PG - So what now?

[zugz]

Noah didn't play mosty of the game and your "all-star" got destroyed by anyone and everyone on their team.

Noah played the entire first half, still getting his ass killed. No, the perimeter killed us because our perimeter defense was once again garbage. The Gasol hate clouding your analysis. It's not even a question that Gasol is better than Noah right now.

Noah plays much better defense than Gasol with one leg. This is not about perimeter defense. Its about Gasol NOT being capable of handling P&R defense. The Gasol fan boy love fest is clouding your ability to see the most basic defensive responsibility.

Warning for personal insult. Discuss the team and not other posters or your account will not last here - Re

[cool007]

Look at it this way, Bulls shot poorly, didn't defend that well, only 1 player scored pretty well while they had all starters as well as important bench players also played great.

Yet, Bulls only lost by 6 and were right there - if it wasn't for them making 6 more shots than us. Shots fall and miss. 1 night they fall for them, next will be for us. I am not too worried. We could have easily played a lot better.

We may not be showing all the cards too. Maybe we make adjustments next time we play them. See what we did wrong and what we could have done to play better. More Rose/Gasol pick and roll instead of Gasol posting every time down. Butler post-up and go to the hoop more and get their bigs in foul trouble early or their wing players (Pierce/Beal).

Dunleavy spacing the floor, Doug, NIko and Brooks raining 3s from the bench. etc. Maybe we start playing more physical as well?

[FriedRise]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickFriedell/status/555589674618875905[/tweet]

[BullsFTW]

And can the people who cry about the 2/3 being the exactly the same in Thibs system kindly shut the **** up?

Blatantly obvious that Butler is far more effective at the 2.

IDK, you really think Mike coming back is going to fix him right up?

I guess we'll find out fast, but he is just playing different, worn down, settling for bad shots.

I definitely agree there is more going on with Butler than Dunleavy being out. He looks injured and/or disengaged.

Chandler should be the trade target. He would bully Beal if they tried that matchup. Plus, we'd be much better on the boards.

MDJ + Moore + Nazr + Future 1st for Chandler

[Tenchi Ryu]

Look at it this way, Bulls shot poorly, didn't defend that well, only 1 player scored pretty well while they had all starters as well as important bench players also played great.

Yet, Bulls only lost by 6 and were right there - if it wasn't for them making 6 more shots than us. Shots fall and miss. 1 night they fall for them, next will be for us. I am not too worried. We could have easily played a lot better.

Them too, Wizards had a terrible number of turnovers in the first half, the only reason the game was close. And we needed 3s from Rose.

[Wharton Alum 08]

Good to know Derrick is the reason jimmy is looking for contact before attempting a shot

[Keller61]

Nene better get fined for that flop on Pau, even if it was a legitimate foul. There's just no conceivable that way such a powerful man could be knocked down so easily.

[NecessaryEvil]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickFriedell/status/555589674618875905[/tweet]

Perfect time to rest him and bring him back OFF THE BENCH for the rest of the season.

Can't wait until MDJ & MCD get back as well.

Rose / Brooks
Butler / Hinrich
MDJ / MCD / Snell
Gibson / Mirotic
Gasol / Gibson

[cool007]

Look at it this way, Bulls shot poorly, didn't defend that well, only 1 player scored pretty well while they had all starters as well as important bench players also played great.

Yet, Bulls only lost by 6 and were right there - if it wasn't for them making 6 more shots than us. Shots fall and miss. 1 night they fall for them, next will be for us. I am not too worried. We could have easily played a lot better.

Them too, Wizards had a terrible number of turnovers in the first half, the only reason the game was close. And we needed 3s from Rose.

Overall, the TOs were basically even so.

[kulaz3000]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickFriedell/status/555589674618875905[/tweet]

At least they didn't trot him back out on the floor.

[HINrichPolice]

Can just about chalk that entire loss up to not defending the Pick and Roll. Especially Gasol, he's hopeless vs it.

Not much better on the other end either, fruitless post ups over and over. Never saw a player who can look like an All-Star half the time, then lazy and ineffective the other half.

Snell looked good for a half, and could see how much a wing stepping up really helps us. Then went back to NBA bust, and can see how much that hurts in the other direction.

Someone in the game thread said it right, this team has too many 1 way players, not enough 2 way players. Only Butler, and he isn't even playing offense well lately.

Thibs puts in offensive players like Brooks and Mirotic they mess up on D or can't rebound then he puts in Kirk and Gasol, and they can't score. Just shuffling deck chairs at the end.

This was truly a sad and pathetic loss. We had every reason and motivation to get a win here, the Wizards were off a tough back to back vs SA, and feeling good for beating us a week ago, and just took our best punch and knocked us out.

I don't want to hear excuses about the team not trying, they tried tonight. We were much more active on defense trying to rotate, the team just has structural flaws on defense.

Last thing, Rose ain't gonna play much better than tonight. We still got wrecked.

Only thing you're missing in your analysis is that we're lacking Noah. The healthy, MVP candidate Noah of last year.

[RedBulls23]

Derrick making 6/9 threes is the worst thing that happened in this game.

It's a good sign IMO, since it appears he fixed something with his shot. More arm, less wrist, much more fluid stroke overall.

If he does it again (not necessarily 6/9), we can say he fixed something. One game is not the same as the next sometimes with Derrick and his form from behind the arc.

[errisal]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickFriedell/status/555589674618875905[/tweet]

Perfect time to rest him and bring him back OFF THE BENCH for the rest of the season.

Can't wait until MDJ & MCD get back as well.

Rose / Brooks
Butler / Hinrich
MDJ / MCD / Snell
Gibson / Mirotic
Gasol / Gibson

Perfect time to sit him until his Knee is real close to 100%. I think the ankle injuries are what's setting the knee back and now it's time to get both as close to 100 as possible. This team can still win with Noah on the bench, just need to get another wing who can contribute. I just hope we don't get to see a lot of Nazr unless it's absolutely necessary.

[Rerisen]

Only thing you're missing in your analysis is that we're lacking Noah. The healthy, MVP candidate Noah of last year.

I'm not missing it so much I just don't think that guy is coming back this year. So its pointless to dwell on after every loss. I mean he just went down yet again with another ankle injury tonight.

It doesn't mean our defense can't get better, but we have to change the rotation at minimum. And be realistic about what we have to work with this year. It is not a top 3 elite defense type roster this year.

[The Force.]

Rose ascends from his slump; Jimmy takes his place.

[Salrock2]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickFriedell/status/555589674618875905[/tweet]

Perfect time to rest him and bring him back OFF THE BENCH for the rest of the season.

Can't wait until MDJ & MCD get back as well.

Rose / Brooks
Butler / Hinrich
MDJ / MCD / Snell
Gibson / Mirotic
Gasol / Gibson

Perfect time to sit him until his Knee is real close to 100%. I think the ankle injuries are what's setting the knee back and now it's time to get both as close to 100 as possible. This team can still win with Noah on the bench, just need to get another wing who can contribute. I just hope we don't get to see a lot of Nazr unless it's absolutely necessary.

He should take some time and get that Orthokine treatment like Kobe.

[Keller61]

The heart of the Bulls defense last year was the man in the middle - DPOY Joakim Noah. Now, the man in the middle is a slow 34-year-old guy. That would seem to be the most obvious reason for the defensive decline, although I realize there's more to it than that.

I'm not hating on Pau; he is having an all-star season. If Noah were 100%, the defense would be a lot better even in the new configuration. We are putting Pau in a position as the last line of defense though, and as such we can't hide him like we did with Boozer.

[Mech Engineer]

Was Noah operated on the right or left knee? Hope it's not the same leg. He can rehab faster.

[FriedRise]

I thought the team was aggressive and played great defense in the first half but then regressed after halftime. Noah getting injured may have played a factor, but they need to find a way to sustain that intensity for the entire 48 mins.

Looks like Rose is out of his shooting slump; he played very aggressively, efficiently, and much better the past few straight games, but I still cringe every time he shoots those 3's (though fortunately most of them went in tonight). But of course now it's Butler's turn to be in this slump, and that's starting to affect his confidence a bit and make him hesitate to shoot. He should take Rose's approach and just keep shooting

Rebounding was an issue and the team badly needs to figure out how to defend pick and roll.

[HINrichPolice]

Only thing you're missing in your analysis is that we're lacking Noah. The healthy, MVP candidate Noah of last year.

I'm not missing it so much I just don't think that guy is coming back this year. So its pointless to dwell on after every loss. I mean he just went down yet again with another ankle injury tonight.

It doesn't mean our defense can't get better, but we have to change the rotation at minimum. And be realistic about what we have to work with this year. It is not a top 3 elite defense type roster this year.

Obviously, our defense has been worse than our defense in years past, but it continues to get worse throughout the course of the season. While we've been several steps below last year defensively, Noah's seemingly continual decline in health coincides with our team's decline. So we can't start divvying up the blame on how poorly our team has been playing lately without including the main culprit for the net difference from where we were earlier this season to where we are now.

So of course we have to consider it. Although Noah hasn't been great at any point this year, I think this terrible stretch of games coincides with Noah getting significantly worse.

Plus, maybe Gasol's age starting to catch up to him after his strong start. That's a factor that we were always wary of, but is now becoming reality. Our whole identity has dissolved, and the main reason is our lack of interior D by way of Noah primarily, and now Gasol since he's the next important big getting minutes. I'd venture to say that Taj isn't fully healthy either.

As Rose inconsistently puts in effort, and not just game to game, but half to half or quarter to quarter, our ability to find a different identity will take time. Maybe we're able to adjust and the new focus becomes Rose and Butler finding some chemistry. Maybe Rose learns to really leverage outside shooting of Mirotic finally.

Or maybe we start to be more smart in how we use Pau on offense so that he has more energy on defense. Please Thibs, no more isolating Pau. Let's get get some chemistry between Rose and Pau while we're at it.