wake.eat.sleep

Teams that lose Game 1 and Game 2 of an NBA playoff series? They have only 4 out of 56 series.

Stats courtesy of WhoWins.

Must win?

This is a team that had established itself as a team that thrives on adversity. There were few team that relentlessly competed in the regular season to take advantage of the talent that was available. 

Despite the absence of Rose from practically the beginning of the season and the departure of Deng before the trade deadline, the team has remained largely intact and competitive and healthy since the addition of Augustin to the roster.

In recent seasons, the team has battled through injuries to Noah, Deng and Hinrich either late in the season or during the playoffs. 

Perhaps no one had realistic championship aspirations, but was the team looking ahead to the second round instead of focusing on a talented and hungry Wizards team?

In both games, the Bulls have started flat, and ended both games unable to protect a lead with its best defensive unit: Noah, Gibson, Butler, and Hinrich. Augustin, of course stays in for offensive purposes.

Although what you see on the court is a combination of coaching, preparation and execution, I still stand by what I said on Twitter:

Wittman came out with an excellent strategy to attack the Bulls on offense and defense in both games. The Bulls have countered, but the Wizards were able to adjust and minimize the effects. A lot of people are focused on Thibs coaching strategy and that is part of it. I'm not even so concerned that he wants to always have his best defensive lineup out there in the 4th. 

However, through quarters one through three, I think there is some opportunity to try things now down 0-2. Also, there are small strategic tweaks that I hope they can try that have not been evident. Wittman has had answers each quarter, it's not very clear to me that Thibs has, and this is why I say he's been outcoached...so far.

The biggest keys for tonight:

- Bulls have to, have to win the first quarter. Doesn't matter if it's an ugly 20-19 quarter or a wild scoring 35-29 quarter. It must happen or they will not win tonight.

- Defensive intensity. The rotations have been a step slow for both games.

- The assist numbers have to be higher, and the turnovers lower. When the defense is playing well, it tends to lead to better movement on offense and fast break opportunities for a team that generally has to work hard to score in half court sets.

- Although there isn't going to be a great way to track this, but we'll have to see a better fight for loose balls and rebounds. We haven't seen that throughout the game, due to Nene and Gortat.

It finally comes down to this team's true core identity. Is it a team built of heart, hustle and muscle? 

Will we see the heart of a competitor, that will not accept letting history or statistics determine their fate?

Will we see the hustle of a team that will choose to battle and grind it out for 48 straight minutes tonight?

Will we see the muscle of a group that is strong enough to overcome any adversity?

#ChicagoBasketball #SeeRed #GoBulls

-- wake.eat.sleep