This matchup is always fun. With Rose heating up late in the last game, I expect him to take a different approach early. Noah absolutely owned the boards with 21 the last time they faced, so I expect more of the same tonight. The matchup to look out for is Deng vs. Melo. and this quote really pissed me off: "As soon as I saw the flight of the ball, I knew it was good. Then, I was sitting and laughing. Not so much about the shot, but looking at their reaction. They were dancing and jumping around like they had just made the Sweet 16." ~ Chauncey Billups. Lol dick.
Denver got beat by the Clippers last night after clobbering the Lakers and Raptors (two teams we lost to). The Clips must have played great defense. Or something like a career night from Rasual Butler. At least we get them on the 2nd night of a back to back (for them). We need all the help we can get to get us close to even with opposing teams these days.
lol Wasn't Denver the team Brad Miller hit that three that didn't count? Time for revenge, good luck. Beat the Thuggets!
I like the bulls chances. Denver's bench killed them last night and they had to play big minutes in a loss. The bulls matchup really well. Should be a good game.
OK, what's up with the Bulls running out of gas like they are against a team that played last night and then got on a plane and flew home? Irritating.
Bulls basically got punked in the second half. It was like somebody sucked the oxygen out of the building. Bulls shouldn't have looked that tired coming off of 2 days rest. And why Vinny basically played a 7 man rotation is beyond me.
What the hell happened? I was following the game through the livetracker and I swear 10 minutes ago we were only down by 10! Looks like we're 0-3 every time I leave the country!
It wasn't the 2nd half that was the Bulls' undoing. They were outscored 35-25 in Q2, 26-19 in Q3, 37-22 in Q4. Quite opposite of last season where we'd have weak Q1 and strong other 3 quarters. I think we're in for a more blowouts like this as the season progresses. In fact, I wonder if the Bulls do an 0-fer the road trip if Vinnie's job is safe.
I should have said the rest of the trip, since we did win a game against Sacramento. It was good to see Rose get his career regular season high in points after his sluggish start. Even if many came in garbage time. This game was the 2nd blowout loss in a row for the Bulls. We really have a tough time against teams who are physical up front. Denver didn't start Nene last game, and that was a big adjustment for them to get him involved. Next game is against Portland on Monday. Portland has 2 huge physical players in Przybilla and Oden, and a softer but very tall player in Aldridge. Rose should be able to take advantage of his speed against any of the Blazers' PGs.
Getting blown out by three of the four conference finalists from last year isn't a big deal for a mediocre squad. Nobody else is blowing them out. I don't think it is as much that bulls struggle against physical front lines as it is how effective Miller is. If he doesn't come in and play effectively and productively, the bulls end up with a big hole in bench production. It's on Miller more than Hinrich because Miller is getting a lot more open looks. Pargo might help if he got more than 5 minutes, and if Rose, Salmons and Deng could each have a good game in the same game, it might also be less of an issue. But since none of that happens, it comes down to Miller. Tyrus might help if he comes off of the bench and produces consistently, but does anybody think that's going to happen?
As long as we're all in agreement this is a mediocre squad, there's not a whole lot to disagree about. :|
