<div align="center"> <font color="DarkRed">Chicago Bulls (12-15) </font> at <font color="DarkOrange">Charlotte Bobcats (9-19) </font> Place: Wednesday, 6:30pm at Bobcats TV: NBALP, CSN-Chicago </div> [div=50%] <font color="DarkRed">Chicago Bulls</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkRed"">PG</font>- Chris Duhon <font color=""DarkRed"">SG</font>- Kirk Hinrich <font color=""DarkRed"">SF</font>- Luol Deng <font color=""DarkRed"">PF</font>- Andres Nocioni <font color=""DarkRed"">C</font>- Michael Sweetney</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Scott Skiles</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Luol Deng - 14.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Tyson Chandler - 8.4 RPG Assist Man: Kirk Hinrich - 6.5 APG The 'X' Factor: Ben Gordon (13.3 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.5 APG) <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/chris_duhon.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Chris Duhon </font> PPG: 10.2, RPG: 3.0, APG: 5.7 Chris Duhon is coming off arguably his best game of the season, in a 102-91 loss to the Cavaliers, Chris Duhon led the team in points (15) and assists (7). Despite his best efforts the team could not beat a very hot Cavaliers team that had come in with a five game win streak. In tonight?s match up Duhon will face off against one of the NBA elder statesmen, Brevin knight, despite his age Knight is still one of the more affective point guards left in the game. His assist to turnover ratio is incredible, and his floor leadership is unquestionable. Chris? game is very similar to that of Brevin?s. Duhon ranks fifth in the league in assists to turnover ratio, and top ten in the league in assists per 48 minutes. Should be a great match up to watch tonight [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kirk_hinrich.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Kirk Hinrich </font> PPG: 13.3, RPG: 2.7, APG: 6.5 Kirk?s shooting woes continued against the Cavaliers. Despite finishing with a total of 14 points Hinrich shot 6-17 from the field, and 2-7 from the arc. Hinrich did manage to help the team stay in the game despite his poor shooting by becoming a ball distributor he finished the game with a game high 8 assists. The Bulls will need a big effort from Kirk tonight in order to pull out a victory. In the first game against the Bobcats this season, the home opener, the Bulls managed to come back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit and win without Kirk in the lineup, he had left the game in the second quarter with a sprained ankle. Then last week the Bulls faced off against the Bobcats again, but this time the Bobcats managed to pull off a close win, despite missing three of their starters. It will be a similar setting tonight so Kirk will need to prove why he is a captain on this team, and lead the Bulls to a victory tonight. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/luol_deng.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Luol Deng </font> PPG: 14.0, RPG: 5.7, APG: 1.7 To say Deng struggled against the Cavaliers a few nights ago would be an understatement. Luol finished the game with a less than flattering stat line of four points on 2-12 shooting. Deng has yet to have back to back poor games this season so expect him to rebound big time tonight. Deng has had a lot of obstacles to over come this season from adjusting his shot to earning a starting spot. Deng sat out the game last time against the Bobcats with an injury, but will look to provide a spark to his team tonight, He did have 10 points off the bench in the season opener against the Bobcats. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/andres_nocioni.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Andres Nocioni</font> PPG: 12.0, RPG: 5.1, APG: 1.2 Andres Nocioni has embodied everything Bulls basketball stands for during these past few weeks hard work, leaving it all on the court, and defense have all been synonymous with Andres name. Nocioni ranks 8th in the league in three point field goal percentage and is coming off a very complete game against the Cavaliers in which he scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Expect Andres to have his hands full on defense tonight with the high flying Gerald Wallace. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/mike_sweetney.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Michael Sweetney </font> PPG:11.4, RPG: 6.2, APG: 1.0 Sweetney broke out of his mini slump against the Cavaliers breaking out for 14 points and seven rebounds Sweetney could potentially go off tonight as he will be facing a Bobcats front line that is hurting, and will be without it?s top defender in Emeka Okafor for tonight?s game. Sweetney needs to become more assertive on the offensive end of the court to allow our guards more room to perform. If he can not do that, and we do not pull off a trade before the deadline it will be a long season. [/div] <font color="DarkOrange">Charlotte Bobcats</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkOrange"">PG</font>- Brevin Knight <font color=""darkOrange"">SG</font>-Raymond Felton <font color=""darkOrange"">SF</font>-Gerald Wallace <font color=""darkOrange"">PF</font>- Melvin Ely <font color=""darkOrange"">C</font>- Primoz Brezec</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Bernie Bickerstaff</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Kareem Rush - 13.5 PPG Leading Rebounder: Emeka Okafor- 10.1 RPG Assist Man: Brevin Knight- 8.4 APG The 'X' Factor: Gerald Wallace (13.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.1 APG) <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/brevin_knight.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkorange">Brevin Knight </font> PPG: 13.0, RPG: 3.0, APG: 8.4 Knight, is the prototypical point guard, he does so many things well and will help you a lot more often than he will hurt you. He does not make many mistakes, and does a good job of running the offense. He is a great mentor for the younger Bobcats players such as Raymond Felton for one. Knight will need to control the ball well tonight for his team to have any chance of winning if there is one thing the Bulls do well it is force turnovers. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/raymond_felton.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkorange">Raymond Felton</font> PPG: 7.2, RPG: 2.4, APG: 4.0 The rookie Tarheel will start tonight in place of the injured Kareem Rush. Raymond Felton made a lot of news in the preseason with his playoff promise, and confidence. However, thus far this season he has been relatively quite compared to his fellow rookies. With an extended role in the offense while Kareem Rush nurses his injury Felton is expected to shine. How well will he do tonight against a team that another former Tarheel built? We will have to see. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gerald_wallace.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkorange">Gerald Wallace </font> PPG: 13.5, RPG: 5.8, APG: 2.1 After years of rotting away on the end of the bench in Sacramento, Wallace revived his career in Charlotte. In his first season with the team, and turned it into a big free agent contract. Wallace has really been able to showcase his athletic ability so far during his time in Charlotte, but has yet to really become the prolific scorer some expected him to be. He is tied with Kareem Rush for the team scoring title, and will have to step it up tonight with Rush?s absence for his team to win. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/melvin_ely.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkorange">Melvin Ely</font> PPG: 9.3, RPG: 5.4, APG: 1.2 Melvin Ely will definitely have to be one of the bigger contributors in order for his team to pull off a win considering he will be subbing in for the teams leading rebounder and shot blocker. Ely has had a good, but not great season so far, but has done what he has been asked to do for this team. He will be starting his second straight game so let?s see how he does in this role. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/primoz_brezec.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkorange">Primoz Brezec</font> PPG: 10.8, RPG: 5.6, APG: 0.6 A solid big man who is not a star, but also steps above many big men in the league. That is what I think of when I think of Brezec he is not very well known, but he is a more than capable center in the league. He has been playing well for the Bobcats for the past two years, and has really made a name for himself within the league. Michael Sweetney will have his hands full tonight on the defensive end of the court. <div align="center"> </div> <ul><font color="DarkRed">It?s all about how you finish</font> expect to see this key in every game preview I do until the Bulls learn how to finish. They always seem to have lapses during the game be it at the start or end, recently it tends to be the end, they can not do that on a regular base and expect to win. I can vividly recall at least five games they should have won had they not experienced these lapses.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Force turnovers</font> on the other side of the court we have Brevin Knight one of the best guards in the league when it comes to controlling the ball, and running a offense so forcing turnovers will not be easy. The Bulls will have to really apply some defensive pressure tonight in order to win.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Live by the three die by the three</font> that has been the story line for the Bulls offense this year. We have some good three point shooters Ben Gordon ( his three point percentage is better than his field goal percentage), Kirk Hinrich, and Andres Nocioni, however, when they are not hot the Bulls chances of winning drop dramatically.[/list] <div align="center"></div> <ul><font color="DarkOrange">Step it up offensively</font> missing two of there better offensive players tonight does not help there case on the offensive end, especially, considering they are facing one of the better defensive teams in the league. The Bobcats will need guys like Sean May, Gerald Wallace, and Bogans to step there game up.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkOrange">Rebound</font> with all the injuries this team is suffering from right now they will need all the chances they can get on the offensive end. As well as limit all the chances their opponents get to score. The Bulls are not the greatest rebounding team considering there small lineup so this will be a area of emphases for the Bobcats.[/list] <div align="center"></div> The Bulls have split the season series so far this year with the Bobcats. The loss to the Bobcats last week started the bleeding, that has now lasted four games, so hopefully a win tonight against the same team will stop the bleeding. Need less to say I predict a Bulls victory over an injury whittled Bobcats squad.
another slow 4th quarter start while the Bobcats fly out. shooting 4 - 13 at the line - that is a joke. down by 7 at the moment.
Wow another one of those pathetic loses. We shot under 40 percent from the line as a team that is just sad. Tyson Chandler started off well shooting 3-3 for seven points, and that is how he finished he did not attempt a field goal the entire second half. Watching Ben Gordon play has gotten to the point where it has just become frustrating another horrible performance from him tonight 4-14 from the field. As a team we where out rebounded 50-38 and committed 25 turnovers. Luol Deng was the only player who came to play tonight he shot 9-14 from the field for a total of 18 points. Need less to say he rebounded nicely after a two point outing against Cleveland. Chris Duhon had a solid game as well he only scored five points, but dished out seven assists. With another lose the Bulls now stand at 12-16 with no win in sight the Bulls are left to wonder. What do we have to do to win? A complete joke unless their guard play improves tremendously they have no chance of getting this season back on track.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Chicago Bulls probably know better than anyone that the Charlotte Bobcats are no longer playing like an expansion team. Melvin Ely matched his season high with 20 points and Primoz Brezec added 17 and 14 rebounds as the Bobcats posted a 93-80 triumph over the Bulls. Ely made 9-of-13 shots in and grabbed eight boards for Charlotte, which has won four out of five games for the first time in its two-year history. The Bobcats have defeated the Bulls twice in that stretch, recording a 105-92 victory at Chicago on December 20. Charlotte also nearly beat Chicago in its season opener as the Bulls needed to rally from a 25-point second-half deficit to win, 109-105, in overtime November 2. Neither team led by more than seven points in the first half Wednesday and the game remained close before the Bobcats began to take control late in the third quarter. After Ben Gordon's jumper gave the Bulls a 63-59 lead with 1:47 left, Matt Carroll answered with a layup 23 seconds later to ignite a 20-2 spurt that bridged the final two periods. Ely and Carroll scored six points apiece before Gerald Wallace capped the burst with a basket with 6:24 remaining that made it 79-65. During the pivotal run, the Bulls committed six of their 24 turnovers. Luol Deng scored 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting for Chicago, which has lost five straight games. Darius Songaila scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, including a dunk with 41 seconds left that helped the Bulls forge a 45-45 tie at the break. </div> <div align="center"><font size=""1""> Recap l Box Score l Standings</font></div>
