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Bulls will make the playoffs, probably knocked out in 1st round, 2nd round max.
They are weak inside, can't take enough load off the perimeter players.
Nice little, young hustle team.
Always gotta respect hustle, can't turn your back on them.
Posted on Tue, Nov. 08, 2005 - the Charlotte Observer
Forget loss to Spurs; Bulls can win in the East
BY SAM SMITH
Chicago Tribune
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CHICAGO - No All-Stars, no All-NBA, no all-defensive players. It has been said the Bulls are a team of complementary players with no one to complement. But they deserve some compliments.
More for the effort Monday night than the result as the Bulls fell in overtime to the San Antonio Spurs, 104-95, to fall to 1-2 on the season.
"They bring a lot of juice," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Bulls. "They're a physical team. They get in passing lanes, they front the post. They do it for 48 minutes. Scottie (Skiles) demands it of them and they buy in. It's a very physical group."
Now it's just a matter of getting to the NBA Finals to play the San Antonio Spurs.
"They'd rather play us every night, probably," Popovich said.
There is something to playing the defending champions, but this figures to be hardly an aberration with this Bulls team. They won't win many box scores as they're not great shooters, and Popovich went to a zone defense several times in the first half to test the Bulls' perimeter shooting.
Despite the Bulls' lack of size, however, they played the much bigger Spurs even on the backboards and forced more turnovers. It's what they do. Perhaps it's like the champion White Sox_we're trying for additional mentions so that everyone knows we don't favor the Cubs_or the Bears.
Hey, is Chicago a city of champions, or what?
The notion is you can win with defense and effort in place of star power.
Perhaps not everything all the time, but a team can compete.
This Bulls team isn't good enough to compete with the Spurs, who have a future Hall of Famer in Tim Duncan, an All-Star in Manu Ginobili, perhaps the league's fastest point guard in Tony Parker, a perennial all-defensive player in Bruce Bowen and Mr. Big Shot, Robert Horry.
The Bulls are bothersome. They don't let Ginobili get to the basket, they strip the ball from Parker, they bang on Duncan. Don't they know who these guys are!
Even rookie Eddie Basden came off the bench to pick off a Parker pass on one of the Spurs' favorite plays for their kick-out corner jumper.
It's like Skiles is Tony La Russa going to the bullpen for every batter in the late innings. There is little semblance of a rotation for the Bulls with the three guards, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon and Ben Gordon_who again made a quick jumper to tie the game in regulation_gnawing at the Spurs late like ants trying to take down a redwood.
If you give them time, eventually they'll get there.
The same with this Bulls team.
Perhaps they're not quite at the level of the Spurs, who aren't exactly in full gear yet. But it's hard to examine the National Football Conference, err, NBA Eastern Conference, and see exactly where this Bulls team can't compete.
Assuming the team plays with the same effort. Yes, it does make a difference in the NBA.
OK, the Pistons are good, and probably the Pacers as well. But the Nets? Did you see Vince Carter play defense Saturday? He makes Gordon look like Michael Cooper.
The Cavaliers? The Wizards, 3-0 against teams a combined 0-9? The Bucks are better, but who knows about Miami? There's no reason this Bulls team can't compete equally in the East.
"They drive it at you and they're physical," Popovich said.
Hinrich's shooting numbers (4 of 19) are not good, but they are deceiving. Plus, the Spurs put perhaps the league's best perimeter defender, Bowen, on him. Hinrich's drives push back the defense and enable Gordon to pop out for those jumpers.
At times, the Spurs were willing to test the Bulls on what seems their weakness, perimeter shooting.
Perhaps the big question for the Bulls is whether they can sustain their level of play.
Because there is no true offensive star, Skiles has experimented with lineups and rotations. . If a team doesn't fare well, it can leave players questioning their roles.
Although with this team it's clear everyone's role is the same: hustle.
It's more necessary now without Eddy Curry to distract the defense with his post play, but also more consistent without Curry, who has been criticized by new coach Larry Brown for not being in condition. It was what many wondered once he'd sign a big contract. It will be up to Curry to quiet the doubters.
The Spurs took advantage of Michael Sweetney at times with their big lineup, but he hung in to get 13 rebounds. They consistently beat the Spurs to loose balls, getting a slight edge in second-chance points, which is remarkable given their lack of size all over the court.
They had Horry talking to himself after a confrontation with Andres Nocioni and Duncan begging for referee help.
It's all one can ask for now.
Bulls will make the playoffs, probably knocked out in 1st round, 2nd round max.
They are weak inside, can't take enough load off the perimeter players.
Nice little, young hustle team.
Always gotta respect hustle, can't turn your back on them.
I wonder WHERE they could possibly have gotten THAT idea....
I don't see them getting past the big 3 in the East
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