| 17 March 2010
This pic above, courtesy of cbssports.com (AP Photo/Lance Murphey), as you'll come to find out from this post, was the story of the night. I don't need to talk about all the Bulls injuries at this point, right? Top four scorers out/injured blah blah blah. Bottom line, Vinny sent out a ridiculous lineup of Pargo, Murray, Law, Gibson, and MIller. To be honest, this was a game the Bulls should not have even been competitive in. And they weren't for the most part. They did manage to go up 22-11 in the first quarter, only to be outscored 44-22 to close the half. The third quarter didn't start out much better. O.J. Mayo was making it rain. He went 4-5 from three-point land and finished with 24 points. Mike Conley also was draining threes and finished with 19 points and 10 assists. Zach Randolph didn't even have to do much. I mean he definitely caused Taj Gibson to foul out in 26 minutes with only 2 points on 2 attempts and 3 rebounds, but he really didn't attack that much and didn't have to. About half-way through the third quarter, the Grizzlies were up by 25. The Bulls could only send out their scrubs, so Lionel Hollins decided, "Hey, we're up 25, our scrubs can play against their scrubs, so what the hell."
He's right. Any other coach would have done the same. No reason to play Zach Randolph, O.J. Mayo, and co. and risk any injuries. Surely Marcus Williams, Ronnie Brewer, and co. could handle Acie Law and the Bulls practice squad, right? Right. Well, barely. I'll get to that later, but let's talk about...
Acie Law. The kid can play. He's always been able to play. He was a stud in college and the guy is just a skilled basketball player. He just needs the playing time (see Darren Collison). I've been sitting and waiting for Del Negro to replace Jannero Pargo with Acie Law in the rotation, but it hasn't happened yet. There is NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. You cannot sit here and tell me that Acie Law is not as effective on the basketball court as Jannero Pargo. Who does Vinny Del Negro take us for? Is there any chance I was ever going to believe that Jannero Pargo should play more minutes than Acie Law? No. I wasn't. Does Jannero Pargo deserve to play more minutes just because he's been on the Bulls longer and has a history with the team? NO. He doesn't. That's ridiculous. Plus, it's been a month since the trade deadline. I think the new acquirees are acclimated just fine.
Enough of this. I can't take it anymore. I want to gouge my freakin' eyes out every time I watch Jannero Pargo play. All I can say is thank goodness that Vinny Del Negro had absolutely no choice to but to play Acie Law in the game tonight. If he hadn't, Bulls fans would have never gotten to see what Law can do in a real game situation and how much BETTER he is than Jannero Pargo. To knowledgeable basketball fans, it's obvious. All you have to do is watch Pargo play...it literally hurts your eyes. But to your every day Bulls fan, many of them tend to drink the kool-aid the organization serves them on a daily basis. PROPOGANDA. The coaching staff and the front office get it in their head that a certain player is an "organization" guy, and it becomes impossible for better players to replace them in the rotation. But for this to occur with a player as bad as Jannero Pargo and with a player who is clearly better and more effective in Acie Law...there is no excuse. I mean really...Vinny see these guys in practice every day, does he not? Does he really need to see it in a real game situation to know who should be in the rotation and have more minutes? That kind of stubornness and turning a blind eye is cause for firing alone.
Deep breaths, Dave. Deep breaths. While I hope Law will now take Pargo's rotation spot permanently, the situation tonight was a little different, and according to VDN, called for both to have to play serious minutes.
In case you didn't watch the game, let me explain the situation a little more. Acie Law started. He had a terrific game. 18 points on 6-11 shooting. He had 5 turnovers, but that's to be expected from a young kid starting in only his 8th game as a pro, especially one who hasn't played serious minutes in what seems like years. Only reason he started is because James Johnson was being punished for showing up to practice late yesterday. If that hadn't happened, Acie Law would still be buried on the back of the bench for the rest of the season with Jannero Pargo coming in in late game situations for "offense." I'm praying that the Jannero Pargo era is now over. But knowing VDN, I could be wrong. Bottom line, Law was attacking the basket and taking it to the whole consistently, and also showed he's capable of hitting a three-pointer. Being out of shape and not used to playing real minutes, he cramped up late in the 4th quarter with about 4 minutes left. And this led to Jannero Pargo controlling the ball late in the game, which is about the worst thing that can happen to the Bulls in close games.
That's right. This was a close game. How the Bulls managed to claw their way back from a 25 point defecit in the 3rd quarter...I don't know. I think it was a combination of the Grizzlies relaxing and Lionel Hollins leaving his scrubs out there for way too long. Eventually, Zach Randolph had to come back in, without his headband (he had already gotten rid of it because he thought he was done for the night), and help save the day.
Here's what I do know. It was 90-94 with 3:04 left and the Bulls had the ball. This is when Jannero Pargo convinces himself that he is as good as Derrick Rose, so it's Jannero Pargo time. In reality, all they have in common is that they are both from Chicago. With 2 and a half minutes left and the score still at 90-94, Pargo is dribbling way too much and tries to drive the lane only to get stripped and turn the ball over. Why, you ask? Well, because he's small, slow, and weak. A non-NBA level player playing against real NBA players. He's a joke. This turnover leads to a easy layup from Randolph on the other end. 96-90. Next possession, Pargo dribbling the ball into oblivion again. He again tries to take it to the hole, only to have the ball stolen by Zach Randolph. Randolph gets an easy layup on the other end off of a fast break. How and why did Pargo lose the ball again? For the exact same reason as the previous possession. The guy has 0 ability to learn. It reminds me of Tyrus Thomas. You can try to explain game situations to a guy like that and hope he'll do the right thing. But it's like ramming your head into the wall repeatedly...you think you'll eventually break through, but you won't.
It get's worse.
The score is now 90-100, and Pargo decides to jack up a 3 with a minute left. Fair enough. He pump fakes and gets Conley in the air, tries to draw contact, and fires. He bricks completely. Conley makes absolutely no contact. Pargo gets miraculously bailed out. There was no foul folks. The NBA refs, being NBA refs, saw a guy bite on a pump fake and automatically called a foul before any contact was ever made. No contact was made. For once, the Bulls had gotten a call in their favor. YES. Pargo made all three free-throws. They even went on to get a stop, and got 2 more free throws from Hakim Warrick on the other end. Score is now 95-100. They get another stop. With about 45 seconds left, the Bulls have a serious chance at making this a one-possession game. Jannero Pargo dribbles past the half-way mark. No way he'll turn the ball over again. He has to be more conscious of what he's doing with the ball at this point after the two incredibly costly turnovers from before. He has to be. Right? RIGHT? RIIIIGHT? With 36 seconds left...a pass to Marcus Williams. Marcus Williams on the Grizzlies. A direct pass to Marcus Williams. No Bull in sight. No Bull near the basketball. No Bull even had a chance of getting to that ball. Ball game.
Jannero Pargo's final stat-line: 4-15 from the field for 12 points, 0-4 from three, 8 assists, and 5 turnovers, in 36 minutes. If you're the coach of the Bulls, how do you let Jannero Pargo control the ball so much? How do you not let Flip Murray run the offense? Where does the confidence in Jannero Pargo come from? Are you telling me that Devin Brown couldn't put up better numbers than that in 36 minutes of play? He would DEFINITELY have less turnovers, because he doesn't try to do more than he can. The worst kind of players are the ones who think they are capable of more than they are actually capable of. That is the definition of Jannero Pargo. The guy thinks he's a shooter, but you can build a Chicago high-rise out of all the bricks he puts up every game. The Bulls brought him in for offense, and let him believe he's a shooter... a scorer if you will. It's as much their fault as his. A career 39% shooter from the field. Do you realize how bad that is? He's shooting 35% from the field on the season. 35 freakin' percent. And he's putting up 15 shots and controlling the offense in a late-game situation in a tight ball game. I know...Acie Law was injured. Fine. But if Flip Murray was controlling the ball late in the game like he should have been, the game may have turned out differently. I much prefer Devin Brown, who won't hurt you with ridiculous turnovers and is aware of his capabilities, rather than a chucker like Pargo who doesn't know what's what. And the worst part...he's a "veteran." Yet, he plays like a rookie. Give the minutes to a guy who won't hurt you...it's a simple game, Vinny. You just can't see what's what.
On a lighter note...Flip Murray and Hakim Warrick were bright spots (and Acie Law of course). Murray shot well, going 9-19 from the field. He put up 11 threes. Good lord. At least he made 4 of them, and some were huge. Flip finished with a game high 25 points. Warrick also had himself a nice ball game off the bench, with 22 points going 7-12 from the field. Here's another guy who should probably be starting over "organizational guy" Taj Gibson, whose been struggling lately. I still love the trades at the deadline, because these two can do some work. Hakim also had a NAAASTY dunk late in the game that I will find video of and post soon, hopefully.
The Bulls have now lost 8 in a row and have let up 100 points in 11 straight games. That's the longest 100 point streak since '86, folks. Two more games and it will all be over. That's when the schedule gets easier, and that's when players will start getting healthy, mark my words. The Bulls are a game and a half back of Toronto, and since Charlotte and Miami both lost tonight, they remain 3 games back of both those teams. I expect them to be only a game back of Toronto due to Toronto's current losing streak and schedule after Saturday when the losing streak will be at 10 after our loss to Cleveland. With the return of Hinrich and the rise of Acie Law, I expect to see Pargo exiled and/or banished to the end of the bench permanently. Anything else would be an insult to our intelligence as basketball fans.
