Balls to Tom Thibodeau. Did the Bulls just play "stifling" defense? They did.
The Nuggets had the third best offense in the NBA (per Knickerblogger) going into this game. But they were made to work awfully hard by a resolute Bulls defense that denied anything easy all night long. (Transition excluded.)
The start of the third quarter in particular was a thing of beauty. The Bulls starting five took away all the Nuggets' offense that wasn't a post-up from 19 feet away, collapsed in the paint to great effect and prevented any kind of ball moment. They blocked shots from the weak side, reached in effectively, and bodied up so well in the post that they even got a 5 second violation out of Carmelo Anthony. Naturally, it was all led by Noah.
Of course, they lost, 90-89, in about as dramatic of a fashion as there can be. For those who missed the game, the score was tied with 4 seconds left, and the Nuggets had the ball. Chauncey Billups drove the ball, and was fouled by Hinrich was 0.6 seconds left. (And yes, he was actually fouled.) Billups hit the first foul shot, and deliberately missed the second to try and run the clock out. However, Noah grabbed the rebound and called a simultaneous TO, with the refs putting 0.3 seconds back on the clock. On the ensuing inbounds, Brad Miller hit a prayer of a long two, and the Bulls charged the court to celebrate the win. But after three weeks of reviewing the play, the call was changed, the shot was not released in time, the game was over, and the Nuggets won. Sadly, that was the correct call too.
(Maybe.)
But we'll worry about that later. Regardless of the result, the game was great entertainment, and a fantastic showing from the Bulls. Here's the report card.
Joakim Noah was the best player in the game by about seventy five million miles. The Bulls interior defense in this game was absolutely fantastic; they got their hands on drives, deflected passes, challenged everything, racked up multiple blocks, and won the rebounding battle. Noah was the main reason for this; he helped effectively from the weak side all night, and got his hands on about 15 rebounds that he wasn't credited with, in addition to the 21 that he was. He grabbed pithy rebounds, lucky rebounds and man-sized rebounds, ripping the ball away from bigger players, ran the court, and also contributed on offense in his own inimitable way. Noah tonight continued his blistering metamorphosis into one of the game's best centres, and he's getting better by the game.
Luol Deng was also fantastic, hitting his shots, driving the ball well, and going after it on the glass. Particularly effective was his defense on Carmelo Anthony, which, much like his defense on LeBron James last week, was about as good as anyone can do it. Those two have been the two best players for the Bulls this season, by a long way, and they're the reason why we have a 4-3 record and compete with the best teams in the NBA right now. Tonight was no different. I never want that to end.
Taj Gibson also helped, and while he suffered from his usual flaws (fouling, defensive rebounding), he too was a big part of the defense around the rim. With the exception of some transition baskets (the Bulls transition defense wasn't especially good tonight), the Nuggets barely got an easy look all night. And these first three players were the reason why.
John Salmons hit his threes, except the last one, but missed everything else in the paint. That's half the battle, at least. And I maintain that he wasn't as bad as his 3-13 statline, for he too was instrumental in the defensive effort. He stayed in front of the Nuggets wing players, was busy in the passing lanes, and contributed to the highly effective collapsing of the defense. He's seemingly overmatched as an offensive player right now, and maybe forever. But least he's contributing.
Brad Miller had the game's choice moment with the discounted game winner. Outside of that, though, he didn't do much. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chris Andersen and Nene beat him down the court all night. This wasn't a great matchup for him. But at least he'll get on Sportscenter.
By my count, Derrick Rose got into the paint 7 times, and 6 times he passed out of it. That's not really good enough. And while his ever-improving midrange jumpshot is a nice asset, it's making an already inefficient scorer even worse. He also didn't do a great jbo of preventing Billups' veteran savvy on screen and roll situations, but apart from keeping the man inf ront of him, his defense was fairly effective. I am perfectly willing to write off his last two weeks as being the ienvitable struggles of a man who's both battling injury and improved league-wide scouting reports on him. But while he's playing smarter now, he was more effective when he was wilder.
As ever, Jannero Pargo had one job to do - come in and hit jumpshots. He didn't do it tonight. Oh well. He did at least take his first foul shot of the year, and it was a thing of beauty. Here's to at least 4 more before Christmas.
Kirk was really quite bad. He missed shots, made bad decisions, and didn't offer much help on either Chauncey Billups or Ty Lawson. His play improved in the second half, and he even hit the ninth clutch shot of his seven year NBA career. But int he first half, he was a big negative.
Jerome James made Luol Deng laugh at one point. It was something he said. Not just his general aura.
As for the Nuggets, they did their usual thing, of just trying to outmuscle you and score over you. They ran a lot of post-ups and a lot of isolations, starting inside almost all the time and relying on kickouts and/or brute strength for their points. They also got out in transition and used their roster-wide athleticism to good effect. It's exactly what they should have done. And it was just about enough.
The Bulls ran out of offense towards the end of the game, and the better team won. They have arguably the league's best individual scorer, and we don't. Carmelo Anthony was the only thing separating the two teams, and even though he didn't shoot well (due in no small part to the way the Bulls defense nullified him), he made them when he needed to. If it weren't for him, we had them. game
But hese things are going to happen from time to time this season, because there's just not a whole lot of shotmaking talent on the roster. But it was a good performance anyway, hanging with one of the league's best teams, and demonstrating more of the strong defense that is once again becoming a Bulls staple. Just like organisations, defense wins championships, and to start by creating a strong defensive base and adding the offense around it was always the Foxson plan going into this season. And they're achieving it.
Good game, great game, and a strong showing on (inter)national TV. We're not there yet, but another 60-something games of this is going to be several kinds of epic.
Filed under: Game Threads
Tags: chicago bulls, Denver Nuggets, Game 7, game thread, Joakim Noah, report card
And within mere minutes, the internet has already obliged us with a video of the play.
http://www.twitvid.com/96893
I thought it was no good. I still do. But, you know, blimey. You could go either way.
Here's the thing; were it not for the fallback option of instant replay, would the refs have called it no good on the floor? I suspect yes.
Mark I agree with you. It was no good, it was still on his two finger tips. It was a heart breaker but atleast we didnt get blown out. We played great defense and we should really hold our heads up high. John really besides some 3s in the 2nd half did crap and the same goes for Kirk. Pargo makes me sick, i always say he will give you one good game out of every five games but i will change that to every ten. It was good to see Derrick hit his shot but Mark was right when he was in the lane he could have went hard at the basket instead he would drop it off to Taj or Noah or kick it out.
For that reason, then, instant replay is a virtue.
Also, the clock kind of started late. It always does.
What about the jump ball call when Nene clearly fouled Noah when he had the ball.
Here's the frame that clinches it for me:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2883/nogoody.jpg
You just can't call that good.
It was a good call, actually it was the only good call of the night. Many horrid calls tonight.
I rather have had Billups make the free throw and have the 0.6 on the clock. Brad is slow at everything isnt he lol
Is anybody worried about the heavy amount of minutes Noah and Deng have been logging? We really need a big added hell even a 2 guard. I would seriously look into shopping Tyrus and see if we can get a big back. Having Pargo, Hunter, James on this roster is really hurting us.
Three things to ntoe about this picture:
http://a.espncdn.com/media/apphoto/4953b7d6-f67a-4c4a-8632-c1b9cbf9cc9b.jpg
1) Noah beefed the hell up. Rugged biceps.
2) Somehow, this was called a jumpball. The Nuggets won it.
3) Nene's hair is so perfect in this snapshot.
Horrible call Mark just horrid.
I want to see how we bounce back after such a big blow tomorrow night against the high scoring Raptors. I hope our guys put this game out of their heads and lace up their sneakers and go out and shut down the raptors.
Thinking about it, why was Noah on the bench for that last play?
Because Vinny thought they could get shot off and didn't want Noah in there in case no one was open
The Bulls really do look like a different defensive team this year, and that will keep them in each game if they can maintain the same intensity. However, to win games you need playmakers and fresh legs. No one on this team has been creating for others. Rose hasn't been hitting the lane enough, Kirk and Salmons only drive if they intend on shooting, and Luol has never been one to set up others. So I ask again, where is James Johnson??? For the lucky few minutes he was in last night, he forced a turnover on Denver, drove and kicked to Kirk for a wide open 3 (he missed, of course) and drove again, missed, and got his own rebound and put it back in. He did have a couple of missed jumpers, but what do you expect when these jump shots are his 6th and 7th attempts in as many games? Vinnie is killing his starters out there with the insane minutes he has been playing them. Why not play JJ 15 minutes a game when you have injury issues, don't want to re-injure Luol, and Pargo-Hinrich-Salmons all can't shoot?
Someone tell Vinnie its the 7th game of the year, not the 7th game of a playoff series. Before we get to game 40 and all of our players have dropped dead of exhaustion.
In the last two games, Johnson has been reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly bad. Vinnie wants to get him some spot minutes, but it's also been painfully apparent that Johnson is simply not ready.
Mark,
How do you like the Bulls 3pt. shooting, so far, this sesaon? 4 of 18 last night and 22% for the season is really impressive. It's not like they needed a guy who shot 50% in the preseason though, right?
Also, with all that talk about having cap space just in case of an injury, why aren't they using it? Don't tell me they aren't CHEAP and PETTY in their personnel decisions!!!
I thought you were going to leave that alone?
Pithy Rebound?
First time I've seen pithy used as an adjective to describe a physical action. Yes, Noah's rebounds are always pithy or "full of vigor".
Nice to know I can read your articles and get a vocabulary workout.
I don't think I quite meant what I said there.
Not feeling pithy?
Now I'm intrigued. You didn't mean to say "pithy rebounds".
What other turn of phrase did you have in mind? Pesky rebounder perhaps?
PS: Just having fun...enjoy your articles.
I think the word I was going for was "trivial."