PG: Screwed the pooch

[Bulls03]

Speights was their center and we got nothing st the rim. That's bad.

[High level]

Speights was their center and we got nothing st the rim. That's bad.

Because rondo doesn't penetrate enough and when he's off the ball it's hard for Jimmy and wade to drive to the rim.

[Mk0]

Just got back from the game and I have to say as much as we see the Clippers whine on TV they are soooo much worse in person. It is shameful how much they cry and whine.

The refs were decent until they decided that calling anything that resembled contact was a foul. Not sure how the hell Mo Speights manages to get like 3 calls in 40s of game time.

Blake travels on about 40% of his possessions.

That last foul call pisses me off. They reviewed it and still gave it to Blake. That was so bad.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

OK so I was right behind the Bulls bench for this one. I'll try to comment on what I saw that may not have been visible from watching the game on tv

Firstly, there were a LOT of Bulls fans, the eye test made it seem like more Bulls fans than Clippers fans at Staples, everywhere you looked it was all Bulls. Obviously by the noise they were making though there was more Clippers fans

Before the game MCW was shooting 3's, he would either make a few in a row or miss a few in a row, there was nothing in-between, he did make 7 in a row at one stage. The only other guys shooting around were Lopez and Mirotic. MCW had his hand bandaged up too, and he wasn't getting much lift on his shot, I wouldn't expect him back soon from how he was moving

In the pregame shoot-around later on, this is what I noticed. Portis was the most focused player, Felicio & Hunter were the least, maybe a reflection of what they knew was coming.

As soon as I saw Rondo come out dressed to play my heart sank. Looking at the boxscore now after watching the game I can't believe he almost had a triple double, he looked awful most of the game and the Clippers players showed him no respect whether he had the ball or they were guarding him off the ball. He wasn't fighting through screens and seemed to always go under when he needed to go over and vice versa, I still don't see this smart player I always hear about and I'm really surprised he seems to have gotten a pass on this post game thread. I felt he needed to come out in the 4th quarter he wasn't providing anything other than a few good hustle plays for rebounds

Wade looked exhausted from the end of the 1st quarter onwards, he seemed to constantly be the only one who would rush to sit on the bench for timeouts, he wasn't interacting with his teammates much, he looked so tired, but I never saw him once reach for water...weird. After such a hot start, he disappeared when they needed him but I don't blame him, the Clippers were better coached it seemed down the stretch they were ready for what was coming and the Bulls seemed to crumble, the plays out of timeouts always seemed to work out for the worst person to get the shot except for one play that Hoiberg had that was really nice that had Rondo feed Taj for an open dunk

The Clippers were playing VERY physical 'defense' and I write defense like that because it was a hackfest, from the 1st quarter Wade, Butler, Rondo and Taj just got him so many times off the ball, they were grabbing Jimmy's jersey and the refs were right there....you had the entire Bulls bench and coaching staff yelling out FOUL and about 35 fans all sitting in the vicinity all yelling it at the exact same time and the refs just stood there doing nothing. The ref wearing 56 was the worst he's definitely getting paid extra for this game

Butler wasn't able to break down the defense off the dribble, or decided to settle for shots when he could and should have kept taking the guys they had guarding him.

Paul Pierce's 2 shots off the backboard were hilarious.

I don't know how Speights, Crawford and Reddick were left open so often, it was like watching it in slow motion and just knowing the Bulls were going to blow their assignments and it wasn't just Portis

Valentine I felt bad for, he needs to get in the weight room, his body is a weird shape. But I felt bad for him because Fred kept putting him in situations to fail and then taking him out. Every time he went back to the bench you could see he was trying to hold his frustrations back, Randy Brown was the only one that went and spoke to him countless times to try and keep him positive. Late in the game it was Valentine that was trying to keep his teammates positive as they were blowing the lead

I didn't see the team respond well to adversity. This is a team on a 4 game win streak playing a hot 1st quarter and the second things stopped going their way I didn't see leadership from anyone including the coaching staff, it seemed like Wade and Jimmy kept to themselves quite a bit, Rondo wasn't taking ownership and I don't think they respect Hoiberg, just basing it on body language when he's talking

Speaking of body language, no one is worse than Mirotic. When he's off I think he's the one killing his own confidence, his shot looks so ugly up close, he really should work on his mechanics, none of them looked like they were going to drop. He heads to the bench after messing up and seems to be confused and annoyed but I honestly felt he was his own worst enemy and no one was there giving that veteran hand on the shoulder to help

Lopez was actually really good, and anyone that's read my opinion on him knows I don't like him. He is HUGE in person, I was really shocked at how big a person he is. Same with Felicio, that guy doesn't look 6'9 at all. he was approx the same height as Mirotic when they stood side by side, but he just looks so much bigger because of how wide he is....speaking of wide I met Stacey King before the game, asked him to show me the golden pipes he thought it was funny and agreed to let me record him. Horace Grant was at the game too, watching Jerian

I thought Taj played well but he really wasn't a focus on either end, I have no idea why he got a tech he didn't do anything.

Everyone is blaming Portis, but I thought Mirotics defense was so much worse, and I like Niko but dude is lost.

In crucial plays down the stretch of a tight game you can't let Felton have an easy finger roll, there's also ZERO communication between the players and the bench on defense. Boylen was yelling instructions out of Clippers timeouts telling guys to watch for certain things but he was wrong almost every time. Other than that, they didn't have the communication on defense, so often by the time the ball went through the basket they're looking around at each other OR there were a few times Bobby was being visibly mad that someone else had not rotated after he had.

Not securing those defensive rebounds down the stretch was huge, the Clippers feed off the energy of their crowd and it was getting loud in there, they looked like the veteran team that never panicked about being down and found a way to win. The Bulls found a way to lose, as they honestly looked like the better team most of the night, until it mattered

Hoiberg gets thrown out but Rivers was whinging the entire game at every single call and non call..Paul throws the ball at the ref in disgust and it hits him, Canaan and Bulls bench plead for a tech the ref (number 56) won't give it

I thought Canaan should have played more, he was really physical on defense and the Clippers guards hated it.

I didn't see Zipser on the bench, is he away from the team for a reason? Also strange that MCW would warm up but then not be out there to watch the game from the bench

Jordan with 0 free throw attempts, I was really surprised they didn't start hacking him when the Clippers made their run in the 1st half

A few Clippers fans were really cocky once they finally got the lead, trying to bait the Bulls bench, none of the players turned or responded to them, one of the Staples Center staff actually told one of them off. He kept screaming easy win and then trying to get Butler to react by saying stupid things, he was clearly drunk.

So many Clippers fans had no clue about the game, they kept calling Lopez, Tyson Chandler. Asking which one is the Bulls coach and what his name is.

Here's the part which made me mad though, that BS foul call on Butler, even the Clippers fans were laughing and admitting it was a bail out call. That might have made the difference, although the Bulls shot selection on the other end was horrible in the 4th quarter, some of the shots Wade took, you could tell had no chance of going in the second they left his hand. He was clearly tired and he didn't adjust his game. Also he had one of the worst passes I've seen in a clutch moment when he threw a no look behind the back pass to Taj that almost went off the Bulls...weird decision making

Anyway, I'll be behind the bench again tomorrow vs the Lakers, hopefully they'll adjust. Felicio and Valentine kept staring into the crowd too, not sure what they were looking for,

[kingkirk]

I acknowledge it's 100% possible that bringing in lopez - or niko, or going small - would have also gone poorly and the bulls would have ended up losing anyway. but you cannot convince me that playing bobby was the best option no matter what, because they didn't try anything else

I'm not trying to convince you that Bobby Portis was the answer. I'm trying to convince you that Robin Lopez isnt one either, and that the Bulls didn't have a counter to Speights because Mirotic was terrible tonight and Lopez can't guard floor spacers.

[Mk0]

OK so I was right behind the Bulls bench for this one. I'll try to comment on what I saw that may not have been visible from watching the game on tv

Firstly, there were a LOT of Bulls fans, the eye test made it seem like more Bulls fans than Clippers fans at Staples, everywhere you looked it was all Bulls. Obviously by the noise they were making though there was more Clippers fans

Before the game MCW was shooting 3's, he would either make a few in a row or miss a few in a row, there was nothing in-between, he did make 7 in a row at one stage. The only other guys shooting around were Lopez and Mirotic. MCW had his hand bandaged up too, and he wasn't getting much lift on his shot, I wouldn't expect him back soon from how he was moving

In the pregame shoot-around later on, this is what I noticed. Portis was the most focused player, Felicio & Hunter were the least, maybe a reflection of what they knew was coming.

As soon as I saw Rondo come out dressed to play my heart sank. Looking at the boxscore now after watching the game I can't believe he almost had a triple double, he looked awful most of the game and the Clippers players showed him no respect whether he had the ball or they were guarding him off the ball. He wasn't fighting through screens and seemed to always go under when he needed to go over and vice versa, I still don't see this smart player I always hear about and I'm really surprised he seems to have gotten a pass on this post game thread. I felt he needed to come out in the 4th quarter he wasn't providing anything other than a few good hustle plays for rebounds

Wade looked exhausted from the end of the 1st quarter onwards, he seemed to constantly be the only one who would rush to sit on the bench for timeouts, he wasn't interacting with his teammates much, he looked so tired, but I never saw him once reach for water...weird. After such a hot start, he disappeared when they needed him but I don't blame him, the Clippers were better coached it seemed down the stretch they were ready for what was coming and the Bulls seemed to crumble, the plays out of timeouts always seemed to work out for the worst person to get the shot except for one play that Hoiberg had that was really nice that had Rondo feed Taj for an open dunk

The Clippers were playing VERY physical 'defense' and I write defense like that because it was a hackfest, from the 1st quarter Wade, Butler, Rondo and Taj just got him so many times off the ball, they were grabbing Jimmy's jersey and the refs were right there....you had the entire Bulls bench and coaching staff yelling out FOUL and about 35 fans all sitting in the vicinity all yelling it at the exact same time and the refs just stood there doing nothing. The ref wearing 56 was the worst he's definitely getting paid extra for this game

Butler wasn't able to break down the defense off the dribble, or decided to settle for shots when he could and should have kept taking the guys they had guarding him.

Paul Pierce's 2 shots off the backboard were hilarious.

I don't know how Speights, Crawford and Reddick were left open so often, it was like watching it in slow motion and just knowing the Bulls were going to blow their assignments and it wasn't just Portis

Valentine I felt bad for, he needs to get in the weight room, his body is a weird shape. But I felt bad for him because Fred kept putting him in situations to fail and then taking him out. Every time he went back to the bench you could see he was trying to hold his frustrations back, Randy Brown was the only one that went and spoke to him countless times to try and keep him positive. Late in the game it was Valentine that was trying to keep his teammates positive as they were blowing the lead

I didn't see the team respond well to adversity. This is a team on a 4 game win streak playing a hot 1st quarter and the second things stopped going their way I didn't see leadership from anyone including the coaching staff, it seemed like Wade and Jimmy kept to themselves quite a bit, Rondo wasn't taking ownership and I don't think they respect Hoiberg, just basing it on body language when he's talking

Speaking of body language, no one is worse than Mirotic. When he's off I think he's the one killing his own confidence, his shot looks so ugly up close, he really should work on his mechanics, none of them looked like they were going to drop. He heads to the bench after messing up and seems to be confused and annoyed but I honestly felt he was his own worst enemy and no one was there giving that veteran hand on the shoulder to help

Lopez was actually really good, and anyone that's read my opinion on him knows I don't like him. He is HUGE in person, I was really shocked at how big a person he is. Same with Felicio, that guy doesn't look 6'9 at all. he was approx the same height as Mirotic when they stood side by side, but he just looks so much bigger because of how wide he is....speaking of wide I met Stacey King before the game, asked him to show me the golden pipes he thought it was funny and agreed to let me record him. Horace Grant was at the game too, watching Jerian

I thought Taj played well but he really wasn't a focus on either end, I have no idea why he got a tech he didn't do anything.

Everyone is blaming Portis, but I thought Mirotics defense was so much worse, and I like Niko but dude is lost.

In crucial plays down the stretch of a tight game you can't let Felton have an easy finger roll, there's also ZERO communication between the players and the bench on defense. Boylen was yelling instructions out of Clippers timeouts telling guys to watch for certain things but he was wrong almost every time. Other than that, they didn't have the communication on defense, so often by the time the ball went through the basket they're looking around at each other OR there were a few times Bobby was being visibly mad that someone else had not rotated after he had.

Not securing those defensive rebounds down the stretch was huge, the Clippers feed off the energy of their crowd and it was getting loud in there, they looked like the veteran team that never panicked about being down and found a way to win. The Bulls found a way to lose, as they honestly looked like the better team most of the night, until it mattered

Hoiberg gets thrown out but Rivers was whinging the entire game at every single call and non call..Paul throws the ball at the ref in disgust and it hits him, Canaan and Bulls bench plead for a tech the ref (number 56) won't give it

I thought Canaan should have played more, he was really physical on defense and the Clippers guards hated it.

I didn't see Zipser on the bench, is he away from the team for a reason? Also strange that MCW would warm up but then not be out there to watch the game from the bench

Jordan with 0 free throw attempts, I was really surprised they didn't start hacking him when the Clippers made their run in the 1st half

A few Clippers fans were really cocky once they finally got the lead, trying to bait the Bulls bench, none of the players turned or responded to them, one of the Staples Center staff actually told one of them off. He kept screaming easy win and then trying to get Butler to react by saying stupid things, he was clearly drunk.

So many Clippers fans had no clue about the game, they kept calling Lopez, Tyson Chandler. Asking which one is the Bulls coach and what his name is.

Here's the part which made me mad though, that BS foul call on Butler, even the Clippers fans were laughing and admitting it was a bail out call. That might have made the difference, although the Bulls shot selection on the other end was horrible in the 4th quarter, some of the shots Wade took, you could tell had no chance of going in the second they left his hand. He was clearly tired and he didn't adjust his game. Also he had one of the worst passes I've seen in a clutch moment when he threw a no look behind the back pass to Taj that almost went off the Bulls...weird decision making

Anyway, I'll be behind the bench again tomorrow vs the Lakers, hopefully they'll adjust. Felicio and Valentine kept staring into the crowd too, not sure what they were looking for,

Awesome write up. I could not believe how much the Clips got away with. Doc Rivers threw a temper tantrum the entire night. I thought Thibs was a screamer.

I took a bunch of pics at the game on my phone. I am sure I have you in them. I was right across from the Clips bench in the PR section. This was my first game out of the nose bleeds and it made me feel weird when I was getting rowdy. I am used to screaming with a bunch of drunk people near me not families and rich teens on their phones all game.

I am in 301 tomorrow night and plan on drinking and getting loud. I couldn't do it tonight, I had a migraine all day and was barely able to function for half the day. I did heckle Reddick when he got sonned by Wade and he stepped over him a la Iverson and Lue.

[Mk0]

I acknowledge it's 100% possible that bringing in lopez - or niko, or going small - would have also gone poorly and the bulls would have ended up losing anyway. but you cannot convince me that playing bobby was the best option no matter what, because they didn't try anything else

I'm not trying to convince you that Bobby Portis was the answer. I'm trying to convince you that Robin Lopez isnt one either, and that the Bulls didn't have a counter to Speights because Mirotic was terrible tonight and Lopez can't guard floor spacers.

Eh.. watching the game in person I think you have to at least try someone else. Portis was horrendous. Speights was owning him from every spot on the floor. Lopez should have at least been able to hold the paint.

Who knows maybe the refs would respect Lopez a bit more than Bobby and Speights doesn't get us to 4 team fouls in the first 2mins of the 4th Q.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

Would've been cool to win this. But truthfully we're not even close to their level yet. If not because of Wade's unusual hot shooting from 3, the game wouldn't be this close.

But I like our effort, I think teams are taking notice. Nobody is going to sleep on us anymore. Expect teams to start bringing extra edge playing against us.

I have to disagree, the Bulls had them beat most of the game on their own home court. Wade may have started hot but the Bulls finished 9-30 from 3. Butler, Canaan and Mirotic combining to go 2-14 isn't typical either. A couple of shots or the right calls go their way and they could have won this game, it wasn't like the Clippers were toying with them

[RakimAbdulJabar]

OK so I was right behind the Bulls bench for this one. I'll try to comment on what I saw that may not have been visible from watching the game on tv

Firstly, there were a LOT of Bulls fans, the eye test made it seem like more Bulls fans than Clippers fans at Staples, everywhere you looked it was all Bulls. Obviously by the noise they were making though there was more Clippers fans

Before the game MCW was shooting 3's, he would either make a few in a row or miss a few in a row, there was nothing in-between, he did make 7 in a row at one stage. The only other guys shooting around were Lopez and Mirotic. MCW had his hand bandaged up too, and he wasn't getting much lift on his shot, I wouldn't expect him back soon from how he was moving

In the pregame shoot-around later on, this is what I noticed. Portis was the most focused player, Felicio & Hunter were the least, maybe a reflection of what they knew was coming.

As soon as I saw Rondo come out dressed to play my heart sank. Looking at the boxscore now after watching the game I can't believe he almost had a triple double, he looked awful most of the game and the Clippers players showed him no respect whether he had the ball or they were guarding him off the ball. He wasn't fighting through screens and seemed to always go under when he needed to go over and vice versa, I still don't see this smart player I always hear about and I'm really surprised he seems to have gotten a pass on this post game thread. I felt he needed to come out in the 4th quarter he wasn't providing anything other than a few good hustle plays for rebounds

Wade looked exhausted from the end of the 1st quarter onwards, he seemed to constantly be the only one who would rush to sit on the bench for timeouts, he wasn't interacting with his teammates much, he looked so tired, but I never saw him once reach for water...weird. After such a hot start, he disappeared when they needed him but I don't blame him, the Clippers were better coached it seemed down the stretch they were ready for what was coming and the Bulls seemed to crumble, the plays out of timeouts always seemed to work out for the worst person to get the shot except for one play that Hoiberg had that was really nice that had Rondo feed Taj for an open dunk

The Clippers were playing VERY physical 'defense' and I write defense like that because it was a hackfest, from the 1st quarter Wade, Butler, Rondo and Taj just got him so many times off the ball, they were grabbing Jimmy's jersey and the refs were right there....you had the entire Bulls bench and coaching staff yelling out FOUL and about 35 fans all sitting in the vicinity all yelling it at the exact same time and the refs just stood there doing nothing. The ref wearing 56 was the worst he's definitely getting paid extra for this game

Butler wasn't able to break down the defense off the dribble, or decided to settle for shots when he could and should have kept taking the guys they had guarding him.

Paul Pierce's 2 shots off the backboard were hilarious.

I don't know how Speights, Crawford and Reddick were left open so often, it was like watching it in slow motion and just knowing the Bulls were going to blow their assignments and it wasn't just Portis

Valentine I felt bad for, he needs to get in the weight room, his body is a weird shape. But I felt bad for him because Fred kept putting him in situations to fail and then taking him out. Every time he went back to the bench you could see he was trying to hold his frustrations back, Randy Brown was the only one that went and spoke to him countless times to try and keep him positive. Late in the game it was Valentine that was trying to keep his teammates positive as they were blowing the lead

I didn't see the team respond well to adversity. This is a team on a 4 game win streak playing a hot 1st quarter and the second things stopped going their way I didn't see leadership from anyone including the coaching staff, it seemed like Wade and Jimmy kept to themselves quite a bit, Rondo wasn't taking ownership and I don't think they respect Hoiberg, just basing it on body language when he's talking

Speaking of body language, no one is worse than Mirotic. When he's off I think he's the one killing his own confidence, his shot looks so ugly up close, he really should work on his mechanics, none of them looked like they were going to drop. He heads to the bench after messing up and seems to be confused and annoyed but I honestly felt he was his own worst enemy and no one was there giving that veteran hand on the shoulder to help

Lopez was actually really good, and anyone that's read my opinion on him knows I don't like him. He is HUGE in person, I was really shocked at how big a person he is. Same with Felicio, that guy doesn't look 6'9 at all. he was approx the same height as Mirotic when they stood side by side, but he just looks so much bigger because of how wide he is....speaking of wide I met Stacey King before the game, asked him to show me the golden pipes he thought it was funny and agreed to let me record him. Horace Grant was at the game too, watching Jerian

I thought Taj played well but he really wasn't a focus on either end, I have no idea why he got a tech he didn't do anything.

Everyone is blaming Portis, but I thought Mirotics defense was so much worse, and I like Niko but dude is lost.

In crucial plays down the stretch of a tight game you can't let Felton have an easy finger roll, there's also ZERO communication between the players and the bench on defense. Boylen was yelling instructions out of Clippers timeouts telling guys to watch for certain things but he was wrong almost every time. Other than that, they didn't have the communication on defense, so often by the time the ball went through the basket they're looking around at each other OR there were a few times Bobby was being visibly mad that someone else had not rotated after he had.

Not securing those defensive rebounds down the stretch was huge, the Clippers feed off the energy of their crowd and it was getting loud in there, they looked like the veteran team that never panicked about being down and found a way to win. The Bulls found a way to lose, as they honestly looked like the better team most of the night, until it mattered

Hoiberg gets thrown out but Rivers was whinging the entire game at every single call and non call..Paul throws the ball at the ref in disgust and it hits him, Canaan and Bulls bench plead for a tech the ref (number 56) won't give it

I thought Canaan should have played more, he was really physical on defense and the Clippers guards hated it.

I didn't see Zipser on the bench, is he away from the team for a reason? Also strange that MCW would warm up but then not be out there to watch the game from the bench

Jordan with 0 free throw attempts, I was really surprised they didn't start hacking him when the Clippers made their run in the 1st half

A few Clippers fans were really cocky once they finally got the lead, trying to bait the Bulls bench, none of the players turned or responded to them, one of the Staples Center staff actually told one of them off. He kept screaming easy win and then trying to get Butler to react by saying stupid things, he was clearly drunk.

So many Clippers fans had no clue about the game, they kept calling Lopez, Tyson Chandler. Asking which one is the Bulls coach and what his name is.

Here's the part which made me mad though, that BS foul call on Butler, even the Clippers fans were laughing and admitting it was a bail out call. That might have made the difference, although the Bulls shot selection on the other end was horrible in the 4th quarter, some of the shots Wade took, you could tell had no chance of going in the second they left his hand. He was clearly tired and he didn't adjust his game. Also he had one of the worst passes I've seen in a clutch moment when he threw a no look behind the back pass to Taj that almost went off the Bulls...weird decision making

Anyway, I'll be behind the bench again tomorrow vs the Lakers, hopefully they'll adjust. Felicio and Valentine kept staring into the crowd too, not sure what they were looking for,

Awesome write up. I could not believe how much the Clips got away with. Doc Rivers threw a temper tantrum the entire night. I thought Thibs was a screamer.

I took a bunch of pics at the game on my phone. I am sure I have you in them. I was right across from the Clips bench in the PR section. This was my first game out of the nose bleeds and it made me feel weird when I was getting rowdy. I am used to screaming with a bunch of drunk people near me not families and rich teens on their phones all game.

I am in 301 tomorrow night and plan on drinking and getting loud. I couldn't do it tonight, I had a migraine all day and was barely able to function for half the day. I did heckle Reddick when he got sonned by Wade and he stepped over him a la Iverson and Lue.

You might, I had a bunch of friends saying you could see me in all the Bulls half time and post game highlights. I'm the one in the black hat that gets up each time the Bulls shoot a 3 with my hands raised....man that 1st quarter was enjoyable....

[RedBulls23]

OK so I was right behind the Bulls bench for this one. I'll try to comment on what I saw that may not have been visible from watching the game on tv

Firstly, there were a LOT of Bulls fans, the eye test made it seem like more Bulls fans than Clippers fans at Staples, everywhere you looked it was all Bulls. Obviously by the noise they were making though there was more Clippers fans

Before the game MCW was shooting 3's, he would either make a few in a row or miss a few in a row, there was nothing in-between, he did make 7 in a row at one stage. The only other guys shooting around were Lopez and Mirotic. MCW had his hand bandaged up too, and he wasn't getting much lift on his shot, I wouldn't expect him back soon from how he was moving

In the pregame shoot-around later on, this is what I noticed. Portis was the most focused player, Felicio & Hunter were the least, maybe a reflection of what they knew was coming.

As soon as I saw Rondo come out dressed to play my heart sank. Looking at the boxscore now after watching the game I can't believe he almost had a triple double, he looked awful most of the game and the Clippers players showed him no respect whether he had the ball or they were guarding him off the ball. He wasn't fighting through screens and seemed to always go under when he needed to go over and vice versa, I still don't see this smart player I always hear about and I'm really surprised he seems to have gotten a pass on this post game thread. I felt he needed to come out in the 4th quarter he wasn't providing anything other than a few good hustle plays for rebounds

Wade looked exhausted from the end of the 1st quarter onwards, he seemed to constantly be the only one who would rush to sit on the bench for timeouts, he wasn't interacting with his teammates much, he looked so tired, but I never saw him once reach for water...weird. After such a hot start, he disappeared when they needed him but I don't blame him, the Clippers were better coached it seemed down the stretch they were ready for what was coming and the Bulls seemed to crumble, the plays out of timeouts always seemed to work out for the worst person to get the shot except for one play that Hoiberg had that was really nice that had Rondo feed Taj for an open dunk

The Clippers were playing VERY physical 'defense' and I write defense like that because it was a hackfest, from the 1st quarter Wade, Butler, Rondo and Taj just got him so many times off the ball, they were grabbing Jimmy's jersey and the refs were right there....you had the entire Bulls bench and coaching staff yelling out FOUL and about 35 fans all sitting in the vicinity all yelling it at the exact same time and the refs just stood there doing nothing. The ref wearing 56 was the worst he's definitely getting paid extra for this game

Butler wasn't able to break down the defense off the dribble, or decided to settle for shots when he could and should have kept taking the guys they had guarding him.

Paul Pierce's 2 shots off the backboard were hilarious.

I don't know how Speights, Crawford and Reddick were left open so often, it was like watching it in slow motion and just knowing the Bulls were going to blow their assignments and it wasn't just Portis

Valentine I felt bad for, he needs to get in the weight room, his body is a weird shape. But I felt bad for him because Fred kept putting him in situations to fail and then taking him out. Every time he went back to the bench you could see he was trying to hold his frustrations back, Randy Brown was the only one that went and spoke to him countless times to try and keep him positive. Late in the game it was Valentine that was trying to keep his teammates positive as they were blowing the lead

I didn't see the team respond well to adversity. This is a team on a 4 game win streak playing a hot 1st quarter and the second things stopped going their way I didn't see leadership from anyone including the coaching staff, it seemed like Wade and Jimmy kept to themselves quite a bit, Rondo wasn't taking ownership and I don't think they respect Hoiberg, just basing it on body language when he's talking

Speaking of body language, no one is worse than Mirotic. When he's off I think he's the one killing his own confidence, his shot looks so ugly up close, he really should work on his mechanics, none of them looked like they were going to drop. He heads to the bench after messing up and seems to be confused and annoyed but I honestly felt he was his own worst enemy and no one was there giving that veteran hand on the shoulder to help

Lopez was actually really good, and anyone that's read my opinion on him knows I don't like him. He is HUGE in person, I was really shocked at how big a person he is. Same with Felicio, that guy doesn't look 6'9 at all. he was approx the same height as Mirotic when they stood side by side, but he just looks so much bigger because of how wide he is....speaking of wide I met Stacey King before the game, asked him to show me the golden pipes he thought it was funny and agreed to let me record him. Horace Grant was at the game too, watching Jerian

I thought Taj played well but he really wasn't a focus on either end, I have no idea why he got a tech he didn't do anything.

Everyone is blaming Portis, but I thought Mirotics defense was so much worse, and I like Niko but dude is lost.

In crucial plays down the stretch of a tight game you can't let Felton have an easy finger roll, there's also ZERO communication between the players and the bench on defense. Boylen was yelling instructions out of Clippers timeouts telling guys to watch for certain things but he was wrong almost every time. Other than that, they didn't have the communication on defense, so often by the time the ball went through the basket they're looking around at each other OR there were a few times Bobby was being visibly mad that someone else had not rotated after he had.

Not securing those defensive rebounds down the stretch was huge, the Clippers feed off the energy of their crowd and it was getting loud in there, they looked like the veteran team that never panicked about being down and found a way to win. The Bulls found a way to lose, as they honestly looked like the better team most of the night, until it mattered

Hoiberg gets thrown out but Rivers was whinging the entire game at every single call and non call..Paul throws the ball at the ref in disgust and it hits him, Canaan and Bulls bench plead for a tech the ref (number 56) won't give it

I thought Canaan should have played more, he was really physical on defense and the Clippers guards hated it.

I didn't see Zipser on the bench, is he away from the team for a reason? Also strange that MCW would warm up but then not be out there to watch the game from the bench

Jordan with 0 free throw attempts, I was really surprised they didn't start hacking him when the Clippers made their run in the 1st half

A few Clippers fans were really cocky once they finally got the lead, trying to bait the Bulls bench, none of the players turned or responded to them, one of the Staples Center staff actually told one of them off. He kept screaming easy win and then trying to get Butler to react by saying stupid things, he was clearly drunk.

So many Clippers fans had no clue about the game, they kept calling Lopez, Tyson Chandler. Asking which one is the Bulls coach and what his name is.

Here's the part which made me mad though, that BS foul call on Butler, even the Clippers fans were laughing and admitting it was a bail out call. That might have made the difference, although the Bulls shot selection on the other end was horrible in the 4th quarter, some of the shots Wade took, you could tell had no chance of going in the second they left his hand. He was clearly tired and he didn't adjust his game. Also he had one of the worst passes I've seen in a clutch moment when he threw a no look behind the back pass to Taj that almost went off the Bulls...weird decision making

Anyway, I'll be behind the bench again tomorrow vs the Lakers, hopefully they'll adjust. Felicio and Valentine kept staring into the crowd too, not sure what they were looking for,

Great feed back. Thanks!

[Mk0]

Would've been cool to win this. But truthfully we're not even close to their level yet. If not because of Wade's unusual hot shooting from 3, the game wouldn't be this close.

But I like our effort, I think teams are taking notice. Nobody is going to sleep on us anymore. Expect teams to start bringing extra edge playing against us.

I have to disagree, the Bulls had them beat most of the game on their own home court. Wade may have started hot but the Bulls finished 9-30 from 3. Butler, Canaan and Mirotic combining to go 2-14 isn't typical either. A couple of shots or the right calls go their way and they could have won this game, it wasn't like the Clippers were toying with them

+1 My big take away from this and watching the Clips play against the Kings last night is that they are once again Fool's Gold. I will gladly eat my hat if they win the West but I can't see them doing that, let alone beating the Cavs.

The Bull's played a pretty poor second half and still almost won and we are supposed to be like the 4th seed in the East. I want to see what happens when the Warriors come to face LAC.

[RedBulls23]

Would've been cool to win this. But truthfully we're not even close to their level yet. If not because of Wade's unusual hot shooting from 3, the game wouldn't be this close.

But I like our effort, I think teams are taking notice. Nobody is going to sleep on us anymore. Expect teams to start bringing extra edge playing against us.

I have to disagree, the Bulls had them beat most of the game on their own home court. Wade may have started hot but the Bulls finished 9-30 from 3. Butler, Canaan and Mirotic combining to go 2-14 isn't typical either. A couple of shots or the right calls go their way and they could have won this game, it wasn't like the Clippers were toying with them

+1 My big take away from this and watching the Clips play against the Kings last night is that they are once again Fool's Gold. I will gladly eat my hat if they win the West but I can't see them doing that, let alone beating the Cavs.

The Bull's played a pretty poor second half and still almost won and we are supposed to be like the 4th seed in the East. I want to see what happens when the Warriors come to face LAC.

Warriors will get their ac together at some point this season. Clippers aren't beating them.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

http://postimg.org/image/4b4skv3cx/

Gar talking with mystery man before the game. I feel like it was Lawrence Frank but I didn't get a good look at him

http://postimg.org/image/ssww8r5xd/

Horace walking down to say hi to Stacey King.

Sorry for the terrible quality, I took like one photo, assumed it was fine and didn't check it because my stupid battery was low

[RSP83]

Would've been cool to win this. But truthfully we're not even close to their level yet. If not because of Wade's unusual hot shooting from 3, the game wouldn't be this close.

But I like our effort, I think teams are taking notice. Nobody is going to sleep on us anymore. Expect teams to start bringing extra edge playing against us.

I have to disagree, the Bulls had them beat most of the game on their own home court. Wade may have started hot but the Bulls finished 9-30 from 3. Butler, Canaan and Mirotic combining to go 2-14 isn't typical either. A couple of shots or the right calls go their way and they could have won this game, it wasn't like the Clippers were toying with them

Don't you think that maybe the Clips being the number 1 ranking in DRtg had something to do with that?

[WindyCityBorn]

Butler is not clutch
Butler has little offensive game other than driving into fouls, if he doesnt get the call its a 50/50 turnover
Butler is a ballstopper that calls for the ball then realizes he has nowhere to go so he does that spin around on his pivot foot thing searching for someone to desperately pass it to
Butler is a worse iso machine than rose was

Even in his good (boxscore) games I didnt like him. Real stars look smooth, they are naturals, every single one of his shots looks like hes forcing 150% of effort and the form is all off and it just looks bad. His game wont evolve well, because it isnt really game. Its extreme but trade him for some good young pieces or firsts and bring in cp3/griffin


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This is BS. We truly have some of the worst fans in the league.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

Would've been cool to win this. But truthfully we're not even close to their level yet. If not because of Wade's unusual hot shooting from 3, the game wouldn't be this close.

But I like our effort, I think teams are taking notice. Nobody is going to sleep on us anymore. Expect teams to start bringing extra edge playing against us.

I have to disagree, the Bulls had them beat most of the game on their own home court. Wade may have started hot but the Bulls finished 9-30 from 3. Butler, Canaan and Mirotic combining to go 2-14 isn't typical either. A couple of shots or the right calls go their way and they could have won this game, it wasn't like the Clippers were toying with them

Don't you think that maybe the Clips being the number 1 ranking in DRtg had something to do with that?

Not really, that stat was only to do with 3 point shooting. The Bulls simply went from hot to cold. That's not to say the Clippers don't play good defense, they do, they move well and know where they need to be, but man they get away with a LOT. If the refs called them on the fouls they committed the Bulls win the game no doubt

[Euro_Step]

it's been said, and I'm sorry to repeat it but, Portis shouldn't have been playing in the fourth. It really bothered me.

Portis hasn't shown me anything and I'm very frustrated with his game.

Speights is a good player imo.

[Euro_Step]

Butler is not clutch
Butler has little offensive game other than driving into fouls, if he doesnt get the call its a 50/50 turnover
Butler is a ballstopper that calls for the ball then realizes he has nowhere to go so he does that spin around on his pivot foot thing searching for someone to desperately pass it to
Butler is a worse iso machine than rose was

Even in his good (boxscore) games I didnt like him. Real stars look smooth, they are naturals, every single one of his shots looks like hes forcing 150% of effort and the form is all off and it just looks bad. His game wont evolve well, because it isnt really game. Its extreme but trade him for some good young pieces or firsts and bring in cp3/griffin


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This is BS. We truly have some of the worst fans in the league.

Butler was trying hard to win this game and I respect that.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

Oh one other thing I just remembered. On 3 occasions Hoiberg tried to insert a 6th player onto the court without asking anyone else to come off.

I don't remember all of them but just watch at the end of the 1st half, with I think around 10 seconds left and the Clippers had the ball. First Boylen calls Grant to come in, then 5 players go out, Hoiberg turns back and yells at Grant for not being on the court so he starts making his way over, Hoiberg realises there's 5 guys and sends him back, calls Niko and then doesn't get him on either. Grant walked back to the bench, rolled his eyes, laughed and he and Canaan looked like they were laughing at how clueless Fred seemed about the whole thing

This happened 2 other times, but I can't recall at which point in the game

[Costa78]

Obviously you're entitled to your own opinion...but the part about how his game won't evolve well, especially when he went from being the last pick in the first round, to averaging almost 25ppg and widely considered a top 15-20 player in the entire league, makes no sense.

Butler is not clutch
Butler has little offensive game other than driving into fouls, if he doesnt get the call its a 50/50 turnover
Butler is a ballstopper that calls for the ball then realizes he has nowhere to go so he does that spin around on his pivot foot thing searching for someone to desperately pass it to
Butler is a worse iso machine than rose was

Even in his good (boxscore) games I didnt like him. Real stars look smooth, they are naturals, every single one of his shots looks like hes forcing 150% of effort and the form is all off and it just looks bad. His game wont evolve well, because it isnt really game. Its extreme but trade him for some good young pieces or firsts and bring in cp3/griffin


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