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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 14:29:51 GMT -5
We are now 1 - 1 this preseason. The first game (loss to the Cavs) we came out strong, but played poorly the rest of the way. In the second game (win last night vs. the Raptors) we came out poorly, but finished strong. If we are following a natural progression, we'll come out strong and finish strong tonight.
The Bulls are 0 - 2, after losing to the Pistons and then to the Grizzlies. They seem to be having trouble scoring points, only scoring in the low 80's/high 70's. They were without the services of Chris Duhon, their starting PG toward the end of last season (with Hinrich sliding over to SG) and this may be a reason for their off rhythm. But they still have a bunch of good players on the team.
Mike Sweetney is having a strong impact as the newest member of the team (came over in the Eddie Curry trade with the Knicks). This kid is a special kid and I wished we could have drafted him last year. He's a quiet kid, but he's strong and skilled. Pulled a double double against the Griz, scoring 10 pts and ripping down 13 boards. Othella Harrington is the starter at PF, but in time, Sweetney is going to take it away from him.
The Bulls were one of the better defensive teams in the league last year, despite being so young. They had an incredible streak last year of keeping opponents below 100 pts (quite possibly a league record). We seem to be busting out offensively, so it'll be a good challenge to see where we stand offensively.
Can Ryan Gomes keep his offensive breakout going from last game, where he scored 18 pts in only 23 minutes? Can Perkins lead the team in rebounding for the 3rd straight game? Will Ricky Davis bust out of his scroring drought?
Lot of questions that I hope we'll see answered tonight.
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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Oct 15, 2005 14:52:16 GMT -5
should be interesting game. two up and coming young teams. i always predicted sweetney would be a decent player wish to see the point guard situation sort itself out.
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Post by eddietours on Oct 15, 2005 15:00:45 GMT -5
it should be a good game for the young guy boy am i excited about gomes he looks like webber i was sorprice by his quickness and playing sf jesus what about reed i think we have something special here cant wait to see al along side with gomes
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Post by ferbo on Oct 15, 2005 16:04:43 GMT -5
folks, everyone seems to assume that Al will step back in at his peak from last year. I hope that in fact happens.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 19:22:43 GMT -5
Yep, I too saw someting special in Sweetney. I still got one of his Georgetown games on tape. He was one of the guys I targeted as a player I hoped Ainge would take. It didn't happen, but I'm more than happy with Big Al Jefferson.
Game is nearly underway. Just a few more minutes.
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Post by Celtic17 on Oct 15, 2005 20:07:25 GMT -5
Blount of to a real nice start, stat wise... Perk comes in and has 2 rebs in a minute. This kid is a rebounding machine.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 20:17:36 GMT -5
Awesome start. 28 - 27, BOS after 1 quarter. We fell behind 27 - 20 with 2 minutes left in the quarter, but went on an 8 - 0 run to take the lead.
We are rebounding extremely well. Both teams are shooting the ball well, but we were still able to rip down 15 boards (translates to 60 over 48 minutes), compared to 6 by the Bulls.
Turn overs are still killing us. Already commited 6, and we still have 3 quarters to go.
Delonte can in the game late in the 1st and quickly put up some points. He trails Blount as the top scorer ( 8 - 7 ).
Perkins has 4 rebounds in 5 minutes (along with 2 blocks)!!! Gomes has 3 in 7 minutes, including 2 offensive boards.
2nd quarter underway. Down by 2 now.
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Post by Celtic17 on Oct 15, 2005 20:23:04 GMT -5
Turn overs are still killing us. Already commited 6, and we still have 3 quarters to go. Turnover might be higher when trying to run the ball. I like to think so anyway.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 20:34:12 GMT -5
B-Unit struggling to score. I believe its Delonte, Gomes, Perkins, Scalabrine (I can't see who the 5th player is). After 4+ minutes, we have yet to score in the 2nd quarter. This may be a reason Rivers puts Ricky back on the bench--we need that scoring ability off the bench. He may even opt to use Gomes in the starting rotation (at SF) and push Pierce to SG. Gomes is not playing like a rookie (aside from the occassional lapses on defense and sometimes on offense). Plus, with the veteran lineup on the court with him, he won't need to do all that much.
Gomes his an 18 footer to give us the first bucket of the 2nd quarter. But he proceeds to miss his next to shots (which happens to be layups, according to the box scores).
Down by 7, 31 - 38, CHI. Pierce back in the game.
Ricky Davis is still not on track offensively. 2 - 7 from the field and 1 - 4 from the FT line.
Orien Greene in the game now. Scalabrine steals the ball from Deng, gives it up to Greene, who finds Scala for a driving layup.
Greene comes up with a rebound. Our PG's are showing the big men that they can rebound the ball too. Delonte is tied for the team lead with 4 (with Ryan Gomes and Perkins).
Dan Dickau has been invisible the last two games, coincidentally, the two games that he has started. Is he being too tentative with his offense? Is he trying too hard to move the ball around?
Perkins back into the game for Blount.
Assist totals are way down. Only 5 up to this point, as the game nears halftime. That is a really low number. After getting out to a hot start offensively, we have nose-dived back to earth.
Raef dunks the ball, assist from Pierce.
Perkins steals the ball from Duhon, Dan Dickau gets a layup.
Score is now 39 - 42.
Perkins picks up another foul, sends Sweetney to the line, where he converts both attempts ( 39 - 44). Perkins is out and Borchardt takes his place.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 20:42:35 GMT -5
Borchardt doesn't do much better with the fouling dilema. Picks up 2 fouls in his short stint, all against Sweetney.
Ryan Gomes comes in for Borchardt. Justin Reed comes in for Pierce. I guess Doc wants a more defensive unit.
The struggling offense has now forced us into a deficit. 50 - 39, CHI. Sweetney is a monster down low, either picking up the foul or converting baskets.
After jumping out to a big rebounding lead, we have gone ice cold and the totals are now 21 - 20, CHI.
Our interior defense is also struggling right now, it appears. Giving up layups. To be fair, we are playing with one player short (Al Jefferson). His rebounding and shot blocking abilities are needed.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 20:54:12 GMT -5
At the half, we trail 45 - 54. Ended the half with a layup by Gomes, assist Ricky Davis.
Well, we played stellar for a brief moment, but for the most part, we showed how inexperienced we are as a team. With so many young players and so many new players on the team, we are bound to show inconsistencies--even during quarters.
We played solid defense here and there, and we were dominating the boards early on. But foul trouble has forced Rivers to not use Perkins, which hurt our rebounding a bit. Neither Blount nor Raef have been able to rebound the ball. Taking up their slack has been Delonte and Gomes. But you can only expect so much from your PG and SF.
Ricky and Pierce have been relatively quiet (Pierce only played 4 minutes, and Ricky has been off the mark again). I've noticed a trend from last year--whenever Raef is quiet offensively, the team tends to struggle offensively. When he's scoring, we tend to score in big spurts. That was the case last night when we scored 107 pts (Raef scored 13). Tonight we've only scored 45 pts (28 in the 1st and 17 in the 2nd), and Raef has only 5 pts.
Both Raef and Dickau need to start putting up shots and draining a few buckets. Open up the court for Pierce, Ricky, and Gomes.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 21:16:26 GMT -5
Not looking good. 9 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, and we are down 20 pts. This is quite a hole we dug ourselves into.
We are too perimeter oriented. We sorely need an interior player who can give us some points inside.
Our defense has totally abaondoned us as well.
It is now a 25 pt lead for the Bulls, 50 - 75, half way thru the 3rd quarter.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 21:26:30 GMT -5
Will Bynum in the game now and he drills a 3 pter, assist from Ricky. RD now has 5 assists.
Ricky is starting to heat up, but we are still trailing, 66 - 86.
Need to start rebounding again (which is what I think is really the determining factor as to why we've fallen apart). Since the 1st quarter, we've only been able to muster 8 boards (had 15 in the first). Since then, we've fallen apart and haven't been able to do anything right.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 15, 2005 21:50:52 GMT -5
Well, our scoring came back at the end of the 3rd, as we finished the quarter with 32 pts (not surprisningly, we also started rebounding again). But just like last year, we'd score a ton of points, but we'd also give up a ton of points. The Bulls finished with 38 pts in the 3rd.
It is now 99 - 83, with 9 minutes to go in the 4th.
I guessed I missed it, but Gerald Green got into the game, and converted 2 - 4 shots, including a 3 pointer. Sounds like he is listening to the Doctor's orders by taking more shots ;D
Justin Reed is getting involved offensively. Got 2 layups on back to back possessions. First one on a penetration drive and the second coming off a feed from Bynum.
88 - 102, CHI. Slowly creeping back into this.
Rivers seems to be staying away from Blount right now. Maybe he wants more rebounding.
Perkins picks up his 5th foul. Borchardt has 4. But Doc elects to stick with Perkins.
Bynum is the shortest guy on the floor but he comes up with 2 offensive rebounds. Pretty impressive.
Gomes has played the second most minutes (Ricky has the most, with 29 minutes). I think Doc likes this guy.
We've got to start clamping down on defense. We are trading baskets with the Bulls and we can't ever erase a 15 pt deficit by exchanging buckets. Time for some defensive pressure to get some stops.
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Post by Celtic17 on Oct 15, 2005 22:15:30 GMT -5
Reads like your NBAtv has kicked in. ;D Feed me the Celtic view...
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