A bit of home cooking: Wizards vs Bulls Game 3 Thread

[TGW]

This is the game that scares me. Especially since were home. I think Chicago has too much heart & fight to just lay down.

Wizards are a bad home team

Chalking this up to a loss

Why? C'mon man, this team is pretty solid against good teams at home.

Let's be optimistic and assume the best.

[dobrojim]

Where are the people who picked Bulls to win the series?

I wouldn't get too excited yet....i mean...get hype but It isn't impossible that the Bulls win on our HC. If they take game 3, game 4 has immense pressure on us. The guys need to come out and go for the jugular. Wall still hasn't had a great game yet (he's had decent ones) so I expect him to be ultra aggressive, but the guys have to understand the Bulls are backed up in a corner now, the dogs in em are probably going to make em come out with do-or-die borderline flagrant effort. The fact that Kirk had to resort to BS like he did to fire up his team should be telling of the talent disparity.

My only fear is that Wall/Beal press the issue in front of the home crowd, they're going to have a compelling feeling to perform well, it shall be interesting to see if they rise to the occasion. I like our chances in 6 game, but it'd be awesome if slammed the door shut essentially in game 3. The guys have the right attitude, stay humble and treat yourself like the underdogs. As fans I guess we're getting caught up in the emotion, so its good that the players are keepin' their heads right.

Btw, since I didn't catch the first 90% of the game yesterday, I read that we had a 17 pt lead, how did we manage to piss that away into a 10 point deficit? You have to really goof up for a 27 point swing...

the refs and CHI getting some swag by getting Taj and DJAug in the game.

[dobrojim]

Make our FTs. Keep them off the offensive glass. We win. That's not overconfidence because we haven't been able to do either worth a lick so far this series. But in my mind its that simple.

MINIMIZE TURNOVERS!!!!

If they don't get easy buckets (which you also mention offensive glass), they will have
a very hard time outscoring us.

[dobrojim]

This is the game that scares me. Especially since were home. I think Chicago has too much heart & fight to just lay down.

It's smart to have respect. CHI is not going to lay down, at least not until they get down 0-3
if that happens, and maybe not even then. But as you and others have pointed out, they
have a hard time summoning more than the maximal effort that they just normally play with.
When we match that, it's hard for them to win.

Wall hasn't really broken out yet. Or Gortat. And they have no one better than the
DPoY to check Nene.

[MDStar]

Can't remember where I saw it, but someone called us the "Butler/VCU" of the NBA. That's pretty funny.

[Higga]

Can't wait till Friday night, gonna be there. The atmosphere is going to be electric. I agree though, I'm nervous/scared as well. But I think this team is different. We're tougher, stronger, and determined. Bulls will fight hard, but our boys are smelling a sweep.

[JWizmentality]

Come out and punch them the mouth again and FFS KEEP GIBSON OFF THE GLASS. We'll be playing 5 on 8 as usual so nothing new. KEEP CALM AND TENDERIZE SOME BEEF!

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Tapatalk 2

[pineappleheadindc]

This is the game that scares me. Especially since were home. I think Chicago has too much heart & fight to just lay down.

It's smart to have respect. CHI is not going to lay down, at least not until they get down 0-3
if that happens, and maybe not even then. But as you and others have pointed out, they
have a hard time summoning more than the maximal effort that they just normally play with.
When we match that, it's hard for them to win.

Wall hasn't really broken out yet. Or Gortat. And they have no one better than the
DPoY to check Nene.

I think Jim's comments are worth highlighting.

The Bulls modus operandi is merely to outwork, outgrind, and outhustle their opponents. Particularly in the absence of Rose (bad break for them) and Deng (who they *elected*, willfully, to trade away on their own -- no sympathy for them on that one). So I have to ask the broader group -- do the Bulls have yet another, higher, untapped gear in which to outwork and outgrind the Wizards? If not, how are they going to bridge the divide?

1. Perhaps via scheme. Can Tibbs come up with a new defensive scheme to limit the Wizards scoring? Given the Bulls relative weakness in putting points on the board, giving up over 100 ppg to the Wiz makes a Chicago victory difficult.

2. Perhaps via Wizards' complacency? This may be more hopeful than strategy. It appears that John Wall has a serious, committed attitude. Nene and the rest of the vets (Ariza comes to mind immediately) seem to be in a place where they're leading the focus and effort. Don't know if I'd count on this if I were Chicago.

I think the best the Bulls can hope for is a cold-shooting night by the Wiz -- all of them -- coupled with enough offense to get Chicago near 90 points.

[montestewart]

Where are the people who picked Bulls to win the series?

Right here. I had Bulls in 6. Glad to be mistaken. Keep this up The Great Wizard!

[Kanyewest]

Also the Bulls rotations have been horrible by Thibs. This kind of reminds me of how Thibs coached the Bulls/Heat series. I believe in at least 2 of those games, the Bulls had leads going into the final 3 to 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Fatigue caught up to them and they collapsed.

Same thing is happening in this series. Jimmy Butler played 53 minutes yesterday and they have guys like Dunleavy and Snell to spell minutes. Augustin/Gibson comes off the bench midway through the 1st and 3rd quarter and don't have time to get a breather and play stretches of 18 to 20 minutes straight.

Thibs is a good regular season coach but at this point in his career is not a good playoff coach.

[nate33]

I think the best the Bulls can hope for is a cold-shooting night by the Wiz -- all of them -- coupled with enough offense to get Chicago near 90 points.

This.

In the NBA, anybody can beat anybody if things break right; but on balance, I think the Wizards should be significant favorites. They're a better team and they're going to keep working hard. Chicago can't get better than what we've seen. They just don't have the pieces. Frankly, I think things are going to continue to shift towards Washington as Wittman figures out more ways to exploit his many mismatches. Heck, just put Ariza on Augustin all game long and I have no idea how Chicago will break 80.

All that can go wrong is hot shooting by Chicago coupled with cold shooting from Washington.

Imagine if the Wizards actually hit their free throws.

[nate33]

Thibs is a good regular season coach but at this point in his career is not a good playoff coach.

I think that's a little unfair. Thibs can't work miracles. He doesn't have much talent on the roster. Thibs is now suffering from comparison to his overachieving regular season record. It doesn't make him a poor playoff coach. It's merely a manifestation of the fact that you can't scheme and trick your way through a playoff game like you can in the regular season

[WallToWall]

From a long term perspective, I like what playing against the Bulls has done for us. Specifically, I like that, by the end of the series (whoever wins), the refs will know that the team, and many players on the team (Wall, Beal, Nene, etc) have arrived. I hope that results in getting favorable calls, as they tend to do for "star" players. If we do progress further into the playoffs, then it will bode well for when we encounter other "star" players. Going against the DPOTY and a strong defensive team will do this/has done this for our team.

[Jaebality]

Hey ive been reading this forum for a little over a year now, Ive been a wizards fan all my life and my dad (sfam) got me onto this. Finally decided to get posting.

Ill be looking for Wall this next game to be the key. the bulls are going to key in on the bigs and as Nate said Beal isnt the best Home player. Wall will have that fire under him and he will probably be the thing that keeps us mentally in the game because knowing the bulls they are probably gonna come out even more physical and more desperate for a victory.

[Kanyewest]

Thibs is a good regular season coach but at this point in his career is not a good playoff coach.

I think that's a little unfair. Thibs can't work miracles. He doesn't have much talent on the roster. Thibs is now suffering from comparison to his overachieving regular season record. It doesn't make him a poor playoff coach. It's merely a manifestation of the fact that you can't scheme and trick your way through a playoff game like you can in the regular season

I agree that Thibs isn't a poor postseason coach; he is probably an average one. Thibs can work regular season miracles- I suppose.

Still, it's one thing to lose the Wizards in a six games series. It's another to lose the first two games at home. The Bulls were in game 2 largely due to the referees. The Bulls only had 1 field goal in the final 6 minutes when they collapsed down the stretch. I think Thibs is elite when it comes to the defensive end but his rotations in the postseason have been poor.

I suppose I am a bit biased against Thibs due the teams performance against the Miami Heat in 2012 when the Bulls had homecourt and were healthy yet only took the Heat to five games. I'm happy though that Wittman has been doing a good job against the Bulls so far.

[ptptpt]

This is the game that scares me. Especially since were home. I think Chicago has too much heart & fight to just lay down.

It's smart to have respect. CHI is not going to lay down, at least not until they get down 0-3
if that happens, and maybe not even then. But as you and others have pointed out, they
have a hard time summoning more than the maximal effort that they just normally play with.
When we match that, it's hard for them to win.

Wall hasn't really broken out yet. Or Gortat. And they have no one better than the
DPoY to check Nene.

I think Jim's comments are worth highlighting.

The Bulls modus operandi is merely to outwork, outgrind, and outhustle their opponents. Particularly in the absence of Rose (bad break for them) and Deng (who they *elected*, willfully, to trade away on their own -- no sympathy for them on that one). So I have to ask the broader group -- do the Bulls have yet another, higher, untapped gear in which to outwork and outgrind the Wizards? If not, how are they going to bridge the divide?

1. Perhaps via scheme. Can Tibbs come up with a new defensive scheme to limit the Wizards scoring? Given the Bulls relative weakness in putting points on the board, giving up over 100 ppg to the Wiz makes a Chicago victory difficult.

2. Perhaps via Wizards' complacency? This may be more hopeful than strategy. It appears that John Wall has a serious, committed attitude. Nene and the rest of the vets (Ariza comes to mind immediately) seem to be in a place where they're leading the focus and effort. Don't know if I'd count on this if I were Chicago.

I think the best the Bulls can hope for is a cold-shooting night by the Wiz -- all of them -- coupled with enough offense to get Chicago near 90 points.

The best thing for the Bulls to win is if the Wizards come out listless. One thing that the Bulls don't do enough of is create turnovers. Wiz are pretty turnover prone as a team. If they capitalized on the Wiz carelessness of the ball and created more turnovers (and converted) then they would have a chance. Bulls are a low scoring team not only because of a lack of superstars, but also they don't create enough possessions for themselves. They are gonna have to make the Wiz turn the ball over a lot to have a chance at winning.

[Hypnotizer]

Wizards are a bad home team

Chalking this up to a loss

Home or road - exactly the same 22-19.

[Hidden Eye]

Can't let Augustin get off and Gibson too Booker is gonna have matchup with Gibson both of those players can impact the game fast.

[montestewart]

Hey ive been reading this forum for a little over a year now, Ive been a wizards fan all my life and my dad (sfam) got me onto this. Finally decided to get posting.

Ill be looking for Wall this next game to be the key. the bulls are going to key in on the bigs and as Nate said Beal isnt the best Home player. Wall will have that fire under him and he will probably be the thing that keeps us mentally in the game because knowing the bulls they are probably gonna come out even more physical and more desperate for a victory.

Good points all. Nice to see some multi-generational contributions. How are your pumpkin carving skills?

[FAH1223]

Wizards are a bad home team

Chalking this up to a loss

Home or road - exactly the same 22-19.

22-19 IS BAD AT HOME... BAD!!!