19 replies to this topic

[thejohnnygold]

Thought I'd start a thread for everyone to discuss the upcoming game against the Bulls.  On January 5th, the Bulls put a hurtin' on us.  Pau went off for 27 and 14.  Jimmy Butler made his case for being a top SG in the league.  Joakim Noah tallied 6 of Chicago's 12 total blocks.  D-Rose was one assist shy of a double-double.  Even Nikola Mirotic got in on the act exacting revenge on Morey for trading him by posting a 17 & 8 with 2 blocks..

 

For the good guys, Patrick Beverley played one of his best games of the season in front of his hometown crowd posting a quality 31 minutes of play going 7-12 for 14 points, 6 rebs, 6 asts, 1 stl, and 2 blks with 0 turnovers.  D-Mo was solid as well and looked very good against Gasol and Noah.

 

Josh Smith was both Jeckyl and Hyde for us.  His line was nice: 10-20 for 20 points with 6 rebs, 2 asts, and 3 stls.  He also added 4 turnovers, went 1-5 from deep (although that was not as bad as it appears), made some questionable crunch time choices, and had a team worst -19 +/-.

 

All in all, we played well, but down the stretch Chicago cranked up the D and we fell apart.

 

So, what can we expect this time around?  D-Mo should start in place of Dwight.  T-Jones will help.  Harden will want to show that Butler can't shut him down.  Beverley likes to play Chicago.

 

Both teams will be well-rested as Chicago hasn't played since losing to the Suns on Friday while Houston is coming off of Saturday's loss to Detroit.

 

What are everyone's thoughts, predictions, questions for the upcoming game?

 

[Losthief]

Losing Dwight hurts alot against this team with dual 7 footers. I think the key thing will be keeping DMO out of foul trouble so we don't have to see too many times 6'8/6'9 front line (for us) versus there dual 7 footers. 

[Mario Peña]

According to KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune Mike Dunleavy will be out against the Rockets and may now be out till the All Star break. The Bulls are hurting on the three point line and shouldn't be able space the court against the Rockets which may in turn lead to a high steals game if Ariza, Harden and Brew can jump the passing lanes.

[Sir Thursday]

That game against the Bulls was one of the best games I've watched this year (even if the Rockets imploded at the end). Both teams played at a ridiculously high level for most of the game and it was close all the way through. Looking forward to the rematch. We may struggle with their size, but I seem to remember last game we had more trouble with Pau's ability to step out and hit the 18 footer than with the fact that they were playing two seven footers. Hopefully with some more nimble players on the court we'll have a better shot at containing him.

 

ST

[cointurtlemoose]

^Agreed! Especially the first half; both teams were firing on all cylinders. Super fun to watch.

 

Last time, I found our offense very frustrating down the stretch in the fourth. I think some of that was execution, some was their D, and some was our coaching (or lack thereof).

 

The Bulls have been struggling on both ends lately... I'm not too worried about their size. Jones will help this time, and Noah has seemed out of sorts. But I'm especially interested in the Harden-Butler rematch. I agree that Harden will, or at least should, play with a chip on his shoulder this time!

 

I predict a ~10 point win!

[clydesmoustache]

For me this game and probably the next month is about can D-Mo stay out of foul trouble. If he does I think this is a win. I

[Losthief]

To be clear about something when i say i'm worried about their size, i don't mean on defending in the post as we do great at that. I mostly referring to rebounding where because DMO is a sub-par rebounder for a 7 footer and without dwight we are essentially playing 6'8/6'9 guys as our primary rebounders (ariza and either jones/smith). I just worry about us giving up too many offensive rebounds. Has to be a group effort, especially from our wing guys (harden, ariza, brewer)

Edited by Losthief, 04 February 2015 - 07:53 AM.

[Alituro]

I say it's time to get revenge for the flop fest that was our last meeting. As usual, we start Dorsey at the 5, give him the ball at the top of the key for the opening plays, where you know he'll garner no immediate attention and have him barrel right into the solar plexus' of Gasol and Noah, full force, full speed. Don't injure them, just make them feel it and remember it each time they extend their bodies for the rest of the game. If there is no contact, don't act like there's contact, or next time there will be CONTACT. Rinse and repeat if they start that poppycock again. Keep your elbows in and a player with the ball will never get a flagrant. I'm really showing my old school colors here. To me, overly physical play, to send a message is not nearly as dirty as the euro-floppin'. One has to set and determine the Ref's tone also.

 

Last game we had an almost 20 pt edge in Pts in the paint, with Dwight only ringing in 12. With the athleticism of Jones and Smith we should still be able to hold that edge especially if they are playing with Dorsey-induced sore abs. Special attention must be paid to rebounding across the entire squad. I look for us to revert to our pre-Dwight, pre-Har(D)en days and get running and gunning, playing passing lanes hard and looking for the fast breaks. They have a dynamic PG in Rose and an A-plus Harden stopper in Butler. In the half court sets I expect Beverley to be controlling the ball a lot utilizing high PnRs to make Rose work harder and try to catch him out of position, make him close out on the corner 3's and to challenge any inclination Butler may have to switch off Harden. I think that initial action can open up a lot of scoring ops for us. It also allows Harden to conserve his energy better without the pressure of being the primary ball handler.

[thejohnnygold]

I'm definitely going to be parked in front of the TV tonight.  As frightening as it sounds, I think josh Smith is our X-factor tonight.  Jimmy Butler looked like the real deal defending Harden.  Unless Ariza/Brewer go nuts from deep I think we are going to need a 20+ point effort from Smith to get the win.

 

Here is an interesting chart from NBA.com.

 

 

I highlighted some stats I found interesting.  Most of them stay pretty consistent; however, one surprise was that Josh Smith shoots more threes in wins.  He also gets fewer assists and double doubles.  My guess is that this is due to him playing off the ball and playing within the offense rather than trying to be the offense.  While he may shoot more threes, those threes are more likely to be open and assisted.

 

Check out this shot chart from vorped.com

 

 

This is just for Houston.  Egads!  You gotta love the 12-22 from the corners....and just pray he doesn't shoot one from the top of the arc....or just about anywhere else that isn't the restricted area 

[cointurtlemoose]

^Good data, and to me, it confirms the absolute necessity of penetration to our offense working like it's supposed to.

 

... which in turn confirms my conviction that we need another perimeter playmaker besides Harden

[txtdo1411]

I'm in the same boat as Losthief, which is very worried about their size. Not necessarily their post scoring, as mentioned earlier Pau absolutely destroyed us with that 15-18 foot jumper last game, but because of the rebounding. I don't know if we are going to have enough size to bang down low on the boards. Of course, earlier in the year, I thought the same thing when we were short-handed against the Grizzlies, and we proceeded to just physically dismantle them... so what do I know? 

 

I would like to see Harden have a good game against Butler. He doesn't need to score a ton, but i would like to see Harden handle Butler's (we'll call it "aggressive physical") defense. I don't care if he scores 25+, but I would like to see him play within the flow, and not let the physicality of Butler get to him. Stay engaged and make sure to keep teammates involved. 

 

I say we win 107-102. Brewer is the player of the game with 19 points off the bench, and 4 steals 

Edited by txtdo1411, 04 February 2015 - 08:41 PM.

[Mario Peña]

2:19 left in the first and the bench looks like they are getting off to a good start.

[Mario Peña]

I love Battier but he's cheesing it up just a hair too much.

[thejohnnygold]

Yeah, he didn't provide much in the commentator booth--might have been nervous.

 

Great game for the good guys.  Smith didn't shoot well, but he was a force in just about every other aspect of the game.  He set up Ariza for quite a few of his 20 points.

 

Joey Dorsey going up for a dunk is reminiscent of Omer Asik...you're never really sure how it's going to end 

[Alituro]

 

 

Joey Dorsey going up for a dunk is reminiscent of Omer Asik...you're never really sure how it's going to end 

Gorilla Dunks!

 

Gorilla Clunks!

 

LOL!

[thejohnnygold]

Yeah, we are far removed from the younger version of Dorsey....he used to be quite the athlete.

 

Aside from his self-block at the rim, I thought Dorsey played well.  The refs let Pau do whatever he wanted to him while whistling Dorsey for Pau's offensive fouls.  It was ludicrous, but such is the life of NBA scrubs.  My favorite was when Pau hooked Dorsey by the neck/head, scored, and got the +1....Van Gundy called them out on that one it was so bad.

[YaoMan]

Yeah, we are far removed from the younger version of Dorsey....he used to be quite the athlete.

 

Aside from his self-block at the rim, I thought Dorsey played well.  The refs let Pau do whatever he wanted to him while whistling Dorsey for Pau's offensive fouls.  It was ludicrous, but such is the life of NBA scrubs.  My favorite was when Pau hooked Dorsey by the neck/head, scored, and got the +1....Van Gundy called them out on that one it was so bad.

And didn't he (Pau) hook D-Mo in the 2nd quarter and got away with that too?

Edited by YaoMan, 05 February 2015 - 11:19 PM.

[cointurtlemoose]

That fourth quarter defensive stand we had really made me quite happy. Jones and Smith really surprised me as quite the rim-protecting duo!

[txtdo1411]

Was last night Battier's first time calling a game? It was so bad. One would think it has to get better, but I don't think I have ever cringed as much as I did last night at some of his commentary. Maybe it is because I like Battier, the person, so much that I really really wanted him to be good... and he was not at all. 

[Losthief]

no he did the bulls game a few weeks back on espn as well. It was cringe worthy too.