Bulls haven’t won in NJ in a long time, possibly the post-Jordan era (the records only go back 10 games, taking you to ’03, but as we know they were terrible prior to that). I think the trend changes tonight. Bulls are a 1 point dog, but I think they take this game by 7 or 8 points. Too much depth, they’ll run the Nets right out of the gym…

I was on the fence on this game for the reasons you cited, but I'm jumping on board this game tonight.

Also like OVER 194 as the Bulls have been going past the total on the road quite often - No Krstic for NJ means the interior just even more open, I think both teams hit 100.

Well, just don't hit it too hard, BD. I like the game as well, but as you know, shit happens and sometimes teams come out flat. Hopefully they'll be ready to roll and not looking ahead to the Pistons tomorrow.

No, not a major play or anything tonight.

If you're interesed, I'm playing the UNDER's in both Utah/Houston and Dallas/SA.

I don't ever recall seeing a 18-0 run to start the game. I don't think I've seen a team not score until 5:30 in the first quarter either. Over 194 doesn't look good. You kinna need the Nets to score to get that. LOL. The Nets can still score. I'll bet you get close to that number by the end of the game.

Yeah, not looking good for the Over as now NJ is scoring better but the Bulls are being stumped by the zone...I'll take a split out of this game.

What an awful performance by the Bulls down the stretch. I felt like I was watching the team from 3 years ago, a bunch of kids that couldn't close out a game on the road. Bad shot selection, sloppy defense, poor rebounding effort. I know they got hosed a bit at the end with some questionable calls, but that game shouldn't have been close anyway. When a team has to come back from 20 points down, they're supposed to be exhausted, and you're supposed to run their asses and make them pay. Very disappointing game.

Yep.

Hinrich once again proved that he's the undisputed master of over-dribbling and errant passing. Can somebody teach this guy how to finish a fast break? He lacks the smarts and instincts to play the point and the scoring skills to play shooting guard. He is a man without a position.

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I didn't really like Duhon pulling up from 8 feet on a 4 on 2 fast break. He's the last guy you want taking an open jumper in that situation.

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Midge, I'm not sure where your anti-Hinrich erection comes from, but now that you've shared it a few times, I feel compelled to respond.

a) Hinrich didn't blow that game last night. The whole team did, including Skiles (why he let Gordon get abused by Kidd so much in the 2nd half I don't understand, nor do I understand why he left Noce out there to foul out on the 2nd to last possession, knowing they would need a 3 pointer to tie the game immediately after). And by the way, if you wanted to single out any Bulls player, your precious Duhon played worse than anyone. 0 for 9 shooting, including 0 for 5 from beyond the arc.

b) Your dislike for Kirk would make sense to me if the guy got a lot of hype/pub. But outside of cheerleaders like Tom Dore, Red Kerr, Harry Teinowicz, and Carmen DeFalco, I don't think Kirk really gets that much love. He certainly doesn't get it nationally, and I'd argue that the beat writers around here don't exactly give him free hall passes either (if anything, they kiss Skiles & Paxson's asses). He's never come remotely close to any kind of all-star or all-defensive team nominations, nor is he being paraded around for cheesey endorsements, etc.

c) I like Kirk and don't have major issues with his game, but that said, I certainly do not consider him to be the best player on the Bulls. In fact, he's probably their 3rd or 4th best player. He occasionally gets the "face of the Bulls" treatment, but that's simply because he arrived first. If the roles were reversed and he arrived in '04 while Deng & Gordon came in '03, I assure you, they would not refer to Kirk as the "face of the Bulls". Most likely, they'd kiss Gordon's ass, even though Deng is twice the player.

d) The poor passing/ballhandling was an epidemic last night, and I won't pin that entirely on Kirk. But as for his passing/handling ability in general, I think it's better than you give him credit for. Before we hit some stats, 2 philosophical points: 1 - the Bulls do not have a GF that will take you iso off the wing. Next time you watch a Lakers game, see how quickly Smush Parker hands the ball over to Kobe once they clear the half court line. You won't catch Smush overdribbling, but it has nothing to do with his style of play and everything to do with the players surrounding him. 2 - the Bulls do not have an inside scorer. Because of this, they are unable to run even the most elementary of inside/out and high/low offensive sets. Wallace is a sound passer (which I love in a big man), but nobody is running over to double & triple team him after the entry pass because the guy can't shoot.

Kirk isn't overdribbling because he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's overdribbling because there's no wing player good enough to go iso, and because there's no big man to receive an entry pass. Pax is working on it. You likely won't get both, but he'll find a way to get one, more likely the big man.

Now, to the tale of the tape:

In arguably the most important stat a PG has, A/T ratio, here is where Kirk stacks up against 3 of the top veteran PGs in the league career-wise:

2.92 steve nash
2.88 jason kidd
2.67 kirk hinrich
2.65 chauncey billups

I can live with that, especially when you consider Kirk's numbers should continue to improve.

And this is Kirk against the rest of the PGs that were chosen among the top 10 since the year 2000:

3.24 chris paul
2.71 deron williams
2.67 kirk hinrich
2.54 raymond felton
2.34 tj ford
2.33 shaun livingston
2.04 jay williams
1.93 devin harris
1.58 keyon dooling
1.46 dajuan wagner
1.18 randy foye
1.08 ben gordon

For brevity's sake I won't go into PPG, RPG, SPG, FG%, FT%, etc, but Kirk's numbers aren't too shabby there either.

Looks like no need to start a new thread for this game. They better pull their collective heads out of their collective asses and win this game.

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Pathetic!

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Edit: Nevermind. Is that true that there were only 2 points scored in the 2nd quarter? What the hell?

It was on TNT, just ended. Bulls blow 18 point lead, Hinrich loses the ball with a chance to tie, lose by 3.

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bad bad bad

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Is Kirk stupid? He has Noch open just to his right. But he forces a shot. It wasn't even a 3 pointer so it wouldn't have mattered.

Bulls just haven't been able to close out games....even in this losing stretch, they've led in double figures, held opponents down, and they just crap out, go through long stretches where they can't hit from the field, and Skiles, especially the last 2 days, seems willing to let them work out of it without the TO.

If they keep petering out at the end why don't they give Thomas any playing time. He's young and I don't think lacks energy. 0 minutes tonight?

I've never seen a team in more need of a players only, closed door meeting - and no one to call it.
Who's the leader in that locker room?



DA BEARSSSSS!!!

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Gotta agree with you on the Wallace comment...he didn't even look like he was trying (although there were reports of a back injury). As far as Ben Gordon is concerned; it appears to me that when he's hot, other teams are changing their defenses in the 2nd half to prevent him from getting touches & good looks. Double teams and fronting him seem particularly effective given his height.

While I'm on my soapbox, I'd like to say that I thought Skiles made a mistake by not inserting Sefolosha to guard the 3-point line in the final seconds of the Phoenix game. A taller guard could have made that a difficult shot. I'd also have considered Tyrus Thomas to play the passer on the inbounds play - those long arms and jumping ability would make it tough to get the ball where it is designed to go.

While we're on the subject of Skiles, how long will he continue to be exempt from criticism in Chicago? The honeymoon's gone on for over two years now.

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Well, considering the fact that he's repeatedly taken a young team with middle-of-the-road talent to the playoffs, I think he's gotten exactly as much criticism as you'd expect (actually, I believe he still gets too much; no one wants to blame anyone but Hinrich or Skiles for anything).

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