2011 Chicago Bulls Playoff Thread (5/26 7:30pm CST - TNT)

[Flames24Rulz]

Boozer had 26 and 17 yesterday. He had an awful first quarter, but he was the only reason the Bulls were even close yesterday. I don't understand why people are bashing him after that game.

 

If you're looking for a frontcourt player to blame, how about the guy that scored 1 point last night?

 

I fell asleep after the first seven minutes and didn't realize he finished with that line. Still, that was a horrible start to the game.

 

No doubt. He was putrid in the early going.

 

Obviously it didn't end up mattering, but if he didn't have the third quarter that he had, the Bulls probably lose that game by 20. It's really frustrating hearing people complaining about Boozer when there were a ton of other negatives from last night. But a lot of people have targeted Boozer as the scapegoat for whatever failures the Bulls have and/or will have, so I guess that's to be expected.

[UMFan83]

I'll give Boozer credit, he was scoring when no one else could, and he did put up 26 points...but on 19 shots for a PF? 42% FG% for someone with a career 53% FG%. He missed at least 7-8 point blank right at the rim shots, and had another 3-4 flat out blocked. I'll give him credit for finding ways to score, but This 26 point effort is not the same as the efficient 26 point games he had as a jazz player when he could actually finish at the rim with some authority.

 

Obviously people had worse games last night but people continue to hate on Boozer for a couple of reasons.

 

1) His defense was as usual terrible last night. There was some discussion about this on RealGM, but one of the guys correctly pointed out that the Heat are specifically running their offensive sets so Boozer has to be the help man rotating to a cutting Heat player, and have really exploited that throughout the game last night. As usual, Boozer was late to rotate or didn't rotate at all and the Bulls suffered because of it. That Bosh dunk was the most obvious example.

2) Overall he has been really really bad compared to his normal numbers in the playoffs, which has been a huge disapointment to Bulls fans. For instance, he is shooting 43% in the playoffs this year. In his career he is a 53% shooter. Boozer is supposed to the our 2nd scoring option and for a majority of the postseason he hasn't been (but did have a very nice stretch in the 2nd where we ran the offense through him and he delivered. few and far between).

3) ....I'm not sure how to say this nicely. Boozer is not a very likable person IMO. He is constantly screaming during every play, which bothers people when he's not playing well. He tries to take it hard to the basket several times, gets swatted 4 times and on the 5th attempt finally gets a lightly contested dunk and celebrates and yells at the crowd like he's the best player ever where the rest of the players are running back up the court. Little things like that and the fact that he's way underperforming are going to put him under the microscope more than someone like Noah, who fans generally like.

 

I realize a lot of point 3 is subjective, and you can probably guess that I'm not a big fan of Boozer overall. I hope he does awesome and I hope he makes me look like a fool, but right now I don't like the player or the personality (at least on the court...seems like a real nice guy off of it). I understand and respect that some people might have a different opinion of his personality, but I am definitely not the only person that feels like that.

 

Edit: And yes despite this, I do think people are starting to use Boozer as a scapegoat and more often than not its not really fair. I don't think there is a single loss this playoffs you can pin soley on him. But he's definitely part of the problem, even in games like last night.

[Derwood]

I just don't understand why Boozer goes so weak to the rim. Unless he's wide open, he never goes up for a dunk.

[gflore34]

I just don't understand why Boozer goes so weak to the rim. Unless he's wide open, he never goes up for a dunk.

 

Nor do I, if I had a size and bulk he has and Wade was between me and the hoop I'd bury Wade while going up for a dunk.

[cubbyvirus00]

This has to be one of the most frustrating playoff series I've ever watched. The Bulls don't look like they have a MVP or a Coach of the Year. The only untouchable player on this team is Rose who has looked like garbage the last two games. I would look to gut the roster for Howard because this team will not win a title as is.

[Guest]

For me, part of my disappointment with Boozer in this particular series is that he's not LeBron or Wade.

[Sammy Sofa]

This has to be one of the most frustrating playoff series I've ever watched. The Bulls don't look like they have a MVP or a Coach of the Year. The only untouchable player on this team is Rose who has looked like garbage the last two games. I would look to gut the roster for Howard because this team will not win a title as is.

 

You would look to "gut the roster?"

 

And playing in the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat in a year when just making the second round would have been an accomplishment is "one of the must frustrating playoff series you've ever watched?"

 

U mad?

[Derwood]

Bulls never lost 3 straight games all season. :beg:

[rawaction]

Bulls never lost 3 straight games all season. :beg:

 

And they have not lost 2 straight home games all season. So, losing game 2 at home and game 3 means that if history holds true, the Bulls will be up 3-2 going into game 6.

[erik316wttn]

Guys, I want the Bulls to win, but trolling is more fun.

 

Is that both of your arguments?

 

We're just awash in a sea of erik's here.

 

You say that like it's a bad thing.

 

And also I still think this series goes 7. The Bulls are nowhere near finished, IMO.

[SpongeWorthy]

Boozer goes weak because he has no leaping ability at all. Not sure why we keep running stuff for him in the high post. He's not even that good a face up player. Bosh, as annoying as he is, was putting some really impressive moves on us by facing up.

 

Basically Boozer needs to play like ZBo and start as low on the block as possible.

[Andy]

Boozer needs to at least go up stronger. At the least he would likely draw a couple of more foul calls. When you're fading away from the basket going up for a close-in shot, you're not going to a get a call.

[UMFan83]

This has to be one of the most frustrating playoff series I've ever watched. The Bulls don't look like they have a MVP or a Coach of the Year. The only untouchable player on this team is Rose who has looked like garbage the last two games. I would look to gut the roster for Howard because this team will not win a title as is.

 

Or we could get a SG that can score and play adequate defense to open everything up for Rose.

 

But your way is good too. It totally makes sense to dismantle the team that won 62 games and had the best defense in the league all because we ran into a team that could exploit our few weaknesses in the conference finals.

[cubbyvirus00]

This has to be one of the most frustrating playoff series I've ever watched. The Bulls don't look like they have a MVP or a Coach of the Year. The only untouchable player on this team is Rose who has looked like garbage the last two games. I would look to gut the roster for Howard because this team will not win a title as is.

 

Or we could get a SG that can score and play adequate defense to open everything up for Rose.

 

But your way is good too. It totally makes sense to dismantle the team that won 62 games and had the best defense in the league all because we ran into a team that could exploit our few weaknesses in the conference finals.

 

Yes because the Bulls didn't overachieve at all this season. Defense is great, but at the end of the day we have very limited offense with a PG as our primary scorer. Against the Pacers and Hawks the Bulls have looked pretty shaky offensively.

[Mike Aller]

The Bulls remind me of the Cavaliers of 08-09 and 09-10. I hope there is a much different result, as I'll be rooting for the Bulls to win it all, but the frustrations seem similar. Average to slightly above average players around your star, but solid playoff defensive sets seem to shut the team down. I think the Bulls are a more complete team than either of those Cleveland teams, but I'd hate to see the same result.

[17 Seconds]

boozer gave back most of what he did offensively. his "defense" on chris bosh was ridiculous.

 

and i agree with whoever it was that said he's soft and needs to go up stronger. every time he's going to the rim i have no faith whatsoever that he'll finish. i expect a loud grunt from him, followed by the ball bouncing off the backboard and him looking for a foul.

[scarey]

This has to be one of the most frustrating playoff series I've ever watched. The Bulls don't look like they have a MVP or a Coach of the Year. The only untouchable player on this team is Rose who has looked like garbage the last two games. I would look to gut the roster for Howard because this team will not win a title as is.

 

Or we could get a SG that can score and play adequate defense to open everything up for Rose.

 

But your way is good too. It totally makes sense to dismantle the team that won 62 games and had the best defense in the league all because we ran into a team that could exploit our few weaknesses in the conference finals.

 

Yes because the Bulls didn't overachieve at all this season. Defense is great, but at the end of the day we have very limited offense with a PG as our primary scorer. Against the Pacers and Hawks the Bulls have looked pretty shaky offensively.

 

I'm convinced your a Heat troll. Or you haven't watched a lot of NBA basketball. One of those.

[Derwood]

It would be nice to see our big men actually try a pump fake in the paint now or then. I think they get blocked so often because they always go straight up without any attempts to get the defense off it's feet/out of position

[DivineBovine]

Rachel Nichols on Sportcenter just said that Rose wants more isolation tonight and wants to be more aggressive. Should be interesting.

[Tyrant]

Rachel Nichols on Sportcenter just said that Rose wants more isolation tonight and wants to be more aggressive. Should be interesting.

 

I hope this doesn't mean he ends up taking 30 shots.

[UMFan83]

Rachel Nichols on Sportcenter just said that Rose wants more isolation tonight and wants to be more aggressive. Should be interesting.

 

I don't know how much I buy those sort of reports. If the Bulls game plan was to run a lot of iso for Rose, would they really leak that out hours before the game?

 

It is interesting though. My impression is that he wasn't getting it to the paint a lot because he couldn't. Every time he tried, he had 3 Heat guys there waiting for him, ready to take a charge or just overall stop his movement. It will be really interesting to see what Thibs has planned to get Rose some space in the lane.

 

One thing I was wondering is, have they been running the play where Boozer is open at the FT line on Rose drives like they did in game 6? Because that's a huge key, if we can get any of our bigs hitting 12-15 foot jumpers that changes everything. If we can get our SG to hit jumpers or create their own shots, that also changes everything. Right now the Heat can just pack the lane and dare everyone else to beat them. I can't see how that changes until our PF or SG proves they can hit open jumpers.

 

I will be shocked and dispointed if Kurt Thomas isn't playing at least 10 minutes tonight.

[WrigleyField 22]

I hope his agressiveness causes two things:

 

1. Trips to the foul line

2. Open shots when Miami closes

 

Rose taking 30 shots isn't necessarily a problem, and if he gets to the line 12-15 times by doing so, and doesn't turn it over too much, it could be a big boost.

 

We shall see, Miami D has been tough on him, and to some extent there just isn't going to be room to be aggresive.

[UMFan83]

Not sure how I feel about this but...tonights refs:

 

Joe Crawford

Ed Malloy

Bennett Salvatore

 

 

Joe Crawford was the ref who was involved in the Dirk FT fest in game 1.

 

Salvatore is the ref who whistled that foul on Rose's 3 point attempt in Atlanta and changed his mind, and then later said he should have called a foul.

 

If Rose is going iso a lot tonight, then he's driving a lot. If he's driving a lot, its possible he's gonna get a ton of foul calls. Crawford because that's what he does. Salvatore because he knows he fucked up.

 

Sure that means Wade and James will be shooting just as many, but they were going to no matter what. At least that might even everything out.

[DivineBovine]

Well a lot of people in the media have been calling out the pick and roll saying that it just brings an extra defender to Rose. Could it be Thibs is going to give in to the media that easy? He really hasn't all year. I don't think it will be as simple as going iso with Rose.

[Tyrant]

Sure that means Wade and James will be shooting just as many, but they were going to no matter what. At least that might even everything out.

 

It makes me nervous. Crawford would have no problem sending LeBron and Wade to the line 15 times each.