I'd hate to put it so bluntly, but let's face it, the Bulls sucked last night. Luckily, so did Indiana for the majority of the night. It took a fourth quarter run by the Pacers starters against the Bulls bench (wtf Thibs) to turn this game into a grinding battle to a blowout.
If you want to actively engage in torture, take a look at the box score: Needles
I was going to post it here, but I don't want such hideous things populating my blog.
What went wrong?
Rose didn't ABUSE CJ Watson
I was so optimistic at the beginning of this game as Derrick Rose hit a flurry of shots against defensive liability and former bench mob stalwart CJ Watson. However, Rose sat for a very very long time after picking up his second foul, and when he came back, he looked afraid to attack a noticeably weaker defender.
On the positive side, Rose had a few drives, including one beautiful hesitation move on the left side of the lane that left Roy Hibbert frozen in his tracks. Rose also had a beautiful slashing jump pass dish to Deng that was literally so good that Deng couldn't catch it. He's showing flashes of his MVP form, so I'm not ready to give-up on Mr. Rose just yet.
Defensively, Rose didn't look nearly as lost as he did when the famous Michael Carter Williams lit him up in only a way I've seen DJ Augustine do (yes, DJ Augustine). He did make a few terribly late attempts to pick off entry passes to Roy Hibbert. Nevertheless, I like his aggressiveness.
He did indeed force things in the fourth quarter, ending the game with a sad 6-15 shooting outing.
Roy Owned the Paint
Admittedly, I haven't seen Dwight Howard play much this year, but Hibbert might arguably be the best rim protector in the NBA. The Bulls are not a three point shooting team--why they don't put shooters around Rose, I'll never know--so scoring easy buckets in the paint is crucial. Roy didn't allow that. He altered shots, scared off drives from Deng, Rose, and Butler, and put up his season average of 5 shots swatted.
Roy "only" had 10 boards, and at the beginning of the game, I will admit that Joakim Noah did a very nice job of beating him thanks to effort. That quickly changed since Noah isn't in shape yet.
That wasn't so bad...
Paul George wasn't quite in MVP form
The Bulls wonderful defensive wings did a nice job slowing Paul George, holding the superstar to 21/6/3 on 6/19 shooting. Only a handful of times did the Bulls actually look exposed, like when George absolutely crossed-up Butler for a slick mid-range jumpshot.
One of his threes came off of a rebound that left him wide open. He did perform will guarding Rose on a few switches, but overall, George didn't have an amazing game.
The Pacers' offense is terrible
Without question, the Pacers match-up incredibly well against Miami. LeBron has to guard David West, freeing Paul George to dominant whoever matches up with him. Roy Hibbert can run free in the lane because, well, Birdman Birdman isn't going to stop him.
On the other end of the court, Indiana has a dynamic duo of wings in Lance Stephenson and Paul George to throw at LeBron and Dwyane Wade, though George was, at times, exposed during the 2013 playoffs. As I mentioned earlier, the Pacers have a dominant rim protector in Roy Hibbert that is damn-near impossible to come by.
However, the Pacers offense is pathetic. They went on a heck of a run against the Bulls last night, but most of the time, the team looks lost. They don't have a great point guard to set-up the offense, which leads to Lance Stephenson chucking up 17 shots and David West standing on the top of the key praying his jab step fakes out the defender (it's the same move EVERY time, but boy did he dominate Taj Gibson a few times).
This team won't beat Miami as is. Perhaps Granger will be the dynamic scorer they need, but I'm simply not sold on this team offensively. The Pacers probably have the same ceiling the Bulls have had the past few seasons.
Bottom line: Let's not panic just yet. Our three point shooting needs to improve but that will come when the last MVP not named LeBron James returns to form.
As always, Let's Go Bulls!
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