| 27 March 2010
The Bulls face off against the New Jersey Nets tonight at the United Center. If there has ever been a must-win game for the Bulls so far this season, this is absolutely it. Same goes for tomorrow night. But first, tonight.
Amazingly, the Nets are coming off of 2 straight victories of which prevented them from breaking the record for worst record in NBA history. Two straight victories for the Nets has to be the biggest story in the league right now. Just a few days ago, the Nets were considered an automatic W. Now all of a sudden they have the audacity to go on a winning streak and think they can actual beat teams. It's annoying. Take a look at some of these gems from Nets players.
"We want to carry these two wins and play with the same enthusiasm. When we get four and five giving us 60 points or so we'll be tough. It's good to get two wins in a row. But we're not satisfied with it. We got one more to get to not be tied with the (all time loss) record."
That one is from Devin Harris.
"They're a team that has been struggling a bit. They've had some injuries, so it's an opportunity for us to go in there and get another win."
That one is from Keyon Dooling.
"The way we're playing, it's great that we play in Chicago tomorrow."
That one is from Brook Lopez. Getting angry yet?
These guys honestly believe they can come in tonight and win on the road. I can't say I blame them. They got their first victory of the year like 20 games in against the Bulls at the United Center. They've won two in a row. They're playing with confidence.
But let me tell you something. The past two games, they've played the Kings and Pistons. Whoopty freakin' doo. Lopez's quote really gets to me. It's great that you're playing in Chicago? It's almost as if he KNOWS the Nets are going to win. He's in for a reality check. Ever heard of a guy named Derrick Rose? Rose is a competitor. He plays with pride and he plays to win. He alone should be able to carry this team past the Nets. Same goes for Joakim Noah. Noah plays with more pride than anyone. And I don't care how many minutes he plays. When he's in the game, he will not allow Brook Lopez to dominate the way he has recently.
And you gotta believe the Bulls saw these quotes coming from the Nets' locker room. You can be certain that it hurt their pride. And you can be certain that the Bulls will come out with the type of determination you haven't seen yet this season.
I know what you're thinking. After the performance against the Heat, you can't be certain of anything. Touche. However, when has a team competing for a playoff spot ever come out and performed THAT poorly two games in a row? Especially with sooooo much on the line. People forget, but in the middle of last year's 7 game series with a billion overtimes and last second game-winners, there was a game at the United Center where the Bulls came out totally flat and got entirely blown out. It wasn't even close. I was at that game (I know, of all games to choose). But games like that happen. I'm not saying that's an excuse, but it's just the reality of the NBA.
Believe me, the effort will be there tonight. And they will shoot above 30% from the field. Maybe even 40%.
I'm not saying Brook Lopez won't be a handful. And I'm not saying Devin Harris will be totally shut down. I'm not even saying Yi Jianlin won't have a decent game either. What I am saying is this. Lopez will not score 37 points like he did against the heartless Pistons. Yi won't score 31 (are you kidding me, Pistons?). And there is no way Devin Harris is outplaying Derrick Rose tonight (or on any other night, for that matter). Brook Lopez has to square off against a desparate Joakim Noah tonight, and that is absolutely not something he should be looking forward to. So I'm not totally sure why he is. And Yi, who might be the softest player in the NBA, will have to match up with Taj Gibson, a player that's getting more and more physical each game. I expect Yi to be taken out of this game mentally in the 1st quarter. And with Kirk pestering Harris, the Nets are going to have to find a Rodrigue Beaubois/JJ Barrea type player to get them a win tonight as teams have done in the past against the Bulls. They just don't have the personnel. Sorry Keyon Dooling.
So the Nets can come in as confident as they want. Yes, Lopez will score something like 27 points and grabe 12 boards, but that won't be enough for the victory. The Bulls are coming in on a mission, having gotten their bad performance fill for the rest of the season in their last game. They know what they have to do. And the odds are that they will do it. Plus don't forget that the Nets are on the second leg of a back-to-back, and the Bulls have the rabid Chicago fans behind them. So sorry Nets, you're streak ends at 2, and the Bulls streak starts at 1. After tonight, we'll be 1.5 back.
