Tyrus Thomas didn't play tonight, but given how bipolar the Bulls were, you might not have known it. They beat the Bucks by the truly underwhelming score of 83-81, in a low standard game that a neutral would have phoned up to complain about. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough.
The first half of tonight's game was an absolute shocker for the Bulls. They scored only 29 points, trailed by as much as 18, and threw the ball away like a sulking pre-teen. They had 7 turnovers in their first 16 possessions, were boasting 22% shooting with 4 minutes left in the first half, and looked about as natural as a donkey in a trilby.
The second half started in much the same way. The Bulls scored only 6 more points in the first 6 minutes of the third quarter, and made no inroads into the lead. They also weren't really stopping the Bucks, who never put them away but who led comfortably all the same.
Then Jannero Pargo came in, and the game changed. I'm not kidding about that, either. Here's the report card.
Pargo didn't do a huge amount, but he did pretty much everything correctly. Apart from one far too predictable three point shot - after which he immediately got a steal and a two point score - he played under control, scored, passed, tried on defense, and hit his shots. He was the spark off the bench that he should always be, and always can be, if he's able to control himself.
Luol was fantastic tonight, throwing himself at the basket all night and setting a new career high in reboundeng. (See what I did there?) He hit enough of his shots - including a three, which was nice - and got to the basket through a combination of luck and aggressiveness. It was one of the better games he's ever played, and his rebounding will in the third quarter changed the game. This just doesn't happen often, and it was a beautiful thing.
Kirk Hinrich missed his shots - all jumpshots, of course - but he played decent defense and ran the offense fairly effectively. He was the point guard during the Bulls big third quarter run, although he wasn't the most instrumental playmaker during that span.
That honour goes to Brad Miller, who utilised his outside game to great effect. Andrew Bogut never likes to leave the paint defensively, but by hitting a straightaway three pointer and threatening a few others, Brad made him come out to guard him. At that point, Miller used the threat of the jumpshot, his patented Extremely Slow Drive (™) and his timeless ability to hit cutters and expanded a Bulls playbook that frankly didn't exist in the first half. He improves this team.
Joakim Noah didn't play in the big run, and again totalled only 29 minutes. I don't know why Del Negro avoids playing him and Brad Miller together as much as possible, but I'd rather he didn't, because they're a hell of a duo. Noah had 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in only 29 minutes, and while he didn't score much, a powerful dunk finish off a pick and roll play late in the fourth could not have come at a better time.
For no obvious reason, John Salmons still can't hit shots, and it's pretty painful to watch right now. He will continue to get these looks, because no other Bulls wing player can create their own looks like he can, but he can't continue to miss them.
Derrick Rose was not especially good. Denied penetration all night (I know that feeling), Rose had no opportunities to get to the rim, which led to him being a massive overdribbler on the perimeter. He was a bit like Kirk, except without the decent three point stroke and with far worse defense, getting wiped out ons creens throughout the first half. When the Bulls' offense had improved in the fourth quarter, Rose came back in and looked better, but the Bulls won in spite of him tonight, not because of it.
Taj Gibson definitely got himself overrated in preseason, which is kind of a bad thing.
The highlight of the game for the Bulls was an abortive attempt by Brad Miller to lead a fast break. He eventually gave the ball to Salmons, who pulled it back out. This was probably for the best.
The lowlight was the first half, when the Bucks nullified the Bulls offense by packing the lane and denying any penetration. Without any outside shooting, the Bulls had no answer, and just kept forcing turnovers in a desperate bid to get something going. Del Negro eventually found a lineup that worked, one which featured liberal dollops of Deng at power forward, and that's to his credit. But even with the win, the first half should not be forgotten. Sadly, it's going to be a recurrent theme with this roster.
For the Bucks, Brandon Jennings scored 25 points on 23 shots, which isn't very good, but he was fouled a lot more often than the free throw attempts show. Such is the life of a rookie point guard. Andrew Bogut was almost Noah-like in his use of the left handed hook shot, and played well. Unfortunately, Hakim Warrick kept forgetting his own limitations, the Bucks got no bench contributions, and they were trying to use Charlie Bell as their three point threat. That's not getting it done.
I still don't really understand what Luke Ridnour does well.
Filed under: Game Threads
Tags: Brad Miller, chicago bulls, Game 4, Jannero Pargo, Luol Deng, milwaukee bucks, report card, wins
I can here the Blair fans screaming right now lmao. Nice summary Marky mark.
"Denied penetration all night (I know that feeling)" lol.... sry im immature, but anyways, happy to steal a win, I'd be ok winning 2 of 5 of these games, but I'd hope for 3.... hopefully we can pull one out in cleveland
"48 minutes of intensity", right Norm Van Lier?
Loved the denied penetration all night line too, ha. However I disagree and think Rose was a big part of the game in the 4th quarter. The pick n roll action with Miller resulted in dunks for Rose and jumpers for Miller, best our offense looked all night. I was ready to give up on him in the first half, he must be injured, cause there is no way I would ever let some young guy (BJEnnings) come into my house and outplay me. At times he seems so passive.
Defensively I noticed that Rose can play great when he tries, so c'mon Rose you are the best, now act like it, your teammates are not that consistent do more yourself.
Jennings probably lost the game for them down the stretch and in the third, he and Warrick took some horrible shots.
RPK, are you writing your own article?, thanks for repeating it.
Jennings did not play that great, 25pts 23 shots is not good, and 4assts to Rose's 5 is not good either. Jennings played 38 mins, Rose played 28 or 29 mins. Other than the 1st quarter Jennings was not that great. I still think he is the frontrunner for rookie of the year though.