I said it was going to tough. Playing the back end of a back to back plus playing a team that you played less then a week ago is always a tough task no matter what. With al that said there is no reason the Bulls should have lost this game.
Since I was at the Hawks game I only saw bits and pieces of the game. I saw the whole first half which saw the Bulls start off slow as always and at halftime they had a one point lead. I missed the whole third quarter and first six minutes of the fourth but after seeing highlights I feel I am all caught up on what I missed.
First I will give my first reaction watching it live without sound. Where the hell is Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson and Kyle Korver? I'm asking the bartender at the bar, did they foul out? Are they hurt? I was going nuts watching Drose,Cj Watson, Deng, Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik finish off this game. But somehow they kept it close and had a chance to win. At this time I'm assuming Boozer and Taj are unavailable for some reason but when Deng gets fouled and misses his two free throws all I was asking was where is Kyle Korver. I was actually kind of happy to see Omer in there until I learned everyone was available. Needless to say I was very upset watching the end of this game. By the way the final six minutes of the Bulls game ate up the intermission and the first seven minutes of the next Hawks period.
Quick sidenote after watching Brook Lopez play twice in the last week I believe he is extremely overrated.
Ok now to my reaction after listening to the radio on my way home and seeing the highlights. How is Deng playing almost the whole game while Boozer played 26 and Rose 33 minutes? How does Taj only play 11 minutes? I know he was having a tough game but he had a great game the night before. Where were the shooter at the end of the game? When you need to score or at least draw a foul and make the free throws how are the best guys not in there.
This is the third loss of the season I am putting on Coach Thibs. The first was early in November when the Knicks came to town and he stuck with his bench late in the game because they made the game close. They may have lost that game anyway but there was no way the bench was going to win it for him. The second was in Denver when he inserted the recently released John Lucas III late in the game where he was fouled and missed two free throws just like Deng did last night. Wednesday's loss to the Nets is the third. I'm not saying Thibs is a bad coach because I am a big fan and hopefully these are just growing pains but I would encourage him to call a couple of his old bosses and ask if they would have ever benched KG or Ewing late in a game.
So now to the big issue, the benching of Carlos Boozer. In his 26 minutes Boozer scored 12 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and also 5 assists. Carlos had this to say after the game about his benching
"You've got to talk to Thibs about that. That was a coaching decision."
He doesn't sound real happy about it and he has every right to be pissed. The Bulls went out to bring him in, Thibs must have signed off on the deal and he is not a young player who needs to learn a lesson. Carlos is an all-star and usually gives a pretty good effort on the defensive side. If he had done this to Taj Gibson, I would have said ok but not Boozer. So what did Thibs have to say about Boozer not playing in the final quarter.
"We were behind big and they were zoning. Playing Deng at the four gave us another perimeter player. "
What??? Are you kidding??? It wasn't like Dirk was playing at the four. Kris Humphries was playing alongside Lopez for most of the quarter. I would have loved for someone to ask Thibs if he thinks Sasha Vujacic would have gotten that tip in if Carlos or Taj were in the game.
I actually think I'm going to cut this short because it is just annoying me more. I don't think this issue is done and may raise it's ugly head again but Thibs that's 3 on you and I am counting. Bulls travel to take on the 76ers Friday before hosting the Celtics on Saturday.
Written by:
