Just posted at bulls.com: Ben may not play tonight!!!!!

[Diddy1122]

BG has grade 2 strain. That's not good. It takes typically 4-6 weeks to recover from. If he does play, it's not going to be the same BG. And if people thought he was a liability on D when he was healthy, he will be a major liability with this injury. You could see the signs of it in the 1st OT when he could not get thru any screens and Allen was open 85% of the time.

I think BG will play, because he's a warrior, but he will be limited and it's going to be up to his teammates to pick him up, especially Hinrich who needs to play like the Hinrich of 06-07, knocking down open shots, and playing lock down D in order for us to pull out a shocker tonight.

 

[??? ??????]

We could try to put Gordon on Rondo, and then when Rondo blows past Gordon, try to run Rondo into some charges, like we did to Dwyane Wade two years ago.

 

[Fred]

dougthonus wrote:

Fred wrote:

Our "defensive" lineup was out there (minus Gordon) when Allen hit his game-winning 3 in Game 2, and it was out there when he tied it up in Game 4. So I don't expect Ray Allen to wilt like a flower, now that he will be guarded by the greatest perimeter defender in the history of basketball.

No, but the Bulls will probably lose by 80 without Ben "2x as good as Jordan" Gordon on the floor.

See how hyperbole lorks both ways?

With Gordon out, this is Kirk's chance to shine. Last year, he had his season high with Gordon out against the Pacers. Unfortunately, he also shot 5-17 (1-6 from 3-point range) against a 9-36 Timberwolves team a few days later, sans Gordon, and the Bulls lost 83-67. Which Kirk will show up tonight? I'm hoping and praying for our 10 million man to prove his worth.

If he can somehow hold a guy like Ray Allen to 1-11 shooting, that very well could be the greatest defensive performance in the history of basketball.

Kirk definitely needs to step up and have a big game if Gordon is limited/out, but we're likely screwed either way. We're running with a 7 man rotation and lost a guy (possibly) who was using 40 of those minutes or so in the series per game. Kirk can play an extra 18 minutes or so and go up to around 40, but it leaves 22 of Gordon's minutes to be replaced by guys like Hunter/Linton Johnson.

Well, if we lose by 80, at least we know who jinxed us.

Kirk and John need to play 42 minutes. Rose has to play 48. The remaining 12 minutes should be given to Tyrus. During those 12 minutes, let him play the 3, with John or Kirk playing the 2.

Kirk needs to stay out of foul trouble in this game. When Rose picked up 2 quick fouls in Game 2, our Captain somehow picked up 4 in the first half. He can't do that again, or Lindsey will have a heart attack.

 

[TheStig]

Is BG definetly out for tonight? I think he will be able to give us 25 min, espically against house, marbs, or tony allen. Or we can go into zone for that time.

 

[??? ??????]

BTW, here is more of the drone talk Fred was talking about in the comments section.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4108057&name=friedell

Gordon had no impact on the game...ignoring his 10 points in an ~3 minute span, giving the Bulls a 3 point lead on his final shot with a little over a minute left in the game.

 

[dougthonus]

Well, if we lose by 80, at least we know who jinxed us.

I feel pretty safe. If I said 30, not so much.

Kirk and John need to play 42 minutes. Rose has to play 48. The remaining 12 minutes should be given to Tyrus. During those 12 minutes, let him play the 3, with John or Kirk playing the 2.

Kirk needs to stay out of foul trouble in this game. When Rose picked up 2 quick fouls in Game 2, our Captain somehow picked up 4 in the first half. He can't do that again, or Lindsey will have a heart attack.

I agree, foul trouble for any of our guards, if Gordon can't play at all, will mean we're completely screwed rather than mostly screwed. I think it would take an incredibly poor showing by Boston combined with a great showing by everyone else on the Bulls to win with Gordon out.

The problem will be where do you pick your spots to play Hunter and/or Johnson. If you play them against the starters you'll get killed, if you play them against the backups you have to hope you don't get killed and lose your best chance to gain ground on Boston.

 

[TheStig]

Just heard on espn1000 BG is going to play tonight.

 

[dougthonus]

TheStig wrote:

Just heard on espn1000 BG is going to play tonight.

It will be interesting to see how healthy he is. I'm proud of BG for gutting it out, though I (of course) have no idea how bad the pain he's feeling is.

It's tough though, we've already seen Salmons effected so much, and if Gordon is similarly effected it will be a big issue for us.

That said, he's still got to be way better than Hunter/Linton.

 

[TheStig]

dougthonus wrote:

TheStig wrote:

Just heard on espn1000 BG is going to play tonight.

It will be interesting to see how healthy he is. I'm proud of BG for gutting it out, though I (of course) have no idea how bad the pain he's feeling is.

It's tough though, we've already seen Salmons effected so much, and if Gordon is similarly effected it will be a big issue for us.

That said, he's still got to be way better than Hunter/Linton.

I acutally wouldn't mind him coming off the bench tonight. Let him match up to marbs or House when they come in so he doesn't have to work as hard on D.