Noah is watching the scoreboard And James Johnson is absolutely ridiculous: I'm pretty concerned that he'll do more long-term damage this way, and if I were the Bulls or him I wouldn't let him play. But I admire the hell out of him wanting to.
Also, I note from the Popcorn Machine that Hakim had a pretty big chunk of his minutes at SF and did quite well. Hmm, where did you hear that idea?
We need for Warrick and Murray to play this way from here on out for us to have any chance of edging out Toronto. I hope JJ doesn't hurt his career by playing with that tear.
I've always liked Warrick. I call him the PF version of Deng (when Deng was at his best). Career numbers: He shoots a high FG% (.497 career), grabs about 7 rebounds and scores 16.9 points (per 36 minutes). Deng shoots a high FG% (.474 career), grabs about 7 rebounds and scores 16.9 points (per 36 minutes) Deng is listed at 6'8", Warrick at 6'9"
Well, they didn't use Warrick at the 3 last night, and the ESPN radio highlight this morning was of Grant Hill abusing Flip and Pargo. Coincidence? Nope.
I wonder why they didn't use him at the three? Could it be that they could have used you at the three and beaten the pistons? Or was it that they needed Warrick to save his fouls and energy for Amare because Miller had no shot and Gibson is foul prone? They had the game in hand the way they were playing and going big wouldn't have helped them like it did against a much slower team in the Pistons. It was another Vinnie screw up that cost them the game, leaving Miller in too long instead of doing the offense defense switches. Miller got switched onto Nash and that was the game. And .497 is a bad shooting percentage for a PF.
.497 would be top 30 in the league this year. I didn't say he's a great player, just that he's the Luol Deng of PFs.
I'm surprised that Warrick shoots that high of a percentage. Every time I watch him he seems to be a "black hole." I like him being aggressive on the block, mid and high post, but I don't like watching him shoot a ton of contested shots early in the shot clock. Murray has done a pretty good job battling other small forwards when they go small. He shouldn't have to be in that position but I don't know how much more effective anyone else would be in that position -- especially with Deng out. I wished that we could take advantage of bigger forwards having to guard our guards when we go small. Rose has the ball entirely too much sometimes in the half court and given his ability to make mid range jump shots I am surprised that at times during the game they don't try to use him coming off of screens more to get better looks. Regardless this Bulls team really doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs b/c I'd be shocked to see them get a win against Cleveland in a 7 game series. I still hope that Toronto sputters and Chicago finds a way to get in b/c I don't think Toronto poses much of a threat to anyone in the playoffs either.