<div align="center"> <font color="DarkRed">Chicago Bulls (12-14) </font> at <font color="DarkBlue">Cleveland Cavaliers (16-9) </font> Place: Monday, Dec. 26, 6:00pm at Cavaliers TV: NBATV, WCIU </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 - 14.4 PPG Leading Rebounder: Tyson Chandler - 8.4 RPG Assist Man: Kirk Hinrich - 6.4 APG The 'X' Factor: Ben Gordon (13.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.8 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: 5.6 Chris Duhon has put together a great season thus far this year. After being resigned by the Bulls last off season Duhon has shined amidst every challenge that has been put in front of him thus far this year. The prototypical point guard out of Duke ranks top five in the National Basketball Association in assists to turnover ratio, and ranks top 20 in assists per 48 minutes. Chris will be trying to bounce back from a less than memorable performance against the Memphis Grizzlies in which his final stat line read 4 points, 3 turnovers, and no assists. Expect Chris to look for his teammates early in the night, but take a few shots he would not normally take during the course of the game. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kirk_hinrich.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Kirk Hinrich </font> PPG: 13.3, RPG: 2.6, APG: 6.4 The former Jay Hawk, Kirk Hinrich, has struggled finding his shooting touch this season. As he enters tonight’s contest, he currently holds a worse field goal, and points per game average than he did merely a season ago. It is safe to say Kirk is one of those players struggling to adjust in the post Curry era. There are some notable improvements in his game so far this year. For example, despite playing the shooting guard spot he is averaging a career high in assists, and a career low in turnovers. Kirk is one of the Bulls, on a very long list, of players who need to step up tonight. Hinrich managed to score only 9 points, on 2-8 shooting, during the Bulls humiliating lose to the Grizzlies. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/luol_deng.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Luol Deng </font> PPG: 14.4, RPG: 5.8, APG: 1.5 Deng started the season slow, coming off the bench, as he struggled to find his shot after off season wrist surgery. However, he has restarted his engine after that slow start, and currently leads a very balanced Bulls squad in scoring. Deng was one of the few Bulls, three to be exact, to score double figures against the Grizzlies. Despite that, however, he did it on 4-15 shooting. He was badgered on the offensive end all night by another former Duke star, Shane Battier. Luol Deng has a tendency of coming back strong after a game in which he struggles. We will have to see if the trend continues tonight. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/andres_nocioni.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Andres Nocioni</font> PPG: 11.8, RPG: 5.1, APG: 5.1 Andres Nocioni has embodied everything Bulls basketball stands for during these past few weeks. He has played defense, took charges, and left it all on the court, unfortunately, it has not been enough. However, if everyone played with that type of intensity each night, win or lose, I would be proud of this team. Sadly, they haven’t Andres may not be the most talented player on the court night in and night out, but one knows he will give you everything he has every single night. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/mike_sweetney.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkred">Michael Sweetney </font> PPG:11.3, RPG: 6.2, APG: 1.0 It’s the holiday season, but apparently Michael has decided to cut down on his sweets. After paying huge dividends upon arriving in Chicago, and performing well enough to earn a starting spot Sweetney has fallen off just a bit. This could be partly due to all the attention he is getting from other teams down low, or due to his seemingly uncontrollable problems being hit with fouls early in games. Sweetney is due for a big game after scoring only four points, in ten minutes, against the Grizzlies. [/div] <font color="DarkBlue">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> <font size=""1""><font color=""DarkBlue"">PG</font>- Eric Snow <font color=""DarkBlue"">SG</font>- Larry Hughes <font color=""DarkBlue"">SF</font>- Lebron James <font color=""DarkBlue"">PF</font>- Drew Gooden <font color=""DarkBlue"">C</font>- Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> <font size=""1"">Coach: Mike Brown</font> <font size="3">Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Lebron James - 30.3 PPG Leading Rebounder: Drew Gooden- 8.4 RPG Assist Man: Lebron James- 5.5 APG The 'X' Factor: Damon Jones (8.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.6 APG) <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/eric_snow.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Eric Snow </font> PPG: 4.4, RPG: 2.4, APG: 4.1 Snow, who has been given the job of running a mistake free offense for a young Cavaliers team, has done just that averaging only one turnovers a game and ranking third in the league in assists to turnover ratio. Eric will play his game tonight don’t expect him to torch anyone for 20 and 10, but he will get his if he is left open and make the smart play with the ball. He did score nine points against us a week ago so we have to do a better job with our help defense, so that no one is left open when we double team down low. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/larry_hughes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Larry Hughes</font> PPG: 16.1, RPG: 4.2, APG: 3.7 When signed by Cleveland during the off season many called Hughes the Pippen to James’ Jordan. Well needless to say those comparisons have stopped, but none the less the Cavaliers are still winning, with Hughes being a big part of that. The one draw back to his game has been his field goal percentage, he shoots a mere 39% from the field after shooting 43% from the field last year in Washington. Hughes will be looking for some redemption tonight for the game he had against us last week in which he scored only 9 points on 2-8 shooting. Don’t be surprised to see him go off tonight on the stat sheet. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lebron_james.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Lebron James </font> PPG: 30.3, RPG: 6.0, APG: 5.5 What can you say about Lebron that has not already been said? At only 20 years of age he has already excelled to all star caliber level, and ranks third in the league scoring. James struggled recently scoring only 11 points against an Artest less Indiana Pacers team. He did light up Chicago from three point range a few days ago. Will he do the same at the Q tonight? If so the Bulls chances for a win look bleak. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/drew_gooden.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Drew Gooden</font> PPG: 11.0, RPG: 8.4, APG: 0.8 Gooden has been exactly what his name suggests for the Cavaliers this season, good. He is averaging close to a double double, and doing what they need him to do in order to win. After an off season surrounded with trade rumors, after the Cavaliers acquired big man Donyell Marshall, Gooden rededicated him self to the game. Now with a new coach he is having a great year, and his team is an eastern conference contender. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/zydrunas_ilgauskas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="darkblue">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> PPG: 15.4, RPG: 7.3, APG: 0.9 Big Z, a former all star, has been performing well for the Cavaliers this season. He has not received a lot of hype for an all star appearance, because he is not a flashy player on a team surrounded with flashy, high flying players. His scoring is down a bit from seasons passed, but it is understandable due to the additions of Marshall, Jones, and Hughes during the off season. <div align="center"> </div> <ul><font color="DarkRed">It‘s all about how you finish</font> the Bulls witnessed this first hand as they saw a ten point lead slip away last week when playing the Cavaliers. The Bulls come into this game on losing streak of three games, and their confidence falling with each passing game. However, they continue to point out that they are still in a better position then they where last year at this point. If they continue to lose games at this rate, however, soon they will not be able to rely on that crutch any longer.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Force turnovers</font> by force turnovers I don’t just mean get steals, but also mean take the charge, and leave everything you have on the court. Andres Nocioni took several charges last week when these two teams squared off, but all the other Bulls shied away from the contact, and did not due the same. Which was one of the reasons the Cavaliers where able to go on a 16-0 run, and eventually win the game. Show a little pride tonight and come out with some fire.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkRed">Get to the free throw line</font> last week when these two teams played the Bulls did not just lose the free throw battle, they conceded it at half time when the Cavaliers had attempted 15+ and the Bulls had attempted only three. Getting to the line, and getting some easy points tonight will be a big key if the Bulls hope to win.[/list] <div align="center"></div> <ul><font color="DarkBlue">Three point shooting</font> the big content for the Cavaliers in their win last week was free throw shooting Lebron and Jones both shot over 50% from the arc, and combined for over ten three point field goals made. The Cavaliers should look to get the ball to Jones and Lebron early, and see if their still hot from three point range if they are it will be a long night for the Bulls.[/list] <ul><font color="DarkBlue">Control the tempo</font> if this game turns into a track meet it favors Chicago. The Bulls are undersized so if they are forced into a half court game they will struggle.[/list] <div align="center"></div> The Bulls have been playing pathetic basketball recently, but as they say all good things must come to an end, so must all bad things. I think tonight will be the night where the Bulls break out of this slump the Bulls have split the series with several teams they have played twice this season the Warriors, Bobcats, etc. The Cavaliers got their win now the Bulls will get theirs, Bulls by 5 is my prediction. Last season these teams split the season series 2-2 with each team sweeping at home, it might be the exact opposite this year with both teams sweeping on the road.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich has been getting treatment for a bruised shin, but he said Saturday it's not serious and won't keep him off the court. Still, Hinrich continues to slump. He is shooting 34.8 percent in his last five games and has scored in double digits only once in that span, with 14 points in Tuesday night's loss to Charlotte. Comedy central In an effort to lighten the mood after practice Saturday, veteran reserve Eric Piatkowski grabbed a Comcast SportsNet microphone to rib Hinrich. Piatkowski said he asked Santa Claus for more three-point shots and asked Hinrich to accommodate him with more passes. "Definitely," a weary Hinrich said. "I'm sick of shooting, so I'm going to start passing to you." Reminded he missed all five of his shots Friday night in the loss to Memphis, Piatkowski responded: "Thank you for bringing that up. I didn't sleep enough last night as it is."</div> <div align="center">Source</div>
A close game so far Bulls down by four. The storyline of the game, however, is Tyson Chandler. He came to play tonight 11 points on 5-6 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Our big men are finally responding after all the heavy criticism they have received. Chandler and Sweetney have combined for 23 points tonight. The Bulls have four players in double figures, but have been killed by their free throw shooting only 62% from the line.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGR]http://www.nba.com/media/HughesL300.jpg[/IMGR]LeBron James performed like a superstar down the stretch to keep the Cleveland Cavaliers streaking. James scored 12 of his 32 points in the final eight minutes as the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to six games with a 102-91 victory over the slumping Chicago Bulls. Cleveland never trailed in the second half, although Chicago got as close as 63-62 on a 3-pointer by Kirk Hinrich with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter. The Cavaliers responded by outscoring their Central Division rivals, 14-4, the rest of the period, with James scoring six. Coming off a season-low 14-point performance against Indiana, James helped Cleveland keep Chicago at bay in the fourth by consistently hitting mid-range jumpers. Many of them came with Bulls forward Luol Deng in his face. Drew Gooden collected 20 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which is two games shy of its best surge this season, accomplished November 7-22. Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon and Tyson Chandler all scored 15 points for the Bulls, who have lost a season-worst four straight games and five of their last six.</div> <div align="center"><font size=""1"">Recap l Box Score l Standings</font></div> Tonight was basically the summary of our season thus far this year. The effort was there, six players reached double figures, but when push came to shove the Cavaliers had there go to guy while the Bulls didn?t. It was basically like bringing a knife to a gunfight. The main reason we where able to be successful last year was because we not only out worked our opponents, but had a man down low who could draw double teams, which in turn allowed our guards to get open for shots. This season the script has completely flipped. We no longer have anything close to a post presence down low, and our guards have proven incapable of creating shots for themselves. Ben Gordon has shown the most difficulty out of any of the guards so far this year. His shooting has been horrendous, tonight being no different, and his once famous teardrop has just been well dropped from his game. Is it because he is any less talented? I don?t think so, but the fact is that with no big man down low for teams to worry about they have been able to key in on Ben Gordon more than they where able to last year. Not only that, but he also is a player teams prepare for now last year he kind of came out of no where. We all knew he would be good, but had no idea he would be as good as he was that quick. I think if we are going to pull off a trade this season now is as good a time as any, while we still have a chance to right the ship. Tim Thomas seems like he is in the witness protection program no one is talking about him at all. The Bulls need to find some way to work out a trade involving his contract, easier said then done I know. If we can manage to get a Nazr Muhammad, or Al Harrington then we would really have a chance at making some noise this season. We don?t need an earth shattering trade involving all stars we just need a viable post threat to dish the ball to inside. There where some positives to draw from this game. Tyson Chandler found his long lost offensive game tonight. It was great to see him score double digit points, I can hardly remember the last time that happened. Not only that, but he shot an incredible percentage from the field. I guess Santa gave him his Christmas present.
