<div align="center"> <font color="DarkRed"> Chicago Bulls (2-2)</font> at <font color="DarkBlue"> Cleveland Cavaliers (2-2)</font> Game Five: Thursday, Nov. 9, 7:00pm at Cavaliers TV: TNT <font size=""1""> These teams come into tonight’s contest on opposite ends of the basketball spectrum. The Bulls are on a high, coming off one of their best performances of the season, a game in which Ben Gordon went off for 37 points and a career high nine assists. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers, primarily Lebron James, come in amidst controversy and criticism after The King walked off the court with 13 seconds remaining in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks. How will these two teams respond tonight in a nationally televised match-up? Bulls…..Cavaliers….it’s going down! </font> </div> [div=50%] <font size=""1""> <font color="DarkBlue"> Cleveland Cavaliers</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""darkblue"">PG</font>- Eric Snow <font color=""darkblue"">SG</font>- Larry Hughes <font color=""darkblue"">SF</font>- Lebron James <font color=""darkblue"">PF</font>- Drew Gooden <font color=""darkblue"">C</font>- Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Mike Brown</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Lebron James - 27.8 PPG Leading Rebounder: Drew Godden- 12.5 RPG Assist Man: Lebron James - 5.5 APG The 'X' Factor: Larry Hughes (18.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.5 APG) [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/eric_snow.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Eric Snow</font> PPG: 2.3, RPG: 2.5, APG: 4.5 Allen Iverson said it best, when Snow was still in Philadelphia, the reason people are not so high on Snow is because all they do is look at the statistics and not what he brings to you on/off the court as a leader and defender. You look at Snow’s numbers, they are pretty modest numbers for a starting point guard, but he does what he is asked to do which is manage the game and distribute the ball. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/larry_hughes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="Darkblue">Larry Hughes </font> PPG: 18.5, RPG: 4.3, APG: 2.5 Larry Hughes had a tough season both on and off the court last season in his first year with the Cavaliers. On the court, Larry Hughes had an injury which kept him out the better part of the regular season. Off of it, things just kept getting worst as his brother, his best friend, passed away from an illness he had been battling since Hughes’ college years. This year however Hughes has come back with a vengeance and has brought a whole new dimension to this Cavaliers squad with his ability to score the ball as well as defend. He will be relied upon heavily tonight against one of the best defensive teams in the league, the Chicago Bulls. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lebron_james.jpg[/imgl]<font color="Darkblue">Lebron James </font> PPG: 27.8, RPG: 9.0, APG: 5.5 Outside of his questionable display of sportsmanship a few nights ago, Lebron has been on cloud nine thus far in the 2006-07 campaign. He is averaging a near double double in points and rebounds, and his team is one of the favorites to come out of the eastern conference. He has a new contract, new home court, and some new teammates. Will it be enough to get the Cavaliers to the promise land? [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/drew_gooden.jpg[/imgl]<font color="Darkblue">Drew Gooden</font> PPG: 16.3, RPG: 12.5, APG: 0.5 Drew Gooden has been playing on a whole other level thus far this season. He is one of the league leaders in rebounds a game, and is getting the job done on the offensive end as well, good enough to be third in the team in that department. Gooden will have a tough match-up tonight against arguably the best defensive front court in the NBA. This is probably his first true test of the young NBA season. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/zydrunas_ilgauskas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Zydrunas Ilgauskas </font> PPG: 9.0, RPG: 8.6, APG: 1.8 Big Z has been anything but this big this season. He is below the double digit margin in the scoring category, and is averaging a mere eight rebounds a contest, for a 7’3” player that is not impressive at all. Perhaps all those ankle surgeries he had early on in his career are finally catching up to him, or maybe it’s just a slow start. Only time will tell…. [/div] <font color="Darkred"> Chicago Bulls</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkRed"">PG</font>- Kirk Hinrich <font color=""DarkRed"">SG</font>- Ben Gordon <font color=""DarkRed"">SF</font>- Luol Deng <font color=""DarkRed"">PF</font>- PJ Brown <font color=""DarkRed"">C</font>- Ben Wallace</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Scott Skiles</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Ben Gordon- 18.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Ben Wallace-9.8 RPG Assist Man: Kirk Hinrich- 5.0 APG The 'X' Factor: Chris Duhon (10.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.3 APG) [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kirk_hinrich.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Kirk Hinrich</font> PPG: 15.0, RPG: 1.8, APG: 5.0 Kirk Hinrich started off the season blazing in the scoring column. After three games he led the team in scoring with 18+ points a game. Yet the Bulls were not succeeding with him playing that style of basketball. During the Bucks game he went back to being a playmaker and the team thrived off of it, Ben Gordon had his best game of the year (maybe his career) and the team came out with a win. Hopefully Hinrich continues to play that way tonight and the Bulls come out on top. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/ben_gordon.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Ben Gordon</font> PPG: 18.0 PPG, RPG: 1.8, APG: 3.8 Ben Gordon is back on track. Gordon comes into tonight’s contest off of one of, if not the best, performance he has had in his career. Not only did Gordon go off for 37 points (two shy of his career high), but he dropped nine assists to go along with it. One of the major problems for Gordon over the past few years has been finding consistency so how will he play tonight? Your guess is as good as mine. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/luol_deng.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Luol Deng</font> PPG: 17.5, RPG: 5.0, APG: 1.8 Luol Deng has been having a great season so far. He has been the model of consistency for the Bulls this season. Deng is shooting over 50% from the field and leads the team in field goal percentage. Meanwhile, he ranks second on the team in scoring and is one of the squads best rebounding players. One thing he has not done as of yet is break out for a 22+ point game this season. Is tonight that night? [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/pj_brown.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">PJ Brown</font> PPG: 4.8, RPG: 5.3, APG: 0.5 Despite starting, PJ Brown has played a limited roll thus far this season. He has averaged only 16 minutes a night, and his numbers have been reflective of his playing time. Although, he has not produced much while on the court Brown has helped bring leadership to the young Bulls squad, as one of the teams tri-captains. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/ben_wallace.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Ben Wallace</font> PPG: 6.0, RPG:9.8, APG: 2.0 Ben Wallace needs to step up and have a dominant defense performance tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers big men. Big Z has been struggling all season so tonight should be a game in which Wallace will thrive. Big Ben should be motivated by the fact that he is not leading the Bulls in blocks as of this point, and being outplayed by Tyrus Thomas defensively. </font> <div align="center"> </div> <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Maintain a Lead</font></font> <font size=""1"">much like the game against the Bucks the Bulls need to come out of the locker room motivated, and take the lead early. They need to knock the Cavaliers down and then kick them while they are down. Over the last couple of years the Bulls have been dominated by Lebron James whenever the two teams matched up and they have suffered some heart breaking loses. Tonight the Bulls need to show why they are the favorites to be in the NBA finals</font>[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Big Game From the Big Players</font></font> <font size=""1""> by this I mean a dominating game from guys who are getting paid the big bucks namely Ben Wallace and Kirk Hinrich. As well as the young guys like Ben Gordon and Luol Deng who are looking to get big paydays in the near future. They need to make an example of the Cavs tonight on a national stage. </font>[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Bench Points</font></font> <font size=""1""> the second unit has provided a huge lift for this team thus far this year. Guys like Thabo, Duhon, Tyrus, and Khyrpa have shined when their numbers have been called. They will be well rested for tonight’s game, considering they received such limited playing time against Milwaukee so I expect the bench to have a huge night. </font>[/list] <div align="center"></div> <font size="1">The Bulls destroyed the defending champs on opening night, but then they went on a two game slide against teams that quite honestly, are no where near as good as the Bulls. Tonight they are back on a national stage with a chance to reassert themselves as one of the leagues elite teams. They need to win this game tonight and show why they are receiving all the hype that has been coming their way. I predict a Bulls win by double digits. </font>
As for the game I think its gonna be a close game both teams have alot of talent. The bulls should bring some momentum into this game while the cavs are trying to break a losing streak. I see lebron being guarded by 4 players (deng, noc, thabo, and Griffen). The bulls will look to wear Bron down with our great defenders. Then he will have a hard time guarding deng and noc because they are both looking to draw fouls. I think that Nocioni will have a great game in the second half to lead the bulls to victory. I got the game at about 84-80 Bulls!!!! Go Bulls!!!
Bulls by about 30. now now before you laugh I have logic to follow. I have seen the Bulls on TV twice already this season. Both those games the Bulls won by 42 points and 25 points respectively. This game is on TV down here. Thus the Bulls should be by a lot. I like my logic.
' Outside of his questionable display of sportsmanship a few nights ago' What happened with Lebron there? I miss mj, is the game on internet or pay tv? On the game, I think Bulls by 10 or less, the Cavs are motivated after losing in OT to Atlanta and losing to the Bobcats. If losing two straight games to pretty mcuh the 2 worst teams doesn't motivate you, then I don't know what does. Also I say Lebron can't beat us up as much as the past because we have great help defenders in Wallace and Brown. Also as was mentioned hopefully Deng can get Lebron in foul trouble or at elast get some easy baskets
<div class="quote_poster">NaKz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">' Outside of his questionable display of sportsmanship a few nights ago' What happened with Lebron there? </div> His team was losing I believe 103-95 to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime. After he missed a three pointer, Lebron walked off the court with 13 seconds left...
<div class="quote_poster">NaKz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> I miss mj, is the game on internet or pay tv?</div> It's on Foxtel. Not sure about the net. I'll be recording it.
scratch that, Bulls will lose. Been screwed out of live coverage for Dallas and Phoenix. I am so pissed
I might have to go check this out but I can remember at least twice where the Bulls were playing against Lebron and he pulled off some 4th quarter, under one minute heroics on TNT non-the-less. LBJ's a badass especially when it comes to primetime against the Bulls. I say we lead going into the half and they close the gap at the end of the 3rd and by then LeBron's got our defense figured out in the 4th. I hate predicting that our team will lose but we usually aren't so hot in the first month, I'm hoping to come into December at .500
Bulls=Amazing i think we are a different team fron last season. Z gave us more headaches then lebron did in my opinion. now that the new cleveland offence basically negates Z out of the equation we shouldnt worry. not to mention our additions of brown, wallace, and thomas. im sure thats enough to negate their inside game. so bulls win this one. Go Bulls!!!
Gooden has been playing quite well recently, so we'll need to watch out for him. But those games were against bobcats and atlanta, 2 pretty defenseless teams.
<div class="quote_poster">Bulls=Amazing Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Speaking of Thomas, anyone know if he will play?</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Skiles said rookie forward Tyrus Thomas (broken nose) will be able to play tonight, but the coach was not sure he would. Thomas has had trouble breathing with the protective mask he must wear for another two to three weeks."</div> http://www.nba.com/rookies/notebook_061109.html
