OST: East Rd 2, (5) Bulls vs. (1) Pistons (Pistons win 4-2)

[b-diddy]

Wow. Cold. But true. I wonder if there is some emotional toll on Ben Wallace in this series?
Now, is it me, and me alone, that doesn't think Chicago is ever going to go far with a lineup in which Nociconi and Heinrich play such significant rolls, and Ben Wallace at center? That seems like three extroardinarily easy to defend starters.

gordon is a 6th man, and imo, kirk and nocioni need to be moved. for being the son of a coach, kirk is amazingly stupid. both of them bog down the offense too.

i knew the pistons would do their classic mid-3rd qrter zone d fueled push, but i honestly didnt think they would come back from 19 down. wow. bulls are cooked. i was supposed to go to this game tonight but it fell through. rumor has it there might be a luxury box in my future on sunday. seeing how bull fans are the most fairweather fans on the planet, my guess is the stadium will be 1/4 full and be dominated by piston fans, and i should have no trouble finding a free ticket at work.

[Matt]

that game was a thing of freakin' beauty.

it's downright SCARY how methodical the Pistons are becoming, when facing adversity. they have so much faith in their system and philosophy, they just run the offense until it works.

in just one series the Bulls go from "the next Eastern Conference powerhouse" to a team full of questions. anyone having flashbacks of the '04 Lakers that were broken up after being embarassed by the Pistons? the Bulls are so young, but the Pistons have been ripping their hearts out repeatedly, and mercilessly.

the only (cruel) remaining option is for the Pistons to win Game 4 on a impossible buzzer beating shot.

[Matt]

The Pistons felt the zone changed the tenor of the game, though Bulls coach Scott Skiles vehemently disagreed.

"Is their zone getting all kinds of public recognition?" Skiles asked. "Is that what's going on? I think it's kind of funny, and I don't mean to show them any disrespect, but we have been getting shots all over the place. I'll look at the tape to see if we're looking at the same game, but we missed somewhere between 18 and 25 open shots.

"I don't want to take anything away from them because they have long, athletic guys and when you take it to the wrong area they will get a piece of the ball. We got a little tentative."

Chicago Tribune

[Matt]

And while Bulls coach Scott Skiles again downplayed its effectiveness, saying his team was "getting shots all over the place," [Rasheed] Wallace had another view.

"That's just lying to themselves about things that we do," he said.

[Big Swami]

God damn Sheed! Ice. Fucking. Cold.

[Uncle Mxy]

We know their favorite spots to shoot better than Skiles does.

From an on/off-the-court +/- perspective, this is interesting. Luol Deng was -16, and the next closest Bull was at Gordon at -6. Nocioni, for all his lack of nuts at the line and being owned defensively, was +1. On our end, less of a surprise -- Webber was -17 and McDyess was +16.

[Glenn]

Bulls fans can blame Skiles all they want (and I hope they do since I hate the guy) but the real villian in Chicago is Paxson.

He blew it at the trade deadline when he didn't go out and get a post scorer. With the resources that they have (not talking about trading Deng here, who I think should be their franchise player) they could have acquired somebody that could save their assess when the jumpers aren't falling, like they haven't been against us.

Add to this that Paxson's decision to break the bank for Ben is looking like a big time mistake, and this mistake is not going away any time soon. It's really going to cripple their chances to load up and build a championship team IMO. What could they have done with that money they gave Ben? There wasn't much to choose from last offseason, but this and next year they would have had some options that they don't have anymore.

As much as the second half was amazing to watch last night, both teams have pretty much just turned this into a jump shooting contest.

[Glenn]

Also, credit where credit is due.

Props to Flip on the HPTFZD.

[Big Swami]

I hate to admit it, but yeah, Flip Saunders' coaching actually really came through last night. Dap where dap is due.

[Hermy]

Also, credit where credit is due.

Props to Flip on the HPTFZD.

I'm approaching "eat crow" zone.