wake.eat.sleep

This is a tough loss to swallow.

From coach Thibodeau:

“Obviously, you have to commit to Wade and James, but that doesn’t absolve you from covering the others. You have to have the ability to do both. You have to go in with a multiple effort mindset. You have to close hard. Whenever you put two on the ball, you have to protect the paint and then get back out. I didn’t think we did that.”

The opening quarter began with a lot of nervous intensity from both ends. In fact, in both an indication and indictment of LeBron, he was flying all over the court on both ends. Aggressively diving for balls, running full speed to recover and break up passes on transition defense, soaring up high to contest shots.

(Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Everyone knows that he's talented, to the point that it looks effortless. Unfortunately, we don't seem to see his full effort every minute, every game.

As the game would go on, the Heat would seem to get more loose balls, and shots to bounce in. The Bulls? Well...

...it's not too pretty.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Noah: More assists than rebounds

The Heat were trapping Rose when they could, giving up space in the middle where the Bulls would counter by sending Noah into the space. Unfortunately, the Heat figured out how to nullify that advantage.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Korver: More fouls than shot attempts

Overmatched on transition defense, and not aggressively looking for shots, Korver stretches an opponents defense when he's actively looking for shots, and strains the Bulls offense and defense when he's passive.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Rose: Only 2 points in the 4th quarter, 3 free throw attempts. 0 assists at half time, and only 5 for the game.

Very rarely did Rose have any easy looks in the paint, going 5-11 at the rim and from 3-9 feet combined. The Heat did an excellent job of forcing the ball out of his hands.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Worst of all? The Bulls had no answers for this guy.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

He hit open shots. He hit contested shots. He posted up, and scored. People questioned his place as one of the Big Three, and he answered quite loudly, allowing James to act as a facilitator through 3 quarters, and for Wade to have a mostly quiet performance.

Multiple effort was needed, and the Bulls fell short in a hostile environment.

Where do we go from here?

We'll need to see an aggressive 1st quarter from Chicago on both ends of the floor. Although the rebound advantage was present, the type of rebounding that we typically see wasn't there. When the energy is there, there is usually a lot more shot tips, and balls being batted around. Boozer had a fine statistical game, and the Bulls will have to look to take advantage of his ability to draw the double team to create easier scores for Chicago.

Here's the keys for Game 4:

- Easy shots, particularly in the paint (at the rim, and 3-9 feet), second chance points and points in the paint
- More free throw attempts from aggressive play in the paint, dictate the action, versus passively taking what the defense shows
- Force Miami to rely on their erratic bench

It still feels like a seven game series to me. A split here turns it back into a three game series.

Let's Go Bulls!

Hoopdata box score:
http://www.hoopdata.com/boxscore.aspx?id=310522014

PopcornMachine game flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110522&game=CHIMIA

PopcornMachine box score:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20110522&game=CHIMIA