Rose 32 points, -17 Gasol played like he's 34 Jimmy got only 10 shots at SG. Snell was fine through Q3, not used to big minutes Mirotic shot 2-8, but scored 12 points. I'll take 12 points on 8 shots every time. Taj had a strong game. Kind of tired of seeing 6 rebounds from a PF. Our bench 32 points, theirs 21. But ours got OT with Noah going out. They have 5 starters who get 10 every night. We have 3
The Mirotic thing is deceptive. While watching the game I felt like he was shooting too poorly to justify his usage. 2-8 is ugly; 6-8 from the line doesn't look great either; but you add it all together and count his two threes and his TS% is 52%. I guess 50% is league average for TS, 55% is very good, and 60% is elite. So even in a night when the eye test tells you Mirotic isn't playing well, and his box score doesn't look pretty, he's still hitting with above average efficiency. Interesting stuff. So this Washington team is the favorite to win the championship right? I feel like Thibodeau has to commit to actually matching up with them if the Bulls are going to have a chance. The Bulls' defense is designed to stop slashing and post play and give up long twos, and Washington starts four shooters who are really good at long twos and one guy in Wall who isn't terrible. Those are terrible match ups. And Washington's bigs make it so Pau Gasol isn't going to be able to produce consistently out of the post, and Rose probably isn't going to be able to produce consistently at the rim. I thought Snell played fine, and I'm glad Thibs shifted Butler to covering Beal, not like last time where he covered Pierce. But Snell can't handle Pierce either. Thibs has to acknowledge that he isn't going to be able to dictate pace against this team, and that they only way to win is going to be through out muscling them. He needs to start Gibson and severely cut back on Gasol's minutes, just for the series. He also needs to have Mirotic cover Paul Pierce, who is at this juncture of his career a small forward in name only. That's the only way to beat this team -- with superior length, athleticism, and muscle.
I said before the game that Mirotic at SF against Pierce was probably our best lineup. That a guy can go 2-8 and have 12 points is good. It shows that even on a bad night he produces overall. We don't have superior length, athleticism, and muscle. In the offseason, we added pretty much the opposite.
