Blazers post game analysis

[pchrys3]

Our defense made Roy, Batum, Rudy, and Wesley Matthews look very mediocre today. Batum has a reputation for his great defense ( at least in the eyes of Portland fans) and Deng took a **** on him tonight. I think Deng's value will only go up once Boozer comes back. He will have great looks from the corners when teams collapse on Rose's drives and Boozer's post game. Hopefully he can continue like this up until December. I'm very proud of my team tonight. They beat competitive Western conference team today without our second best player by a good margin.

[madvillian]

I love that the crowd is back in the game too. And that they are involving Pippen and he is around. Just a great start to the year. It feels like the Bulls are back to relevance and have finally put mediocre behind them.

Knock on wood.

[nitetrain8603]

Rose actually played pretty good. Problem was they have no other ballhandlers other than him or Watson. Portland had a sound strategy doubling him. They didn't do it the whole game and in the open court, Derrick took advantage. I think he looked excellent tonight.

Deng had a career night. All this talk about him moving without the ball, that's accurate in the 2nd half, but in the first half, he literally was taking it to the hoop himself. I remember three tops on the break in the first half when he had an opportunity to pass to Noah and Gibson and he took it up for himself inside traffic. Thing is, he was making the shots. 2nd half, he looked much more better. At the same time, he needs to be traded. I don't have any confidence in him. Neither did the fans in attendance.

Noah was energetic, but didn't have his best game. Asik needs to take it to the hoop stronger. Like him so far though.

Taj couldn't get a rhythm because of foul trouble. Korver looked pretty good. Brewer didn't look bad.

Awful goes to the refs though. Jesus, 5 fouls in the first minute of the 4th quarter. This game could've ended about an hour earlier than it did if it weren't for them.

[bullsnewdynasty]

It is important to win as many home games as possible before the West Coast trip. I expect we'll win at least 3 of the next 4 home games - vs. the Knicks, Nuggets, Warriors, and Wizards. Probably will drop the Boston game as it is the second night of a back to back and in Boston. So likely 5-3, possibly 6-2 going into the West Coast trip.

Out of those 7 games, Sacramento is the most winnable. We've also played very well against Phoenix over the past few years. I'd say we win those 2 and possibly sneak out a win against Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio. We always struggle in Denver and the Lakers are the Lakers.

My realistic projection for the month would be 9-6 or 8-7.

[snickerspr]

Those 2 first games Rose sent memos to the NBA(you give me space I will pop a 3 in ur face or if you play me tight I will put you on a poster). Deng can thank Rose now because he just opened up the lanes & space for him to have a great year. Rose makes the team better not only passing but just being on the floor.

[Beans]

important game for Asik:
he is a only a rookie, this is only his second NBA game, But
he played 32 mins, he played pretty good, 6pts-7boards-2blocks-1assist (but only 2-6 from the line). in a big game against a good team.

he can handle the pressure, he now can be counted on, this has to boost his confidence.

[Max Nobs]

I still think CJ needs work with his decision making. He has a lot of careless turnovers that would have killed us had we been playing in a tight game. I think Thibs realized this and is why his minutes were limited tonight. I wonder if playing in the Warriors 3 guard system last year has messed up his head. He seems to be telegraphing passes in the halfcourt sets especially to the wings and high posts. The only thing he seems to be effective at is dribbling into an awkward looking 17 foot jumper that may or may not go in. He drains the offensive talent out of everyone else on the floor with him. I hope he gets better because I know we'll need him.

[pduh01]

There were lot of things I like and while there are some things I like what I saw from tonight's game,

My View

-The ball movement, and off the ball movement was much better compared to the last two games thats what I expect and what we saw in preseason. Everyone are moving around through the screens, making cuts, and have better looks for their shots.

-I thought the defense was really mainly in the first quarter and partial the second quarter, The defense was sub-part in the second half though.

-While I do not like the signing of Keith Bogans and I still do but I give him props that he did a very good job guarding Roy especially in the first half that he shut him down. Even though credit to Deng/partial with Brewer/and a little bit on JJ when those guys taking turns guarding Roy good job containing him for the second half while he did get his shots in the second half but not much of a threat.

-Luol Deng was terrific on both ends especially on offense, he is moving without the ball not like he was the past two games, and he was knocking down his shots, and even drawing contact getting to the line. Oh and for bonus knocking down from behind, and getting his career high never thought Deng will scored 40 points to be honest with you. He was very efficiently today against Portland on offense props to Deng I hope you keep that up from now on.

-Derrick Rose did not have to take too many shots, tough shots, and forcing bad shots. Because his teammates step up and knocking down their shots and plus as I mentioned above the ball movement and off the ball movement was much better. I enjoyed his 13 assists but he needs to take care of the ball more this is what like two games in row for getting more than 3 turnovers.

-Ronnie Brewer I thought he looks good for limited time, he was active, getting cuts to the baskets and play solid defense on Roy for his short period of time when he is out there. He did knock down his midrange shot I wish he plays more though I think game by game he'll get more comfortable with the system and his new teammates while his new teammates gets more comfortable with him

-Kyle Korver was moving pretty well with out the ball using the screen and he hit open shots efficiency tonight which you expect him to do.

-I thought Taj Gibson play solid exception of his foul trouble while there were lot of BS calls towards him and Asik.

-Asik plays well defensively and was active on the boards, he make some dunks.

That is about it I am really happy with the ball movement and off the ball movement it was much better and I hope it continues.

[Slip7]

nice win for us. we had it basically the whole game. I kept waiting for portland to make that run that would put them within a couple points or even them taking the lead but it never happend.

deng was great tonight. wish he was 75 percent of the player he was tonight all the time.

rose had a nice game and from reading the postgame articles looks like he was just doing what the defense gave him tonight.

omer is a nice rookie we have there.

getting a little concerned with how much rose and noah are having to play tho. i think noah again was at 40 or so mins. i know that boozer is out and it makes it tougher so im not gonna complain, we gotta make up for him being out but hopefully we see these guys get some rest when the game permits

[Chi Guy]

The obvious things have already been well-covered(Deng, Rose, Noah, Gibby, Asik, Kyle, etc.). So I'll talk a little about Watson, I actually thought he had a decent game. It's possible I missed seeing an extra bad shot or 2 from him, but it seems like the Golden State "chucker" mentality he had in the pre-season has been mostly controlled in these past 2 games. Not sure if he realized it or if Thibs spoke with him about it, but he's played more under control. Could just be temporary though. I heard about his pest-like defense in the off-season and he's starting to show it, I'm liking it. I want to see him improve because I like his skill-set, I think he could be pretty valuable.

[Indomitable]

Luol last career high came against the Trailblazers in 2007

[kulaz3000]

The 69er special.

[Indomitable]

The Bulls

Deng played well and shot beautifully.
Bogan was invisible.
Noah played with energy.
Taj needs stop reaching and move his feet on defense.
Rose did a good job controlling the offense in the first half. He was more reckless in the 2nd.
Asik will one day get a charged called for him.
Jj played hard was a little anxious.
Brewer actually used his left. He played good d and hit a shot.
Watson stunk but hey what else is new.
Korver hit a few shots. Still he hesitates to much coming off screens.

Blazers
LA is great.
Roy is a whiny wade wanna be
Rudy is terrible. He is a slight upgrade to korver in athleticism. Still he is a worse then korver. no to any trade involving a 1st rounder.

[PMONSTER]

Jordan and Pip stay with snow bunnies on their hip.

i think jordan's girl is cuban and pip's girl is middle eastern.

It's all snow bunnies to me

[SDreach]

huge game by luol deng...shutting up all his critics tonight! the man is possessed! came through all game long including a late 3. can not say enough about that type of performance...brilliant!...almost as good/ perhaps better than rose last game.

Deng is the reason we had a lead early and he just kept his foot on their throats all game long never letting them even dream about getting back up off he canvas. thats the kind of loss where your gm that was once privately wondering if he should begin to start thinking about putting in the call and checking the availabilty of the local rent-a-wreckingball say... this summer. A loss like this is just hard to take on their end cuz they got beat up by what should be our 4th best player. Blazers are an identity chrisis mode aking "who are we?" what kind of team do we have here" and "what ya got to eat?" they're lost.

on flip side, the bulls just beat what should be a really good team out west and did so convincingly. with our 1b player in Boozer out, we looked dominant. Deng was finally in character. And if he can only learn to stay in character we are deadly...easily as good as anyone in the league so long as boozer gels and is even half of what he was in utah.

[jroc]

Great game by da bulls I'm just hopping deng can keep it up well at least til booz comes back cj need to learn how to control da ball his ball handling skill r really bad he need to slow it down taj needs to rebound more pluse we need to stop fouling next up is da Knicks I sure hope we can stop amare if so this is an easy win for us co bulls

[saritasbora]

lol I was checking the +/- stats and saw this
Deng +19
Bogans +16

[Benedict Miller]

I wish Bogans took more shots from open looks, but i'm liking the defense hes been playing... very nice and i'll take Rose over Roy anyday...

[League Circles]

BTW does anyone else think the new pregame music is the biggest fail of all time?

I cannot stand any music with vocals at sporting events, and that crap is just dreadful in any setting.

[BJ43]

I'm seriously confused as to what a lot of people are seeing when they watch the game, or maybe the hate just runs deep and doesn't allow them to see things fairly.

I'm so glad I don't have to rely on other peoples feedback and/or boxscores and can watch the game to form my own opinion

The hate Bogans gets you would think he's out there losing us leads and missing his defensive assignments, it's really unfair. Clearly he isn't a huge difference maker, and he isn't going to be an offensive threat outside of the open 3 but how anyone could watch this game and find him a detriment I have no idea. He got all up on Roy and really made him uncomfortable, he made the right passes, helped out on the boards and did a pretty good job for someone who was only out there for 16 mins

I also think it's unfair to judge Batum on one game. Is he the next Pippen? Hardly, but this game was not a good one to make judgements for him, Matthews or Roy. If you'd never watched a Blazers game before you would be confused as to why those 3 get as much hype as they do, and maybe they are overhyped by some people on message boards but all 3 are much better than they showed in this game

To me it looked like the Bulls just took the life out of the Blazers from the beginning, I think the UC is going to become a tough place for teams to come in and play as the season plays out

What I find particularly funny is how many people called Tyrus stupid, and had so many negative things to say about his bball iq, yet Gibson is compared in a way as if he's a basketball genius. I like Taj, but he does some really stupid things out there. Taj is at his best when he's taking that extra dribble, or making that extra pass, or waiting for his man to cheat off him to help (usually on Rose) and then putting himself in position for the easy catch and dunk, NOT when he's out there taking 18ft jumpers with time left on the clock. The best play he had was towards the end where he took it inside and finished with the reverse dunk, the rest was all set up by Noah/Rose for him to simply catch and finish

The best thing about Taj is that he's really meant to be a reserve, and the upgrade we're going to get when Boozer is back and healthy at the PF position just excites me to how good this team could be

I'm a well known Deng hater, always have been and likely always will be, but I have nothing bad to say about how he played this game, well done Luol I hope you can keep it up. It was clear from the outset that McMillan and the Blazers came into this game with the mindset that they were NOT going to allow Rose to drop 30 on them and just take over, they had a clear plan to get the ball out of his hands, and I love that Derrick didnt try and take it personally and prove he could beat them one on two, instead he kept the ball moving and Deng did what the Blazers had gambled on not happening and became that guy that punished them

Having said that, Rose did have some poor/careless turnovers, and a lot came late in the game. He needs to stop leaving his feet to make that pass when the double team comes, keep the dribble alive and make the easier pass rather than that cross court floater. Maybe calm down with the between the legs/behind the back dribble right before you pass it, yeah it looks nice, and you do it well, but it doesnt help right before you pass. You see Nash/Williams/Paul and they make the fancy pass, but their ball control before the pass is more secure, Rose needs to watch some tape

In conclusion I still feel Derrick played a good game, he didnt try to force it but he did have a handful of moments where he just went 'screw you' and took it inside and got us a basket, he makes some of those circus shots look easy

I thought Noahs numbers didnt reflect how well he played, he finished with 10 and 10 but if I hadnt seen the boxscore I would have guessed 14 and 14. He showed just how good a passer he is, and really should have had more than 4 assists but Asik is still learning and hopefully in future will finish some of those passes before the defense has a chance to foul. Noahs passing, decision making and ability to handle the ball is a thing of beauty and I thought he and Rose played well despite what others may think

Now to the bench. Asik keeps proving me wrong, and I couldn't be happier, I'm really happy for this kid, his rebounding, shot blocking and decision making looks better each game. Id like to see less sliding over to try and draw charges, he is big enough and skilled enough to block shots/adjust them, stick to what you are good at, no need to fall into the traps of being a lazy defender.

JJ was ok, I like that he isnt concerned about his mins, there were 2 fouls that he gave which he didnt have to get involved. One on the drive by Aldridge where he came out of nowhere to try and block what looked like an easy dunk, and that 'no easy layups' attitude is exactly what we will need come playoff time. He gave up a foul which = his playing time in theory to stop a guaranteed 2 points and make them earn it at the line. Then later in the game Watson had a silly turnover and again JJ came out and gave the foul forcing the Blazers to the line where they split the ft's. No easy layups with JJ around, I'm a big fan.

Korver shot better, he really doesnt need much space to get his shot off, I think once Boozer is back he will get better looks, had a nice pass to Brewer too

Brewer didnt play long enough, but looked ok moving out there, got the and 1, and knocked down one of his two jumpers. Had a nice deflection on defense too

Watson and Scalabrine ...meh I'd prefer to see less of them, a combined 17 mins is about 7 mins too much for my liking. Having said that, once Boozer is healthy I dont expect to see any Scalabrine so that should work out

Overall, a good win, and Bulls remain unbeaten at home. I feel the Bulls will come out and blow out the Knicks. Korver is going off for 22 and Rose will have over 20. I expect a huge rebounding game from Noah, and Deng to come back to earth, although if he's smart he'll take advantage of the matchup against Gallinari and Mike No'DAntoni's defense