Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Artest ( B- ) -- definitely not Ron's A game, and simply missed too many shots, but there is a funny thing happening with Ron now. Its not about the numbers. He comes in, and his presence is such that the whole team plays so much better. He gets 9. But everyone else feeds off him, and the defense ratchets up about 10 notches. He gets 9, but the team is probably +20 with him on court. Making it hard here for me to grade him below the Bs, and I'm having a hard time envisioning what a D or F looks like for him. Came up a little gimpy late in the third, but amazingly the game was already over by that point. Made his usual handful of tremendous defensive plays, including one combo blocked shot, followed by a steal, on the same Bulls posession in the late going. Also was again bringing the ball up the court, handling, and running the team. Favorite play of the night though might have been him just showing great court awareness/smarts/leadership on a simple possession where we didn't even score and he missed a three. Caught the ball on the wing at the three point line, Kevin was to his left in the corner also at the three line. Ron was open with one Bull about halfway between he and Kevin. Could easily have fired the open three. But instead he hesitated, gave a little fake, and waited for the Bulls player to dart at him and then dash back toward Kevin before taking the shot himself. He was looking to draw the guy and set up Kevin for the open look of course. But he read the play perfectly, knew who the hot hand was, ws unselfish. And its smarts as well as brawn that is changing things for us now.
Thomas ( C ) -- missing his shots to start, but making up for it by grabbing all kinds of rebounds in the first quarter. But slowed way down therafter. Continued missing, but no longer grabbed boards (as in any). And with Reef having his best game since before the injury, and the game being over very early, Kenny ended up sitting most of this one out. Not an awful game as the early boardwork and energy helped get us off to a good start, but probably the least of our major players tonight.
Miller ( C+ ) -- quiet game tonight. Just showed up here and there, hit a shot, played a support role. Did not make many bad mistakes, but just a modest outing. Did block two more shots
Did not hurt us, but wasn't a major part of the outcome.
Martin ( A ) -- put up a spate of points in the early going with one of those open threes, and then 4 FTs,l And ended the first quarter with a nice saavy play drawing a foul from Ben Gordon with the up fake and then jump into him. By the end of the half had put together his first national TV interview and coming out party. Unfortunately most of it ended up being spent discussing his shooting stroke, but still got the halftime interview on TNT (where he confirmed *ahem* that that benching in December woke him up a bit) and the secret is probably now out. Nor was it a one-dimensional effort this time -- not just scoring like he was when he set the career high last week with the 25 off the bench, and in some ways maybe an even betetr performance, although not as prolific per minute. He was also getting on the glass and pestering Ben Gordon. And best part of his offensive game was that it was somewhat challenged. Some of Kevin's big games recently have had a significant component of assistance from the opposing team simply leaving him open and ignoring him as a threat. Tonight Chicago was paying attention to him as he scored most of those points and yet he still put numbers up efficiently, althought it should be noted after they really started clamping down and not leaving him in the second half he quit scoring once more -- seems to be some Brad syndrome there. And damnit if he didn't maybe relax a bit and lose his "+" by the end. 20pts at half. Only 3 in the second half, and just kept missing those shots that would have gotten him the new career high. Still a pretty close thing, as the well rounded game, few mistakes, etc. made this a solid A at least.
Bibby ( B- ) -- started out missing everything again before finally hitting a three that got the lid off the hoop. And therafter kind of gradually worked his way up the scoring ladder. Never really went through any extended hot streaks, but was able to hit here and there, chip in some points, keep us moving forward offensively. Not in any way a vintage game for Mike, but one of those ok 20 point scoring nights where just having somebody able to chip in that many points has value in itself. Know the Bulls certainly wish they had Mike, or anyone for that matter, tonight.
Reef ( A- ) -- came in and immediately showed a little hustle and fight on the offensive glass. And had easily his best looking minutes in a month at least. Was far more aggressive, and other than Chandler, really had no other major impediments between him and the hoop. Good strong active game, even as he ended up logging some minutes at center again in a mega-mini lineup with Reef at center and Artest at PF.
Skinner ( C ) -- and another gratuitous Skinner sighting -- all of a sudden getting some rotation stints here, and was in with the normal crew in the first half. Did not do much, and by the time he returned in the mid 4th, the game was over. And he still didn't do much even in garbagetime. Did not hurt us. But these are the kind of middling outings that always seem to give Rick the excuse to go away from him as irrelevant.
Garcia ( A- ) -- both kids showed well early tonight, with Garcia opening eyes by coming up with a couple of those nifty perimeter blocks on the Bulls shooters. And with the game out of control, Cisco got himself a nice long second half run and made contributions in nearly every area while really filling up the stat sheet. In an interesting move in garbagetime, even with Price and Hart on the floor, we still had Garcia running the point for the most part. He did have to turn his back and turtle it up court a few times, but otherwise did fine. Was not hitting his shots consistently again, but the rest of his game was excellent and was right in the middle of the energy and hustle game we are thriving on right now.
Williamson ( INC ) -- I was merciful here as this might have been a D or some such. Played the final 6 minutes of the game in ultra-garbagetime. And yes, a player of Corliss's experience deserves better. Nonetheless, the nice ovation he got upon entering the game was really the highpoint of the night for him. Did nothing much out on the court.
Hart ( INC ) -- in theory was out there in the dying minutes of garbagetime, but did nothing. And really had no role. Cisco was handling the ball on most possessions, and Price was kind of the "point" and the guy getting the shots. Jason..well, was just kind of a 6'3" decoy as an OG. Rarely saw the ball or had much chance to impact things. And did not.
Price ( INC ) -- knocked down his shots and showed pretty well. Did come up with a couple of turnovers.
Adelman ( A ) -- It all clicked this time out. Tonight we saw my dream future Kings lineup. And it looked good. Unfortunately one of those future Kings was still wearing a Bulls uniform. And he (Chandler) was the only Bull that I would have traded even Ronnie Price for tonight. They stunk! And meanwhile we were very good. And very good in the way good teams are very good. Not offensively, but defensively. Now truth of course is that the Bulls aren't very good, and specifically aren't very good on offense. They have nobnody they can count on, and its why they will likely miss the playoffs this year unless they make a move. But even so, we just squished them. And the continued evolution of the Artest keyed offense went pretty well, despite the shaky shooting. We put a lot of pressure on them, and they are a respectable defensive team despite their lack of size. Liked Rus having Garcia bring it up in the 4th even with the smaller guards in. Rick has gone to sets with both Ron and Cisco bringing the ball up rather than resorting to the inferior smaller guards on the roster. I would imagine sooner or later teams will start trapping and pressing that, and then things will get interesting. But for the moment we are able to play our best players and have largish playmakers whenever Mike is not in the game. Rick also seemed to leave Kevin in there for repeated shots at that career number, but he just couldn't get it to go and was finally replaced at about the 7:00 mark. And Rick both played Skinner as a rotation guy and went with more Reef minutes than Kenny minutes with Reef playing his best game in a long time. I was not amused to briefly see my nightmare Reef-C Artest-PF lineup out there , but if you were ever going to engage in such idiocy, this was the game to do it it and team to do it against. This was just a very good win, and closer to the old Arco dominance. Now, of course, we have to prove we can do it on the road. Something this team has completely failed at all year. But with a huge % of our remaining games away from Arco, and a brutal March schedule traversing all across the country, the playoff spot will be won or lost away from home, not at Arco. So, guess we'll see. Geoff- get us that shotblocker! Then we'll be just about ready to go.
Thomas ( C ) -- missing his shots to start, but making up for it by grabbing all kinds of rebounds in the first quarter. But slowed way down therafter. Continued missing, but no longer grabbed boards (as in any). And with Reef having his best game since before the injury, and the game being over very early, Kenny ended up sitting most of this one out. Not an awful game as the early boardwork and energy helped get us off to a good start, but probably the least of our major players tonight.
Miller ( C+ ) -- quiet game tonight. Just showed up here and there, hit a shot, played a support role. Did not make many bad mistakes, but just a modest outing. Did block two more shots
Did not hurt us, but wasn't a major part of the outcome. Martin ( A ) -- put up a spate of points in the early going with one of those open threes, and then 4 FTs,l And ended the first quarter with a nice saavy play drawing a foul from Ben Gordon with the up fake and then jump into him. By the end of the half had put together his first national TV interview and coming out party. Unfortunately most of it ended up being spent discussing his shooting stroke, but still got the halftime interview on TNT (where he confirmed *ahem* that that benching in December woke him up a bit) and the secret is probably now out. Nor was it a one-dimensional effort this time -- not just scoring like he was when he set the career high last week with the 25 off the bench, and in some ways maybe an even betetr performance, although not as prolific per minute. He was also getting on the glass and pestering Ben Gordon. And best part of his offensive game was that it was somewhat challenged. Some of Kevin's big games recently have had a significant component of assistance from the opposing team simply leaving him open and ignoring him as a threat. Tonight Chicago was paying attention to him as he scored most of those points and yet he still put numbers up efficiently, althought it should be noted after they really started clamping down and not leaving him in the second half he quit scoring once more -- seems to be some Brad syndrome there. And damnit if he didn't maybe relax a bit and lose his "+" by the end. 20pts at half. Only 3 in the second half, and just kept missing those shots that would have gotten him the new career high. Still a pretty close thing, as the well rounded game, few mistakes, etc. made this a solid A at least.
Bibby ( B- ) -- started out missing everything again before finally hitting a three that got the lid off the hoop. And therafter kind of gradually worked his way up the scoring ladder. Never really went through any extended hot streaks, but was able to hit here and there, chip in some points, keep us moving forward offensively. Not in any way a vintage game for Mike, but one of those ok 20 point scoring nights where just having somebody able to chip in that many points has value in itself. Know the Bulls certainly wish they had Mike, or anyone for that matter, tonight.
Reef ( A- ) -- came in and immediately showed a little hustle and fight on the offensive glass. And had easily his best looking minutes in a month at least. Was far more aggressive, and other than Chandler, really had no other major impediments between him and the hoop. Good strong active game, even as he ended up logging some minutes at center again in a mega-mini lineup with Reef at center and Artest at PF.
Skinner ( C ) -- and another gratuitous Skinner sighting -- all of a sudden getting some rotation stints here, and was in with the normal crew in the first half. Did not do much, and by the time he returned in the mid 4th, the game was over. And he still didn't do much even in garbagetime. Did not hurt us. But these are the kind of middling outings that always seem to give Rick the excuse to go away from him as irrelevant.
Garcia ( A- ) -- both kids showed well early tonight, with Garcia opening eyes by coming up with a couple of those nifty perimeter blocks on the Bulls shooters. And with the game out of control, Cisco got himself a nice long second half run and made contributions in nearly every area while really filling up the stat sheet. In an interesting move in garbagetime, even with Price and Hart on the floor, we still had Garcia running the point for the most part. He did have to turn his back and turtle it up court a few times, but otherwise did fine. Was not hitting his shots consistently again, but the rest of his game was excellent and was right in the middle of the energy and hustle game we are thriving on right now.
Williamson ( INC ) -- I was merciful here as this might have been a D or some such. Played the final 6 minutes of the game in ultra-garbagetime. And yes, a player of Corliss's experience deserves better. Nonetheless, the nice ovation he got upon entering the game was really the highpoint of the night for him. Did nothing much out on the court.
Hart ( INC ) -- in theory was out there in the dying minutes of garbagetime, but did nothing. And really had no role. Cisco was handling the ball on most possessions, and Price was kind of the "point" and the guy getting the shots. Jason..well, was just kind of a 6'3" decoy as an OG. Rarely saw the ball or had much chance to impact things. And did not.
Price ( INC ) -- knocked down his shots and showed pretty well. Did come up with a couple of turnovers.
Adelman ( A ) -- It all clicked this time out. Tonight we saw my dream future Kings lineup. And it looked good. Unfortunately one of those future Kings was still wearing a Bulls uniform. And he (Chandler) was the only Bull that I would have traded even Ronnie Price for tonight. They stunk! And meanwhile we were very good. And very good in the way good teams are very good. Not offensively, but defensively. Now truth of course is that the Bulls aren't very good, and specifically aren't very good on offense. They have nobnody they can count on, and its why they will likely miss the playoffs this year unless they make a move. But even so, we just squished them. And the continued evolution of the Artest keyed offense went pretty well, despite the shaky shooting. We put a lot of pressure on them, and they are a respectable defensive team despite their lack of size. Liked Rus having Garcia bring it up in the 4th even with the smaller guards in. Rick has gone to sets with both Ron and Cisco bringing the ball up rather than resorting to the inferior smaller guards on the roster. I would imagine sooner or later teams will start trapping and pressing that, and then things will get interesting. But for the moment we are able to play our best players and have largish playmakers whenever Mike is not in the game. Rick also seemed to leave Kevin in there for repeated shots at that career number, but he just couldn't get it to go and was finally replaced at about the 7:00 mark. And Rick both played Skinner as a rotation guy and went with more Reef minutes than Kenny minutes with Reef playing his best game in a long time. I was not amused to briefly see my nightmare Reef-C Artest-PF lineup out there
, but if you were ever going to engage in such idiocy, this was the game to do it it and team to do it against. This was just a very good win, and closer to the old Arco dominance. Now, of course, we have to prove we can do it on the road. Something this team has completely failed at all year. But with a huge % of our remaining games away from Arco, and a brutal March schedule traversing all across the country, the playoff spot will be won or lost away from home, not at Arco. So, guess we'll see. Geoff- get us that shotblocker! Then we'll be just about ready to go.
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