Bulls/Cavs Game 1 - postgame thoughts

[Kush77]

I'm happy with the way the Bulls fought back. Og course not happy with the loss, but they could have folded the tent when they were down 22.

I though Deng did a good job on James. And I think Rose just needs to be greedy on O and try to get the hoop at all times.

Someone needs to box out or throw a body on Sideshow Bob. Driving me nuts.

 

[pinkizdead]

the bulls got disheartened by the bad calls in the first half, and played absolutely terribly. i think they were all a bit overwhelmed, but they fought back valiantly. Derrick rose looked like an all star. if he got a few of the foul calls that he deserved, this game would have been completely different.

 

[pinkizdead]

well not completely different we probably still would have lost.

 

[RC_Skinny22]

I think this was a game we lost because of very bad rebounding. 13 offensive rebounds for the Cavs I couldn´t believe it.

I also had the feeling that the Bulls fell in love with their midrange shooting again. They should drive to the hoop more often in game 2.

 

[TheStig]

Rose needs to keep the aggression up, guys got block out and half our payroll needs to do something offensively (deng/kirk/miller).

 

[clonetrooper264]

As a whole the team was just bad. We couldn't knock down a shot (1-7 from 3), couldn't get to the line (only 11 FTAs), got shafted by the refs (12 blocks for the Cavs, but only 15 fouls? What?), committed too many fouls (part of that is the refs), and got destroyed on the boards (50 to 38 total, 13 to 7 on the offensive glass). We were just outplayed. Deng was just bad as a whole, Hinrich was mediocre on the offensive end (but really, this is what we expect from him) but only had 1 foul. IMO we could've used our crappy bench a little bit more. Only 10 minutes for Flip and 8 for Warrick. Our guys are gonna tire pretty quick if we keep playing them like this.

 

[Shakes]

I didn't see the game (stupid afternoon game which I didn't realise until last night, 5am for me), but it looks like the Cavs got out early and coasted. Since we were never really in the game, could we have played Noah less than 35 minutes?

Looks like the problems we expected though, we have no three point shooting and don't get to the line. Unless we have a hot night I don't see how we can take a game from the Cavs.

 

[TheStig]

Shakes, the cavs didn't coast. They got the lead up to 22 but we got it down to the single digits in the fourth.

 

[J-Mart]

I usually defend Vinny (Minimally) and I can't even believe he put Pargo in the game during the middle of our run. Unbelievable. You put Pargo in when you need a run, not in the middle of one currently happening.

I believe the main problem was on the boards. We were not boxing out, there were a couple times that I remember where we had 4 of our players going for the rebound and one of the Cavs and they would get it. Thats unacceptable, especially in a playoff game.

Noah was a huge disappointment, he did not come to play today at the level I expected him to. Shaq dominated him in the post during the times the Cavs went to him. The only thing the Cavs will need Shaq for is to get Noah in foul trouble. At least that would be my strategy after this game. I hope Noah works more on his strength during the offseason, if we expect him to be our C for the next 6-7 years than he needs to bulk up more if we ever want to make a playoff run.

Our lack of scoring power is being exposed also, which is expected and needed. Maybe management will realize you need offense to win basketball games and we can get some shooters in here during the offseason.

 

[??? ??????]

I thought we played the Cavs pretty evenly. If it wasn't for the refs, it would have been a tight game down to the final minute.

I felt our front court got completely screwed over by the refs, which forced us to play Brad Miller more. Miller's performance was unaceptable. He wasn't jumping for rebounds, and you can't do that when they have big long athletic guys like Varejao and Lebron, or just long guys like Shaq and Z.

 

[houheffna]

Brad Miller hasn't jumped in 3 years...

I think the game was relatively fair, just the better team won is all, no excuses...

 

[pinkizdead]

you must have watched the same game the refs saw. even if the game was called in a better manner, the cavs still would have won.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Well duh the Cavs are better, but bad officiating just compounds the problem. Better officiating and at least the game could've been more tight or something. Would the Cavs had won anyway? Probably, but it's like the chance for us to compete was robbed somewhat.

 

[theCHI_Life84]

J-Mart wrote:

Noah was a huge disappointment, he did not come to play today at the level I expected him to. Shaq dominated him in the post during the times the Cavs went to him. The only thing the Cavs will need Shaq for is to get Noah in foul trouble. At least that would be my strategy after this game. I hope Noah works more on his strength during the offseason, if we expect him to be our C for the next 6-7 years than he needs to bulk up more if we ever want to make a playoff run.

i dont know how much more weight noah can gain and still be able to run the floor the way he does. you cant compare him to shaq, he is a freak of nature that will toss around any center in the league today. hes got 40-50 lbs. over the heaviest centers yet maintains a ridiculous amount of explosiveness and quickness in his moves. guys as big as him should not be able to move like that.

the only way to stop shaq is to foul him at the right time, make him pass the ball by double teaming him and playing his passing lanes, or make him run to tire him out (noah can outrun him all day).

imo noah shouldnt gain too much weight, it would be counterproductive to the fast-paced "offense" that they are trying to gravitate towards. instead he needs another frontcourt player next to him that is a legitimate threat offensively so in the rare case that noah cannot handle his defensive assignment (ie. shaq, dwight), the bulls have someone to draw fouls on the opposing teams inside players (BOSH :cheer: ).

 

[J-Mart]

theCHI_Life84 wrote:

J-Mart wrote:

Noah was a huge disappointment, he did not come to play today at the level I expected him to. Shaq dominated him in the post during the times the Cavs went to him. The only thing the Cavs will need Shaq for is to get Noah in foul trouble. At least that would be my strategy after this game. I hope Noah works more on his strength during the offseason, if we expect him to be our C for the next 6-7 years than he needs to bulk up more if we ever want to make a playoff run.

i dont know how much more weight noah can gain and still be able to run the floor the way he does. you cant compare him to shaq, he is a freak of nature that will toss around any center in the league today. hes got 40-50 lbs. over the heaviest centers yet maintains a ridiculous amount of explosiveness and quickness in his moves. guys as big as him should not be able to move like that.

the only way to stop shaq is to foul him at the right time, make him pass the ball by double teaming him and playing his passing lanes, or make him run to tire him out (noah can outrun him all day).

imo noah shouldnt gain too much weight, it would be counterproductive to the fast-paced "offense" that they are trying to gravitate towards. instead he needs another frontcourt player next to him that is a legitimate threat offensively so in the rare case that noah cannot handle his defensive assignment (ie. shaq, dwight), the bulls have someone to draw fouls on the opposing teams inside players (BOSH :cheer: ).

I have to disagree with you here. The fact is that you need to be able to play a great halfcourt game if you want to win in the playoffs. Look at the NBA Champions of the Past ten years. That doesn't mean that you don't run the ball, obviously you need to be able to do both extremely well to win. I just don't think that if Noah adds 20 lbs that it would hurt his speed that much. If the weight gain is done properly it should do very little to his speed. It shocks me that anyone would dispute Noah needs to gain a significant amount of weight still. This was also a problem against the Celtics last year, Noah and Tyrus were getting out muscled.

Noah needs to be able to defend centers that are stronger then him in the half court. Playoffs are a half court game so if Noah is the true winner that he makes himself out to be, he needs to get stronger. I expect him to do so with how much muscle he gained from last season to this one but he still has a long way to go.

The only other solution to the problem would be to sign a big guy with some muscle to take over these assignments for Noah, but I personally would rather see Noah fix the problem him self with some heavy weight lifting. He starts to become a liability if he gets manhandled like that, even if its from Dwight or Shaq. Shaq may be done soon but Dwight is going to be around a while. So either 1. Noah needs to add strength or 2. we need to bring in someone who does. If option number two ends up being the plan, then this starts to limits Noah's overall minutes which leads to a whole other set of problems.

 

[fola]

I'm sorry, but at no point did I feel the bulls were really in that game. Lebron wasn't even trying.