Apparently the Celts had great fun: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Once the game got out of hand, Celtics stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce made sure to rub it in by standing on the sideline screaming instructions to the subs, as well as yelling at the some of the Bulls' shooters. Garnett thought it was funny to yell "board" every five seconds when the Celtics had the ball. "Tonight was a statement game for us," Garnett said. "We needed this game for confidence. You could tell at shootaround that we were fired up."</div> The Bulls, not so much... <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The four Bulls starters other than Gordon combined to score 20 points, shoot 30 percent from the field (7-for-23) and pile up 10 turnovers compared to 5 assists. Gray briefly resuscitated the visitors by contributing 2 baskets and an assist during a 7-1 run that brought the Bulls within 56-41 at intermission. But the game got away shortly after Hinrich threw away his third bad pass in a three-minute span. The last turnover led to a Pierce 3-pointer that made it 66-47 with 7:42 left in the third quarter, and things never got better for the Bulls (9-15). "I just had a bad stretch there," said Hinrich, who sat out the final 20 minutes. "I got real turnover happy, and that was it."</div> and <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"There are games where we play well and there are games we just look terrible out there. We keep saying the same thing that we've got to find it. But the season's wearing down. Somehow we've got to figure out a way to be consistent."</div> There's something sort of disturbing about this. Deng and Hinrich's quotes just seem sort of prosaic and without much sense of urgency to them. Like they're sitting there reviewing a movie or somthing. Come to think of it, that's mostly how they've played this year.
It's like the don't equate their bad shooting with anything other than bad shooting. They're not going to hit better until they start making that extra pass. There problems are not due to a lack of confidence, or early season jitters, but a real lack of display of any decision making ability. How quick would Steve Nash turn this team around? That's, unfortunately, not going to happen.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (such sweet thunder @ Dec 22 2007, 02:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's like the don't equate their bad shooting with anything other than bad shooting. They're not going to hit better until they start making that extra pass. There problems are not due to a lack of confidence, or early season jitters, but a real lack of display of any decision making ability. How quick would Steve Nash turn this team around? That's, unfortunately, not going to happen.</div> I dunno, but I betchya Boris Diaw would make the extra pass too.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC @ Dec 22 2007, 02:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (such sweet thunder @ Dec 22 2007, 02:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's like the don't equate their bad shooting with anything other than bad shooting. They're not going to hit better until they start making that extra pass. There problems are not due to a lack of confidence, or early season jitters, but a real lack of display of any decision making ability. How quick would Steve Nash turn this team around? That's, unfortunately, not going to happen.</div> I dunno, but I betchya Boris Diaw would make the extra pass too. </div> On our team, with our leaders, I'm not sure Diaw would make that extra pass. There is something strange going on this season, and everyone is playing to get theirs.
My observations are these: 1) Our offense isn't very interesting or hard to defend. It basically relies on two guys, one in each corner, getting a drive/kick kind of pass for an open shot (Gordon, Deng) or a slash to the basket (Nocioni, Deng). Opponents have not only seen it for for years, they're more concerned about us due to our record last year and the hype around us coming into the season. 2) Our offense has always relied on Hinrich dominating the ball until the defense breaks down. Take Hinrich out of the game and he looks sucky and the team does, too. 3) I don't see that any of the players are particularly looking to "get theirs." Deng has never been one to do much more than shoot or slash when he gets the ball, and Nocioni rarely has passed up a shot to make a pass in his career. 4) Our vaunted defense is not what it's cracked up to be. Think about it, and you realize the team gets stops and forces a few bad shots, but they rarely lead to fast break and thus easy scoring opportunities. The Bulls' kind of forced turnover is taking a charge or :24 clock violation - these result in taking the ball out of bounds. 5) The bulls guards are really short and smart coaches and opposing players take advantage of the mismatches. Duhon is head and shoulders above the others when it comes to taking the ball to the basket and finishing. 6) I do not see any imagination in the Bulls' offense. When there's mismatches, we don't take advantage of them with clearouts or isolation plays. Players are asked to fill roles that fit in with the scheme of the offense vs. designing offense around the unique abilities of the players. 7) Paxson really screwed the pooch with his comment about never paying the luxury tax. Gordon and Deng are immediately competing for not enough dollars to pay them both fair value and there's Thomas and Noah in the same boat coming up the following two seasons. As a player you realize you may not be here next season, so you play more to avoid injuries than you otherwise would. 8) Related to #7 above - the players aren't stupid. They realize what the team lacks and see no signs that the needs are going to be addressed. What are we playing for?
That was an ugly, ugly game. Had difficulty staying with it, kept flipping back to Smackdown. Blech, hopefully we're better tonight...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (King Joseus @ Dec 22 2007, 07:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>That was an ugly, ugly game. Had difficulty staying with it, kept flipping back to Smackdown. Blech, hopefully we're better tonight...</div> Err... they shot better. Their defense was still
