vs Game 5, Home Game 1 Sunday, January 1, 2012 – 7:00 PM CT United Center Comcast SportsNet / ESPN 1000 AM BULLS VS. GRIZZLIES ALL-TIME ALL-TIME ..................... Bulls lead 18-13 BULLS CURRENT STREAK ..... 2 Wins BULLS HOME STREAK .............. 1 Win BULLS ROAD STREAK ............... 1 Win Game Notes Chicago Bulls (3-1) Home 0-0 Road 3-1 Bulls Averages: PPG: 100.3 (Opp: 96.3) RPG: 43.5 (Opp: 37.75) APG: 22.8 (Opp: 20.8) SPG: 6.75 (Opp: 9.0) BPG: 3.5 (Opp: 4.5) TO: 16.0 (Opp: 13.5) FG%: .462 (Opp: .468) FT%: .758 (Opp: .629) 3p%: .412 (Opp: .365) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - Richard Hamilton - SG - Luol Deng - SF - Carlos Boozer - PF - Joakim Noah - C - Bulls Stats Leaders Points:Rose 20.8, Deng 18.5 Rebounds: Noah & Deng7.8 Assists: Rose 9.3, Watson 3.3 Steals: Watson & Noah 1.25 Blocks: Gibson 1.0, Noah & Deng .750 FG%: Brewer .647, Boozer .500 FT%: Rose .905, Deng .882 3FG%: Korver .583, Watson .462 Injury report - For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Memphis Grizzlies (1-2) Home 1-1 Road 0-1 Probable Grizzlies starters Mike Conley - PG Tony Allen - SG Rudy Gay - SF Zach Randolph - PF Marc Gasol - C Injury report Darrell Arthur (torn right Achilles) is out for the season. Mike Conley (left ankle sprain) is day‐to‐day. Xavier Henry (right ankle sprain) is out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's nice to be on the Holiday game slate. I look for a good win in our first home game. Here's where Rip needs to prove his worth against their wing players. Go Bulls!
Huge blowout was nice to see, but we already have two players who have sustained injuries. CJ could be out for at least a couple of weeks. This season is going to be a grind.
Depth matters. Clearly, we have the 2G and PG positions covered for the time being. CJ is important to that second unit, but we'll be able to handle it. If Luol goes down, now, that's going to be a different matter. Go Bulls!
Now that was an ass kicking. Nice to see Rose as aggressive as ever and Boozer effective against good bigs. Ronnie Brewer really improved this off season. Love to see that he has a 3 point shot now. Between him and Rip we should be set. Brewer had the highest +/- last night at +48. That's a crazy number. The depth of the Bulls should get them through this weird season AOK, unless Rose or Deng go down. Keep on truckin boys. Nice to be back at the UC.
It is a weird season, already. Things are just out of balance. I wonder if the owners are happy with the results of their negotiating tactics? I think the Bulls are as well positioned as anyone...The news about CJ is a little more promising than we might have thought. Out for a week or a bit more.. Hamilton practiced today.
You know what surprised me? Brewer had a great game and has started the season strong. But the Bulls' offense is still seventeen times more versatile when Rip is playing. The offensive playbook with Rip in the game is multiple times larger and there's all kinds of action that doesn't happen when he's off the court. Rip's value isn't his ability to shoot. Brewer has shot pretty well this season. Rip's value is his ability to work off the ball, pulling defenders out of position, and creating easy opportunities when defenses break down. Seeing Brewer play well in Rip's absence has some how turned me into a bigger believer in the importance of Hamilton.
But I wonder what kind of hand Brewer had in the defensive beatdown, relative to Rip. And 17 x more versatile is ... quite a lot. Is Brewer that one dimensional? I'm not complaining about Rip. Rather, I'm thinking Brewer is going to be a bigger plus for us this year, more along the lines of what was expected of him from last year, and the guy Deron complained about losing.
The best news is John Lucas III got some development PT. Brewer is sneaky. He gets left alone and drifts to the basket for a lot of garbage type points. VERY different than Rip.
