The Bulls didn't play last night. Simply didn't happen. No. Nope. Non. Nein.
Some people may tell you that they were blown out by the Celtics, losing by roughly 98 points in a lifeless (inter)national TV debacle. Those people are lying. The Bulls didn't play.
Instead, they had the night off. Brad Miller led the bench unit on a night fishing trip to Lewiston, Idaho, where Taj Gibson was extremely happy to catch a 6oz perch, and Lindsey Hunter sat around dispensing sage wisdom about things that happened during the mid 50's. The starters, meanwhile, all went out for a light supper together, then went tapdancing together, and then went home to bed. (Not together.)
That's all they did. No basketball was played by anyone. None at all. Not a sausage.
I'm being stupid and unfunny, obviously, but only because it's better to pretend that they didn't have a game on. They did play, and they were awful. It was especially harrowing for me, since I woke up especially to watch the game, only for the team to roll over and die limply and never really threaten. I thought those days were over. Oh well.
The game was the second game of a back to back, and was on the road to a very good team. We'll count those as excuses. The team's short rest was also further disrupted by a fire alarm during the middle of the night, which we'll count as another excuse.
Ultimately, though, those are woefully short excuses. The Bulls offense was essentially shut down by the Celtics, unable to create anything at all in the halfcourt, and their defense gave up 118 points, thereby making me look a fool for lauding yesterday all the improvements that the Bulls had made defensively. Thanks for that.
Derrick Rose was unable to break the Boston defense in any way, and spent too much of the game camping around on the outside. He couldn't deny Rajon Rondo any passing angles, and Rondo picked the Bulls apart at will. No one was able to chase Ray Allen effectively around screens, and when the defense collapsed on a penetrating Rondo - as it always had to, since he couldn't be kept out of the lane - the closeouts on shooters were not quick enough.
Joakim Noah shone, continuing to demonstrate that his new left handed hook shot is no fluke, while facilitating the Bulls' only high percentage looks of the night with his offensive rebounding. And apart from his uncharacteristic misses at the free throw line, Tyrus Thomas also played well, with the duo combining for more energy than the rest of the team combined.
But outside of that, nothing went well. Salmons was terrible, missing easy shots, being beaten off screens all night, not rebounding, and still shooting the jumpshot extremely badly. Deng got no easy looks, which was pretty much the end of his offensive night, and Kirk Hinrich couldn't hit a jumpshot either. Gibson was active on one end, but still refuses to defensive rebound for no reason at all, and Brad Miller spent the night trying to find passing angles that weren't there.
Meanwhile, Lindsey Hunter still can't score. And I'm willing to predict that he won't score a point before Christmas.
No matter how much Vinny Del Negro encouraged the Bulls to run, they didn't. No matter how much he told them to stop holding the ball, they didn't. No matter how much he told them to slip the picks, they didn't. And no matter how often Derrick Rose drove the ball three feet hoping for a passing lane to open up, it didn't.
They looked flat. They probably were flat. But with 25 more sets of back-to-back games coming up, they need to rectify that. And fast.
Filed under: Game Threads
Tags: Bad Times, chicago bulls, game 2, report card
Mark,
I don't mind having the Bulls lose to the Celtics, but the Bulls need to learn how to COMPETE, night in and night out.
This blowout was not unexpected. Since the Celtics acquired KG they have blown the bulls out every time. ( Every time KG has played that is)The bulls played poorly but you have to give a lot of credit to Bostons defense.
I believe that the Bulls won only 15 road games last season while most top teams in the East won at least 20 or more.
So, not only are the Bulls weak on the road - but they are playing a top team which is usually tough at home.
Unfortunately, tonight they play another one.