El Conclusión: Chicago Bulls 96, San Antonio Spurs 89

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Chicago Bulls 96 Final
Recap | Box Score		 89 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, C 33 MIN | 8-21 FG | 2-2 FT | 10 REB | 0 AST | 18 PTS | 0I thought Tim Duncan played well despite not scoring efficiently. Had some trouble when Joakim Noah was matched up on him defensively, but went to work on other guys. Was overmatched on the boards.
Richard Jefferson, SF 20 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +5Shot well in his limited attempts, problem was Jefferson was nowhere to be found.
DeJuan Blair, F 23 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS | +5Like Duncan, Blair wasn’t efficient offensively. He passed well, battled on the boards and was aggressive. This simply wasn’t a good matchup for him.
Tony Parker, PG 38 MIN | 5-16 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 9 AST | 11 PTS | +3Do you sense a recurring theme here with the scoring efficiency? The Bulls are a great defensive team and you can see why. Parker rarely got open looks around the rim and the Bulls did a decent job staying in his path and getting a hand in his face.
Daniel Green, G 30 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 11 PTS | +4Spent a good chunk of time on Derrick Rose, which is a losing proposition. Shot well from 3-point range, but did little else offensively.
T.J. Ford, PG 8 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 PTS | -6It’s good that TJ Ford is back in the lineup, the second unit really needs a distributor, but he has some rust to shake off and conditioning to get into.
Matt Bonner, PF 22 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -16Only got two shots, credit goes to the Bulls for closing out well and not letting Bonner take part in the game. He still played most of the fourth quarter instead of Tiago Splitter, which I thought was a mistake.
Gary Neal, PG 24 MIN | 9-15 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 21 PTS | -14The Bulls allowed Gary Neal to be the top scorer, which is a good deal for them. Even 21 points on 15 shots isn’t the best ratio.
Tiago Splitter, C 18 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -3Probably should have played more down the stretch to combat the Bulls pick-and-roll.
James Anderson, SG 24 MIN | 2-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 5 PTS | -13With Kawhi Leonard sitting out and Richard Jefferson getting in early foul trouble, Anderson was called on early in this game. Played decent in his 24 minutes, but not enough to make a big difference.
Eric Dawson, F DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS | DNP
Cory Joseph, G DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS | DNP

Two Things We Saw

  1. Despite his struggles tonight, I thought the second unit’s ball movement early looked good with TJ Ford back in the lineup. They struggled at times while he was out to move the rock.
  2. Gary Neal hit a big 3 late in the game to cut the Bulls’ lead to 85-82. The best part of the play was watching Gary Neal sprint down court to a seemingly arbitrary spot on the floor and knock down a transition 3.
Newer Comments →
  • NYC

    Finally got to see this game as it was broadcast over ESPN. Like Dorie, I must be cursed because the one game in the last 13 I watch, they lose. 

    Well, I can say I saw RJ with my own eyes and he stunk. Not because of his lack of offense, but because of his defense. Seems he was always caught looking in the wrong direction, rushing to get a hand in the picture AFTER Deng/Brewer hits a three. He really was the last guy to jump on the pile tonight. Yeesh.

    And Blair was missing for most of the game. I still say we only have 3 1/2 big men. 

  • junierizzle

    I’m not thaaaaat mad at this loss. Two top teams (us without Manu) slugging it out. Bulls made the plays down the stretch.

    I think the difference in the game was TP’s shot not falling. and Watson shooting the lights out. But still the game was there to win.

    A few things that irked me: The Spurs D collapsing on NOAH! Twice late in the game which lead To two big threes. Let Noah make a play or send him to the line. Going under the screen when guarding Watson, come on. Too many costly turnovers and missed lay-ups. Come, Blair.

    It wAs an encouraging game though, D wise. I was impressed with the Spurs D for most of the game.

  • grego

    Spurs missed a lot of decent open shots, especially Parker. If Parker had made 2-3 extra shots, this game likely would have been the Spurs one. Can’t complain too much about this one. 

  • TD BestEVER

    sorry….but Blair rebounded his butt off and hustled well tonight…… to say he is half a big tonight is just plain wrong….. he did what he was suppose to do…just needs to make 1 or 2 more shots and would have had a great game……. If POP would not have stuck with Booner so long….18min 2FGA’s we might have won this game…….

  • Titletown99030507d

    In Blair’s defense tonight he did hustle and did what he could and not a bad game from him but when Splitter left the court at 6:47 left in the game the game was tied at 75 but I think Pop had to take him out because he was gassed. It’s going to take several games to get him in the condition he was before he left not to mention to get the rust off. Then Bonner had his turn with  Timmy and that didn’t fare very well. But in the front courts defense we had 35 pts for our bigs vs 27 for theirs overall so they did their part. The problem lied in Roses’s 29 pts and Watson’s 12. Who the hell is Watson? Watson 12 pts in 12 minutes. No perimeter defense tonight. The small forwards were a wash basically with RJ and Green  with 17 vs Korver and Deng with 18. We lost it at the Guards play. Tony got outplayed by Rose. All – Star hangover. Our guards 36 pts vs their  guards 51 pts. That’s a difference of 15 pts. 

  • theghostofjh

    My sentiments exactly. The idea that Blair’s name would be one of the first to come up as lacking in this game is insane.

  • theghostofjh

    “No perimeter defense tonight.”

    Agreed. We could have used a healthy Leonard tonight (“D” and boards).

  • Hobson13

     
    Not really sure what to take away from this game.  The Spurs looked a bit rusty and the Bulls actually played really well considering this was the second night of a b2b.  On one hand, the Spurs bigs looked a bit overmatched early on and our bench seemed to be outplayed by their 2nd unit.  On the other hand, the Bulls were at full strength and the Spurs were without Manu and KL.  Rose played amazingly efficient and Parker couldn’t hit anything after the 1st quarter.  With this in mind, it’s amazing we didn’t lose by more. 
     
    The Spurs got back in this game by playing smart on the defensive end by forcing Boozer and Noah to shoot midrange jumpers.  During that stretch of time in the 3rd, we basically played 5 on 3 on the defensive end by doubling the penetrator (Rose) off the P&R and allowing Noah (who began to balk at taking shots) and Boozer (who was terrible tonight) take the 15-20 ft shots.  IMO, this is the perfect game plan against the Bulls.  However, once the bench came in and turned the ball over 3 straight times to start the 4th, the momentum had clearly swung.

    Not sure why you guys gave Parker a B+.  He didn’t defend well at all and couldn’t hit a shot to save his life after the 1st quarter.  IMO, he deserved a solid C.

  • theghostofjh

    My sentiments exactly. The idea that Blair’s name would be one of the first to come up as lacking in this game is insane.

  • NYC

    By missing, I mean he literally was not on the court. I took a nap during half time and missed most of the third quarter, but other than that I simply did not see Blair on the court very much. You can say he’s efficient, he’s inefficient, or whatever. But he simply can’t be effective if he isn’t physically in the game. And that is why he counts as half a player. 

  • Pingback: Video: Postgame interviews following the Spurs loss to Bulls

  • Hobson13

    My takeaway from Blair’s game is that he still has a ton of ups and downs for a player midway into his 3rd year.  Just when I’ve seen enough missed layups, easy putbacks, and short shots, he makes a real nice hustle play or blocks a shot.  Tonight he wasn’t terrible on the defensive or offensive end, but he wasn’t great either. 

    I’m not saying he played terribly or lost the game, but I see very little difference in his overall skill set right now than what I saw at the end of his rookie season.  If you look at young bigs like Book Lopez, Greg Monroe, Roy Hibbert, or even DeMarcus Cousins, you see a considerable leap in the 2nd or 3rd year.  I don’t see this in Blair’s case. 

    My concern isn’t this singular game, but his entire body of work over the past 2.5 years.  We also have to keep in mind that he has played with perhaps 3 of the greatest Spurs of all time.  What happens to his production when he isn’t being fed by these guys.

    I guess my point is that sooner or later, the FO will have to decide his future and I’m really not sure where it goes…

  • theghostofjh

    Agree. There’s no way Parker deserved a B+, even with the 9 assists. As our leading scorer, he scored a grand total of three points after the first quarter, and his defense was average at best. And while we’re at it, Bonner was given a D+?! A PLUS? A PLUS for what? And why in a tight game may I ask was he in the game until the 2:30 minute mark of the fourth?! For spacing?! Please. A lot of good that did us.

  • NYC

    That’s exactly why we have a problem with our big men rotation. Once Splitter came out of the game, we were left with only two big men: Duncan and Bonner. You can agree or disagree with his decision, but it’s clear that Pop refuses to play Blair down the stretch. (He actually did reinsert Blair in the 4th at one point. Too little too late, though.) Supposedly, we signed some guy named Dawson, but I’ll believe that when I actually see it. 

    That means if Tiago is out, our only option is Duncan-Bonner or small ball. Since Leonard was unavailable, it was either play Jefferson at the 4 or go with Duncan-Bonner. Pop chose D&B tonight. Alls I’m saying is we need more options than 3 1/2 big men. If Splitter goes down with another injury–or Duncan or even Bonner for that matter–we are left with 2 1/2 big men. I suppose Popovich would be forced to play Blair at that point, but I’d rather we just hire another veteran man who would see consistent court time. Is ‘Sheed still available? 

  • NYC

    And before anyone says it: yes, I realize if Duncan goes down, we will be having an entirely different conversation then. 

  • TD BestEVER

     that’s on POP…not Blair…Bonner wasn’t missing in today’s game and look how well that served us……Blair played well enough to earn himself more minutes an POP didn’t reward him with them.  We were getting beaten BADLY on the boards all game long, and w/o Blair and TD getting what they did it would have been a lot worse.  We could have won this game with better rebounding and POP tried to win it with offense.  Again, not Blair’s fault there

  • TD BestEVER

     You can’t compare Blair with those Lottery picks……his game hasn’t changed much and really doesn’t need to.  As long as he can rebound like he did today he will be a top 10 rebounder with 30 mpg and his points and game will flow accordingly.  As far as his offense he has added more shots to his game, including the floater, and the set shot.  But offense will NEVER be his calling card, he will be a “Dirty work” type of player who can give you decent scoring.(12ppg or so)

  • theghostofjh

    Blair does not have the extraordinary height/size of the four guys you mentioned, three of whom were drafted in the top ten, with the 7’2″ Hibbert at number 17. Blair was drafted at number 37, and with no ACL’s in his knees. Obviously things will never come as easily to Blair compared to the guys you mentioned.

    In addition, Cousins plays for a sub-par Kings team that’s been trying to build a good team for years. As a number 5 pick, of course he’s one of the most talented bigs on that team, and so he’s going to get his minutes and his opportunity to be a focal point on their front line. Same can be said for Monroe with the Pistons. And even Hibbert has gotten plenty of opportunity with the more recently upgraded Pacers, a team that has only averaged 35 wins during his first three years, and have made just one playoff appearance. And after all, who is Hibbert going to play behind, or play second fiddle to, Jeff Foster?

    Blair on the other hand is in his third year with a perennial playoff team that is seemingly always on the verge of contention, and a team that won 60 games in just his second year. He is playing next to what most would consider the best PF of all time, a pretty heady reputation to contend with for minutes, or attention on the offensive end. Blair is also playing in one of the most “team-oriented” systems in the NBA, which does not make for inflated individual stats. And he’s playing for a coach who is a stickler for details, particularly on the defensive end, admittedly not an overall strength for Blair. So Blair has found his minutes regularly and sharply truncated for things that players on poorer teams would not.

    If you take the one guy you mentioned that’s the closest to Blair in draft position, years of experience, and also the team with the better record, that would be Hibbert. If you look at Blair and Hibbert’s main career stats on a 36 minute prorated basis, they are not that different:

    Blair: 14.9 pts., 11.6 reb.

    Hibbert: 16.7 pts., (2 more FGA/g.) 9.4 reb.

    In the third year for each:

    Blair: 15.8 pts., 9.1 reb.

    Hibbert: 16.4 pts.(1 more FGA/g.), 9.8 reb.

    The fact is, Blair does not get the opportunity that any of those guys you mention get. And his stats will not be as inflated on a much deeper and talented Spurs team in comparison to SAC, DET, & IND.

    And Blair has in fact improved on his overall repertoire, just not to the extent that I’m sure any of us would prefer (e.g., he’s increased his scoring range, but not by much). But part of the reason he’s not posting better, more consistent numbers is that we too frequently truncate his minutes. Obviously Blair is not J.R. Smith. He’s a player that needs some significant and uninterrupted time, and enough touches, to develop a rhythm. He needs 25+ minutes and at least two 8-9 minute uninterrupted stretches where he’s by design involved on the offensive end. He’s really never gotten that, and I’m convinced if he did that it would benefit the team. Go back and look at all the games where Blair had 25-30 minutes of game time. And he didn’t always get the minutes on these occasions because he was playing better. I’ve seen plenty of games where he was clearly on track for a double-double, and still had his minutes curtailed again. In fact, tonight’s game was a perfect example. 9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block in 23 minutes (didn’t play most of the 4th). For 36 minutes this translates into 14 pts., 14 reb., 3 assists,1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks. When you’re playing for the Spurs, and next to Tim Duncan, that’s a pretty solid stat line.

    Sure Blair still needs to improve. He’s still not even 23 years old, and has the special work of overcoming a huge height disadvantage. Also, it’s hard for us fans to not hold, in the back of our minds, a high, TD-like comparison bar for any big that starts on our front line. Clearly, that’s is an unfair burden for anyone. And no, Blair doesn’t have the physical attributes or talent level of a Cousins, and he never will. But he’s a damn productive player that could be even more so IMO if we played him in the way that I described above. Let’s take the leash off a bit and see what happens? I doubt it will result in the end of the world. And maybe, just maybe, it would usher in a better one. And believe me, it’s better than sticking with Bonner for 20+ mpg.

      

  • theghostofjh

    “Blair played well enough to earn himself more minutes an POP didn’t reward him with them.”
    Exactly, and this happens all the time. Instead Bonner gets off two shots in 21 minutes, 3 points, and ONE rebound. Ridiculous.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Yeah that’s the key because RJ didn’t help out in that respect. KL probably is the difference.

  • JustinFL

    Good stuff.  When I watch the games I notice Blair almost always has a good 1st quarter and usually 3rd quarter.  Which of course are the bulk of his minutes.   I think he is more of a complimentary player, which every team needs.  The fact that he is still young and can be an X factor in some games is worth keeping him with a “reasonable” contract for awhile  
      I wish he could play with just a little chip on his shoulder,  every team needs 1 of those guys too.  I think he holds back sometimes in certain areas of his game because of a demanding coach and he doesn’t want to get benched or be in the doghouse. 
     That is a luxury for losing teams with newly drafted players, the players usually get alot of chances to make mistakes throughout their first year or two while they’re adjusting to the NBA.  

  • Titletown99030507d

    But I think we all would rather see someone like Splitter (at full speed) getting those 30 mpg and letting the scoring come with it than Blair getting those 30. I think I would. I think the FO is realizing the use of Blair and that’s to speed up the game. It all depends what the flow of the game dictates in Pop’s mind. Like I said Blair fits perfectly when we are running but that won’t be the case in the playoffs because we will get our asses handed to us if we have to play small ball run and gun against tougher front courts. If we start missing from the perimeter (3pt line) we can call it a night if we play small ball against those tough front courts.
    I know Splitter was 2-6 but give him a few games to get his rhythm back that won’t happen all the time. And by the way that Asik isn’t no 7 footer he towered Splitter and Tiago’s 6’11″. That dude looked 7’2″ to me. We aren’t having this conversation if Rose doesn’t go off or at the very least Tony matches his production.

  • Titletown99030507d

    All Blair has to do to change everybody’s opinion is play smart which he’s starting to do better than earlier in the season and make some of those rim shots. I keep saying he’s forcing shots quickly around the rim  and if that’s get corrected he’s got a huge FG% like Splitter before he got hurt. I’m not liking what I see from Bonner though in this game totally from what he was doing as of late. I hope it’s not because we’ve turned the corner on this season and he see’s the playoffs in view. If he plays that way it won’t matter what Blair or Splitter do. 

  • Titletown99030507d

    Yeah Bonner only got 1 rebound and scored 3 points but like I said if you look at bigs point production as a whole we scored 35 to their 27 they did their part as a whole and sure it would have been nice if Bonner would have had 9/9 like Blair but we actually lost it      in the guard department and if Neal doesn’t get those 21 this is a blow out. They need to find a better way to contain that scoring from Rose if they meet in the finals. All they have to do is have a repeat game like this but stop Rose. Hopefully that was an off day from Bonner and everybody has one from time to time becasue that front court of theirs don’t scare me especially if Splitter is back to usual self. Honestly I didn’t think he was going to play that much anyway his first game back. Pop really surprised me. 

  • Titletown99030507d

    What your seeing right now from Pop’s rotation is what we are going to see in the playoffs. He’s made up his mind and this is what we’re getting. And we aren’t getting a serviceable big this season to go with Timmy, Splitter, Bonner, and Blair. This it guys so let’s hope Bonner shoots lights out and Splitter gets back to playing condition and gets his minutes as well. Blair is Blair and he’ll get his minutes where Pop see’s fit. You feel the same way I did when Splitter was tearing it up and they didn’t give him more minutes than what he deserved. We’ll see who’s getting the minutes in the playoffs. I can’t tell the future but I sure know something Pop usually doesn’t sway from what he’s been doing and plays conservative in the playoffs in regards to big rotations. He doesn’t take risks.Winning during the regular doesn’t usually warrant any dramatic changes from Pop.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Yeah I think as the game started to settle down from that frenzied start from both teams and realized Rose was going to play the whole game it was clear this was going to be a challenge for Parker. Their guard play needs to be defended a lot better than what happened tonight. If Rose doesn’t play we win period because the rest of the team doesn’t scare me one bit.

  • Bentley

    Three reasons we lost:

    1. We were killed on the boards. Giving a team like Chicago multiple opportunities to score is lethal.
    2. Turnovers. A lot of sloppy, terrible passes and mental mistakes.
    3. For as well as they’ve played all year. Our bench was completely outplayed by Chicagos bench. This gave them the momentum they needed to win, especially in the 4th quarter

  • Titletown99030507d

    I think Pop was trying to get Bonner going but if you saw they were quick to defend the perimeter and arc and didn’t let Bonner get off his shot at times. Some of that isn’t on Bonner somebody has to make a decision and go to the lane when that is happening. I like the determination Anderson showed in that aspect. He showed a few glimpses what RJ should be doing. JA is playing for a contract somewhere and he and Pop know that.

  • Jdini

    We were sitting at the visitors end near the baseline. I really focused on watching the game away from the ball and both teams “D”. To begin with, Blair had a lot of touches on D that didn’t wind up as turnovers. The Bulls are the fastest team (hands and reaction) that I’ve seen this year, and they don’t seem to have that momentary hesitation when someone pokes the ball away- they follow in a split second. Blair mixed it up well, and did a good job on the “O” boards despite that fact that Noah is a far better athlete. If the Spurs had grabbed two of his pokes at the ball, and he had put in 3 or so putbacks that he had but hurried, he’d have been a star last night.

    RJ, Bonner and Neal were repeatedly burned by stab-step fakes from Rose and Deng. They were clearly afraid of their drive. One step fake and they backpedaled three steps on D. Open shot. We just weren’t in anyone’s face on the perimeter. We used to be able to risk it, because if they got by we had bigs to pick them up. That is what allowed Bowen to be so sticky. Now our front line is too slow or too short to allow that kind of perimeter gambling.

    Clearly there is an argument for Splitter and Duncan together to end games. It allows the whole defense to push harder.

    One comment. I love watching Splitter set picks. He runs out there like it’s his favorite thing in the world. As soon as the player rolls off, he runs to another spot to set again. What a worker! I thought Pop made a mistake when he pulled Splitter and Neal after they had made up  the gap. Something was cooking there, and they went right back to 8 down after that change.The he put Neal back but not Splitter. Both were listed as game time decisions, so maybe Tiago wasn’t at 100%.

  • Tyler

    Yeah, I thought TP missed some shots he normally makes. Most notably his floater and step back jumper going to his left.

  • DorieStreet

    I thought I read last week that ‘Sheed was getting readty to go to the Lakers.
    If that is not true, can the Spurs bring him on in? 3/4 of a year for the career aches to susbside, rested–and–if he missed the game and is rejuvenated to put in one more year (or two?) before calling it quits for good–

  • Bry

    Makes sense. They’re point is the league MVP and two of our best wings (Manu and Leonard) didn’t even dress.

  • DorieStreet

    I feel the b2b after a week off gives teams (i.e. Bulls) a leg up on the squads that are in the first game back from the all-star break. (That being said, I don’t know the record of such matchups last night.)

    Only 2nd loss at home; let’s see them go undefeated for the remaining six games in this homestand.

  • ziijordan

     In addition to that, the phantom fouls that Derrick Rose draws are just ludicrous. Luol Dung seems to draw these fouls too.

    I think the referees don’t show enough respect towards Spurs players.

  • ziijordan

    Having said that, the Thunder are also getting some really solid efforts from the referees this season. I would like for people to watch the so called “best sixth man in the league” Harden defending. I have never seen a guard foul as much. He always is pulling on jerseys and hitting his man. The guy can’t defend for his life and if game is called fairly, he fouls out in two minutes.

  • Hobson13

    I tend to agree with this sentiment, Dorie.  Perhaps the B2B actually helped the Bulls.

  • Bob

     Pop is so stubborn. No decent defensive team is going to leave Bonner open and they will still cheat of him because they know they can run him off the line.

  • theghostofjh

    I agree, and in my view Pop’s wrong on this. We may not win in the playoffs by playing Blair and Splitter more, but we DEFINITELY are not going to advance past the 2nd round with Bonner getting 20+ minutes. I would bet ANYTHING on that.

  • theghostofjh

    Exactly. And how many years has this been happening?! Ridiculous.

  • theghostofjh

    ” I wish he could play with just a little chip on his shoulder,  every
    team needs 1 of those guys too.  I think he holds back sometimes in
    certain areas of his game because of a demanding coach and he doesn’t
    want to get benched or be in the doghouse.”
    Nice insight, and could be true.

  • theghostofjh

    The idea that Blair is less effective in the half court offense is not correct. Both he and Splitter should average in the 25-30 minute range depending on match-ups, and who is more active at both ends. Bonner should be relegated to 10-15 minutes, unless one of our bigs need rest and he is playing/shooting well.

  • Kornbread

    I thought the second unit looked better with TJ OFF the floor. He was clearly not ready for prime time.

    The other thing was the inconsistency on what is a 3 second call, a charge and a moving screen. I was surprised they didn’t pull out the travels and palming calls. The call on Parker with Deng was terrible.

    I also thought that James Anderson had a good game. He played pretty good defense, and rebounded well. His biggest problem is he just needs to decide to shoot the ball. He always seems unsure. A couple of times he had nice drives, but the other times he would have done better to just shoot or pass.

    Overall the offense was out of sync; probably due to people getting healthy and the break. If the Spurs can keep bodies on the floor they can compete with anyone.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    Rose scored most of his points going nuts with circus layups.  Guarding that guy is more about help D than anything else.  Even when we got solid help D he still made buckets that were silly.  

    Dejaun hustled sure, and he worked hard, he is just a wildly inconsistent player in this league because he is not tall enough.

    So many of his misses were within five feet of the hoop.  Where a tall athletic four will stuff home those kind of shots Dejaun has to create space with his body and lay it in.  
    He has real issues against long athletic and active defenses.  When you are giving up four or sometimes six inches to the guy guarding you and they are not borderline morons, its hard to just pump fake up and get your hoop.

    It’s why his best buckets come in motion within the spurs pick and roll offense on hand offs and from sealing his man at the high post.

    For those that have not been paying attention C.J. Watson has been scoring his ass off while Rose has been down with back spasms.  He is a very legit three point shooter.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    Sheeds done mate.  He was bloody terrible for the celtics mostly due to a complete lack of interest and rubbish attitude.

    He jacked up 142 threes in 79 games while hitting just 28% of them….all while playing 22 mins.  Averaged 6 pts and 3 boards in the playoffs..

    Sheed is done.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    The difference is that Blair is right at his ceiling now.  Hibbert and co are legit 7 foot guys who you can teach to anchor a defense.

    This year Hibbert has also taken his conditioning to another level he is a completely different physical specimen something Dejaun really hasn’t done from what I can see.

    It’s why 7 footers get drafted first.  It’s why there are so many 7 foot tall el busto’s.  

    Hibberts improved his offense.  His defense has improved.  You get a 7 footer that can play good help D and anchor a defense and they are now contributing on both ends of the floor at a rate you just can’t squeeze out of a 6’6 guy.DJB cannot play Centre in this league.  Not defensively anyway.I know the starting fives on ESPN list him as Centre but on D is there anyone here who realistically thinks that he anchors the team?  Dejauns a 6’6 wide body who is going to get by on Dirty work.  His offense when he tries to create solo can be mind numbingly bad.  We’ve all seen it.Good tall front lines wait for him to finish his spins and then just stuff his shot which also helps on occassion to pad his offensive rebounding stats.  Basically he is reliant on a strong team offense to get him good looks and touchs near the bucket.That is why he is so much more effective with Manu on the court.What you see now with Dejaun is in my opinion what you are going to get from him across the length and breadth of his NBA career.

    Leads us back in the ever winding circle of “O WOW WE REALLY NEED A TALL ATHLETIC YOUNG BIG WHO CAN PLAY D TO PAIR WITH ONE OF OUR CENTRES”….

    like we didn’t know that already.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    He has to force shots quickly though Title.  

    He makes a living squeezing through the cracks in the opposing front line.

    If he starts slowing down his production will become less efficient.
    It’s easier for Tiago to stay efficient because if he gets open space three feet out he just has to stand on his tippy toes and dunk it.  Dejauns got to put a body into someone to create space and lay it up on the other side of the rim.

  • Jdini

    Pop keeps telling the papers that Bonner is having his best year ever. Maybe pre-trade deadline marketing???

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    I don’t like Bonner playing anywhere near 20 minutes especially not when he is not shooting it well or at all.  That said no one on our front line was really the answer last night.

    Dejaun was 4 of 10 from the field for the game after going 2 of 4 in the first.So he was 2 from 6 after the first quarter.  Not really setting the world on fire.

    Splitters Gassed…Coming back from injury.

    Bonner was getting run off the three point line…Because hey we all know that playoff style teams really hound three point shooters.
    All points to the same old same old.  We need another Big and theres not another Big coming.  This is pretty much our team.

    We’re always looking at this situation and basically saying well player X is the lesser of three evils right now lets have him in during the fourth.

    I really wish it was two or three guys who we had to struggle to decide upon because they were all so deserving of the minutes.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    Yeah parker was more C for me as well.

  • http://twitter.com/nudityJ nudityjfandango

    TJ tried to force it a couple of times to make up for a crap decision on the prior play and it just lead to him dribbling round trying to hold the ball against a lot of help defenders followed by turnover.
    He was very bad.

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