http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/04/19/pacers-provide-clues-for-how-to-solve-bulls/ If you’re like me, you’re a bit surprised about how much trouble the Pacers have given Chicago so far in their first-round series — especially in the way Indiana hung tough in Game 2 on Monday even though one of its top weapons, point guard Darren Collison, missed the entire second half with a sprained ankle. One emerging narrative after two narrow Chicago victories suggests that the Pacers may have found something of a blueprint to thwart the Bulls. * A long shooting guard who can check Derrick Rose * Another defender who can check Luol Deng * A pick and pop threat at power forward * A center who demands Noah's attention
This is one of those tough articles to write without sounding stupid because the things that make the Pacers a good match up for the Bulls also make them designed well for the playoffs. I think Zach Lowe is on the money in regard to a stretch four. Boozer isn't quick enough to get out on power forwards and recover if they drive. On the flip side I think he's wrong about a long guard and rose. Rose struggles with the short quick guys on defense: Collison; Raymond Felton; D.J. Augustine. On offense I don't think length from guards bother him. I guess you could say length from big men bothers him, but then length from big men bothers everyone. I also disagree with his application of his ideas. The Heat, I think all of us agree, are a pretty good match up because they have no interior length to limit Rose, and again, I don't put stock into any claims that Rose struggles with length. Rose scored on Lebron just fine in the regular season. The Celtics too. I still think Orlando plays the Bulls as tough as anyone because Howard can bother Rose.
And yet, the bulls are 3-0. Who doesn't struggle with length and quickness? Or aggressive double teams 30 feet from the rim? The Pacers are better than their record, and the bulls, much like 06-07 played a lot closer to their ceiling during the regular season than most teams do. The Pacers have been practicing for the bulls for 2 weeks now, I'd expect them to look prepared. And the bulls only really dominated three games this season. So a close series isn't that surprising. What would be surprising is if the Pacers aren't at least a .500 team next year. Chris Webber made a great point tonight. He was on the Bullets in 96-97 and faced the 69 win team in the first round of the playoffs. All of the games were close and he said that people got real excited for a great series, but the bulls won 3-0 and it never happened because the bulls were just concerned with winning the series and moving on. These bulls aren't worried about or threatened by, or even all that interested in playing the Pacers. And it shows in the lack of focus that shows up as turnovers. The bulls are getting the absolute best the Pacers have to offer right now, and it still isn't good enough. When it counts, Rose gets wherever he wants and on the other end the Pacers are forced to throw up off balance bricks. That's all that matters.
We're playing a sub-.500 team, 8th seed in the playoffs. What may be the article's point is not that the Pacers are going to beat the Bulls, but they're showing the other 6 teams we might potentially face a blueprint to beat us.
What's surprising is that you think these points are just now becoming visible. The blueprint has been there from the beginning. Indiana isn't doing anything special. They have an exceptionally quick point guard who can get into the lane, they are moving the ball well, and playing sound defense. Nothing earth shattering there....
I think it's been visible all along, just that teams during the season don't get much time between games to prepare for any one specific opponent like in the playoffs. What hurt the Bulls the most last night was the lack of a 2nd guy on the court to handle the ball and create his own shots. We looked great on two plays late in the game, when Noah got the ball in the post then fed Boozer in the block and he passed out of a double team to Korver for an open three. Classic inside outside two-man game that didn't need Rose to draw a foul or get off a shot. The next play was the inverse - Korver got it in the corner and when his man rushed to defend him, it left Boozer open in the post for a DUNK. I can see the logic in what we're doing is winning (but barely) so why stop? I can also see the logic in coming out against the next team with a different look so what they studied on the game films and prepared for is out the window.
Of course, like any other team, we are limited by our personnel, but on the whole I'm not too worried because A) we haven't lost a game yet, and when we do B) we have Tom Thibodeau. Right now I feel the biggest problem is that we've had some players underperform. I'm not sure we needed to make major halftime adjustments to win this series. If we did need to, I'd trust Tibbs to be able to come up with something. I know we've suffered sometimes in the 3rd quarter when we've just handled business as usual. There have been times though during the second half of the year when we've made a major adjustment and come out in the third quarter and really taken it to teams. I believe in Thibodeau's ability to make adjustments if needed. So if some team really looks like they've found the blueprint for the Bulls, I expect the Bulls to change their approach a little in a logical way. But I'm not sure Thibodeau needs to show his cards before we lose a game.
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/04/25/monday-musings-lessons-of-playoff-ball/ The jury is still out on whether this is a “like” or a “dislike,” but it’s definitely interesting, and it’s something teams throw at Rose now and then on pick-and-rolls. It’s even more interesting that Indiana has done this, as Frank Vogel has already taken one unconventional step in having his shooting guards defend Rose. The risk/reward on this is fascinating. Rose has gotten so much better at being patient, keeping his dribble and finding holes when teams trap, and the Bulls are good at countering the trap by having one of their big men (often Joakim Noah) flash to the foul line, take a pass from Rose and find an open player somewhere else. Luol Deng has gotten several open threes out of this action. But the Pacers have also forced Rose into a heap of turnovers, including some that resulted directly from the hard traps. This is something to watch.
As critical as I was with Zach Lowe's earlier comments, I think he's right on the money here. The Bulls are not winning a championship this year, or any year, unless the Bulls can exploit opposing teams when the double Rose. And Rose has been pretty darn good in these situations, game four's injured play aside. I love how he retreats back to the half court line so that the opposing doublers don't have a chance to recover, and then sends a bullet pass to Noah at the top of the key. I think the Bulls' success in those situations will define how deep they go in the playoffs.
