Bulls win 92-73. Their 6th win a row. Boozer 22 pts 18 rebounds, 4 assists! Rose 17 pts 6 rebounds 12 assists Noah had 3 blocks, brewer had 3 steals, 4 assists, 2 rebounds. Deng 15 pts 9 rebounds, 2 steals.
Has our winning percentage ever been this high at this point in the season since the championship? Can't be. When was the last time the NBA was so clearly separated into good and bad teams? The league has become bi-polar.
I think we're a little bi-polar, meaning, I completely agree with you that it hasn't felt like the league was separated as it is now since the Bulls were really good. But I think that's just what it feels like to follow a winning a team. You look up and down the schedule and think, the Bulls should win all of those games. Was a little bit of strange game tonight. It's really nice to have an alpha scorer, no matter how bad his defense is. That being said, is Boozer's defense going to get any better? The way he closes out is kind of pathetic. Boozer looks like he has pretty quick hands, but he doesn't close out and his help defense is pathetic. I really liked the lineup Thibodeau played at the end with Boozer and Gibson manning the center and power foward spots. That front court, especially teamed with Deng and Korver brings so much spacing. It's a fun lineup to watch, and I hope Thibodeau experiments with it more. I think you really begin to appreciate how much Rose contributes on a night when his scoring is off. His defense on TJ Ford was great, he pulled a couple of tough boards, and his passing makes the offense. Those are skills he just didn't have in previous seasons. It makes me think that part of the reason I've been so down on CJ Watson is not because he's a bad player; but just because he isn't Derrick Rose. I mean, CJ Watson may be a fine backup point guard. I'm just not used to the huge gap between the way he runs the team, and the way Rose runs the team. This has been rehased over and over again, but you have to wonder why Brewer isn't starting. I can understand not wanting to rush him into the starting lineup because of his major injuries, and wanting a shooter in the starting lineup. He's shown some range, though, and the willingness to expand that range. I really don't get it.
I'm with you 100% on this one. I keep hearing that Thibs likes Brewers energy off the bench. I was also on board with having a "shooter" in the starting lineup. Problem is, Bogans isn't a good shooter! And we also have the emergence of both Deng and Rose being able to stick the three (one of the HUGE reasons the Bulls are so good this year) so I think we can get away with starting Brewer. He can hit the mid-range J pretty well anyway. START BREWER!!!!!!!
I would guess it has to do with how Thibs wants to balance the first and second units. Neither of Bogans or Brewer is really a difference maker, even if Brewer is better, and neither one is good enough to justify playing heavy minutes. So Bogans is going to get about 8-10 minutes whether or not he comes off the bench. But if he's with the starters his suckiness is muted quite bit whereas if he is playing with the second unit there is no one good enough to compensate for him and it brings the whole team down. Like wise, Brewer gives us nice options playing with the second unit. I'm not sure I agree with the logic, but it's the best reason I can think of.
