Same Sh*t Different Night (Redux)
Wow. Bengo's post from the other night proved quite prophetic. The moment when Ty Thomas got a steal then rolled his ankle on what should have been an easy dunk, thus leading to the ultimate Untimely Three really confirmed the pattern. It's really, really frustrating and I still can't quite figure it out. Part of it is that if Gordon's having an off night, and boy was he ever having one last night, we just can't find anyone to create shots (like Bibby did against us in the final three minutes). This is, quite simply, a must for play-off success. In the play-offs the defense gets really good, the whistles get swallowed and somebody has to find a way to create and hit improbable shots. Motion offense isn't going to do the trick. Maybe having a good low-post scorer would, or maybe Gordon will become Gilbert Arenas in the near future. But even if it's a lame cliche, the fact remains that without a reliable "go-to" guy, it's going to be hard to make it out of the first round.
posted by Nocioni at 12:43 PM
3 Comments:
Just to give credit where it's due, that wasn't me who came up with "The Lull," "Battling Back" and "The Untimely Three" (much as I might wish it was). All I did was recognize its brilliance.
I'm not sure how much stock to put into last night's game. Though certainly it was part of a larger, more general pattern of the Bulls' road play, it seemed somewhat anomalous in terms of just how badly the Bulls played. It was, I would say, easily their worst game of the season. If they can bounce back tonight against Golden State, I'll be impressed and willing to dismiss it as one of those inevitable "Off Nights." If they struggle against the Warriors, though, my concern level about this team is going to be up there around yours.
I mean, just to add on to my previous comment, you're obviously right about Gordon's play last night (horrendous), but Hinrich AND Deng were VERY off as well. Quite frankly, with those three being as bad as they were, it's astonishing that game was as close as it was. I just don't think we should put TOO much emphasis on what was really an aberrant offensive game from our three best players.
Again, I would disagree. This wasn't their worst game, but might have been their worst offensively. (Anytime you lose to the Knicks when you own their first pick, it's a "worst" lost situation.) They rebounded like crazy and played defense, the just had an off shooting night. Kirk was ok if he wasn't shooting 3's and Gordon got his skull thumped early on. But you're definitely right about needing the goto player. Did you see the threeway trade proposal?
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