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· Derrick Rose seemed to be making a concerted effort get his teammates involved early in Sunday’s contest in Miami. The Heat trapped hard on him coming off picks, but he also seemed to be passing up some open shots to get the ball to Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng. Their offense struggled as a result, as Miami seemed to be playing with a sense of purpose defensively, coming off Friday night’s beatdown loss in San Antonio. However…
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| The torch has been passed. This man is the undisputed best PG in the NBA right now. |
· The Bulls’ defense is impressive. The way they care so much on the defensive end and never take a possession off, it really is a coach’s dream. Tom Thibodeau has done brilliant work in his first season there, coming over from Boston in the offseason. Joakim Noah in particular might be the best one-on-one post defender in the league right now (although my boy Kevin Garnett has a strong argument as well), and Chris Bosh often had his shot blocked or changed by Noah in the 1st quarter.
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| Under Thibodeau's direction, the Bulls have already surpassed their win total from last season. |
· Noah’s jumper/free throw might be the most hideous in the entire league. Kids, when learning how to shoot, don’t learn from Noah. Still, he somehow makes 72% of his FTs, so he’s still doing something right.
· Taj Gibson has made himself into an excellent pro. He’s taken a similar approach to Noah and is a tremendous asset defensively for Chicago, while also contributing on offense with a nice jump shot out to 18-20 feet.
· Miami’s overall team athleticism is astounding. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are both adept at either getting a steal and out-letting it quickly, or leaking out following the steal and being all alone by 30 feet on the other end of the floor for a dunk. They win a ton of games against lower-level competition simply with points off turnovers, and their uncanny ability to rip off an 8-0 run in the blink of an eye will make them dangerous for years to come. Still, it’s hard to trust them in a playoff series against a high-quality team, simply because they’ve struggled so consistently in crunch-time situations. Speaking of which…
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| The only 2 teammates in the league that actually have the advantage on a 2-on-3 fast break. |
· A Chicago-Miami playoff series would be fascinating, and would more than likely go 7 games. Both teams excel defensively, 3 of the top 5 or so players in the league are in the series, and the athleticism and excitement would be off the charts. Today’s game lived up to billing; a playoff series would too.
· Say what you will about Chris Bosh, but I think it’s somewhat forgotten just how skilled he is offensively. With both James and Wade out of the game early in the 2nd quarter, the Heat ran isolation plays for Bosh, who dropped a nice step-back jumper over Gibson, and went right around Turkish rookie Omer Asik for a layup. The Heat pulled ahead by 10, largely because of Bosh, but also because of…
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| Star? Sure. Superstar? Absolutely not. So stop calling him one. Seriously. |
· The Bulls’ lack of any semblance of offense without Rose initiating is glaring. Ronnie Brewer may be a solid defensively player and athlete, but neither he nor C.J. Watson is capable of sustaining offense for any length of time. That said, they’re not bad players either, and Rose needs to have his minutes saved for the postseason. You could do worse at backup PG than C.J. Watson.
· Derrick Rose + killer crossover dribble = ankle-shattering. As the immortal Bill Raftery would say: “ONIONS!!!!!!!”
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| "A LITTLE KISS!!!!" |
· Early in the 2nd-half, Rose attacked the basket on a fast break. Both James and Wade leaped to stop him, but Rose was undeterred. He brought the ball up, down, and back up again, and somehow spun the ball off the glass between the two superstars. Unreal. Catch the highlight on SC’s Top 10; of course it’ll be there.
(Fast-forward to the closing seconds…)
· And the heat’s crunch-time scorer is… Mario Chalmers?!
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| Woody Paige was right again! Give that man some props! |
· Luol Deng made 3 of 4 free throws with 16.7 seconds to go put Chicago back in front 87-86. How did he get 4 tries from the line? Because after he missed the 2nd try, James and Erick Dampier failed to get the rebound. It bounced back in Deng’s, who was hammered from behind by Wade going to get the ball. Miami rebound fail.
· Talk about failing. Once again, Miami failed to score on the final possession of a close game (this time down 87-86). After Chicago switched on a pick-and-roll with James and Bosh, James was isolated on the top of the key against Noah. Just as he had the previous Sunday against the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony, James drove left, guarded brilliantly and physically by Noah. His lefty 4-foot layup attempt went begging off to the right, but Wade was able to corral it. Unfortunately for Miami, Wade’s shot was short, and Bulls game away with a season sweep of the Heat (3-0). Can’t wait to hear the fodder coming from the national media after yet another close Miami defeat. The super-drama of the Superfriends continues. Stay tuned.
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| Hey guys, how're things going right now? |
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