With the recent job cuts here at Fox Valley Publications, I've had a little more on my plate the last few days. There's more work to be done, which leaves me less opportunity to actually watch sports during the evening hours. Unfortunately, it leaves me less time to work on this blog as well.
Maybe being busy on the desk tonight was a blessing, as the Bulls laid an egg. I saw very little of Thursday's 107-86 loss to the Boston Celtics. With the carnage, the Bulls now trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Sun-Times beat reporter Brian Hanley wrote that Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro had the following five things designated as keys to the game:
1. Controlling emotions
2. Handling the physicality of the game
3. Being mentally tough
4. Limiting mistakes
5. Valuing the ball
0-for-5, Vinny.
The "valuing the ball" part definitely was a catastrophe. The Bulls had 22 turnovers, leading to 24 Celtics points. Given that the difference in the game was 21 points, I'd say that's a fairly significant stat.
Point guard Derrick Rose had seven turnovers alone. When Rose plays well, as he did in Game 1, the Bulls play well. When Rose goes 4-for-14 from the floor with only two assists and gives the ball away, the Bulls generally stink.
A lot of pressure is on Rose. As a matter of fact, the Bulls are too reliant on the rookie guard, and that will ultimately cost them this series against the more experienced (albeit injured) Celtics.
It's asking a little to much to require Rose to put his mediocre teammates on his back and lift them to a series win over the defending NBA champs. But this will be a great learning experience for the 20-year-old, and that will benefit the Bulls in the future, when they hopefully surround Rose with better talent.
I read the game thread of Game 3 on WSI. I was interested to hear the responses of the posters. Not surprisingly, there was only 5 pages of that game, which is a contrast to what I saw in the first two games of that series. In that Game 3 thread, there was an optimistic Bulls fan going off the deep end as he called out everyone on the Bulls.
I am not sure what he expected, but if he thought the Celtics was going to roll over and quit because the series was heading to Chicago, then he was delusional, but then again he thought Vinny Del Negro should have been this year's Coach of the Year so consider the source.
I wasn't surprised about what happened last night. The Celtics are a great team, and it wouldn't surprise me if they get to the NBA Finals for the second straight year. They are a great team, and they got good young players to complement the vets. I thought their young players (Powe, Davis, Rondo, and Perkins) were instrumental in leading the Celtics to a championship last year so they weren't going to lay down even without KG.
The Celtics came out ready to play, and they never let off from start to finish. They just played ball all night long, and it resulted to a blowout victory, and it could have likely ended this series despite the fact the Bulls are down a game in this series. Boston got a game at the United Center, and there is no reason to think they can't get another one in. Now, the Celtics not only got a road win, but they got two home games that they can count on. Hard for me to think the Bulls are winning another game at Boston especially when they blew a golden opportunity on Monday night.
Paul Pierce was not going to be bad forever, and tonight, his coming out performance might be something that will get him going for the rest of the series. Rondo played a great game too. Glen Davis has been a force.
It was a workmanlike performance by the Celtics last night, and this really should have been expected. They did not win a championship last year for nothing.
I am not sure what happened with the Bulls in that game, but you have to credit what Boston did because they seemed determined to win tonight, and now they should be the one feeling good about winning this series.
If the Bulls lose this series, we'll talk about Game 2 all summer.