<div align="center">@</div> <div align="center"><font color="Red">The Chicago Bulls (1-9)</font>@<font color="DarkRed">The Cleveland Cavaliers (8-4)</font></div> <div align="center">Time: 6:30 PM CENTRAL</div> <div align="center">Place: The Gund Arena</div> <div align="center">TV: Local</div> Projected Starting Lineups Kirk Hinrich/Jeff McInnis Andres [Nocioni/Ira Newble Luol Deng/LeBron James Tyson Chandler/Drew Gooden Antonio Davis/Zydrunas Ilgauskas Key Bench Players Ben Gordon/Eric Snow Injury Report Chicago- Frank Williams: Hamstring Jared Reiner: Calf Tommy Smith: Ankle Cleveland- Anderson Varejao: Knee Sasha Pavlovic: Knee <div align="center">Key Matchup</div> <div align="center"></div> Luol Deng must somehow find a way to contain LeBron. He is the key player on this team and if we can shut him down, the rest of the Cavaliers will hopefully fall with him. You know LeBron's gonna get his, but if he can shut down Luol, this will make it so much easier for the Cavaliers. It will force the Bulls to utalize Curry & Chandler and force them to come up big. <div align="center">Key Players</div> <div align="center"></div> Eddy Curry- He is an important key to the Bulls winning this matchup. I've noticed in the games that when Curry shows his passion and becomes dominant, the rest of the team steps up their game. We need him tonight. LeBron James- LeBron is the heart of the team. If he's going, the rest of the team will follow. If he's stopped, the rest of the team will also. Easier said then done as LeBron has averaged about 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. AirNike8's Prediction The Bulls really need to stop LeBron. Skiles has to find a zone or player that will shut down LeBron. It's been said that LeBron is weak to the zone so hopefully we can find a solution to him. Chicago needs to have Curry playing at his best to win. That means elevating his game, pulling down the boards, and scoring in the post. LETS GO BULLS!!!
Deng and James...a potential ROY this year vs. the chosen one. I'm going to love this matchup...but really, Deng isn't as fast as LeBron is, so unless LeBron posts up all game, he'll destroy Deng offensively. Now, on the other hand...I wonder if Bron's defense can hold Deng to under 10 points? Hmm...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Deng and James...a potential ROY this year vs. the chosen one. I'm going to love this matchup...but really, Deng isn't as fast as LeBron is, so unless LeBron posts up all game, he'll destroy Deng offensively. Now, on the other hand...I wonder if Bron's defense can hold Deng to under 10 points? Hmm...</div> I wonder if we will see a Deng Lebron matchup this game. Are you sure this will be the starting lineup, because I thought Chandler and urry where benched and the starting lineup was Duhon, hinrich, andres nociono, Deng, and Davis. I may be wrong, but if we have Deng matched up with Lebron that is a serious miss match first Dengs speed like realdealbneal said will not be enough to guard James also Deng is not as athletic as James when getting out in the break we will most likely also not be able to run much full court pressure defense, because if Lebron gets past Deng it will be a foot race with Lebron winning every time. We really have no one to guard James most of our guards are small with Gordon and hinrich, and then we have nociono who although plays good defense. he has not fully adjusted to the nba way in terms of the moves the players use, and Lebron ahs a ton of weapons that Nociono will be exposed to. Our best bet would be like said in the preview to play a zone defense with help defense to cut off penitration. If we can hold them to out side shots playing a team defensive game, and take advantage of them when James is not in the game I think we can win. I am a little worried about a slow start considering big z is 7 foot 1 and Davis is 6'10", and a bit slower than Z. he may get psoted up, and they may score a few baskets early getting off to a quick lead. We can afford to cheat a little on the Newble matchup I think, and maybe try and get Z to toss it out so Davis does not have to go one on one with Z. Something that may cost us is if they play Lebron at point he will ahve a couple of inches on Hinrich so he can jsut pull up for a jumper each time if they do that which I hope they dont.
Wow horrible horrible game for the Bulls our leading scorer right now Curry has 12 points on 5-14 shooting, and he is a center. We have currently got a total of 56 points with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter we have attempted 63 field goals and only made 26. It is a horrible game right now. We have Eddy Curry a nearly 7 feet tall player with a total of only 4 rebounds while Lebron has 7 right now. We only have two player sin double digits one of the two being a rookie, and the other like stated before having a horrible shooting night. We have not even contested half of Lebron's shots. I have a feeling after this games some big changes are on the way in Chicago. Be it a trade soon or a coach change. This is just getting to be very sad dont get me wrong Im a bulls fan and will always be, but the way they are playing right now is disrespectful.
