What do you think of the Bulls signing?

[Rodrizzle]

Im still trying to figure out how the Bulls have improved? They still havent got a second guy that can break down a defense when the Heat put the Lebron clamps on Rose again. To me that was their biggest weakness and it hasnt been addressed

[Cliff Levingston]

Bulls improved, Heat improved. Outside of the Knicks, possibly the Hawks, the Bulls and Heat are clearly the top 2 in the East. Celtics and Magic should be all but done as they either are battling through injuries or lack of motivation moving forward.

We won't know what the C's truly have left til the playoffs. But this shortened season + old players = bad regular season. They won't miss the playoffs but a 6th seed for them wouldn't surprise Cliff Levingston in the least.

The Bulls and Heat are clearly the cream of a the crop in the East. The Knicks are 3rd if their front line can mesh well, stay healthy and they can get some decent play from their back court. Atlanta and Orlando will still be decent but not real threats. Indiana could move up a couple spots to Atlanta/Orlando territory. Edit to add: speaking from a seeding standpoint, purely. Cliff Levingston would still put Boston 3rd when it comes to the playoffs.

I don't think Cliff Levingston has to worry about the Heat, their new offensive philosophy clearly takes them out of the picture, right?

You really don't have to fake modesty here.

Who said that?

[Cliff Levingston]

If anyone here cares, the Bulls' starting offense looked very good with Rip in there, including Rip himself. They shot 50% and had 23 assists collectively. Cliff Levingston will offer more info on that if anyone here is interested.

[ScreaminCmen]

If anyone here cares, the Bulls' starting offense looked very good with Rip in there, including Rip himself. They shot 50% and had 23 assists collectively. Cliff Levingston will offer more info on that if anyone here is interested.

Cliff Levingston please do go on. I am very interested and would like to know. Chicago is the only real competition that we have in the east.

[Cliff Levingston]

If anyone here cares, the Bulls' starting offense looked very good with Rip in there, including Rip himself. They shot 50% and had 23 assists collectively. Cliff Levingston will offer more info on that if anyone here is interested.

Cliff Levingston please do go on. I am very interested and would like to know. Chicago is the only real competition that we have in the east.

Well, it's about as simple as expanding on what was said about Rip and what he brings over Bogans in the starting lineup. Bogans would basically space the floor and not move around a whole lot. Rip had those moments as well as it's what required of the position in some sets, but just knowing that he can hit that 3 or long 2 with some regularity is something defenses need to be aware of.

Obviously Rip's main value to the offense his is ability to run off screens and actually do something with the ball when he gets it other than shoot an uncontested 3. A prime example of his passing ability combined with the attention he commands came early in the game. We ran a normal set which had Noah set a down screen for rip just off the block. Rip came off of it well to the wing where he received the pass while Noah's man had to step out to try to deny the pass. Rip got the ball while Noah rolled off the pick toward the baseline. Rip hit Noah there who took one dribble toward the bucket, forcing Boozer's man over. Boozer flashed to the middle of the paint where Noah hit him for an easy bucket.

That play is basically made by the attention Rip commands as a mid-range shooter combined with his ability to pass the ball off to the right man. It wasn't a hard pass but it was the right one made quickly and decisively.

Another aspect was running the floor. Since Rip is a freakin' gazelle, he got out on the break a couple times very quickly, and when you've got Rose who's probably the fastest player end-to-end in the league, Rip got a couple easy buckets off simply running the break and being able to finish a layup.

Outside of that, the Bulls' offense just looked so effortless and well spaced, and that has a lot to with Rip being there. We really have 4 above average passers for their positions now in the starting lineup with Deng being maybe average. The ball moved around quickly and found the open man for a lot of easy buckets or wide open jumpers. Noah was even 1 for 2 shooting the free throw line jumper.

The guy who benefited the most from Rip being there was actually Boozer. Granted Boozer is healthy again and dropped a lot of weight which helps in his own regard, but Boozer had more room to work around the paint. He flashed to the elbow a couple times for open jumpers, made a few things happen off the post-up and converted on lots of short shots while crashing down toward the bucket with the defense recovering. He went 11 of 17 shooting with 7 boards and 3 assists. As such, maybe because his head was in the game offensively, he was moving his feet a little better defensively, doing a better job of showing on pick and rolls and then recovering back to his man, even though Hansbrough still severely outworked him.

Granted it was the Pacers in the preseason, but the Bulls' starters were +15 (Deng), +11 (Boozer), +17 (Noah), +18 (Hamilton) and +16 (Rose). The most encouraging thing really was the lack of scoring from Rose. The Bulls' starters really put it on the Pacers when they were out there with Rose only taking 9 shots, making 4. He had as many assists as he had shot attempts (9). Hamilton, Boozer and Deng all had more shots than Rose on the night; Deng and Rip both shot 50% and Boozer shot 65%. If the Bulls hope to win the championship and get past the Heat in the process, they need these guys playing, shooting and scoring efficiently like this.

So, as said, it's one game and it's preseason against a lesser team (still a playoff team at least), but it was very encouraging for the Bulls and their fans.

[Indomitable]

I think he means defensively. Wade hates chasing guys like Rip and Ray around.

Wade was winning those matchups but Rip was lighting him up on the other end.

[ScreaminCmen]

I agree with just about everything you said Cliff. RIP gives the bulls that second offesnse prescence to force defenses to not double as much. But for any other team in the league besides the heat. With a line up Wade/Bat/Bron/UD/Bosh on defense we could switch positions 1-3, 2-5 on the bulls and the defense wouldnt suffer that much. But this would cause a killer mismatch for you guys on the defensive end. Rose would have to guard either Wade/Bat/Bron. Which would force them to send help leaving us with open space for the other guys.

[SweetTouch]

12 playoff matches h2h

Wade 52% FG%
Hamilton 42% FG%

lighting him up

[Chosen01]

12 playoff matches h2h

Wade 52% FG%
Hamilton 42% FG%

lighting him up

lol.

[Jan_Sobieski]

12 playoff matches h2h

Wade 52% FG%
Hamilton 42% FG%

lighting him up

lol.

Damn son. Truth right there.

[Cliff Levingston]

I agree with just about everything you said Cliff. RIP gives the bulls that second offesnse prescence to force defenses to not double as much. But for any other team in the league besides the heat. With a line up Wade/Bat/Bron/UD/Bosh on defense we could switch positions 1-3, 2-5 on the bulls and the defense wouldnt suffer that much. But this would cause a killer mismatch for you guys on the defensive end. Rose would have to guard either Wade/Bat/Bron. Which would force them to send help leaving us with open space for the other guys.

If Rip forces people to guard him, it applies to everyone in the league including the Heat.

What made the Heat as effective defensively as they were in the ECF wasn't the mere fact that they could put LeBron on Rose, it's that they could have Wade completely ignore Bogans and roam around defensively. He could double onto Boozer in the post, double Rose up high, he could double Boozer off a pick. He could do anything he wanted to try to force the ball into Bogans' hands. If he did that, the defense wins. It made it incredibly hard on Rose, Boozer and Deng basically all having to deal with double teams a lot of the time since Wade could basically just double all the time.

With Rip there, it doesn't matter if Wade, LeBron or Battier are defending him as an initial assignment or off a switch, none of them can leave Rip alone like they did with Bogans. If you do, Rip will make you pay with the pass or with his shot.

Cliff Levingston likes the Battier acquisition for the Heat; it gives them a very big and physical 1-3 like the Bulls had back in the day with Harper, Jordan and Scottie. But, if you think Wade can take plays off defensively by simply having Battier chase Rip around, you're mistaken. Deng is outstanding off the ball as well and Deng has the size and muscle to at least make Wade exert some energy fighting him for position and chasing him around. The bottom line is that Rip makes the Bulls so much more dangerously offensively, much more so than any of Brewer, Bogans or Korver did.

This is a little off-topic, but Cliff Levingston just had the thought come to mind. The Bulls vs. Heat rivalry starting up here reminds Cliff Levingston a bit of the old Lakers vs. Kings rivalry there for a couple years. The Lakers had the big names in Shaq and Kobe (akin to the Heat with the big 3) while the Kings had a myriad of good players surrounding one star (Webber), and they just killed teams with great teamwork, passing and floor spacing. ICLO, the Bulls' offense is going to mirror that a little bit with Rip now in the fold.

[RexBoyWonder]

LOL @ comparing the Bulls Rose chucking ugly-ass offense to the beauty of the old kings team.

with all due respect to the entertaining third person referring Cliff Levingston,



\Thread.

[ScreaminCmen]

At Cliff i understand what your saying. Its kinda like what the bulls did in game one when they played off of joel. Then in gmae 2 we put UD back in the line-up and everything changed.

[Cliff Levingston]

LOL @ comparing the Bulls Rose chucking ugly-ass offense to the beauty of the old kings team.

with all due respect to the entertaining third person referring Cliff Levingston,



\Thread.

You stay classy San Diego.

At Cliff i understand what your saying. Its kinda like what the bulls did in game one when they played off of joel. Then in gmae 2 we put UD back in the line-up and everything changed.

Yep. Haslem's mid-range jumper was a killer.

[GreenHat]

I don't see the Kings-Bulls comparison because the Bulls are much better on defense and the Kings were much better than offense. I guess you were just referring to star power.

Also I don't think Hamilton will help them as much as you think against us (it will against other teams). While limited Bogans was still a good three point shooter so we couldn't just leave him by himself.

Plus it wasn't like Bogans was playing 48 mins a game and he is a better defender than Hamilton too.

I'd actually like to get him now that you guys cut him.