Manic Devourer
New member
- Joined:
- Mar 31, 2009
- Posts:
- 328
- Liked Posts:
- 0
In one hallway at the Berto Center on Tuesday morning, Brad Miller reflected on his first playoff experience, a 2000 series with Charlotte.
"It was amazing how much the officials didn't call," Miller said. "It's definitely a different type of basketball."
In another, Tyrus Thomas shared how he's trying to prepare Joakim Noah for the shovefest that's coming.
"It's crazy," Thomas said. "And I didn't even play much [in 2007] as a rookie. But I got a taste of it."
Probably in the shape of an elbow.
At Tuesday's final regular-season practice, Kirk Hinrich walked around with a bloody gash on his left cheek, Thomas spent time arguing his flagrant foul and Ben Gordon winced when recalling getting hit in an area no man should experience. It was all residue from Monday's road victory over the Pistons—one of the most physical games of the season.
And the fact the Bulls not only won but shoved back bodes well for the playoff series against Boston or Orlando that's coming.
"It's going to be physical," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "You have to get used to that. You're not going to get calls. You have to go in there and get into bodies.
"Defensively, you have to get contact. And you have to fight through those things. You can't let the frustration get you out of sync. We have a ways to go on that. But we battled and showed some progress."
Miller, who began the season with Sacramento, agreed with the knock on the Bulls from earlier this season—that they shied from contact and wouldn't mix it up. He also said he has seen more toughness from players like Thomas and Noah in the two months he has been here.
"All I want to do is grab somebody and bang nowadays, but the other guys are playing more physical," Miller said. "Kirk always has been known to get up into somebody's backside. [Gordon's] strong for a 6-footer. The young bigs are getting after it.
"That's what we need because that's what the playoffs are going to be like. Boston has big boys who are going to be physical. Orlando has a physical freak (Dwight Howard). So we have to get more physical."
The Bulls never will be confused with the Bad Boy-era Pistons. And their preferred pace remains more up-tempo than grind-it-out. Still, Monday's game proved instructional.
Thomas' flagrant foul on Richard Hamilton, which resembled a hockey check, and Miller's ejection for two technicals proved the Bulls can't forget professionalism must accompany physicality. Especially since playoff games trend toward lower-scoring, taut affairs.
"You can't lose your emotions," Del Negro said. "We can't afford that. It hurts the team. These games are tight. You don't want to give a team an extra point or two or three. So we have to do a better job."
But Monday's performance was a start.
"We're not going to let teams push us around," Thomas said. "That's not going to happen."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-15-bulls-chicago-apr15,0,6250153.story