Playoffs Game 1 Chicago Bulls vs Washington Wizards 4/20/14 6PM TNT/CSN

funny thing is we could be looking at at Wizards vs Hawks 2nd round lol

Called it

DJ had a horrible game

i was worried about him in the playoffs...hopefully he can get his nerves in check next game

Poohdini said:

DJ had a horrible game

i was worried about him in the playoffs...hopefully he can get his nerves in check next game

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Since he had a kid, he's been a step late with a flat shot. Makes you wonder if a crying newborn and needy wife might be having a negative impact on him.

I wasn't able to watch the game because of family stuff going on. Were Taj and Noah just lacking on the defensive side tonight or was it just better offense overall? I saw from the box score that their bigs shit on us.

RoseMVP1 said:

I wasn't able to watch the game because of family stuff going on. Were Taj and Noah just lacking on the defensive side tonight or was it just better offense overall? I saw from the box score that their bigs shit on us.

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I think Stacey nailed it. This team has been begging for calls a lot lately, and the leader of that group has been Taj. Jo had a good game, but he spent most of his time setting picks to keep Wall and Beal fighting through them and burning them out(which did work, but that's not how we lost).

The tricky part of the game IMO, was seeing Boozer and Taj get Nene assignments, putting Jo at the flex-4 to cover Gortat and the slasher. Something the Wizards exploited plentifully in the 4th quarter. So you had the same scenario on repeat. Slasher pulls the switch on the strongside, Noah dives into the paint to cover two men, Nene swung to his sweet spot near the top of the key and just took the wide open shot. And the thing is, despite all averages, Nene was able to drain most of those shots. Usually, he misses 55% of those attempts. Just a freak night on his part, and a lame part on the Bulls to read the switch.

The big things that jump out at me from this game were how Nene made basically every jumper he took, DJ missing basically every shot he took, and Jimmy missing FTs. All these things were anomalies...hopefully. However, It may be worth considering to switch the Gortat/Nene matchup to having Boozer guard Gortat and Jo on Boozer. Given the way the Wizards were running their offense, that would probably play more to Boozer's strengths because he never wanted to go out to contest Nene (and perhaps that was the gameplan) and just camp in the paint. If he guarded Gortat, he'd be able to be in a position to at least contest shots in the paint. Then again, will Nene really hit that many jumpers every game? Probably not.

clonetrooper264 said:

The big things that jump out at me from this game were how Nene made basically every jumper he took, DJ missing basically every shot he took, and Jimmy missing FTs. All these things were anomalies...hopefully. However, It may be worth considering to switch the Gortat/Nene matchup to having Boozer guard Gortat and Jo on Boozer. Given the way the Wizards were running their offense, that would probably play more to Boozer's strengths because he never wanted to go out to contest Nene (and perhaps that was the gameplan) and just camp in the paint. If he guarded Gortat, he'd be able to be in a position to at least contest shots in the paint. Then again, will Nene really hit that many jumpers every game? Probably not.

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I've been running a certain set of plays in my head for a bit after the Wizards exploited the Bulls, and at first I thought switching Nene and Gortat assignments might help. But then I was able to exploit a lot of those patterns in my head too using the same scheme Washington used. The real issue here, is Jimmy should not have been rotating into the box on on the weakside. But why would he collapse into the box if you have an opposing big stepping out? To me that tells me you have him designated to crash the boards to get the prime real estate for a rebound with two other players to save his energy a bit, because he can stay in one place for a few seconds, opposed to circling around the court. Please tell me I'm not the only one that picked up on that.

If Thibs really believes this team can go the distance, he also needs to rest his guys better. I think that's the bottom line. There was a point where Jimmy took a hard fall straight into the ground, and he was simply off for the rest of the game. Tom could have sat him for break at that point in the third quarter when the Bulls had a double-digit lead, and let him get the wind back in him for the 4th. To me, that is the single adjustment that you make to fix this game to get the win. If that means you bring in Boozer to play the 4, and slide Taj to the 3, or bring in Snell to float between the 2-3 with Kirk, so be it. Just manage Butler's minutes better so he's fresh to close out games.

Crystallas said:

I've been running a certain set of plays in my head for a bit after the Wizards exploited the Bulls, and at first I thought switching Nene and Gortat assignments might help. But then I was able to exploit a lot of those patterns in my head too using the same scheme Washington used. The real issue here, is Jimmy should not have been rotating into the box on on the weakside. But why would he collapse into the box if you have an opposing big stepping out? To me that tells me you have him designated to crash the boards to get the prime real estate for a rebound with two other players to save his energy a bit, because he can stay in one place for a few seconds, opposed to circling around the court. Please tell me I'm not the only one that picked up on that.

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Wasn't able to watch enough of the game to notice that kind of trend (only really watched the 3rd quarter and bits of the 4th), but I'll take your word for it. Something's gotta change though. But maybe that's just Nene missing those shots like he normally should.

If Thibs really believes this team can go the distance, he also needs to rest his guys better. I think that's the bottom line. There was a point where Jimmy took a hard fall straight into the ground, and he was simply off for the rest of the game. Tom could have sat him for break at that point in the third quarter when the Bulls had a double-digit lead, and let him get the wind back in him for the 4th. To me, that is the single adjustment that you make to fix this game to get the win. If that means you bring in Boozer to play the 4, and slide Taj to the 3, or bring in Snell to float between the 2-3 with Kirk, so be it. Just manage Butler's minutes better so he's fresh to close out games.

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Agree 100%. He's got to keep guys fresher. I know Beal played 41 minutes, but we can run a DJ/Kirk backcourt with Dunleavy at the 3 to spell Jimmy for a few minutes. I don't think we'd get that crushed defensively.

The good news is Thibs will make corrections. Washington will make adjustments, and game 2 will be a completely different game. Hopefully in our favor, because I hate the fact that we gave up home court against a team that has had success against us in the regular season.

I was scared about power forwards shooting midrange jumpers against us, but I thought that would happen in a meeting with the Pacers. Scola and West kill us with their midrange game.

But now the Wizards also have noticed the real weakness of the Bulls defense. Carlos always camps in the lane, wheather it´s a high pick and roll and the opposing guard gets a free look from midrange, or a pick and pop and the forward get´s a free look.

Carlos has to move up and contest these shot, but I guess he´ll never learn that .....

Noah was on Nene. Nene shot really well (over 60%) in the pick and pop, and the Wizards just road the hot hand. Nothing you can do about that. Sometimes a big gets hot from ~18'. Nene is a good jump shooter so if he shots like that all series the Bulls could be in trouble.

It is impossible to take away everything. The Bulls are much better off letting a PF shoot an 18' then they are letting Wall in the lane or opening the the 3 point shot for the Wizards.

DJ better pull his head out and Tibs should have sat him. 1 bad game does not make a series.

One more thing. The refs were calling it very tight in the first half and swallowed the whistles in the second half. The Wizards were much more aggressive in the first half and got to the line far more.

In the second half when the Bulls got more aggressive they did not get some of the calls.

It happens in the playoffs. It is one of the reasons you have to come out of the gates more aggressive. The Bulls did not really recognize the way the game was being called and that hurt them.

I really felt the Bulls lost that game above the necks. Wrong guys shooting. Not recognizing how the game was being called. Not recognizing who was hot on the other team and making adjustments. Not riding their own hot hands.

I thought ball movement and movement off the ball was horrendous--too much dribbling and shooting late in the shot clock.

DJ was garbage on defense--consistently taking wrong angles, was a half step slow and just got generally abused. Had an off game offensively as well.

No killer instinct. This has been a problem all year b/c of lack of offensive consistency. The Bulls don't lay knockout punches when teams are on the ropes. We were up 12 or 14 midway through the 3rd and then gave the whole lead up. Can't happen. Have to lock down defensively, increase the lead and demoralize a young team.

Nene played lights out. Hit a few jumpers which gave him confidence and he abused Noah inside a few times. If he continues to out-play Noah then we do not have a chance in the series. If he returns to average form, he shouldn't pose much of a problem. 1 or 2 misses and a player's entire mental approach to the game can change.

Crying about calls. Yes, the game was officiated differently in the 1st and 2nd halves, but overall foul calls and free throws were even. Bitching and moaning after every call or non-call was not warranted in this game, nor will it be beneficial going forward. Shut your mouth, D Up, and make the officials call a foul.