| 22 March 2010
Be sure to check out the video of above. Chuck Swirsky did a nice job of making his way around the locker room and having a word with anyone who made a difference in tonight's victory. Let's talk about that victory...
So that's what a winning streak feels like? A mini-one, but still a winning streak. I was starting to totally forget that feeling.
The Bulls came out and took care of a very annoying Houston Rockets team that was on a second leg of a back-to-back at the United Center tonight. The Rockets looked pretty determined to win it in the first half. But the Bulls came out incredibly aggressive in the 3rd quarter and inflated that lead to 13 with under 2 minutes left in the third. That's when the craziness started to ensue. Kyle Lowry took the ball to the hole pretty strong. Derrick Rose clogged up the lane about 2 seconds before he got there. Literally. Rose planted his feet and made sure he was outside the circle. Ref calls a blocking foul. It's an and-1. Derrick blows a gasket. Vinny blows a gasket. I blow a gasket. Really...I did. My neighbors had to have been frightened. But Vinny really did lose his cool. He got two straight technicals for running out onto the court and screaming profanities and the idiots who were calling themselves refs tonight. That's the one smart decision I've seen Vinny make in months now. Then again, any coach in their right mind would have lost it after a call like that. Even Derrick Rose went nuts and had to be held back. Derrick got physically angry a few times in this game...and you never see that. That has to tell you something. But seriously, shouldn't a player like Derrick get that call? To be honest, any player should get that call...because it was a charge. But shouldn't a player like Derrick ESPECIALLY get that call? That just shows you my theory on the refs' bias against the Bulls. I can't tell you why it's there...I just know it is.
The Rockets were flopping all night. I mean ALL freakin' night. Luis Scola is undoubtedly the biggest con-artist in the NBA right now. I hate him. It was infuriating to watch. The constant flopping. The pump fake and jumping in to Joakim Noah when Noah was going to sail by. The worst part of it is the refs were falling for it every time. It's like they can't tell when a player is trying to take advantage of their stupidity. Or they just don't realize that the player knows that they are stupid? Basically, they should be insulted. Because Scola has created an artform out of taking advantage of the stupidity of NBA refs. The Bulls must have had 10 offensive fouls called on them. But that pump-fake by Scola where he leaned a foot into Noah when Noah wasn't even near him, and then the refs called a foul...that, my friends, was criminal. On both Scola's part and the refs' parts. Plus, Scola seems to have taught his degenerate teammates how to flop as well. It was a flop party. In the end, the Bulls started flopping too, mostly because they realized the refs had apparently never heard of a flop before, but also to give the Rockets a taste of their own medicine since they knew the refs were clueless. And it worked. The Bulls regained control of the game and pretty much never looked back.
Derrick Rose had a monster game. 27 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds. 12-22 from the field. He shot 7 three-pointers. That's 13 three-pointers in his first two games back from injury. What in the world is going on? And he's made 6 of them? Suddenly Derrick Rose is the best three-point shooter on this team? I mean I should't be surprised...but it did come out of no where. Hey, I'll take it! Best of all, maybe he's rubbing off on Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich went four for freakin' four. 4-4!!! Holy shnikes. I still go by the theory that the pressure is now off of him to score, so he's not thinking as much, so in turn, he's scoring. Ridiculous, but I believe that to be the reality. Either way, Hinrich has provided back-to-back 17 point nights with very efficient shooting efforts both nights.
Taj Gibson and Brad Miller were both huge on the boards. Each had 10 points and 12 rebounds. They helped the Bulls absolutely destroy Houston on the glass, outrebounding them 53 to 39. Haven't seen that in forever. It has to have something to do with Joakim Noah being back on the floor. Joakim only played 12 minutes, but he gave the Bulls 4 points and 6 rebounds in those 12 minutes. His ability to get the ball is just ludicrous, and it definitely has an effect on his teammates. When Joakim's around, the other big men just have a better nose for the ball. Just more intensity. I love it.
Tonight it was Flip Murray who was huge off the bench. Usually it's either Murray or Warrick, and tonight Flip was on fire. 18 points on 4-8 from the field. He also shot 11 free throws. A very quality night for Flip. He had to come in and play the 3 since James Johnson got into foul trouble early, and he took advantage of the bigger guys who were guarding him by using his quickness and driving to the hole. Going small seemed to work just fine tonight.
The Rockets made a run at the end of the game behind some Aaron Brooks three-pointers, but I was very impressed with the way Derrick guarded Brooks all night. He wasn't letting Brooks, who happens to be very quick, outrun him or get ahead of him. He stayed in front of him, and for the most part, minimalized whatever damage Brooks could cause. Brooks went 3-17 on the night for 9 points...um...not good.
Hinrich also did a nice job on Kevin Martin who only went 5-14 and scored the rest of his points on 8 free-throws. Luis Scola had himself a good game, going for 22 points and 10 rebounds, only because Joakim was limited tonight. And oh yeah, also because he apparently hypnotized the refs to get every single call when he touched the ball.
Good win for the Bulls tonight. Unfortunately, the Raptors, Heat, and Bucks all won. The Raptors played the Wolves, and that was going to be a W no matter what. But from this point forward, the Raptors' schedule gets tougher and the Bulls' schedule gets much easier. This is it. This is when the Bulls need to make their run. I have faith that they'll do it. They've already started by winning these first two as the team is getting healthier. Now with our star-players back from injury (minus Luol Deng of course), and the schedule becoming much easier, the Bulls are primed to put the Raptors in panic mode and take over the 8th seed. They sit 2.5 back, but we'll see how long that lasts. Go Bulls.
