In the midst of a boisterous Bulls locker room, players talked about what a crazy game it was. It was only fitting that they won it on a tough, unconventional shot. Marco Belinelli made an off-balance fadeaway with 3.1 seconds left, Jimmy Butler scored six points in overtime and Chicago extended its Friday night road show by beating the Boston Celtics 100-99.
Marco has had it rough lately. I like his game - he can handle the ball and shoot and make his way to the basket. But recently, it looks like Thibs has been using him as our isolation/go-to guy and he's been terrible. He did make the big shot last night, but I saw him miss a few big shots earlier in the game and in the past few games. When Kirk and Rip were out for a few games earlier, Marco had such a good stretch of games I could see him being the answer for us at SG for a long time to come. His production went in the toilet when Kirk came back. For whatever reason. The Bulls were 5-1 in those games, FWIW.
I think it might have to do with him going to the bench. It'd be interesting to look at some +/- for different lineups to see what's affecting his production. Thibs calling his number late in games is a little perplexing. He's never struck me as a natural iso player. His performance the last two games hasn't removed those intuitions. I'd guess it's tinkering to see what we have in him. I can see him happily occupying a spot next to Derrick Rose next year and beyond. I can also see us keeping Rip and letting Marco go because it'd save the team a little money. At this point I see the two as about equals with regards to impact.
