<div align="center"> <font color="DarkBlue"> Dallas Mavericks (35-8)</font> at <font color="DarkRed"> Chicago Bulls (24-19)</font> Game Date: Thursday, Jan. 25, 7:00pm at Bulls TV: TNT <font size=""1""> The Chicago Bulls are looking to continue their winning ways, at home where they have fallen only six times this season. However, they will be facing one of the western conferences biggest power houses in the Dallas Mavericks. Although, the Bulls have been outstanding against eastern conference foes this season, their record against the west is hardly something to be proud of. Can they turn things around? Bulls…..Mavs…its going down!</font> </div> [div=50%] <font size=""1""> <font color="DarkBlue"> Dallas Mavericks</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""darkblue"">PG</font>- Jason Terry <font color=""darkblue"">SG</font>- Devean George <font color=""darkblue"">SF</font>- Josh Howard <font color=""darkblue"">PF</font>- Dirk Nowitzki <font color=""darkblue"">C</font>- Erick Dampier</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Avery Johnson</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Dirk Nowitzki- 25.1 PPG Leading Rebounder: Dirk Nowitzki - 9.5 RPG Assist Man: Jason Terry - 5.3 APG The 'X' Factor: Josh Howard (19.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.0 APG) [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jason_terry.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Jason Terry </font> PPG: 15.7, RPG: 3.0, APG: 5.3 Jason “The Jet” Terry has been having a solid season, his play at the point guard position has been one of the major keys in helping the Mavericks compile the second best record in the entire NBA. Although, his numbers are down in both the scoring and assist categories, the development of youngsters Josh Howard and Devin Harris, not Terry’s play, is the major reason for that. His speed will be relied upon immensely tonight as he will try and get the Bulls big men into foul trouble early. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/devean_george.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Devean George </font> PPG: 6.3, RPG: 3.4, APG: 0.4 Devean George, the three time NBA champion during his time with the Lakers, has seen his career revitalized recently as a Dallas Maverick. George has seen a steady increase in playing time from coach Avery, and his numbers have followed in the same manner. Although, his stat line does not look too impressive for a NBA starter, the skills he has brought to the Mavs on the defensive end have been irreplaceable. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/josh_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Josh Howard</font> 19.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.0 APG Josh Howard has been having a career year for the Mavs thus far this season. Howard has emerged as the Mavericks second scoring option behind Dirk Nowitzki and is averaging career highs in the rebounding and scoring department. Howard brings versatility to the Mavs on both ends of the court, due to his length and ability to score from any where on the court. He and Luol Deng should be a good match up to watch tonight. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dirk_nowitzki.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Dirk Nowitzki</font> PPG: 25.1, RPG: 9.5, APG: 3.3 Dirk Nowitzki has been listed at seven feet tall since the first day he stepped foot on an NBA court, but up until this season he had never played like it. Dirk in past years had relied heavily on his jumper instead of using his size to get easy baskets down low, that has not been the case this year. Dirk has added several new dimensions to his game, and has the Mavs poised for another title run because of it. As the first half of the season comes to a close for many teams, Dirk remains one of the leading candidates for MVP. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/erick_dampier.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Erick Dampier </font> PPG:7.7, RPG: 8.0, APG: 0.5 No one tell Shaq but “Ericka Dampier” is having a better season than the “Diesel” has had thus far. Dampier has been a solid presence down low for the Mavericks and has done what has been asked of him. Dampier will never live up to the huge contract the Mavericks signed him too, but if they get a ring with him starting at center. Was it worth it? [/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- 21.1 PPG Leading Rebounder: Ben Wallace- 9.9 RPG Assist Man: Kirk Hinrich- 6.3 APG The 'X' Factor: Luol Deng (17.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.2 APG) [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kirk_hinrich.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Kirk Hinrich</font> PPG: 15.0, RPG: 3.0, APG: 6.3 Hinrich had a great game in the Bulls victory over the Hawks on Wednesday. Hinrich went for a double double dropping 12 points and 12 dimes. However, the Mavericks, are not the Hawks by any means, he will need to step his game up tremendously for the Bulls to have a shot at winning tonight’s game. He has a tough job on both ends of the court, guarding the two fastest players on the Mavericks team (Harris/Terry) will not be an easy task. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/ben_gordon.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Ben Gordon</font> PPG: 21.1 PPG, RPG: 2.7, APG: 3.4 Ben Gordon struggled getting out of the blocks in the Bulls last contest, starting the game shooting 0-3. Gordon rebounded later on to finish the game with respectable numbers, but still way below his average. Gordon will need to come up with a big offensive performance against the highly offensively talented Mavericks, or the Bulls might get stampeded out of the building. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/luol_deng.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Luol Deng</font> 17.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.2 APG Luol Deng is going through a mini slump right now, his last twenty point outing was on January 8th, he has been held under his average seven out of the last eight games the Bulls have played and his numbers have suffered because of it. Will he be able to come up with a big game when his team needs him most? Or will the length and defensive skills of Josh Howard be too much for Deng? [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/pj_brown.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">PJ Brown</font> PPG: 4.8, RPG: 4.3, APG: 0.5 PJ Brown has had a huge impact since being reinserted into the starting lineup. He is coming off a great performance in which he had a season high 15 points and 9 rebounds in nearly 40 minutes of action. Brown has a tough defensive match up against Dirk tonight he will have to guard him out on the perimeter on several occasions and that is not exactly Brown’s strong suite. Hopefully, he can contain Dirk and help the Bulls pull out a win. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/ben_wallace.jpg[/imgl]<font color="DarkRed">Ben Wallace</font> PPG: 6.7, RPG:9.9, APG: 2.2 Just when it looked like Wallace had gotten it all together, and was back in defensive player of the year form, he has fallen into yet another slump. It has been three games since Wallace last reached double figure rebounding numbers, and he is averaging a mere 2.2 offensive rebounds a game over the last three games. The Bulls need a big game from their all star center in order to control the tempo of tonight’s game. </font> <div align="center"> </div> <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Team defense</font></font> <font size=""1"">the bulls are in a disadvantage, size wise, in most of tonight’s match ups, so team defense is going to be incredible important if they plan on stopping the Mavs tonight. George, who has typically played small forward, will be starting at shooting guard tonight so expect Thabo to see extended playing time to match up with the taller George.</font>[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Rebound</font></font> <font size=""1""> the bulls need to control the tempo of tonight’s game. They cannot out score the Mavericks, running all night. If they win this game it will be on the defensive end. If they get into a shoot out expect the Mavs to be taking the final shots late.</font>[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Get Gordon going early</font></font> <font size=""1""> the Bulls need to get Gordon easy shot opportunities early on in the game. Gordon feeds off of confidence. When he starts off 0-2 or 0-3 he will start getting down on himself and struggle for a majority of the night. They need to get him some easy shots early to boast his confidence, because they will need him down the stretch,</font>[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed"><font size=""1"">Bench Play</font></font> <font size=""1""> the Bulls are going to be relying heavily on their bench tonight, guys like Thabo, Tyrus, and Nocioni have to be ready to come in and be an immediate factor in the game when their number is called. The Mavs are just as deep if not deeper than the Bulls so they cannot afford a lapse when the second unit comes into the game.</font>[/list] <div align="center"></div> <font size="1">The Bulls typically get themselves prepared for these big games, and play really well. The Mavericks are on a huge role as of late, but the Bulls are looking to prove they can hang with the big boys. It will be a hard fought game, but in my honest non-biased opinion I think the Bulls will need to play a near perfect game tonight in order to have a shot at pulling out a win. </font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It appears that Chris Duhon will be benched for a third consecutive game when the Bulls host the Dallas Mavericks tonight. Skiles said he has just been giving rookie guard Thabo Sefolosha an extended look. ''There was no intention of not playing [Duhon on Tuesday],'' Skiles said. ''It was just Thabo was doing OK. This has happened to us a bunch of times this year. You get into a scenario where it appears we're going to win the game. Then, do you bring guys in for two minutes, four minutes? I don't like to do that -- to veteran guys anyway.'' Still, Duhon is mired in an extended scoring slump. He also served a one-game suspension last week for missing a practice. Asked how long Duhon would be out, Skiles said: ''Who knows? I don't have anything in my mind. ''We need to keep looking at that because Thabo's here for a reason. We drafted Thabo because we have problems with big guards. I've got to see if [he can play against big guards] or if we just deem he's not ready and at some point we go back.'' Perhaps Duhon should be worrying about being traded. Of course, getting benched for an extended time doesn't exactly increase his market value. ''He's not in any way pouting or anything else,'' Skiles said. ''He's handling it as well as can be expected. ''I know he wants to play. Du's a competitor, he wants to play all the time. I also have to look in a different direction when he's had trouble getting the job done recently.'' </div> Read more...
This should be a tough match. The Bulls can pull it off, but their offense will need to be more consistent than usual.
<div class="quote_poster">~Fatality~ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Huge game for Bulls. We need to prove we can hang with the big boys.</div> We beat the Spur, we can definetly hang in the big leagues. Phoenix got lucky to beat us, hangin' isn't the problem.
The icons look well done (far better than anything I could produce image-wise) I just want to note this. I saw this preview first when I wasn't logged in, and everything was perfectly aligned and looked great. Then I logged in, and the Mavericks is still in the right place (right column at the top), however the Bulls is still on the left, but shifted to the bottom below the Mavs preview column. Not a big deal, just noting it.
<div class="quote_poster">Omarion Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The icons look well done (far better than anything I could produce image-wise) I just want to note this. I saw this preview first when I wasn't logged in, and everything was perfectly aligned and looked great. Then I logged in, and the Mavericks is still in the right place (right column at the top), however the Bulls is still on the left, but shifted to the bottom below the Mavs preview column. Not a big deal, just noting it.</div> It could be your server or the size of the monitor/webpage opened. Do you use Fire Fox or IE7?
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It could be your server or the size of the monitor/webpage opened. Do you use Fire Fox or IE7?</div> I think it is because before you login your username/info and everything is at the top of every post, so the width of posts are bigger so you can see everything. But when you login it shifts like Omarion said, it happens to me too, on Firefox and IE.
This game is on TV Down Under so hopefully it will be a good game (and the Bulls continue their winning streak when I see them on TV)
Great start to the game, Bulls up 27 - 13 at the first. Gordon was on fire. Dallas couldn't hit a broadside of the barn that corner. Thabo shouldn't be on now, he has been a liability. He looks to timid.
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It could be your server or the size of the monitor/webpage opened. Do you use Fire Fox or IE7?</div>I primarily use Firefox.
Great play by the Bulls thus far. The Mavs are really just playing rather poorly too so that also attributes to the huge early lead. I think we should look for this one to be tight unless Dallas doesn't find their bearings. Perhaps they came in suspecting another team? <div class="quote_poster">Omarion Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I primarily use Firefox.</div> I think it has to do with the screen change and monitor settings.
The Benjamins are what have us in the lead right now. Gordon has 16 points at half time while Wallace has seven rebounds. Hope we can hang on we have been blowing leads and Mavs have a winning record when trailing at half time.
man halftime show tell of our double figure blown leads...there were about 5 or 6 of them in the past month.
Man I love games on TNT they address all rumors flying around and keep you informed about the game happening the court and the rumors off of it. Seeing that Deng interview just now really just made me want to keep him on the team even more.
