And Wade only blew past Gordon for a dunk once. And that was in the first half when Gordon had 2 fouls, and didn't want to pick up a third by pushing into Wade. There was also absolutely no help defense. If Skiles was our coach, he would have met Wade with a defender. That was one of the things that has irked me everytime we've played the Heat is that I don't think we've drawn a single offensive foul on Wade. That's how we used to stop Wade. It had nothing really to do with Kirk Hinrich, although he did as good of a job as you can. It had to do with Wallace, Allen, Nocioni being set for the charge when Wade was coming in, and then sneaking a shotblocker behind the guy setting for the charge. If we had a real defense, things would be so different.
As Denny so astutely pointed out, the bulls and Kirk mostly held Wade to 24 last time they played. The reason Wade got 47 was that he was blowing by BG and Rose for dunks this time. It's not hard to keep a guy from getting dunks, it just isn't.
He blew by both BG and Rose multiple times for dunks or layups. But you're right about nobody meeting him in the paint or at the rim. Tyrus sat for most of the second half. And Noah and Miller were too slow to rotate, and Wade was not just getting by, but blowing by Rose and BG. Wade didn't have to alter his path, so he got to the rim quicker with less time for the bigs to get there. It was bad coaching all around, both in having BG try and guard Wade, then BG with 2 fouls trying to guard Wade, then sitting Tyrus, then not doubling... You have to force somebody besides Wade to beat you when you play the heat.
Wade is the primary ballhandler for his team, Gordon is not. That's what makes Gordon's ~4APG particularly impressive. It's not like he's dominating the ball - Rose (rightly) is that guy.
Watch the highlight of Wade's shot to win it again. Notice the guy who happens to run right by Wade just before he shoots, and doesn't get a hand up or do anything to try and alter the shot...
He stuck his hand in there. Wade was taking a floater. What is he supposed to do, go up tight on Wade, who is coming full speed right down next to him, and probably foul Wade?
Um, BG has the highest usage on the team, just because he doesn't bring it up doesn't mean he isn't dominating the ball. And BG isn't the bulls primary ball handler because he isn't very good at ball handling or passing. And in light of those two facts, his 4 APG aren't particularly impressive given his ~1.4 ast/to. And for those who want to continue to argue that BG should start, BG is less efficient as a starter this year than he was coming off of the bench. His per 36 scoring average is the second lowest of his career, and he's playing 10% more minutes per game this year. Less BG is more efficient BG.
Ben's just taking less shots. This is his most efficient year scoring the ball (57.5 TS% is a career high). It's his second highest PER of his career and his second highest Win Shares season. You're argument that BG is being less efficient as a starter is bogus. He's just taking the least amount of shots that he ever has in his career. This is the second best year of his career. In 06-07, he was just phenomenal all around. He should have been an allstar. The way BG played that year was what allowed us to be a near 50 win team. We all know Gordon isn't the guy you want to be your #1 option. But just because he's not that, doesn't mean you get rid of him. He is a perfect #2 or #3 guy. If the Bulls were to trade for Bosh/Amare, Gordon would then be in his perfect role. Just look at a guy like Ray Allen. He is a very talented scorer, but not a superstar, can't carry his team. Put him together with some other great players, and he's winning championships, despite his former, "crappy defense". We've been fed that Derrick Rose is the future of the franchise. If that is true, and Rose becomes a superstar, you want a good number two scoring option, and Gordon is that. He's just 15 three pointers away (he's currently #2 on the list) from breaking the record for most three pointers by a player in the first five years of their career. Out of the guys in the top 100 on that list, only two people, Mark Price and Hubert Davis have a higher three point percentage. And Gordon is only 0.1% behind Mark Price, so it's completely feasible that he passes up Price in percentage by the end of the season. Both those guys have less than half of the three pointers that Ben Gordon made. What's that mean? Ben Gordon is the greatest young three point shooter that the league has ever seen. Also, Ben Gordon is now top five in the NBA in fastbreak scoring. One of the best three point shooters ever who is one of the best fastbreak scorers in the NBA? Aren't we building a fast paced system around a fast point guard? Those two things seem like exactly what you want around Derrick Rose.
See, that's just silly. BG is shooting the best in his career, but he's taking fewer shots per game. Wouldn't you want him taking more shots per game since he is shooting so well? And BG's STL% is at a career low and his DRTG is at a career high indicating his defense continues to get worse. Wouldn't that be more reason to play him fewer minutes? He was in consideration for an all-start spot as a sixth man two years ago and he didn't even sniff a spot this year. If you worry about that stuff, don't you want him in a role that maximizes his abilities? As a bulls fan I do.
