NBA Playoffs Thread

[Dick Whitman]

Carlos boozer need to step up n take charges!!!!

He is an overpaid hack.

In his defense, he had a nice little stretch there in the first half when the Bulls were in desperate need of somebody to provide some offense.

 

[Point of Order]

Miami is too good tonight. Bosch hitting some sick junk. Bulls blew the series back in Chicago.

 

[BrianGriffin]

Interesting that the Dallas-OKC game didn't get any feedback on here.

I thought it was a veteran team sort of being more mature. Both coaches had good defensive game plans. But when OKC did a good job on Dirk, there would be ball movement and Kidd, Terry or (especially) Marion would hit shots. When Dallas clamped down on OKC, they got stagnant.

Goes back to Kidd v. Westbrook to me.

I feel bad for Boozer in a way because all that's happened this year is people have figured out his limitations. He was a system player in Utah. Now that he's not

 

[qtlaw]

O

Carlos boozer need to step up n take charges!!!!

He is an overpaid hack.

In his defense, he had a nice little stretch there in the first half when the Bulls were in desperate need of somebody to provide some offense.

Boozer is the biggest fraud out there.

Yes he scored and I saw him get a couple of tough rebounds.

But he does nothing to help on d except to yell and point at others and look tough taking ball out of bounds after a hoop. he is a big Monta Ellis.u

What's worse is he had at least 4 easy and 1s after touch fouls and blew every single one.

I think he cannot handkerchief pressure either.

 

[Bob Cook]

The Heat are doing a brilliant job defending Rose. There are no open lanes for him to drive through. They're pretty much daring every other Bulls player to score, knowing they can't. For all the talk about the big three (and Bosh is certainly taking advantage of the Bulls overplaying James and Wade), Anthony and Haslem have come up big to shut down Boozer and Noah inside. Sure, Boozer's numbers were good last night, but they were like Bosh in game one -- big, but of little impact. It was apparent in the Indiana series that it was very easy to get Chicago's offense out of rhythm, and now that the Bulls are facing a team with the talent to pull it off for 48 minutes, they're in trouble.

The thing is, the Bulls are playing good defense, even though they have no one to match up to James. For Rose and the Bulls to get to the Finals, they are going to have to acquire a great scorer. Luol Deng ain't it.

And, by the way, thanks to Joakim Noah and his Kobe-style gay slur for helping to prove Danny Granger right about what a jerk he is.

 

[Dick Whitman]

This may be a stupid question, but with Boozer struggling, what's the harm in benching him and starting Taj Gibson?

It's a good question, but moot. The answer is: That's not how Thibs rolls.

 

[dreunc1542]

This may be a stupid question, but with Boozer struggling, what's the harm in benching him and starting Taj Gibson?

Boozer had 26 points and 17 rebounds last night. He's had three double-doubles in the past five games (and just missed one in another with 14 and 9). He's not played up to expectations at times in the playoffs, game two of this series being one of them, but a much bigger issue for the Bulls is that they haven't been able to hit outside shots when the Heat clog the middle against Rose and their big men.

 

[Bob Cook]

This may be a stupid question, but with Boozer struggling, what's the harm in benching him and starting Taj Gibson?

Boozer had 26 points and 17 rebounds last night. He's had three double-doubles in the past five games (and just missed one in the other with 14 and 9). He's not played up to expectations at times in the playoffs, game two of this series being one of them, but a much bigger issue for the Bulls is that they haven't been able to hit outside shots when the Heat clog the middle against Rose and their big men.

Also, it's been hard for Boozer and Noah to be good at the same time. As Boozer's numbers have improved, Noah's have gone in the toilet, and while Noah doesn't score, his passing and offensive rebounding are a big part of the offense. As for Gibson, the Heat are fine giving up some to him if it means Rose isn't running free, so I wouldn't get too excited over his production.

 

[BrianGriffin]

This may be a stupid question, but with Boozer struggling, what's the harm in benching him and starting Taj Gibson?

Boozer had 26 points and 17 rebounds last night. He's had three double-doubles in the past five games (and just missed one in another with 14 and 9). He's not played up to expectations at times in the playoffs, game two of this series being one of them, but a much bigger issue for the Bulls is that they haven't been able to hit outside shots when the Heat clog the middle against Rose and their big men.

Boozer's big problem is he's a defensive liability. He's not big enough to guard a significant power forward like Bosh.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

O

Carlos boozer need to step up n take charges!!!!

He is an overpaid hack.

In his defense, he had a nice little stretch there in the first half when the Bulls were in desperate need of somebody to provide some offense.

Boozer is the biggest fraud out there.

Yes he scored and I saw him get a couple of tough rebounds.

But he does nothing to help on d except to yell and point at others and look tough taking ball out of bounds after a hoop. he is a big Monta Ellis.u

What's worse is he had at least 4 easy and 1s after touch fouls and blew every single one.

I think he cannot handkerchief pressure either.

That last line made me laugh. So random. Must have been posted from your phone.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Why isn't anyone talking about the NBA?

Is it because LeBron won again?

Buncha HATERS!!!!!!!

[/dorks]

 

[Stoney]

Why isn't anyone talking about the NBA?

Is it because LeBron won again?

Buncha HATERS!!!!!!!

[/dorks]

Yeah, amazing the way that always happens. Except when it doesn't.

And, btw, I noticed there were also no comments on Saturday's Mavs/Thunder game, to what deep-seeded board bias can we attibute that silence?

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Why isn't anyone talking about the NBA?

Is it because LeBron won again?

Buncha HATERS!!!!!!!

[/dorks]

Yeah, amazing the way that always happens. Except when it doesn't.

And, btw, I noticed there were also no comments on Saturday's Mavs/Thunder game, to what deep-seeded board bias can we attibute that silence?

Hatred of Tyson Chandler.

Two of the biggest punks in the league already pick up double T's ... big surprise.

chandler one of the biggest punks in the league?

Kinda the same story as Perkins, off the court, sure he's great, but on it is a different story.

 

[qtlaw]

O

Carlos boozer need to step up n take charges!!!!

He is an overpaid hack.

In his defense, he had a nice little stretch there in the first half when the Bulls were in desperate need of somebody to provide some offense.

Boozer is the biggest fraud out there.

Yes he scored and I saw him get a couple of tough rebounds.

But he does nothing to help on d except to yell and point at others and look tough taking ball out of bounds after a hoop. he is a big Monta Ellis.u

What's worse is he had at least 4 easy and 1s after touch fouls and blew every single one.

I think he cannot handkerchief pressure either.

That last line made me laugh. So random. Must have been posted from your phone.

Yep, damn auto spell. But I bet his defensive reactions (really lack thereof) makes you think Thibedoeau need a handkerchief at times.

Sometimes, defensive players make really stupid decisions, like Noah trailing Bosh on a Bibby screen and going over it, which leads to a Bosh dunk. Bosh is not Rip Hamilton, why not go under the screen?

 

[zimbabwe]

I don't quite get all of the fawning over Miami's defense.

Miami plays good defense. But its offense is the reason it is winning this series.

How "brilliant" is it to double Rose? Certainly the Heat have done a better job than anyone else of forcing the ball out of his hands, and are running much higher-quality defenders at him.

Put it this way: What was more impressive in Game 3, from a purely defensive standpoint: Miami holding Chicago to 85 points, or Chicago holding Miami to 96?

 

[Bob Cook]

I don't quite get all of the fawning over Miami's defense.

Miami plays good defense. But its offense is the reason it is winning this series.

How "brilliant" is it to double Rose? Certainly the Heat have done a better job than anyone else of forcing the ball out of his hands, and are running much higher-quality defenders at him.

Put it this way: What was more impressive in Game 3, from a purely defensive standpoint: Miami holding Chicago to 85 points, or Chicago holding Miami to 96?

What Miami is doing, that others aren't, is quickly switching defenders so that Rose is never unguarded, and doing so in ways that do not create open lanes. When Rose does drive, they're on him so fast that he doesn't have time to make a decision on getting rid of the ball.

To answer your question, the Heat holding the Bulls to 85 is more impressive. The Bulls' weren't an offensive juggernaut, but that is still 13 below their average. Plus, the Bulls only gave up 91 per game, so Miami does well to go above that number. The thing is, Miami doesn't have to score in bunches. As long as the Heat get 90, they win. Their defense has put the screws on the Bulls, and unless Korver and Deng start hitting shots, and Noah starts wreaking havoc on the offensive boards, Chicago is going to have a hard time winning another game, much less the series.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Korver has zero or one FG in six of the last eight playoff games. And that includes nights of 1-7, 1-8 and 1-9.

 

[BrianGriffin]

Bulls don't need to panic. They can still win tomorrow and regain home court.

I don't buy the notion that the Bulls have no answer to the Heat's help rotation on Rose. It's there, they just need to figure out how to take advantage. The Mavericks had Dirk taken away Saturday and they moved the ball and scored. Someobody's going to have an opportunity to do the same for Chicago.

As noted above, Korver isn't getting it done right now. He may be the key. He's the kind of player who will go 1-for-9, then 1-for-8, then 8-for-11. If he has that kind of night Tuesday, it's probably 2-2 headed back to Chicago.

Again, the Bulls are in some trouble. But Miami's far from out of the woods yet.

 

[zimbabwe]

Bob,

It doesn't seem to me that Miami is doing anything new in guarding Rose. Just doing it better.

Everyone has trapped Rose on the pick-and-roll. Miami is just quicker and longer and more persistent.

The Bulls aren't a juggernaut, as you say. But they aren't almost a juggernaut or one notch below "juggernaut" (which is what, "leviathan?" ;D ).

Korver wasn't hitting against Atlanta, either. Boozer was mediocre on offense (and continues to be a catastrophic liability on defense).

I guess where we diverge (if we do) is that it just didn't matter, because Atlanta was easier to defend.

Here's the minimum points the Bulls would have needed to win the four games they won over Atlanta: 74, 83, 84, 74.

Maybe I'm just being a fanboi. I was impressed by Miami's defense but I also feel like the Bulls played a BAD offensive game, all on their own.

I know you can't weigh a team's offensive performance in a vacuum. But the Bulls turned the ball over a lot on purely bad decisions and dumb passes. They missed lay-ins and makeable and-1's that had nothing to do with Miami's defense. They fumbled passes (one play -- where Gibson failed to catch a pass he would have dunked easily, leading to a rushed 3 at the buzzer followed by a LeBron 3 in transition in the fourth quarter -- looms large in my day-after recall) and took bad shots.

Both teams play very good defense. Many, many possessions in this series come down to the last eight seconds of the shot clock, when the first few options in a give half-court set have produced no advantage.

Miami has two (and three, with Bosh) masters at finishing a possession in the final eight seconds of a shot clock.

Chicago has one.

That, more than Miami's purported brilliant or suffocating defense, explains why the series stands where it stands.

 

[JakeandElwood]

Bulls don't need to panic. They can still win tomorrow and regain home court.

I don't buy the notion that the Bulls have no answer to the Heat's help rotation on Rose. It's there, they just need to figure out how to take advantage. The Mavericks had Dirk taken away Saturday and they moved the ball and scored. Someobody's going to have an opportunity to do the same for Chicago.

As noted above, Korver isn't getting it done right now. He may be the key. He's the kind of player who will go 1-for-9, then 1-for-8, then 8-for-11. If he has that kind of night Tuesday, it's probably 2-2 headed back to Chicago.

Again, the Bulls are in some trouble. But Miami's far from out of the woods yet.

Yeah, this series is over just as much as it was over when the Bulls were up 1-0. But it really will be over with a loss tomorrow night.