@ CHICAGO BULLS (24-17) @ BOSTON CELTICS (22-21) Game 42, Road Game 18 Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 – 6:30 PM CT TD Garden WPWR-TV / ESPN 1000 AM BULLS VS. CELTICS THIS SEASON Dec. 9 @ Boston – L, 105-100 Jan. 7 @ Chicago – W, 101-92 Jan. 22 @ Boston – ALLTIME VS. CELTICS 100-116 BULLS/CELTICS STREAKS BULLS CURRENT STREAK ........... 1 Win BULLS HOME STREAK ................ 2 Wins BULLS ROAD STREAK................. 1 Loss Game Notes Chicago Bulls (24-17) Home 16-8 Road 8-9 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 101.9 (Opp: 101.2) RPG: 48.8 (Opp: 46.8) APG: 22.0 (Opp: 22.5) SPG: 6.17 (Opp: 7.98) BPG: 6.29 (Opp: 5.59) FG%: .434 (Opp: .426) FT%: .782 (Opp: .716) 3p%: .358 (Opp: .335) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Tony Snell - SF - Taj Gibson - PF - Pau Gasol - C - Bulls Regular Season Stats Leaders Points: Butler 22.4, Gasol 16.3 Rebounds: Gasol 10.8, Noah 8.8 Assists: Rose 4.7, Butler 4.3 Steals: Butler 1.76, Mirotic 0.83 Blocks: Gasol 2.23, Noah 1.00 FG%: Gibson .514, Moore .500 FT%: Hinrich .938, Snell .909 3FG%: McDermott .435, Hinrich .422 Regular Season Player Highs 2015/2016 Points: Butler 53 Field Goals Made: Butler 15 Field Goals Attempts: Rose 34 Free Throws Made: Butler 21 Free Throws Attempts: Butler 25 3-Point FGM: Mirotic & McDermott 5 3-Point FGA: Mirotic 9 Rebounds: Gasol 19 Off. Rebounds: Noah & Gasol 7 Def. Rebounds: Gasol 17 Assists: Rose 9 Blocks: Gasol 6 Steals: Butler 4 Minutes: Butler 56 Double-Double: Gasol 22 Triple-Double: None Injury report Mike Dunleavy (back), Joakim Noah (left shoulder) and Kirk Hinrich (left quad contusion) are OUT. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Boston Celtics (22-21) Home 11-10 Road 11-11 Probable Celtics starters Isaiah Thomas - PG Avery Bradley - SG Jae Crowder - SF Amir Johnson - PF Jared Sullinger - C Injury report Jordan Mickey is OUT. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to be a glass-half-full guy for the time being. The Bulls are struggling with their W-L's right now, but in the mean time Derrick seems to have found his game. In the long run that's better than a Bulls team that manages to squeak out W's but has to deal with their former MVP playing near or below replacement level. Welcome back, Derrick. The real problem right now is that the bottom of our roster is just terrible. We simply cannot count on any of our 6-10 guys to provide energy or do anything especially well.
Well, not welcome back MVP Derrick, right? Its nice to see him start to put up some decent numbers again. But the team is losing while he is doing it. Derrick has a lot to make up for at this point for me. There are plenty of NBA guys that can "get theirs" in average to losing situations. Next step is for him to play like that and the team wins. Then can that happen against quality opponents. Then can it happen in the playoffs again. Right now, if you look at the Hollinger EFF numbers, the Bulls have slipped down to 9th in defense and are 23rd in offense. So the offense is getting better but the defense is getting worse. Also, the OFF EFF is 100.8 and the DEF EFF is 100.7, for a net of only .1. Another indicator that this team is lucky to have the record it does have. By comparison, last season the Bulls were a net 3.2 in the Hollinger EFF. Anyway, yes, at least Rose can still play NBA basketball somewhat well again. McDermott looks awful. Niko looks awful. This isn't what Hoiball was supposed to be. Where the Bulls are heading and even what they are trying to accomplish at this point, from a basketball standpoint?
The Bulls aren't playing well as a team. We repeatedly hear how they're not communicating well enough on defense, yet this doesn't seem to change. In this game, only 29% of the team's baskets were assisted. The Bulls average is 57% and really cohesive teams are routinely in the 60-70% range. It seems like lower usage players like Mirotic, McDermott and Snell are so surprised when they receive a pass that they don't know what to do next. It's a freakin' mess out there. We're at midseason. In the first half of the season, the Bulls showed that they can be just about any kind of team you can imagine. Can't wait to see how this one ends.
It does feel like there's not enough structure out there. I had the good fortune of watching this one in person. I was surprised at how often Rose and Hoiberg would chat during dead ball situations -- there seems to be something there, like back with Thibs during the early part of his tenure. That doesn't seem to come through on camera. Rose looked amazing too until both him and Jimmy seemed to tire in the fourth quarter. I don't think a bad assist percentage is necessarily indicative of poor offensive play on this roster. Rose and Butler both score off the dribble better than they do in catch and shoot situations -- if they're going to play as large a role as they should, the assist ratio is going to dip. The worry to me is now defense. There have been large stretches over the last dozen games when they couldn't get a stop. It looked terrible for long parts during the Cs.
In January the net defense rating is 106. Up from 98 in November when the Bulls were playing good defense. The offense is up in January as well, but he net rating is a negative and the lowest net of the season month wise. http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612741/stats/advanced/ In Jan, the Bulls now have the 9th worst defense rating http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!...=Regular Season&Month=4&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1 and have moved up from 2nd to worst to middle of the pack in offense rating. http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!...=Regular Season&Month=4&sort=OFF_RATING&dir=1 Keep in mind this roster was 10th in offense rating last season under Thibs-ball. http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!...asonType=Regular Season&sort=OFF_RATING&dir=1
