The Bulls may be down 3-1 and are staring at elimination with their next loss. However, the next game is in Chicago. A win there makes it 3-2. Having lost the first two games in Chicago, they'd need to win 2 in DC to take back the home court advantage. They've already won 1 of those. There's only one game left in DC, assuming the Bulls win at home. That's the 2nd game they need to win in DC. That would make it 3-3, with game 7 in Chicago. Go Bulls!
Bulls need a way better 1st quarter... http://blogs.bulls.com/2014/04/bulls-close-to-disappearing-at-hands-of-wizards/
I'm not seeing any indication of the Bulls being able to impose their will defensively on the Washington Wizards. This is basically required in order for the Bulls to win, unless a role player like Dunleavy has the game of his life. We don't have a ball handler / shot creator / shot maker than can take over / create scoring when the Wizards are playing strong D, which they are doing at several points this series. I thought there was around a 60% chance of the Bulls winning this series, but its hard to see how that happens at this point. Its frustrating to see our defense not really have much of an impact and our strength of solid to great play at the 4/5 not really providing much of a competitive advantage. This team has surprised me many times this season though, albeit in the regular season, and the Wizards are not a great team by any stretch. We need someone to play the Nate Robinson role from last year -- Derrick Rose lite.
Well said sir. The Bulls look lackluster, but a more pessimistic part of me is saying that's because the Bulls simply don't have any matchup advantages they can exploit, not because we've suddenly lost our heart. In the playoffs the Bulls' advantage in hustle looks to have evaporated. The only one I'm seeing is Taj over the Wiz's backup bigs but that's not enough. Even worse is that we can't get him the minutes he needs since Boozer starts. To me the PG matchup is the most problematic one for the Bulls. Hinrich can defend Wall but simply cannot initiate any offense against him. When he's in the game we're relegated to shooting 20 foot jumpers which is a recipe for disaster. DJ can at least get hit shot off and get into the paint but we're forced to play these weird defensive rotations because Snell or Butler has to guard someone they're not accustomed to. If I had a gun to my head I'd rather roll with DJ. Our lineup simply has no juice without a shot creator. DJ + Taj gives us a guy who can create his own shot and a guy who can play above the rim. And besides, Boozer has been an abomination this series. I've always defended the guy, but he looks like he's checked out. I was screaming at the TV in the first quarter of game 2 because his play was so lackluster. It looks like Thibs agreed with me since he yanked him at the 8 minute mark. At the beginning of the series I thought the Bulls had a 60% chance of winning as well. I've downgraded that to about 20% at the moment. We'll see if things turn around, but through 4 games Washington looks like the aggressor. Quicker to the ball, more confident, and surprisingly better execution. I've been amazed at all the unforced turnovers we've coughed up this whole series. I hope this series allows management to see the need for a second shot creator, regardless of Derrick's health. We need two guys who can get into the teeth of the defense.
Hope? Sure. Expectations? Well, I went into this series expecting that the Bulls playoff experience would be an advantage. To the Wizards credit, they haven't been the least bit shaky. My expectation now isn't rosy. One game at a time.
I am a realist. Try not to see things through Rose colored glasses (SIC). Expect the worst, appreciate anything better.
Go Denny go! Augustin is having a bad series. If he had played his normal way, we could be tied 2-2(Winning the game we lost by 2 in Chicago) We need to find a way to free him up. Dunleavy needs to be more aggressive. We got him for the playoffs to score. He had two shot attempts the first half of the last game. Boozer has had a terrible playoff run. He has hurt us. The fat lady has yet to sing, but I hear her practicing.
