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coldfish wrote:Game summary:

The Bulls showed a lot more effort in the first half. Particularly the starters. People were trying noticeably harder to get rebounds. The starters were also more active on defense early. The bench unit was poor and started runs for Detroit both times. A little bit more bench time and this may have been a loss. The game was closer than the score. Chicago's effort, even from the starters, was significantly less in the second half.

Game ratings:
8.5 Pau Gasol. If he keeps playing like this, he will be Chicago's best ever free agent signing. He continues to generate offense from the post and also be an outlet jump shooting option. Tried harder on the boards and was contesting shots in close. Still not great when he has to move his feet or close long distances.

8.0 Joakim Noah. Seemed to turn it on this game. Was the most active I have seen him all season and did the little things to clean up the game. Nice passing, a few timely tip ins and he was physical in trying to get defensive boards.

7.5 Derrick Rose. Shot the ball well. Had some nice drive and kicks. Was very active on defense early. Even showed a post game. He did not run the offense well at all though. Continually drove into triple teams while passing up easier options. He got away with it a few times by making hard shots but it was a lot of bad reads. In the second half, his effort level on defense went down a lot.

7.0 Jimmy Butler. Had a tough defensive assignment in Smith. He didn't really attack as much on offense and he missed a bunch of wide open shots. Was still effective though.

7.0 Aaron Brooks. He continues to impress me. Scored in isolation. Tried to run the offense. Shot well and took smart shots. His d wasn't great but wasn't awful. He had a poor +/- but I didn't think he was the root cause of it.

5.0 Taj Gibson. This was not one of his better games. Had a few nice post moves but he continues to lose rebounds. His defense is noticeably worse than last year too, even next to Noah. I hope his ankle is bothering him.

4.5 Mike Dunleavey. Was basically invisible. Missed some open shots. Didn't do much on either side of the court really.

3.0 Doug McDermott. Basically came in and missed an open shot. Wasn't particularly active outside of that.

2.5 Kirk Hinrich. Another bad game for him. He isn't even really playing consistently well on defense. I was concerned that Thibs would use him in the closing unit but Thibodeau pulled him for Dunleavey, which was the right move.

2.0 Nicola Mirotic. Really poor game. He was turning his back at the wrong time on defense. Really poor awareness and help. Didn't do anything on offense other than running one play correctly.