Now that we have lost...

[Starkiller]

I thought it'd be interesting to discuss why and how it happened. What were our weaknesses? What happened this game that didn't the other 9? Obviously PG and Lance had poor shooting nights. What else? What can we do to prevent it?

[EuroPacer]

I don't think there is a reason to soul-search (not saying that is what you are asking for btw ), the boxscore is pretty explanatory. Bulls played better D on us than we managed on them, we had a very slow start but that can't be blamed on the back-to-back as Bulls had a back-to-back as well.

I genuinely think that the majority of the loss can be attributed to a Bulls team that was massively pumped by the crowd.

[Jake0890]

I think I saw a couple reasons why we lost last night:

1) Transition defense. The Bulls absolutely DESTROYED our transition D. Thibodeau was smart enough to encourage his players to run the floor rather than playing half court against our defense.

2) Couldn't buy a basket. This is probably the biggest reason. We just couldn't hit the easy shots that we had been making all years. All of the shots were shorts. I don't know if it was from fatigue or what, but both Lance and Paul George missed layups and West came up short on a couple of his bunnies from the paint.

3) Oh, and Solo added nothing off the bench. Time to put Copeland in. Solo needs some more work on his game before he deserves any minutes.

[Robertchk]

I'll say it again, west is shooting too many long jumpers.

[Starkiller]

I'll say it again, west is shooting too many long jumpers.

Honestly from what I've watched he's had more success and better looks on those. It seems he misses a bunny layup at least twice a game.

[mikepacernation]

They need to play Copeland instead in Solomon!!

[Moooose]

Watched half of the game against the Bulls. The Bulls did very well on offense, they were running and gunning.

I agree we need to see more of Copeland. His ability to hit the three in transition is really impressive.
But late in the game he was struggling defensively. Got a block though but the Bulls frontcourt was overpowering him.

OJ also looked good late in the game, being able to bang bodies in the paint.

Vogel needs to study the rotation and where Solo fits. It's not that he is not talented, but in the games where he played he's like very conscious to the point where he looked lost. Needs more time perhaps.

[Wizop]

I'll say it again, west is shooting too many long jumpers.

is West shooting an 18 footer a worse percentage shot than PC or Lance or even Hill taking the same shot? it doesn't feel that way to me but I've not tried to find any advanced metrics online to be scientific about answering. in general you take what the defense gives you and if they pick that poison I don't see that we need to pass it up. in any event, what we have been doing has worked 9 out of 10 times and I'll take that all year long.

[Miller4ever]

David West is not shooting the ball well this season, period.

What happened in the loss was we didn't deal with things not going our way early well, resulting in things not going our way in the 2nd quarter. The 3rd quarter was played even, but that wasn't good enough as the damage had already been done and the Bulls were letting their foot off the gas.

They shot 58% from deep. We had a lot of shots go in and out. It was a game where our mental fortitude just wasn't strong enough.

Looked like game 7 against the Heat. I think this loss was good, because one of the reasons we started the season this motivated was because of the way our season ended last year. Losses are going to happen. It's more important to see how we respond than to dwell.

[Robertchk]

I'll say it again, west is shooting too many long jumpers.

is West shooting an 18 footer a worse percentage shot than PC or Lance or even Hill taking the same shot? it doesn't feel that way to me but I've not tried to find any advanced metrics online to be scientific about answering. in general you take what the defense gives you and if they pick that poison I don't see that we need to pass it up. in any event, what we have been doing has worked 9 out of 10 times and I'll take that all year long.

Wizop,

In my opinion, West is your best option vs the Chicago Bulls as he can easily take out one of our only consistent offensive weapons, Carlos Boozer. West shooting long jumpers vs. Chicago will have the Pacers sitting at home after game 6 in the playoffs. I know its early in the season, but Indy might considering involving him more and moving the ball inside out, they struggle with this as players stop moving and PG has to come up shooting with less than 5 seconds on the clock. Scola should be their jumper guy to keep teams off balance, not West, he should be pounding, getting to the line, and creating space for the perimeter guys.

[Wizop]

we're still hoping Granger returns. if he does, he becomes the outside shooting alternative to PG. if not, well it is only November which leaves lots of time to see what works best although so far what we have been doing has only failed us once.

[Robertchk]

Wizop,

Pacers ball movement is not good at all right now, they are 19th in league with assists to date, but this is actually much worse because they are actually hitting a good amount of shots just before the shotclock expires. Knicks eat them alive last night with Chandler in there. Hill, Lance, West, are thinking way too much and stopping the ball which is making this offense look bad. Lance is a really good bench player and I hope Granger contributes as I want to see many game 7's this playoffs season.

[Wizop]

I don't see Lance as a great bench player. he's at his best when he doesn't try to create shots for himself other than on the break. I think being the primary option on a second unit puts too much pressure on him. I like him best as the fifth option on the first unit. when Granger does return, he'll probably be on a pitch count which should leave Lance with the first unit. there will be time down the road to consider swapping them. did I mention previously that I saw Vogel at the Colts game and said to him that I think Scola needs to defer less on the second unit to take the pressure off Lance?

bottom line though is 9-1 is 9-1. whatever we are doing is working better than anything we did in prior years. and as for game 7's, I'd like to see less of them and more sweeps.

[Robertchk]

lol @ the vogel comment. nice.

will you be attending the game Saturday? not sure why, but tickets sales on stubhub for this game are nuts (which i like as a STH)!

[Wizop]

will you be attending the game Saturday? not sure why, but tickets sales on stubhub for this game are nuts (which i like as a STH)!

No, we'll be on a plane to Denver for a week of being grandparents. My next ticket is for the Heat.