A moment of silence, please, for the end of the last Winter Break of my life.
The main course of the day is my weekend wrap-up column over at Slow Breaker, which includes at least one absolutely awesome joke. Swear. It goes up at exactly 11 a.m., so head over there and read it, when the time comes.
But while we're here...
Can someone please explain to me how the Bulls have blown the last two games? I'm not sure what's worse, losing to the perennially caucasian T-Wolves (Kevin Love and Brian Cardinal on the same roster? Really?) or watching a one point deficit at home against the Raps balloon to 20 over the course of six minutes.
There was some good to come out of the Toronto game, however:
Heart warming.
Also, check out Tyrus' game log (and beautiful smile) at Yahoo! and see what happens when he plays over 30 minutes.
It looks like Ty-Rise and (particularly) Noah had solid games yesterday, but I'll assume Al Jefferson scored the bulk of his 39 points (on 55 percent shooting) against one of the two. So maybe not.
And count me in on the "VDN should be canned" bandwagon. I give him credit for not babying Rose and starting Gordon, but, really, you can only play Noce at power forward for so many games before people get restless.
I mean, do you actually watch the Bulls play or just peruse the box score? Although TT had a nice finger roll early on, for a better indication for how his game was please see Kevin Love's statline and his ability to get....the weak side rebound at will for easy putbacks.
I mean, did you read what i wrote? I think the second to last paragraph makes it relatively clear that a) i didn't see the game (I was at work), and b) I conceded that TT and Noah probably didn't play because of the dominance of Minnesota's front line.
A) It wasn't long ago you were asking ME the same question about watching games and B) If you want to bone TT in your posts, at least know what's going on.
You write for like nine websites, this is the only one that I can read at work. I only ask that you don't skimp on the coverage for this site.
“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”
I only saw the 4th quarter and OT, but I thought Jefferson absolutely obliterated Noah.
At "Ball Don't Lie," Kelly Dwyer had a different take:
I didn't like the constant double-teams being sent Al Jefferson's way, and Aaron Gray's horrid defense shouldn't have been sent out late to cover for Joakim Noah (14 and 10, seven blocks) on Harrington late, but that doesn't mean Noah can't do better.
Noah needs no help guarding Jefferson once he's on the ball. Every double team Chicago sent hurt the Bulls. Once he was allowed to go on his own, he was fine. The problem came with the fact that Noah was absolutely helpless once he was allowed to go on his own after he had ignored Jefferson for the first chunk of a possession. Joakim is one of the best defenders in the NBA once he's engaged, but like a lot hot-shot guards who come into this league with a rep, that aren't interested if they don't have the rock, he doesn't want anything to do with paying attention if his man doesn't have the ball.
If this sounds like a gym teacher talking, I apologize. I support Chicago above all, and am quite chuffed at the prospect of someone like Noah acting as my team's starting pivot for the next decade. But the guy is useless in terms of focus off the ball, before his man gets the ball. He can't keep trying to guard five guys at once, even if seven blocks result. If Joakim learns how to start defending early in a possession, the sky is the limit.
Yes, that’s an actual quote from DiMaggio. He was no nonsense and had a lot of pride.
“Every double team Chicago sent hurt the Bulls.”
“Joakim is one of the best defenders in the NBA once he's engaged, but like a lot hot-shot guards who come into this league with a rep, that aren't interested if they don't have the rock, he doesn't want anything to do with paying attention if his man doesn't have the ball.”
THOSE are very good points. I’m going to go with a two pronged approach on this one. A) This is where the lack of communication on defense just kills the Bulls. If Kirk drops from the perimeter to double on the post, he has to do it very quickly but, also, the other players have to be prepared to move to pick up the slack. The Bulls are very bad at this. Any team that moves the ball can get an easy bucket on the Bulls because they lack communication and discipline on the defensive end. Also, Rose stinks at defense but that’s for another time. The Bulls were doubling on Jefferson to get him to pass the ball. There really wasn’t much anyone could do with Al on that night as far as scoring points so the doubles should have made him pass out, but they came too slow and the defensive rotation was horrendous. B) Noah needs to learn to pick up his man at, at least, the free throw line and start the war for positioning there. With his lack of size, although he seems to be getting bigger arms/shoulders every week or is that just me (?), he just gets pushed right under the basket. This is a direct correlation to the Bulls not having a big man coach on their payroll to teach the in’s and out’s of post defense, which also could help TT on the weak-side.
I’m not sure if I like Stacey King or not but he has shown an ability to expose the fundamental weaknesses in the Bulls big men by using the telestrator during the games. He loves Gray a bit too much for my liking but a week or so ago he showed how Gray just gave up the position on the block that he won on the offensive end because he didn’t know what to do. I liked to see that. He’s constantly pointing out Rose’s struggles on the defensive end so I hope King keeps it up.
Do you know everything about our Windy City sports teams? I bet you do. So bet yourself at this online sports betting site.
Have you tried online bingo? Maybe try using a bingo bonus code and benefit from a no deposit bingo bonus at recommended online bingo sites and online bingo operators. Alternatively why not try online casinos as a change from the norm?
Check this out.
Listing of best/worst two-player combos for every team, in terms of +/- and offensive/defensive team ratings.
The Bulls' best: Gordon + Nocioni +119 points
The Bulls' worst: Rose + Tyrus -185
You can have your fancy 'stats', Mr. Brian. I'll take that dunk above.
I mean, do you actually watch the Bulls play or just peruse the box score? Although TT had a nice finger roll early on, for a better indication for how his game was please see Kevin Love's statline and his ability to get....the weak side rebound at will for easy putbacks.
I mean, did you read what i wrote? I think the second to last paragraph makes it relatively clear that a) i didn't see the game (I was at work), and b) I conceded that TT and Noah probably didn't play because of the dominance of Minnesota's front line.
A) It wasn't long ago you were asking ME the same question about watching games and B) If you want to bone TT in your posts, at least know what's going on.
You write for like nine websites, this is the only one that I can read at work. I only ask that you don't skimp on the coverage for this site.
“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”
Joe DiMaggio
Is that DiMaggio quote real? If so, that's great.
I only saw the 4th quarter and OT, but I thought Jefferson absolutely obliterated Noah.
At "Ball Don't Lie," Kelly Dwyer had a different take:
I didn't like the constant double-teams being sent Al Jefferson's way, and Aaron Gray's horrid defense shouldn't have been sent out late to cover for Joakim Noah (14 and 10, seven blocks) on Harrington late, but that doesn't mean Noah can't do better.
Noah needs no help guarding Jefferson once he's on the ball. Every double team Chicago sent hurt the Bulls. Once he was allowed to go on his own, he was fine. The problem came with the fact that Noah was absolutely helpless once he was allowed to go on his own after he had ignored Jefferson for the first chunk of a possession. Joakim is one of the best defenders in the NBA once he's engaged, but like a lot hot-shot guards who come into this league with a rep, that aren't interested if they don't have the rock, he doesn't want anything to do with paying attention if his man doesn't have the ball.
If this sounds like a gym teacher talking, I apologize. I support Chicago above all, and am quite chuffed at the prospect of someone like Noah acting as my team's starting pivot for the next decade. But the guy is useless in terms of focus off the ball, before his man gets the ball. He can't keep trying to guard five guys at once, even if seven blocks result. If Joakim learns how to start defending early in a possession, the sky is the limit.
(http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Behind-the-Box-Score-where-Detroit-is-lacking?urn=nba,136713#remaining-content)
@ Cobra: Yeah but i get paid for the other ones...
Yes, that’s an actual quote from DiMaggio. He was no nonsense and had a lot of pride.
“Every double team Chicago sent hurt the Bulls.”
“Joakim is one of the best defenders in the NBA once he's engaged, but like a lot hot-shot guards who come into this league with a rep, that aren't interested if they don't have the rock, he doesn't want anything to do with paying attention if his man doesn't have the ball.”
THOSE are very good points. I’m going to go with a two pronged approach on this one. A) This is where the lack of communication on defense just kills the Bulls. If Kirk drops from the perimeter to double on the post, he has to do it very quickly but, also, the other players have to be prepared to move to pick up the slack. The Bulls are very bad at this. Any team that moves the ball can get an easy bucket on the Bulls because they lack communication and discipline on the defensive end. Also, Rose stinks at defense but that’s for another time. The Bulls were doubling on Jefferson to get him to pass the ball. There really wasn’t much anyone could do with Al on that night as far as scoring points so the doubles should have made him pass out, but they came too slow and the defensive rotation was horrendous. B) Noah needs to learn to pick up his man at, at least, the free throw line and start the war for positioning there. With his lack of size, although he seems to be getting bigger arms/shoulders every week or is that just me (?), he just gets pushed right under the basket. This is a direct correlation to the Bulls not having a big man coach on their payroll to teach the in’s and out’s of post defense, which also could help TT on the weak-side.
I’m not sure if I like Stacey King or not but he has shown an ability to expose the fundamental weaknesses in the Bulls big men by using the telestrator during the games. He loves Gray a bit too much for my liking but a week or so ago he showed how Gray just gave up the position on the block that he won on the offensive end because he didn’t know what to do. I liked to see that. He’s constantly pointing out Rose’s struggles on the defensive end so I hope King keeps it up.