It wasn't supposed to be like this.It should have been many other things, but not this."The One Where Luol Dunks on LeBron" (Take special note of how LeBron "tugs" on Deng's shoulder to give him a chance at the block.)"The One Where Big Sexy Hits Big Shots"Kurt Thomas hitting two key 4th quarter field goals, and pulling down 8 rebounds filling in for the injured Omer Asik. Instead, we get one that ends in a blur.
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)You can talk about the inconsistent officiating.(Uneven for both teams.) You can wonder about the all the "Hollywood as Hell" flop calls that Miami drew. (That quote was from Noah, after the game.)
But despite all of that, the Bulls led 77-65, with 3:14 to go in the 4th quarter. The Bulls went with a defensive lineup through most of the 4th to try to hold the lead:Rose
Brewer
Deng
Gibson
Thomas The result? An 18-3 run to close out the season. Miami was able execute and score when they needed to. Chicago, unfortunately could not execute as cleanly as they needed to. Players didn't make it to the right spots. Panic passes were made. Shots went in and out. Instead of holding on to a lead late in the 4th, the Bulls had to try to tie it up to force overtime. Would they get a clean look, and execute well, or would this be a microcosm of the game, and even the series? Here's a slow-mo recap of the game highlights:
There will be a long long off-season ahead of us. There is nothing guaranteed in life. James? He hasn't been back to the Finals since 2006-2007
Wade? He hasn't been back to the Finals since 2005-2006It stings because when you're this close. You *have to* get greedy. It's a greedy hunger that I hope fuels every off-season dribble, jumper and sacrifice made. The Chicago Bulls players, coaches and staff did a fantastic job of surpassing our modest expectations by letting us imagine that a Finals appearance wasn't impossible.Every game in this series has been close through most of the quarters. I disagree with people that think that the Bulls overachieved. They've been an excellent defensive team, that largely held a talented Miami team to below their typical averages. The Bulls needed to execute better, and couldn't. A couple of key tweaks, and better post season execution, and we won't be looking at a post season run that ends in a blur. Hoopdata box score:
http://www.hoopdata.com/boxscore.aspx?id=310526004 PopcornMachine game flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110526&game=MIACHI PopcornMachine box score:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20110526&game=MIACHI
But despite all of that, the Bulls led 77-65, with 3:14 to go in the 4th quarter. The Bulls went with a defensive lineup through most of the 4th to try to hold the lead:Rose
Brewer
Deng
Gibson
Thomas The result? An 18-3 run to close out the season. Miami was able execute and score when they needed to. Chicago, unfortunately could not execute as cleanly as they needed to. Players didn't make it to the right spots. Panic passes were made. Shots went in and out. Instead of holding on to a lead late in the 4th, the Bulls had to try to tie it up to force overtime. Would they get a clean look, and execute well, or would this be a microcosm of the game, and even the series? Here's a slow-mo recap of the game highlights:
There will be a long long off-season ahead of us. There is nothing guaranteed in life. James? He hasn't been back to the Finals since 2006-2007
Wade? He hasn't been back to the Finals since 2005-2006It stings because when you're this close. You *have to* get greedy. It's a greedy hunger that I hope fuels every off-season dribble, jumper and sacrifice made. The Chicago Bulls players, coaches and staff did a fantastic job of surpassing our modest expectations by letting us imagine that a Finals appearance wasn't impossible.Every game in this series has been close through most of the quarters. I disagree with people that think that the Bulls overachieved. They've been an excellent defensive team, that largely held a talented Miami team to below their typical averages. The Bulls needed to execute better, and couldn't. A couple of key tweaks, and better post season execution, and we won't be looking at a post season run that ends in a blur. Hoopdata box score:
http://www.hoopdata.com/boxscore.aspx?id=310526004 PopcornMachine game flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110526&game=MIACHI PopcornMachine box score:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20110526&game=MIACHI