, and that was evident again as the Heat way overplayed the strong side, and the Bulls rarely got the ball over to the weak wide to force the Heat defense to adjust.
The defense played well, forcing a lot of turnovers even if it allowed a good field goal percentage for Miami. The offense was again rather shoddy with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich being the primary culprits. Neither could throw the ball in the ocean as they were a combined 7 of 27.
What's sad about this game, was that the Bulls seemed to outplay the Heat for the majority of the game. However, they couldn't get to the line nor could they hit the 3, so they had no method of efficient scoring, and despite appearing to play much better, could never build a sizable lead.
Deng and Salmons both had good games shooting 11/21 and 7/14 respectively, but both were far better in the first half than the second half as the Bulls struggled to find points in the fourth quarter.
Joakim Noah vastly outplayed his box score, as he had his hands on another six or seven boards on the offensive end that he couldn't quite tip and control. However, he forced Miami to focus so hard on rebounding when he was in the game that he killed any hope of a fast break for them. There were always at least three guys fighting to keep him off the offensive glass.
Gibson struggled pretty badly out there tonight, and I think he's going to need to have a solid performance soon or his minutes should be in jeopardy. Tyrus Thomas played pretty solidly, but he appeared to get benched due to a few poor decisions defensively on rotations.
All in all, this game looks like a harbinger of things to come to me. Hard fought games that the team loses due to lack of three point shooting and efficient scoring. It's just so tough to win games when you're only getting 2 points on any given possession and teams don't have to honor your perimeter game.
That being said, the Bulls have played three very tough opponents, two of them on the road, and they're 1-2. I'm okay with that. I would have given us a 50/50 shot of being 0-3 at this point, and I'd have been shocked for something better. The Bulls need to beat Milwaukee next game though, because they've got to go into Cleveland after that.
Another issue I touched on in my podcast was the Bulls not changing the side of the attack on each possession, and that was evident again as the Heat way overplayed the strong side, and the Bulls rarely got the ball over to the weak wide to force the Heat defense to adjust.
The defense played well, forcing a lot of turnovers even if it allowed a good field goal percentage for Miami. The offense was again rather shoddy with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich being the primary culprits. Neither could throw the ball in the ocean as they were a combined 7 of 27.
What's sad about this game, was that the Bulls seemed to outplay the Heat for the majority of the game. However, they couldn't get to the line nor could they hit the 3, so they had no method of efficient scoring, and despite appearing to play much better, could never build a sizable lead.
Deng and Salmons both had good games shooting 11/21 and 7/14 respectively, but both were far better in the first half than the second half as the Bulls struggled to find points in the fourth quarter.
Joakim Noah vastly outplayed his box score, as he had his hands on another six or seven boards on the offensive end that he couldn't quite tip and control. However, he forced Miami to focus so hard on rebounding when he was in the game that he killed any hope of a fast break for them. There were always at least three guys fighting to keep him off the offensive glass.
Gibson struggled pretty badly out there tonight, and I think he's going to need to have a solid performance soon or his minutes should be in jeopardy. Tyrus Thomas played pretty solidly, but he appeared to get benched due to a few poor decisions defensively on rotations.
All in all, this game looks like a harbinger of things to come to me. Hard fought games that the team loses due to lack of three point shooting and efficient scoring. It's just so tough to win games when you're only getting 2 points on any given possession and teams don't have to honor your perimeter game.
That being said, the Bulls have played three very tough opponents, two of them on the road, and they're 1-2. I'm okay with that. I would have given us a 50/50 shot of being 0-3 at this point, and I'd have been shocked for something better. The Bulls need to beat Milwaukee next game though, because they've got to go into Cleveland after that.
41 Comments
MrHappy said:
PATHETIC DISPLAY, once again.
In the words of the late and great Norm VanLier, "48 minutes of intensity." Until this team grasps that concept, they will stay a MEDIOCRE team.
Oh by the way. How was their 3pt shooting tonight? TERRIBLE!!!
vs. San Antontio - 3/16
vs. Boston - 1/11
vs. Miami - 2/12
Who really needs a 50% 3pt shooter though? Not the Bulls apparently. The are CONTENT with JACKING UP 3's with absolutely NO SUCCESS. Great call, waiving Derrick Byars. John Paxson and Gar Forman just don't know how to EVALUATE talent.
MrHappy said:
Doug and Mark,
When are you too going to call for Derrick Byars' return? He was the best 3pt shooter they had on their roster. Don't you think they could use his shooting, right about now?
MrHappy said:
correction:
two, not too...oops. I'm typing too fast again.
MrHappy said:
One more point.
Derrick Rose - 8 points...NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
Kirk Hinrich - 7 points...NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
Ty Thomas - 4 points...NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
Newskoolbulls said:
I like that your a passionate fan Mr. Happy but do you really think Derrick Byars would be getting any time barring an injury. Also Byars is not even a good 3 pt shooter, he is a guy who can hit them from time to time but he is no 3 pt specialist.
Doug Thonus said:
To be quite honest, I don't trust Byars as a shooter. He was 38% from the 3 in the dleague which is solid, but not exceptional.
Doug Thonus said:
I thought they played with intensity for the whole game. Ultimately they didn't have the shot making to win, but I don't think there was a lack of effort.
Newskoolbulls said:
If Rose doesnt get his stuff together Jennings will eat him alive in our next game. The biggest problem tonight was missing wide open jump shots. John, Luol and Kirk were the main culprits. Noah was solid and did everything he could battling for offensive rebounds. That Quentin Richardson three well both of his two makes were both heart breakers and game enders in my opnion.
Newskoolbulls said:
Also I dont want to be to hard on Rose because I know he is not 100% but he is not even showing he is 50%. Pargo should not be getting any minutes because he is putrid, how CP3 could make him look decent for two years makes Chris a God in my eyes. Jannero came in with Wade on the bench and still managed to stink it up with a break away layup that got blocked and an airball 3. Can James Johnson play worse than Jannero? I think not so Vinny needs to give any minutes availble to James.
MrHappy said:
Doug,
There seems to be lack of basketball knowledge on this blog. How can you criticize the Bulls 3pt shooting and not mention the release of Derrick Byars, who shot 50% in the preseason?
Help me understand that.
Doug Thonus said:
Byars shooting 50% on 14 shots really isn't a large enough sample size to draw any conclusion from. He shot 38% last season in the league. It's solid, but it's not something that makes me think he comes in and solves our shooting woes in any way.
Newskoolbulls said:
38% in the NBDL is not the same as shooting 38% in the NBA. Guys who do well in the NBDL dont always make it in the NBA. Look at Morris Almond and Demitrius Nichols for example. There are guys who do make it though.
Newskoolbulls said:
Mr. Happy not trying to be mean like you are but i think your the one with a lack of basketball knowledge compared to Doug and Mark. If anyone knows their sh** its those two guys.
MrHappy said:
It's an honest queston.
Put two and two together. The Bulls CAN'T MAKE ANY 3PT SHOTS, while DERRICK BYARS HIT 50% of his 3PT SHOTS in the preseason.
Newskoolbulls said:
Key word: PRESEASON.
MrHappy said:
He did it in college and in the d-league. as well. If you can shoot, you can shoot.
MrHappy said:
Right.
They just can't admit when they are wrong.
Doug Thonus said:
We weren't wrong. We said Byars had the best chance to make the team but would ultimately not make it due to financial reasons.
Thusfar, that's been exactly what happened.
Newskoolbulls said:
I will vouch for that. You guys were correct.
bulls6 said:
Remember - teams are playing their starters 7 they are playing DEFENSE
Both those things are not characteristic of preseason games.
Sure, some guys are shooting poor - but give the other team's defense some credit
Dpauley23 said:
Mr Happy there's no time for Byars to play. What the Bulls need is 3 and 4 hybrid who can give them 20 to 25 minutes off the bench who is good 3 point shooter someone like Al Harrington if only he was available
Newskoolbulls said:
Al No-Sharington? No thanks. Trust me Al is availble, hes availble all the time and there is a good reason why.
Dpauley23 said:
They need someone who can score. Al can do it.
avtar said:
do you think we could make a trade for raja bell? he's a decent 3 point shooter. we might be able to make a trade of salmons for bell. doesnt his contract expire after this year?
Newskoolbulls said:
Raja bell is out for the year with elbow woes.
Doug Thonus said:
I think realistically, the Bulls need to just have Hinrich and Salmons shoot better. They don't really have much room to play another wing if they got one who could shoot the 3 well (unless they were just a great player overall), and they're unlikely to find a 4 or 5 who can shoot the 3.
Newskoolbulls said:
and they need Rose to wake up asap
Dpauley23 said:
Doug what about Donyell Marshall? A guy who good take Taj minutes and he shoot 45 percent last year in 10 minutes a game
Newskoolbulls said:
Donyell is with Phill still correct? anyway i rather develop talent in Taj than play an old guy.
RPK said:
Whenever you let the opponent dictate the tempo you are in trouble.
The Heat play ‘Riley Ball’, aka slow, boring, half court shit where you let your best player run pretty much everything on every play which sometimes allow very mediocre offensive players like Udonis Haslem to kill you with wide open jumpers. And that’s exactly what happened in today’s game. It was an insanely close, hard fought, but painfully sloppy game to watch. I swear I saw John Starks out there on a few plays.
The Bulls could not do anything to get them to loosen up and speed up the tempo. Whenever a team can collapse the lane like that you better have your 3 point shooters ready. Unfortunately the Bulls best 3 point shooter last year is in Detroit rolling around in his huge pile of money while most likely realizing he’ll never win another playoff game for a good 5 years. Bulls shot a very ugly 2/12 from downtown and a general pathetic 41% overall. At least Luol Deng and John Salmons showed up (26 and 17 respectively). Deng even had some nice fade aways thrown in there for good measure.
But you know who really didn’t play well? Our point guards! Kirk Hinrich played 33 minutes with 7 points and Derrick Rose had a paltry 8 points in 35 minutes. It was bad, insanely fucking bad. I’m sorry, but you can’t let douche annoying defensive players like Mario Chalmers dictate the pace like that. And if you are ever to be a hall of famer, or shit, even semi decent all star, you can not be letting Carlos fucking Arroyo light you up for 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench. I know Rose has an excuse, tons of practice time missed and probably about 80 percent athleticism, but still. Rose has to be accountable for this performance, and knowing Rose, he is taking this very hard.
And as far as Vinny, what the fuck is going on between him and Tyrus? It be really easy to berate Del negro for not playing Tyrus the entire fourth quarter, but at least tell us why. I am really starting to worry about Tyrus because every coach the Bulls have had has had problems with Thomas. This can not be a coincidence.
Luckily, the Bulls finally come home on Tuesday to play the Bucks and their old coach Scotty Skiles. This on the surface seems like a piece of cake, but the Bucks are coming off a nice win and Jennings looks to be quick as lightning. It be a good test to see how well the Bulls can come back after two tough losses.
BaD
Newskoolbulls said:
Tyrus needs to be dealt, lets stop dancing around it. Both parties need to move on. We are in year four and it feels like year ten with this bozo.
Doug Thonus said:
I don't think Tyrus has played poorly so far. I think he's absolutely available for trade, but he's been decent (better than Taj), so there's no reason to trade him unless we get back something better than Tyrus for him.
Boss said:
BaD you're the man. You nailed it! This was game we should have won against a shitty overrated team. I think Reinsodorf will pull the plug on Vinnie very soon. That shit he's doing with Noah's minutes will be his undoing.
Boss said:
I think I got it wrong, I think that comment I referred to was by RPK.
Newskoolbulls said:
Also can we drop this whole Byars thing, its really starting to iritate me.
Dpauley23 said:
Newskool Donyell is FA
Doug Thonus said:
If you look at his last four seasons, he's only averaged about 35% from the 3 point line over that four year stretch. I'd be highly skeptical of him coming in at this age and really helping.
For a guy who's available, and can play a big position though, it's hard to come up with someone better.
Newskoolbulls said:
Some contender will add him down the line.
MADman24 said:
Our 3point shooting was awful yet again but I suspect we can't continue to be this bad and will show some improvement soon. On the other hand I have some bigger questions about the team. VDN is already showing some bad habits...Pargo should never get in, his minutes should be filled with JJ playing the 3 with Salmons or Deng shifted down to the 2. Tyrus seems to me to be being benched for Gibson despite outplaying him, and in favor of the two SF lineup, which got killed on the glass tonite, is this a case of Vinny knowing Tyrus won't likely be around so he is trying see what else he has? Still too early in the season to really say anything for sure so for now I'll just keep my eyes on these issues.
Doug Thonus said:
I was annoyed by some of the rotational things you were, but I think the biggest issue is 3 point shooting right now.
Not only are teams not honoring our perimeter shot making it far more difficult for Rose to play, but we're also not able to score quickly in big chunks at any point or have big momentum swings.
Last night's game was a win if Ben Gordon is on the roster plain and simple.
Dpauley23 said:
If Gordon was playing though Wade scores 10 more points
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