The Bulls-Heat 4th Quarter Project - Completed

[Ice Man]

Thanks for the great stuff! I wanted to address this bit.

They were willing to sell out the defense if it meant Rose passing. We looked lost on what to do with the rest of the team when this happened. I think that a lot of this has been corrected this year, but we simply had no plan past the Rose pass from the blitz.

Yes. This is why although many Bull fans think otherwise, citing injuries and such, 99% of neutral NBA watchers thought the Heat playoff victory in 2011 was no fluke. The theory about the Bulls was that if you stuffed Derrick the Bulls had no offense, the Heat put that to the test, and sure enough the Bulls had no offense.

I don't see it as a fluke. We had no Plan B.

Obviously there have been many encouraging signs this year that Thibs and the team are fixing that problem.

[red222]

My god this is going to be fun to use against people perpetuating some myths .

great work this makes me even madder about that series in retrospect

[alucryts]

Thanks for the great stuff! I wanted to address this bit.

They were willing to sell out the defense if it meant Rose passing. We looked lost on what to do with the rest of the team when this happened. I think that a lot of this has been corrected this year, but we simply had no plan past the Rose pass from the blitz.

Yes. This is why although many Bull fans think otherwise, citing injuries and such, 99% of neutral NBA watchers thought the Heat playoff victory in 2011 was no fluke. The theory about the Bulls was that if you stuffed Derrick the Bulls had no offense, the Heat put that to the test, and sure enough the Bulls had no offense.

I don't see it as a fluke. We had no Plan B.

Obviously there have been many encouraging signs this year that Thibs and the team are fixing that problem.

I was surprised, but in loss 4 the Bulls actually had a plan; they simply did not make the shots. Up until loss 4, the Bulls had no plan.

[alucryts]

My god this is going to be fun to use against people perpetuating some myths .

great work this makes me even madder about that series in retrospect

It does make me mad that we lost on choking and lack of a plan B for most of the series, but it does give me hope that we simply weren't out talented. I saw a lot of things that could be corrected, and we saw Thibs actually make the adjustments going forward that I saw in earlier losses. If we make our open shots in loss 4, this series goes to game 6 with Miami on its heels.

[Ice Man]

Every team that blitzed Rose off of the PnR with hard doubles made our offense look like ass. Those that did not looked like ass against us.

And this too. I've written elsewhere, I'm always shocked when the opposition lets Rose play at all.
The only rational defense against the Bulls in 2010/11 was to swarm Rose and dare the other Bulls to beat you. True in the regular season, true in the playoffs.

True this year? I hope not as a Bulls fan. But put me as coach against the Bulls and hell yes that's how I'm coaching. I know that Derrick can beat me, oh I know that well. How about you other guys?

Oh and I probably owe Thibs an apology for ragging on him as a bad offensive coach who needed a bigname offensive coordinator. Team certainly looks like it knows what it is doing right now.

[red222]

My god this is going to be fun to use against people perpetuating some myths .

great work this makes me even madder about that series in retrospect

It does make me mad that we lost on choking and lack of a plan B for most of the series, but it does give me hope that we simply weren't out talented. I saw a lot of things that could be corrected, and we saw Thibs actually make the adjustments going forward that I saw in earlier losses. If we make our open shots in loss 4, this series goes to game 6 with Miami on its heels.

people wanna make big moves and i continue to tell people the only way we lose again is if they get hot, we get hurt and/or choke.

[alucryts]

Every team that blitzed Rose off of the PnR with hard doubles made our offense look like ass. Those that did not looked like ass against us.

And this too. I've written elsewhere, I'm always shocked when the opposition lets Rose play at all.
The only rational defense against the Bulls in 2010/11 was to swarm Rose and dare the other Bulls to beat you. True in the regular season, true in the playoffs.

True this year? I hope not as a Bulls fan. But put me as coach against the Bulls and hell yes that's how I'm coaching. I know that Derrick can beat me, oh I know that well. How about you other guys?

Oh and I probably owe Thibs an apology for ragging on him as a bad offensive coach who needed a bigname offensive coordinator. Team certainly looks like it knows what it is doing right now.

I think Rose was so good last year that we never really addressed the issue until the last possible moment when it was too late. We just need to prepare the rest of the offense to score without Rose (or even be ready for a higher volume of open shots). I think Rip and Boozer are going to be the keys to this happening. Rip himself is his own offensive system and Boozer has to be a pick and pop nightmare.

[alucryts]

people wanna make big moves and i continue to tell people the only way we lose again is if they get hot, we get hurt and/or choke.

I certainly hope so. We have more weapons physically, and we know what we will have to deal with come the playoffs this time.

[Ice Man]

I think Rose was so good last year that we never really addressed the issue until the last possible moment when it was too late.

Yep. Another way of putting the matter is that teams generally don't play junk defenses in the regular season. So the Bulls were spoiled, they could always pull the Unicorn strategy for the win in the 4th. But then came the playoffs and the rules changed. We saw that in the Indy series after the first two games.

In hindsight, while the consensus was "we're fine, you don't learn anything from what happens in the first round," ummm yeah the Pacers did expose the Bulls. They just didn't have the personnel to win, whereas the Heat did.

[red222]

people wanna make big moves and i continue to tell people the only way we lose again is if they get hot, we get hurt and/or choke.

I certainly hope so. We have more weapons physically, and we know what we will have to deal with come the playoffs this time.

its not even the addition of RIP its my confidence in CJ and pnp Boozer that makes me think the scoring load is in good hands if Rose has to rest for short spurts last year I had no confidence in CJ to lead the team.

[alucryts]

I think Rose was so good last year that we never really addressed the issue until the last possible moment when it was too late.

Yep. Another way of putting the matter is that teams generally don't play junk defenses in the regular season. So the Bulls were spoiled, they could always pull the Unicorn strategy for the win in the 4th. But then came the playoffs and the rules changed. We saw that in the Indy series after the first two games.

In hindsight, while the consensus was "we're fine, you don't learn anything from what happens in the first round," ummm yeah the Pacers did expose the Bulls. They just didn't have the personnel to win, whereas the Heat did.

I agree. The junk defense requires solid rotating in the paint, but it exposes the defense to jump shooting and three pointers.

[alucryts]

people wanna make big moves and i continue to tell people the only way we lose again is if they get hot, we get hurt and/or choke.

I certainly hope so. We have more weapons physically, and we know what we will have to deal with come the playoffs this time.

its not even the addition of RIP its my confidence in CJ and pnp Boozer that makes me think the scoring load is in good hands if Rose has to rest for short spurts last year I had no confidence in CJ to lead the team.

That's another point too. Watson looks a lot more comfortable out there. I feel like last year was the team going "Rose on offense! wooo!!! wins!!! O crap we have to score now???" Seemed like a surprise slap to the team.

[GetBuLLish]

Ugh. That was tough having to rewatch that choke job.

All in all though, this entire break down by Alucryts has actually given me hope. Not only could we have very simply executed better, but our team now is simply better than before. I really hope this was just a case of a young team having to learn the hard way.

Masterful job, Alucryts.

[alucryts]

Ugh. That was tough having to rewatch that choke job.

All in all though, this entire break down by Alucryts has actually given me hope. Not only could we have very simply executed better, but our team now is simply better than before. I really hope this was just a case of a young team having to learn the hard way.

Masterful job, Alucryts.

Thank you. There were a bunch of times when watching these that I felt the frustration boiling up . I think it was a case of new to the playoffs and meeting a very effective defense for our team.

[red222]

Ugh. That was tough having to rewatch that choke job.

All in all though, this entire break down by Alucryts has actually given me hope. Not only could we have very simply executed better, but our team now is simply better than before. I really hope this was just a case of a young team having to learn the hard way.

Masterful job, Alucryts.

And then to watch Lebron piss his pants yet hit NBA Jam shots on us makes me even madder about how we lost in reality it should have been 3-2 bulls headed to miami to close it out.

[GetBuLLish]

By the way, I specifically remember this play, because Gibson gets completely held to the floor by Wade as he tries to go for the offensive rebound. Easier to tell from another angle. Should have been called a foul. Had to say it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbDm35M5LI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[alucryts]

By the way, I specifically remember this play, because Gibson gets completely held to the floor by Wade as he tries to go for the offensive rebound. Easier to tell from another angle. Should have been called a foul. Had to say it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbDm35M5LI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

O wow yeah, I missed that. Good catch . I'm more upset at the missed travels than anything else.

[red222]

By the way, I specifically remember this play, because Gibson gets completely held to the floor by Wade as he tries to go for the offensive rebound. Easier to tell from another angle. Should have been called a foul. Had to say it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbDm35M5LI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

wow

[alucryts]

I will say if one of Wade, Lebron, or Battier are hurt, the Heat are going to have a problem on defense.

[aaqubed]

I will say if one of Wade, Lebron, or Battier are hurt, the Heat are going to have a problem on defense.

I think it's possible that, as a team, they're better defensively this year than they were last year. Chalmers isn't a bad defender. Their interior defenders, Anthony, Haslem, and Bosh, are still there and are still good. They'll still meet Rose, Boozer, and Noah at the rim. The key will be knocking down open shots -- the Mavs were able to do that against them, but the Bulls weren't.