Kings @ Bulls Postgame Thread: Its a hard-knock life..

[girlygirl]

Got to love Brad Miller going 3rd person here (this is from the AP game recap)

Miller thought he was then fouled by Chicago's Chris Duhon as he tried to fling in the loose ball at the buzzer and let the officials hear it as two teammates escorted him from the court.

"Wallace's block was fine," said Miller, who then referred to himself in the third person. "The reach-in on the end, [Duhon] almost knocked the guy's arm off. Got to give him a chance to at least shoot the ball I thought, but I guess not."


Oh, and the final play was designed to go to BG (more from A.P. recap)...

The play was designed for Gordon, but he wasn't open.

Hinrich inbounded the ball to Wallace following a timeout and immediately got it back. The two executed a give-and-go, with Hinrich finding the big man cutting toward the hoop.

Wallace got fouled by Mikki Moore and made the first free throw after missing his first four of the game. It was his lone point of the game, although he did grab 11 rebounds.

That Wallace came through with a big block wasn't shocking; he is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. That he hit the go-ahead free throw was, considering he had missed his first four. That included an airball and several others that made a knuckleball look straight by comparison.

"I already had some practice shots, so I needed to make one," Wallace said. "The laws of physics, eventually one is going in."

[SportsWorld]

The Kings were missing Bibby, Martin, Thomas, and Artest. You got to hand it to them, they played one hell of a game.

[Posey H8er]

I was at the game. Some notes-

-A win is a win.

-Nocioni started off hot. Then he was benched for about a quarters time until halfway through the second quarter.

-Sefolosha had a great game defensively. He made the most of the minutes he was given.

-We need a Brad Miller type player. Someone who can score under the basket.

-Aaron Gray has a horrible nonexistent offensive game. He cannot make a simple short range shot hook.

-Boylan made a stupid decision at the second half of the first quarter I believe. We were on an offensive cold streak, and he puts a 5-4-3 lineup with Wallace-Noah-Thomas. Are you serious Jimmy boy? You expect to score with that lineup?

-Tyrus was pretty good, but obviously rusty with some almost costly turnovers. Some nice jams and blocks.

-Hinrich had a pretty nice game, but he complains too much to the officials as stated here before. The last play was a horrible decision to pass to Wallace under the basket though.

-I love Noah

[BULLS4LIFE2]

The law of physics? I think Wallace meant the law of averages.

This team loves to stress out the fans, when they got the lead up to 17-10 and they allowed the Kings a 15-2 run i wanted to break the tv

Duhon: Another terrible game, theres no justification for him starting anymore, i honestly wouldnt mind seeing Thabo get the nod, and theres no justification leaving Duhon out there for so long. His assists are misleading because he's not creating shots for anyone it just happens to be him passing the ball to a guy who makes a tough shot. 0-7 including 0-6 threes, he gives up so many open shots allowing the D to sag off him leaving the Bulls playing 3 on 5 when he's out there with Wallace and his D just wasnt that good.

Finally he was the one that fouled Brad Miller at the end, not Wallace. Wallace had a clean block and Duhon came over and fouled Miller on the 2nd attempt Bulls were extremely lucky they didnt call it, because on replay it looked like there was 0.1 seconds remaining when Duhon fouled him and the Bulls were in the penalty. Back to the bench!!

Hinrich: Made a few nice shots, but also took some stupid ones as usual including that pull up 20ft jumper on the fast break where he catches it moving at full speed. That said FINALLY he continued his dribble down the lane and made a spin move and finger roll, is that too much to ask Kirk? Why is that the first time ive seen you make such a move? 5 rebs, 5 assists he wasnt bad he wasnt good he was ok

Nocioni: Welcome back, what a start to the game, 13 of the first 15pts, lined up a 3 from each angle, got a nice jumper and made his ft's. When he took the first shot of the game with about 18 secs left on the clock i was worried it was going to be another one of those nights but i was pleasantly surprised to see him rise to the challenge...then Boylan sat him for too long.

26pts on 7-10 shooting, made all 7 ft's, 5 rebs and a nice block. Good job by Noc, really filled in, infact i doubt Deng could have contributed as much tonight

Smith: I cant believe he blew that dunk, but i agree he's probably played too many mins the last few games, still not an excuse to miss that dunk. Didnt shoot well, infact he shot poorly but i was surprised to see he was just 3-13 he didnt look that bad, regardless he still finds ways to contribute with 7 rebs, 2 steals and 3 blocks

Wallace: Well, considering technically he won the game we'll say he had a good night but realistically he wasnt that good. Until the last min he didnt have a point or a block but i guess he got them at the best time possible, making that 1st ft was huge but i have a question for Boylan...what the **** were you thinking putting Ben Wallace on the court in a tied game when you have the ball with 6 secs to play????

I cant imagine what went through his mind Even worse was that they ran the play for Wallace, i guess they figured the Kings would concentrate on Gordon and Wallace would be open, but come on ...Wallace?

Thabo: I liked Thabos game today. He was only 2 of 5 from the field, but its his shot selection, both the baskets he made were going inside, one was off an offensive reb on his own miss and he drove it in, the second was when he stole it and took it all the way for the bucket and the foul. I was impressed with his defence, although we already knew he can play D. He also helps out on the boards. Im all for giving him some of Duhons mins, even starting him in limited mins

7pts, 3 rebs and 2 steals in 13 mins

I was surprised Noah didnt get a chance, and Gray wasnt very impressive today although 4 pts and 4 rebs is ok in 10 mins

Gordon: Not his best shooting night, but they were really focused on him, plus he hit another huge shot with that corner 3 to give the Bulls the lead back at the end. Gotta give credit to Ben Wallace (as much as i hate to) for setting a nice screen to get him that open look. Made all 8 of his ft's and considering how they played him i thought he played a good game.

Also a nice no look pass to i believe a cutting Tyrus on the play where he almost travelled

Tyrus: Take that Boylan!! Yes he had a bad turnover BUT in his defense he stole that ball anyway and he was trying to be unselfish. Was it a good idea to throw Gordon a lob on the fast break? No, but these are the things you learn from experience, and you need playing time to experience those situations

5-10 from the field, 3 of which were dunks, one off the baseline dribble, one off a lob by Duhon and one off a long lob by Gordon. That alley dunk he missed off the pass by Gordon in the 2nd half would have absolutely put the crowd in a frenzy, Gordon even made it so obvious he was throwing the lob and they still couldnt stop Tyrus he simply missed it.

The back to back blocks were very nice, the jumpers he missed are shots he can make i think he just rushed them.

14pts, 9 rebs, 2 assists, a steal and 3 blocks (the 3rd where he was beat off the dribble, recovered to catch up and swat it into the 3rd row causing a shot clock violation) are very good numbers for someone who played 23 mins and has hardly seen the court in the last 5 games

Well done Tyrus and well done to Boylan for giving him a chance and not using Griffin

But Boylan doesnt get off the hook, he still had a lot of stupid decisions, but i dont feel like going through them all

I dont feel good about this win, but its a win nevertheless

As is always the case the Bulls allowed super scrubs to have good games against them add Dahntay Jones and Quincy Douby to the list of recent scrubs setting career or season highs on Chicago as they set seasonhighs with 16 and 14 points respectively.

As a team 26-36ft's (mostly Wallace who was 1-6)

Just 36% from the field compared to Kings 45% but committed 3 less turnovers, had 10 more offensive rebs leading to 9 extra looks at the basket and 8 team blocks, im surprised the Kings didnt run more plays to take 3's they made 4 of 6...maybe they havent studied enough tape of the Bulls this year to realise if they make that extra pass and run the pick and roll they will get open looks on the perimeter...oh and Ben Wallace was doing it again, he kept doubling the guard on the pick and roll and leaving Brad Miller open for jumpers...when will he learn?

Did they not go through the game tape against Portland and show him how Aldridge made the Bulls pay on those plays? Can someone else at least rotate over when he does that to put some pressure on his guy? I think i saw Hinrich come over once...that said Gray did the same thing, but hey he's a 2nd round rookie making $400k not a veteran former defensive player of the year 4 times making $15mill

As punishment they should lock Wallace in a room with Stacey King and have him go through game tapes all the while with him doing the 'freeze it...ok go head and roll it' everytime Wallace makes a mistake

[Tommy Turtle]

Costly turnovers? I thought he had a total of two. Got an offensive rebound no other Bull could have, and was called out of bounds when I couldn't see that being the right call.

Yes, trying to pass to the midget under the basket after a STEAL was not bright.

These turnovers seem different to me than others, like BG falling on his ass. Or Kirk throwing it to a lucky fan in the third row. I'm probably just missing something.

[Tommy Turtle]

Let's talk fouls. Tyrus had two?

First one another man's player runs into him under the basket, while he is guarding his man.

Second one was blocking a jam attempt by I believe to be another man's player after a fast break attempt created by a poor shot attempt.

I quess my point is Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were not very good at the beginning of their careers, but they were exciting, promising, and given a chance. Look what happened.

[SportsWorld]

AP-Ben Gordon reacts to the Jacksonville Jaguars last minute field goal in Pittsburgh.

[BULLS4LIFE2]

I think someone should start a John Salmons appreciation thread

[CBS7]

Gordon shot the ball poorly, but still scored 20 points on 14 shots because he got to the FT line. Thats what the truly elite scorers do. When their shot isn't falling, they take it inside and draw contact.

[IbreakNeckZ101]

Gordon shot the ball poorly, but still scored 20 points on 14 shots because he got to the FT line. Thats what the truly elite scorers do. When their shot isn't falling, they take it inside and draw contact.

i really can't stand Gordon at times.. but man if this guy was paired with a big man down low and could free him up around the perimeter he'd be monsterous

[JeremyB0001]

I haven't read through the thread but my immediate reaction is that we're 4-2 under Boylan and we owe two of our four wins to the young bigs (Noah v. Charlotte and Tyrus tonight). I can't help but wonder what our record would be if those players saw meaningful minutes in our two OT losses under Boylan.

[Rerisen]

I can't help but wonder what our record would be if those players saw meaningful minutes in our two OT losses under Boylan.

I can't help wonder what it would be if we had been playing them legit minutes all season!

[derf]

At this point, I would start Griffin at the 2. You simply cannot start a guy playing this poorly. The starters are not playing that bad and if Duhon could convert the opportunities being handed to him, the team would look pretty good.

I predict that the idea of starting Adrian Griffiin over Ben Gordon will not be popular.

[molepharmer]

Probably the biggest positive from last night was the play of Thabo.

All the regulars did pretty much what they regularly do. Tyrus performed like he has in the past and like many thought he would when given court time. But Thabo probably made some converts and showed he deserves more playing time, or at least a better look before being considered a bust or a trade throw-in.

I advocated starting Thabo for Du after CD's first start. If CD's not going to look to score, and only move the basketball and play undersized defense, you might as well start Thabo. But I suspect Gordon will be back in the starting role before Thabo.

O.T. ??? - Thought this was an interesting article regarding shooting streaks: http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2001/ ... icsTellAll

[DJhitek]

Saw the game in between the Steelers/Jags game. I actually saw Thabo looking like a real basketball player. It was quite weird.

Nice to see Tyrus contribute and all in all a decent game from the spurts I saw. No one should call that foul at the end, Brad Miller didn't even have full possession of the ball and tried to flop his way to a call.

[dougthonus]

This is the type of outing that makes me wonder why we don't play Tyrus more.

He had some glaring mistakes, but he had so many great plays, and the great plays were more frequent than the mistakes. The mistakes would also be so fixable if he played enough to just get a better feel for the game.

Every time he made an error, I sat their praying "please don't take him out, please don't take him out", and for the most part we didn't.

I have to admit, I thought we were done in crunch time when we subbed Noc in for Tyrus, because Nocioni leaves his man open all the time on senseless double teams. That actually did happen, but the Kings didn't scout that out apparently and didn't make us pay for it.

I also don't see why you'd want Noc in there defensively over Tyrus who's got quicker hands to make a steal and is more likely to block a shot. I also don't see why you put Ben Wallace in at the end of the game, but a the same time, it ended up woring out okay this way, he hit one of his foul shots and had the big defensive play at the end. It always scares me when that works, because it means we'll stick to it longer when more times than not BW at the end of the game is probably not a good idea.

[coldfish]

Doug: A lot of Tyrus' mistakes strike me as a player trying to do too much. IMO, Tyrus thinks he isn't going to play much, so he seems to try to do everything and it hurts him.

This was just a pretty typical Tyrus game. His supporters will point to his productivity. His detractors will point to the missed jumpers and turnovers.

When Deng comes back, the available minutes will evaporate. The Bulls need to trade big for small in the worst way right now. Duhon has no right being on the court and the team has about two extra PF/C's.

[dougthonus]

When Deng comes back, the available minutes will evaporate. The Bulls need to trade big for small in the worst way right now. Duhon has no right being on the court and the team has about two extra PF/C's.

I agree.

We need an all-star big man, but we aren't going to get one via trade.

We need an average guard, we should be able to get one for an average big man. Unlike some others, I wasn't all that impressed with Thabo tonight. He did play better, but he didn't show me anything that said he's our answer as a third guard either.

[jax98]

Doug: A lot of Tyrus' mistakes strike me as a player trying to do too much. IMO, Tyrus thinks he isn't going to play much, so he seems to try to do everything and it hurts him.

This was just a pretty typical Tyrus game. His supporters will point to his productivity. His detractors will point to the missed jumpers and turnovers.

When Deng comes back, the available minutes will evaporate. The Bulls need to trade big for small in the worst way right now. Duhon has no right being on the court and the team has about two extra PF/C's.

Then again, even with his mistakes and missed opportunities, he still managed to have a pretty sick stat-line in under a half of basketball. I would almost call it insane productivity in 23 minutes:

14 Pts
9 Reb
3 Blk
7 free throw attempts

The last one in particular was something that impressed me. Seriously, we have starters like Deng who doesn't even see 4 free throw attempts a game. Tyrus draws fouls so often, and since he does it close to the hoop it often results in free throws. IMO, he could solve so many of our issues in that regard. We need players who can come in and get to the free throw line, so we can squeeze out more points. Tyrus can do that, and while he's not yet a good free throw shooter, he will develop that part of the game.

I think people at times seem to forget his age. He's 21. A 21 year old forward produced a 48 minute statline in 23 minutes of work last night. So I'd have nothing against seing him play through his mistakes and produce this way. Young players will make mistakes and they will learn from them.

[ozbull]

It truly is amazing how drastically player value drops and rises on this board.