Despite any sort of evidence heading into the series, and now mounting evidence to the contrary, many Bulls fans heading down to Indianapolis, more than happy to relieve Pacers fans of their Game 4 playoff tickets. Wearing red, and bringing their signs that they likely stayed up to make, they were fairly confident that they would be dancing on the grave of the Pacers playoff season.
But as Sky21King might say on Twitter...#HOPGoing into the game, there were a number of trends that the Bulls needed to overcome: turnovers, second chance points and points in the paint. In fact, Indiana's terrible shooting and shot percentage has kept the Bulls in the game more than any other factor. Early in the 1st quarter, they continued that trend anyway. The hallmarks of a Thibodeau-run defense: protect the paint, and run out on the shooters. Unfortunately, we have seen way too many layups and put-backs by Indiana in this series. How did they do on turnovers? Well...The Bulls big men seem to pride themselves on their interior passing. Unfortunately, they haven't seem to note that Indiana is well aware of this fact, and tend to overplay the passing lanes. Worse off, for as much as Derrick Rose's court vision and ball handling has improved, he still goes through moments where he looses focus, and telegraphs lazy passes, or dribbles widely. Although he ended up with 3 turnovers (and the team with 13), the offense largely struggled to settle into a rhythm for most of the game and the series. Now, with 1:02 left in the first quarter, DRose sprains his ankle significantly enough to come off the court to get it re-taped.Alert sneakerheads will note that DRose also wears the new Crazy Lights, and also sprained his ankle like Collison did.
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)It ended up being a disastrous half for the Bulls: 33% FG shooting, and 11 turnovers to the Pacers 49% FG shooting and only 2 turnovers. Note that the Bulls only went 12-36 while the Pacers went 20-45. Now in the last 3 games, the Bulls abused the Pacers relative inexperience to pull away in the 4th quarter. Could they depend on a similar Pacer collapse in the 4th quarter?
In order to have any chance at a comeback, you have to rely on one of your top players to pull you back into the game...and the Bulls get it, in the form of 8 points and 3 rebounds from...Joakim Noah? (To be fair, Rose chips in 7 assists but goes 0-6 from the field and 0 points) In somewhat predictable fashion, the Pacers now start to crumble against a blistering and furious Bulls rally. Next season, they won't look this out of sorts late in games, but repetition throughout the season matters. The Pacers who played very few games that mattered for almost 2/3 of the season, don't have a great sense on how to protect a lead, and get forced into two late 24 second violations. In the end, despite trying to give away the game by shooting 22-34 from the FT line, the Pacers do just enough to win this time. So what happened? Some people (and Danny Granger) will say that the refs are no longer putting DRose on the line so easily. Here's the raw evidence:Rose's Free Throws
Game 1: 19 of 21
Game 2: 12 of 13
Game 3: 13 of 15
Game 4: 2 of 4Rose's 3 Point FGs
Game 1: 0 of 9
Game 2: 2 of 5
Game 3: 2 of 6
Game 4: 1 of 9 (0-5 in the 2nd half)Truth of the matter is that DRose should not be looking to hoist up as many 3 pointers as he was clearly looking for in this game. Although you can argue it was necessary during the rally, it actually allows the defense to settle in on the other Bulls shooters and box out the rebounders since the threat of a DRose drive was fairly minimized this game. No need to put him on the line, if he's rarely attacking the paint. So what's been the difference? Let's ask a Delusional Bulls Fan (DBF) who's been watching the Bulls all season.DBF: The Bulls will beat the Pacers on talent alone, but for as much as this coaching staff talks about taking it one game at a time, they are being optimistic about their chances in Rounds 2 and 3, so it looks like they are holding back. WES: What do you mean?DBF: This team has been superb in planning for, and executing against teams all season. We have yet to see evidence of that at any point in this series. The offensive play-calling has been fairly stagnant, and defensively they haven't displayed the defensive shell that we're used to seeing. I think they're trying to minimize the amount of film subsequent teams have on them for the later rounds. WES: So, you think they are arrogantly holding back, to give themselves a strategic advantage for later rounds? The less film they're given, the better? Maybe they want to just worry about winning the series instead. DBF: I'm delusional for a reason. It's either believe this, which means that the coaching staff is thinking a step ahead, or deal with the reality that the coaching staff is getting outcoached by interim coach Vogel in all 4 games. I think I'll stick with my way. Well, there you have it. Game 5 is Tuesday night at the United Center, with potential matchup Atlanta trying to eliminate Orlando in Game 5 as well.The Bulls have now been knocked by the Pacers best shot. Can they get up to play the Pacers, the way we've seen all season...heck, the way we've seen in the 4th quarter of these games? I say yes.
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)Popcorn Machine Game Flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110423&game=CHIIND Popcorn Machine Box Score:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20110423&game=CHIIND
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)It ended up being a disastrous half for the Bulls: 33% FG shooting, and 11 turnovers to the Pacers 49% FG shooting and only 2 turnovers. Note that the Bulls only went 12-36 while the Pacers went 20-45. Now in the last 3 games, the Bulls abused the Pacers relative inexperience to pull away in the 4th quarter. Could they depend on a similar Pacer collapse in the 4th quarter?
In order to have any chance at a comeback, you have to rely on one of your top players to pull you back into the game...and the Bulls get it, in the form of 8 points and 3 rebounds from...Joakim Noah? (To be fair, Rose chips in 7 assists but goes 0-6 from the field and 0 points) In somewhat predictable fashion, the Pacers now start to crumble against a blistering and furious Bulls rally. Next season, they won't look this out of sorts late in games, but repetition throughout the season matters. The Pacers who played very few games that mattered for almost 2/3 of the season, don't have a great sense on how to protect a lead, and get forced into two late 24 second violations. In the end, despite trying to give away the game by shooting 22-34 from the FT line, the Pacers do just enough to win this time. So what happened? Some people (and Danny Granger) will say that the refs are no longer putting DRose on the line so easily. Here's the raw evidence:Rose's Free ThrowsGame 1: 19 of 21
Game 2: 12 of 13
Game 3: 13 of 15
Game 4: 2 of 4Rose's 3 Point FGs
Game 1: 0 of 9
Game 2: 2 of 5
Game 3: 2 of 6
Game 4: 1 of 9 (0-5 in the 2nd half)Truth of the matter is that DRose should not be looking to hoist up as many 3 pointers as he was clearly looking for in this game. Although you can argue it was necessary during the rally, it actually allows the defense to settle in on the other Bulls shooters and box out the rebounders since the threat of a DRose drive was fairly minimized this game. No need to put him on the line, if he's rarely attacking the paint. So what's been the difference? Let's ask a Delusional Bulls Fan (DBF) who's been watching the Bulls all season.DBF: The Bulls will beat the Pacers on talent alone, but for as much as this coaching staff talks about taking it one game at a time, they are being optimistic about their chances in Rounds 2 and 3, so it looks like they are holding back. WES: What do you mean?DBF: This team has been superb in planning for, and executing against teams all season. We have yet to see evidence of that at any point in this series. The offensive play-calling has been fairly stagnant, and defensively they haven't displayed the defensive shell that we're used to seeing. I think they're trying to minimize the amount of film subsequent teams have on them for the later rounds. WES: So, you think they are arrogantly holding back, to give themselves a strategic advantage for later rounds? The less film they're given, the better? Maybe they want to just worry about winning the series instead. DBF: I'm delusional for a reason. It's either believe this, which means that the coaching staff is thinking a step ahead, or deal with the reality that the coaching staff is getting outcoached by interim coach Vogel in all 4 games. I think I'll stick with my way. Well, there you have it. Game 5 is Tuesday night at the United Center, with potential matchup Atlanta trying to eliminate Orlando in Game 5 as well.The Bulls have now been knocked by the Pacers best shot. Can they get up to play the Pacers, the way we've seen all season...heck, the way we've seen in the 4th quarter of these games? I say yes.
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)Popcorn Machine Game Flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110423&game=CHIIND Popcorn Machine Box Score:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20110423&game=CHIIND