First off, kudos to the champs for picking up where they left off last year and doing a great job putting us away in Miami.
I may be a biased fan but I give credit where credit is due. I’ve never been a hater. That said, this column is about MY TEAM, the Chicago Bulls. We’re ONE GAME IN and I’m already MAD.
The MADNESS:
I didn’t like a lot of things tonight. The first thing that pops in my head is the lack of a strategy installed between periods 2-4 that plagued the squad for the last three years.
Seriously, that scoring drought situation needs to be rectified. The Heat has great defense as it is, but when you have open shots you have to make a few of those. What the Bulls did in the second quarter was unacceptable. They weren’t running their plays, they weren’t attacking the basket and they weren’t crashing the boards after missing. THAT shit looked lazy; definitely NOT Chicago basketball.
Sloppy fouls took Deng and Butler out of rhythm early. Butler recovered, Deng didn’t. Mr Free Agent is going to be on my shit list quickly if he doesn’t improve. THIS IS WHY WE DIDN’T PAY HIM WHAT HE WANTED.
I love Deng, but right now he’s overvalued. He’s defensively sound but he’s hit or miss offensively. We need that 15-22 out of him every night, consistently. We need him to as least look like a threat.
With Butler emerging as a scoring threat inside and outside, Deng needs to be used primarily as a slashing forward. Udonis Haslem can’t guard Luol Deng when it comes to going to the hole.
Noah didn’t look 100%. If he’s not and is playing through the pain I respect that but games in NOVEMBER don’t mean shit. Let that man heal all the way up. I don’t care if he misses the first 5-7 games to do so. We’ll be okay.
Rose showed signs of nervousness out there. Sloppy ball control and not a great shooting night either. I give credit to Miami for playing him the way they’ve been known to play him. It’s hard to dominate when you’re the only player your opponent take seriously. As a team, when the Heat wants to shut an individual player down, they will shut an individual down, that’s just how it is. When that is happening, its important to for his team mates however to step and finish when the pass comes their way.
I’m surprised the Heat didn’t score 130 points today the way our defense looked. We really didn’t start getting into a defensive groove until the 4th quarter. Despite getting within 8 points during the final period, it really wasn’t that close by that time.
That defense needs to be kicking from tip-off to the final buzzer.
The LONE RANGER:
I was one of the biggest Boozer detractors for the last few years. Last year, however he played at an All Star level and earned my respect. Tonight, the man scored the quietest 31 points I’ve ever seen. Had we gone to him earlier and more often, could he have had 40? Could he have been perceived as a threat? These are questions we’ll never know because they refuse to let him be THE MAN (behind Rose, of course). They need to let CBooz go in on these fools like they did last year. Took him a few years, but he’s earned his max contract in my book.
By the way, by position Boozer was Lebron James’ guy.
All I have to say is that we had better secure a HUGE name if they decide to amnesty Carlos Boozer next year.
We have New York up next on Thursday. They are a much easier defensive matchup and a team that the Bulls owned last year. I expect a fully focused Bulls team for their home opener.
That’s all I got tonight, folks. I’m going to do some crunches and chill. What? Did you expect me to watch the LAKERS game? Bah!
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