# Official Game Thread: Cavaliers @ Chicago 12/22/05 7:00 pm TNT



## BenDengGo (Feb 1, 2004)

*Official Game Thread: Cavaliers @ Chicago 12/22/05 7:00 pmTNT*

<center>*Bulls Better Not Have a Cavalier Attitude About This One* 








*VS*









*Season Records*
*Cleveland Cavaliers (14-9 (4-6 on road) @ Chicago Bulls (12-12) (5-6 at home)









United Center, Chicago, Illinois, Thursday December 22nd, 2005
Cleveland @ Chicago 7:00pm TNT*

*<blink>STARTING LINEUPS</blink>*





































*Michigan St-6'3-SNOW <> St.Louis-6'5-HUGHES <> St.Vincent-St.Mary-6'9-JAMES <> Kansas-6'10-GOODEN <> Kaunas-7'3-ILGAUSKAS*

*VS* 





































*Duke-6'1-DUHON <> Kansas-6'3-HINRICH <> Duke-6'9-DENG <> Ceramica-6'7-NOCIONI <> G'town-6'8-SWEETNEY*


*<blink>Key Bench Players</blink>*






























*6'3-JONES <> 6'7-NEWBLE <> 6'9-MARSHALL <> 6'9-HENDERSON*

*---*






























*6'1-PARGO <> 6'2-GORDON <> 6'8-SONGAILA <> 7'1-CHANDLER*


*Individual Team Leaders:*

<table border="3" bordercolor="#000000" width="50%"><tbody><tr align="center"><td>*BULLS*</td><td> 
</td><td>*CAVALIERS*</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>DENG 14,5</td><td>*PPG*</td><td>JAMES 30.7</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>CHANDLER 8,3</td><td>*RPG*</td><td>GOODEN 8.5</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>HINRICH 6,7</td><td>*APG*</td><td>JAMES 5.3</td></tr><tr align="center"></tr><tr align="center"><td>DUHON 1,22</td><td>*SPG*</td><td>JAMES 1.57</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>CHANDLER .96</td><td>*BPG*</td><td>NEWBLE 2</td></tr></tr><tr align="center"><td>CHANDLER .522</td><td>*FG%*</td><td>GOODEN .530</td></tr></tr><tr align="center"><td>NOCIONI .478</td><td>*3P%*</td><td>JONES .410</td><tr align="center"><td>GORDON 44</td><td>*3PM*</td><td>JONES 50</td></tr></tr></tr></tbody></table>

*BDG's Tag of the Day Competition
todays tag brought to you by*
*ndistops*







</center>


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: Official Game Thread: Cavaliers @ Chicago 12/22/05 7:00 pmTNT*

thank you *BDG!*


bulls better :rock: the house tonight.


my bulls e-news


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## Darius Miles Davis (Aug 2, 2002)

*Re: Official Game Thread: Cavaliers @ Chicago 12/22/05 7:00 pmTNT*

I'm in town and will actually be at the game tonight, up in the nosebleeds in section 323. I'd like to meet some of the bbb.net faithful if possible.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

larry hughes rejoined the team in chicago and participated in the AM shootaround. 

so he is "probable" which means, he's playing.


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

We usually do well against the LeBron-led Cavs at home. I expect us to win. We've shown to bounce back well from bad losses. Of course, then we revert back to stinking in our very next game :sigh:

Bulls 99
Cavaliers 94


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## BullSoxChicagosFinest (Oct 22, 2005)

I'm looking forward to this. On one hand, you hope that they come out strong after the weak effort against Charlotte, you'd think that Skiles unloaded one on them afterwards. On the other hand, I still have a fear that if they get handled, even if it's early, it will be the precursor to a bad season.


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## Street Danser (Dec 17, 2005)

Expect Bulls to win. 12-12 (50/50) lower can't be!!! I realy hope so.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

The Cavs frontline should destroy the Bulls. Sweetney guarding Zydrunas Illgauskas...the only bigger mismatch would be if Tyson was put on him. I wonder how long it will take for Sweets to foul out tonight. Between Z and Lebron, he's going to tire his fat self out, reaching and slapping.

Also the Bulls still don't have anyone who can guard Larry Hughes. He destroyed you in the playoffs. He'll do it again tonight.

Cavs are on a roll. 3 game win streak.

Cavs win this game going away.

Cavs: 108
Bulls: 87

And you know Donyell Marshall will be looking to stick it to his former team.

John Mustopha Mond Paxson is getting it up the *** tonight, V For Vendetta style.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

futuristxen said:


> And you know Donyell Marshall will be looking to stick it to his former team.


Looks like he isn't the only one. Old favorite team vs. new favorite team. Big game for you tonight!


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## ndistops (Oct 31, 2005)

The Win/Loss pattern unfortunately won't continue.

Cavs 103
Bulls 90


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## kukoc4ever (Nov 20, 2002)

I've posted a lot about my doubts about the Bulls today.

So I think they will win in a blowout tonight! 

Bulls 102
Cavs 80

YAH!


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

futuristxen said:


> John Mustopha Mond Paxson is getting it up the *** tonight, V For Vendetta style.



hey, nice to see you back. :|


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Sir Patchwork said:


> Looks like he isn't the only one. Old favorite team vs. new favorite team. Big game for you tonight!


Yep. I'm looking forward to this one, probably more than most. I feel like how that dude who shot John Lennon felt. These aren't my Bulls. They're some sort of imposter led team. So I hope Lebron and Co. can bury the *******s.


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## Frankensteiner (Dec 29, 2004)

Speaking of the "awesome" Larry Hughes, he's been kind of a bust and gone back to his pre-free agency season form. Can't say I'm surprised... thought he was terribly overrated last year.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

for our overseas friends/fans or those without the ability to see TNT tonight.

*the game will be carried via a livecast on the web!*


click here at game time 

per the site you need streaming software. they have a link you can download for free.

happy holidays!


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## darlets (Jul 31, 2002)

some poster last year, used to posts lots of dancing bananas and phrases in other languages about the "Bulls winning" everytime we won a game. I haven't seen that this year???? what's the go?

Can we have it back?


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

darlets said:


> some poster last year, used to posts lots of dancing bananas and phrases in other languages about the "Bulls winning" everytime we won a game. I haven't seen that this year???? what's the go?
> 
> Can we have it back?



that was/is *wynn!*

hopefully we'll get the dancing banana attack tonight.

:biggrin:


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## darlets (Jul 31, 2002)

mizenkay said:


> that was/is *wynn!*
> 
> hopefully we'll get the dancing banana attack tonight.
> 
> :biggrin:


Fingers crossed.

:clap: :banana: :clap: :banana:


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## bullsville (Jan 23, 2005)

I have a bad feeling about this one, the Bulls haven't been very good the last few times they were on national TV.

Unless Deng comes back and has a huge game and saves us from mediocrity and a loss to the Bobcats and we win a few games and he becomes the hero and saviour of the free world forever?


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## AndriuskeviciusFuture (Nov 18, 2005)

Just want to wish you guys good luck tonight and hopefully it will be a great game, both teams need a division win in this one.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Charles taking a dump on the Bulls there. He said they stink. I don't think .500 is stinking. Of course Charles was a big Eddy Curry fan too.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

charles just called the bulls a BAD TEAM, as in, the cavs have to go on the road and beat "bad teams" if they want to be taken seriously.

:rocket:


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

wow. dangling nugget of excellence by deng!

(and no, i will not keep using this. just needed to get it out of my system)


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Why can't Kirk hit open shots!? Dang nabbit!


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

Go Gordon!


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

well ben gordon knows he's on national tv, he came to play!


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Nice stretch by Kirk here. I missed the first part of the game (It was like 33-31 when I tuned in), but the Bulls are looking pretty good right now. Good defense and well executed offense. I would like to see Sweetney go at Ilgauskas a bit more.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Nice shot by Gordon, going through the thread and box score, looks like he has had a good game so far. Bulls offense executing well, although Cleveland has terrible defense, so take it for what it's worth. 

Duhon on LeBron right now. Doing a pretty good job actually when it's not in the open court. Not sure how long it'll last though, Skiles seems to be giving LeBron all sorts of different looks. Keep it up.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

gordon playing great.

songaila's really found his spot at the top of the key.

kirk's jumpshot is off - so he finds other ways.

bulls playing like they really want it.





but that was a nasty dunk by lebron. ugh. and now we have to suffer these "lebrons" ads. at least they played the superfreak one.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Man... Lebron, has got a shot. Nothing but net every single time.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

file under: did _not_ need to see


a matador shaved his backhair in the shape of a bulls logo.

tnt crew having a big laugh over that one.


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

The officiating was pretty bad in that 1st half. Cleveland got a bunch of questionable calls.

Other that that, a very exciting 1st half.


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

The Duhon J baby! Always a good sign.

Up 9


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Nocioni coming up huge on both ends in the 3rd quarter. Duhon playing really well too right now. Chandler has a putback and a couple good boards. Would like to see Hinrich and Gordon get going a little bit though. 

Keep it up fellas! Good guys by 9.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

bulls really picked up the defensive intensity.

oh, and i  nocioni - 3 charges! 

this thread, however, is pathetic.

national game. where is everyone?


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## darlets (Jul 31, 2002)

The boys are getting it done.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

mizenkay said:


> this thread, however, is pathetic.
> 
> national game. where is everyone?


Cavs board is a little more lively.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Lebron is doing his one man team thing.... not much passing from him.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Future said:


> Lebron is doing his one man team thing.... not much passing from him.


Yeah he's not playing a good game tonight. The games on the 3 game win streak he was up around 8 assists per game shooting over 60 percent. It was so easy early, that he didn't try and get his teammates into rhythm. Now it's probably too late.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Nocioni with 15 and 9 on 7/11 shooting, and more importantly making big defensive plays. Great 3rd quarter for him.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

HINRICH is PLAYING LIKE GARBAGE!!! COMPLETE GARBAGE!! Turning it over and missing open shots.... hot damn!!! He's killin our lead and my fantasy team.


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

Kirk's overdribbling


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Too many turnovers.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Blowing the lead... why is Chandler out? Big Z is gonna kill us. 

Hinrich has 5 TOs.... he single handedly gave the lead to the Cavs. ****IN HINRICH!!!

and he was just sitting in the middle of the lane, gave Jones a wide open shot. Take him out.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

ick. kirk with a fifth turnover.

FOCUS. FOCUS. FOCUS.

****


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

Thank You, Kirk.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Duhon with another turnover. Damnit. 8 point lead now.


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## UMfan83 (Jan 15, 2003)

Ugh, I'm shell shocked. I don't want to be under .500 but it looks unavoidable


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Skiles.... put Nocioni back in.

NOW PUT DENG BACK IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and tell Gordon to stop sitting in the corner every f-ing time, and take over!!


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

He's back! Now to get Hinrich out of the game, put Deng back in!!!
Gamecast ftw.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

LeBron bulls his way through Duhon to get two points. 

Going to need to hit some shots here to win this one.


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

Once again, free throws are killing us.

Cleveland 21-29
Chicago 4-6

Can we even get respect on our home floor from the refs?


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

If Deng is not back in, by the time this commercial is done, I am going to scream.


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## evalam23 (Feb 2, 2004)

Hard to win a game when you only have 6 FT's attempts to there 31. No inside game is killing this team.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Game over... Skiles blew it in the 4th quarter. Putting his boy Kirk in, taking out Deng. Deng is the only one who can remotely guard Lebron. Yet he is sitting pretty on the bench. 


Way to go Skiles, we are below .500!!!


Edit: Deng is back in with 5 mins left in the 4th quarter. Too little, too late. Way to go Skiles!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

Bonus time.
Lookout, Deng back in, about bloody time


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

Turnovers and a couple of crucial bad calls killed us in the end. Also don't know why Deng wasn't in.


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## evalam23 (Feb 2, 2004)

Do not get me wrong, cause I like BG, but the bulls need to package Bennie boy for a big man, there has to be someone out there. Bennie boy reminds me of the microwave on Detroit vinny something, comes in and scores but not much else, he cannot dribble that well nor can he pass, to one dimensional. 

Or they just have to play with what they got this year and try and land a big man next year, because they just do not have the horses down low to compete day in and day out, unless they shoot the lights out, I am looking at .500 this year, boy does that curry thing haunt the bulls, because I believe Chandler does not get that deal if Pax knew curry was not coming back.


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## Future (Jul 24, 2002)

Deng and Chandler are in with under 5 mins left... two guys who were critical in giving the Bulls the lead in the 3rd Q. 

I chalk this loss on Scott Skiles. Not the Refs.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

Can't watch the game but looks like our defense blew it in the third.


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## TRUTHHURTS (Mar 1, 2003)

For as much as Eddy and jamal get ragged on they dont look even remotely as bad tyson as has looked so far this year and he makes more than both :eek8: 

We play HARDDDDDDDDDDD !!!

Noc at pf is a nice gimmick but it cant be a fulltime move if Im Pax I think about asking skiles to play tyson more to raise his value just so we can trade him.


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## chifaninca (May 28, 2002)

It's official - The BULLS Suck.

Seriously, is there a more helter skelter team? They can play out of their minds for a quarter or two, the mindless to lose games in the clutch.


The only guy on this team who should be deemed untouchable is Deng. I'm not saying firesale or mass exodus..just that if a Superstar came avialble and it took two or three pieces, we have to do it.

We've but a lot of great pieces on our roster, but have no clutch unit.

The, "a different guy each night" theory leads to an under 500 team and no playoffs. We need a go to guy badly and we don't have one on the roster.


Gordon actually appears to be regressing. Duhon is as reliable as buddy who owes you money. Hinrich is just not enough. Chandler is a waste of space most nights. Sweetney is too heavy. Songalia should be a Boston Celtic "hustle points and bad turnovers are his specialty".


Deng is the only guy improving his game and bringing it every night.


So disappointing.


Oh, and Skiles, is no genius.


How do you go from 10 up to 10 down in 7 minutes?


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## RagingBulls316 (Feb 15, 2004)

Wow, that was some horriable bad coaching down the stretch. So many things, not having Deng and Nocioni in there, and the thing that killed us the most was trying to go down to Sweetney on Illgauskas for half the 4th quarter and killing all the ball movement and momentem our offense had going.

And what does skiles do everytime we start losing a lead....puts his head down and does nothing. Get up and do some coaching.

Just pathetic coaching down the stretch tonight.


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

I don't want to blame the refs but the Cavs have got some little bumps on shots that the foul was called. Deng was nailed on a drive and nothing was called and Illgaulkas seems to foul nobody on the defensive end even though he is slow of foot.

When we start shooting as many free throws as our other teams, we will start winning a lot of games. How many games have we lost this year cause the other team has shot a considerable amount of free throws to ours. Let's see.

New Jersey game
Portland game
New York game
and now the Cleveland game

That's four games we outplayed the other team and lost. Yes, we outplayed the other team on the floor but lost at the line.


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## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

BullsAttitude said:


> I don't want to blame the refs but the Cavs have got some little bumps on shots that the foul was called. Deng was nailed on a drive and nothing was called and Illgaulkas seems to foul nobody on the defensive end even though he is slow of foot.
> 
> When start shooting as many free throws as our other teams, we will start winning a lot of games. How many games have we lost this year cause the other team has shot a considerable amount of free throws to ours. Let's see.
> 
> ...


That's the downside of not having a superstar. Superstar treatment is something that works against the Bulls every night against teams with stars. We don't even have an all-star, or a player who averages more than 16 points per game, so obviously we aren't respected as much. 

That Damon Jones stretch killed us. Like 9 points in a minute or two. And during those turnovers and missed shots, I felt like they were hacked, but that's how it is without a star. 

Luckily we're in a good position to deal, Paxson just has to recognize it and make it happen.


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## El Chapu (Oct 23, 2004)

chifaninca said:


> It's official - The BULLS Suck.
> 
> Seriously, is there a more helter skelter team? They can play out of their minds for a quarter or two, the mindless to lose games in the clutch.
> 
> ...


If Deng isnt that guy either, why wouldnt you trade him for a Superstar?


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

Yes, I'm pissed at the loss but I don't want to touch this team. We got 2 very good draft picks coming to us plus FA money to spend.

When we get the inside player we need and the big guard cough*Adam Morrison*cough. A lot of teams in this league is going to hate to play Chicago but it will be their own fault, they put us there.


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## bullsville (Jan 23, 2005)

It amazes me that a team can have 27 3pt attempts and we have 21, yet that team gets to shoot 31 more free throws *on our home floor*.

Our players drive the lane, draw contact, and never get a call- then late in the game they don't want to drive because they never get a call. I don't blame them, it's ridiculous.


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## evalam23 (Feb 2, 2004)

So you like adam morrison I see his name a lot leading the zags in scoring have not really watched him play. Bulls have no big man, they clogged the middle rotating davis curry and chandler, that is gone and so is the paint. Long season, but we only need one big man that can score a little and take the pressure off our guards to light it up every night. Sweetney is good, but he cannot handle a good 7fter, the one thing that sweetney is lacking with that bulk is a little leaping ability, I wish he had barkleys hops but sweetney only has a hop.


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## chifaninca (May 28, 2002)

El Chapu said:


> If Deng isnt that guy either, why wouldnt you trade him for a Superstar?



I wouldn't trade Deng cause I think he is a perfect second compliment to any star cause he's got a very good and developing inside/outside game.

Everyone else is available (hell, even Deng) for the right player.



As for the foul discrepancy.............That's also what happens when you shot lots of poor shots. The refs don't call alot for teams that don't drive and force the issue. We have way to many jump shooters who should n't be shooting jumpers. 

The only guy likely to get a call on the inside is Sweetney. On the outside, none, since there is rarely that blatant of contact.

On the offensive side we have to make the other team play against us and the refs. We don't do that at all.


Go Bulls...........

Do we still have the fire Skiles club? :curse:


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## chifaninca (May 28, 2002)

BullsAttitude said:


> Yes, I'm pissed at the loss but I don't want to touch this team. We got 2 very good draft picks coming to us plus FA money to spend.
> 
> When we get the inside player we need and the big guard cough*Adam Morrison*cough. A lot of teams in this league is going to hate to play Chicago but it will be their own fault, they put us there.



OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Adam Morrison, please no. Please. I'm begging ..really. Trade the pick before taking him. If we get one more unathletic player who does nothing but shoot jumpers I'll puke.


We have the mini versions of him in Gordon, Duhon and Saongalia. Morrison will not be a good fit on our team. He will be a great fit on a team that runs, has an inside presence, can cover his defensive deficiencies and can open things up for him. We have None of that.

We should be praying for Aldridge or Bargnani. Trade the second pick with other value for a superstar who had an off year or has too big of a salary for his current team.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

actually spongy, they raised their defense in the third, but completely fell apart in the 4th and got away from what they were doing. 

momentum changing bad decisions from kirk and his shot has done up and left him lately. 

deng sitting too long. but maybe the knee was hurting? who knows.

gordon not touching the ball nearly enough when he finally got in the game in the third.

nocioni and deng getting NO RESPECT from the refs. 

and what is it with skiles, just hanging his head when the bulls get down late? coach the damn thing. 

very disappointing all around. 

pax. we need size. get on the damn phone.


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

evalam23 said:


> So you like adam morrison I see his name a lot leading the zags in scoring have not really watched him play. QUOTE]
> 
> All the press he's getting, he deserves. Watching that game against Oklahoma State, man, he wanted the ball with his team down, he wanted to put the game in his hands.
> 
> ...


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## The Krakken (Jul 17, 2002)

evalam23 said:


> Do not get me wrong, cause I like BG, but the bulls need to package Bennie boy for a big man, there has to be someone out there. Bennie boy reminds me of the microwave on Detroit vinny something, comes in and scores but not much else, he cannot dribble that well nor can he pass, to one dimensional.


What are you babbling about? BG was the only guard out there in the second half who looked like he knew how to play basketball. How many TO's did he have? How many bad passes did he make? How many bad shots did he take? Not many, not many, and.....umm.....not many.


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

> How many TO's did he have?


Well i can't account for the exact TO's in the 2nd half, but he did have 4 total, add it together with Hinrich's 5 and its a disturbing amount


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## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

mizenkay said:


> and what is it with skiles, just hanging his head when the bulls get down late? coach the damn thing.


He did that a lot back in the 03-04 season and it ****ing drove me nuts. I didn't see him do it at all last year, even when things were completely ****ty. Now he seems back to it. You gotta wonder what's up with that.


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

chifaninca said:


> OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Adam Morrison, please no. Please. I'm begging ..really. Trade the pick before taking him. If we get one more unathletic player who does nothing but shoot jumpers I'll puke.
> 
> 
> We have the mini versions of him in Gordon, Duhon and Saongalia. Morrison will not be a good fit on our team. He will be a great fit on a team that runs, has an inside presence, can cover his defensive deficiencies and can open things up for him. We have None of that.
> ...



What superstar are you going to trade for? That isn't going to be a me first player instead of team. 

So Adam Morrison isn't going to get any better? Has he reached his potential. Jeez, Larry Bird was very unathletic coming out of college. Morrison can play, that's why he's getting the attention he's getting.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

mizenkay said:


> actually spongy, they raised their defense in the third, but completely fell apart in the 4th and got away from what they were doing.
> 
> momentum changing bad decisions from kirk and his shot has done up and left him lately.
> 
> ...


oh ok. Looking at the box score, the FT discrepency is just crazy.

We may just need a star just so we can can equalize the FT's. Skiles Postgame Comments


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

> Way to go Skiles, we are below .500!!!


Looking at our schedule it was only a matter of time.
@ Memphis
@ Cleveland
@ Charlotte
Phoenix
Milwaukee
Seattle
@ Milwaukee


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## BullsAttitude (Jun 11, 2002)

Even Skiles made comments about it and on ESPN1000 postgame show, they made a comment about it. I just wish we got some kind of respect from the refs.

Just think of our record if we had shot as many FTs as New Jersey, Portland, New York, and Cleveland.

We would be 16-9 instead of 12-13!!!!!!!

That's a big difference there.

Don't say our guys don't drive to the basket, they do, they just don't get the calls.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

Mikedc said:


> He did that a lot back in the 03-04 season and it ****ing drove me nuts. I didn't see him do it at all last year, even when things were completely ****ty. Now he seems back to it. You gotta wonder what's up with that.



i know! he goes on the radio every week and talks about how young we are. well, then COACH the youngins to a win! all the way to the bitter end. you can do it!

and yes, spongy the FT differential just killed us tonight. that's what kerr was saying alot. we don't have a single guy who we can just ride on a consistent basis that can get to the line.

still searching for consistency. still in need of a mojo injection. 

santa? are you listening?


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## The Krakken (Jul 17, 2002)

I didn't catch the first half, but here is what I saw after halftime.......

-Kirk overdribbles on every posession. He really needs to work on making quick and decisive plays as a PG, instead of letting the basketball stagnate.

-Our pieces are okay. The real reason we don't have a superstar, is because we don't run an offense that caters to it. Our offense, sometimes is TOO predicated on ball movement, and sometimes our best offensive options are completely left out of the plays. I saw a good 4-5 minute stretch at the start of the 4th, where, while Hinrich and Duhon committed TO after TO, Gordon and Sweetney didn't touch the ball.....not even once. If we want a superstar, we need to start by grooming the players who have that potential to fill that role, for it...instead of just treating them like role players. 

If you treat your most talented players like role players (Deng, Gordon), then you shouldn't be surprised when they play like role players.

-Our youth showed tonight, but I was surprised at who showed it. Duhon launched a 3 after we got a stop with 4 cavs around him and nobody in the hole...and after a bad pass out of a double team by deng to boot. Hinrich was a turnover machine....something I'm seeing more and more out of him lately.

-One of hinrichs greatest weaknesses is also a great strength. His ability to keep his dribble in traffic reminds me of steve nash. If he were in traffic more it wouldn't bother me...but he holds the ball too much on the perimeter.

-Sweetney was ok, but in the 2nd half, he was invisible.

We took a TON of bad shots tonight in the second half....

-Its odd me saying this but Ben Gordon was our best perimeter player tonight and it had nothing to do with his scoring. He just didn't make poor decisions, he played pretty good defense (it was Hinrich and Duhon getting scorched to oblivion by damon jones, not Gordon) on Eric Snow, and he seemed patient with his shooting. TOO patient. He needs to learn to be a little more selfish, and GOT DAMMIT learn how to take some ****ing contact. I'm getting tired of watching him blow by his man and then avoid contact like a damn girl. I think he's finally figured out that he can easily beat most players off the dribble. Now if he could just figure out that fouls don't necessarily hurt...and they are apart of the damn game.    :curse:

We need a big man so bad it isn't even funny.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- As quick as the release of a 3-pointer by Damon Jones, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned things around. 

Jones fueled a fourth-quarter surge with three 3-pointers in 70 seconds as the Cavaliers stormed to their fourth straight win, a 108-100 victory over the slumping Chicago Bulls. 

LeBron James scored 37 points and fellow All-Star Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 25 and 11 rebounds for Cleveland (15-9), which exploded for 37 points in the final period and sent Chicago (12-13) to its sixth loss in its last seven home games. 

The Cavaliers undid a solid first half with an awful third quarter. They made just 3-of-15 shots and committed six turnovers - one more than they had before halftime - and entered the final period facing a 79-71 deficit. 

A basket by Kirk Hinrich gave the Bulls an 81-73 lead with 10:12 to play before the Cavaliers rediscovered their form. Eric Snow made two free throws and James and Ilgauskas added baskets before Jones zeroed in. 

The 3-point specialist drained one from the left corner, one from the right wing and another from the left wing in slightly more than a minute, giving Cleveland the lead for good at 89-81 with 7:07 remaining and silencing the United Center. 

Chicago got no closer than six points thereafter. Jones delivered the dagger with another 3-pointer from the right corner for a 102-89 advantage with 2:53 to go. 

Jones scored 15 points, all on 3-pointers. He picked up the slack for guard Larry Hughes, the team's second-leading scorer who returned after attending to a family matter Wednesday and managed nine points. 

James eclipsed 30 points for the 15th time this season as he led the team for the 10th straight game. However, he scored just six points in the fourth quarter, when Snow also contributed six and Ilgauskas tallied 10. 

Ben Gordon scored 22 points and Andres Nocioni added 21 and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who have lost seven of 11 overall. They shot 21 3-pointers and just 10 free throws.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

crap


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## BullSoxChicagosFinest (Oct 22, 2005)

Mikedc said:


> He did that a lot back in the 03-04 season and it ****ing drove me nuts. I didn't see him do it at all last year, even when things were completely ****ty. Now he seems back to it. You gotta wonder what's up with that.


Also drove me crazy during the playoff losses


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## jbulls (Aug 31, 2005)

mizenkay said:


> CHICAGO (Ticker) -- As quick as the release of a 3-pointer by Damon Jones, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned things around.
> 
> Jones fueled a fourth-quarter surge with three 3-pointers in 70 seconds as the Cavaliers stormed to their fourth straight win, a 108-100 victory over the slumping Chicago Bulls.
> 
> ...


Six losses in seven home games. Wow.


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

Keep things in perspective guys....

Last season, we started 0-9 and it was pure chaos here. Everyone was screaming for heads to roll. 

We ended up making the playoffs.

This season, we are 12-13.

Surely, thats a better start than 0-9, no? Im not saying we will do as good necessarily or that we are going to make the playoffs for sure.... but keep things in perspective. We did recover before. What's to say we cannot do it again?

We knew this season was going to be a bit of a challenge. We lost our only low post scoring threat. We lost a veteran big man we relied upon in AD. And yet, we aren't doing that bad. 

Perspective is the key. 

Not to say we don't have the right to be angry.... I just thing its a little too early to be jumping ship. Last year should have taught us that.


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## kukoc4ever (Nov 20, 2002)

Last season we had a complete team.

Productive bigs in Curry, Chandler and AD.

This season... not so much.

We just don't have the horses.

Man, listening to the post game show, the city is turning on Chandler. 

Call after call after call of bashing the guy. Even the post game host was getting in on the act. 

It was not pretty.

Bulls were booed off the court last night.

Also not pretty.

Not enough talent on this team to not give 110%. 

That 4th quarter was a joke.


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

Upon further review, the sky is not falling.

I just went outside to check. 

Though, I did notice a nice blast of warmer air. I do not know the source of it. Perhaps it was the vent located above the door. Or perhaps it was the air warming up. 

Ill have to look into this matter more thoroughly.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

Vintage said:


> Upon further review, the sky is not falling.
> 
> I just went outside to check.
> 
> ...


LOL

Some people want to compare our start with last year, which is fine.

But the problem is compare how we're playing at 12-13 vs. how we played after that 0-9 start. People want/expect the team to build on the winning formula they had last season - able to win lots of games down the stretch without Curry and Deng.

We are 5-7 in December. Last season's team was 8-7.

Last season's team went 13-3 in January. Is there anyone who expect the team to do that this season?


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

DaBullz said:


> LOL
> 
> Some people want to compare our start with last year, which is fine.
> 
> ...


No one expected we'd turn it around like we did after the 0-9 start. I seriously doubt anyone predicted we'd go 13-3 in January either.

There was no prior indication we'd be able to do that last year. But we did.

There is no prior indication we can do that this year. But it could happen.

I'm not saying its going to happen, or that we don't have the right to be upset with players and management, or that we should just accept our shortcomings.....

I just think its a bit early to jump ship and call it a season. Maybe we have another surprise run in us. Maybe we don't. All I know is that I refuse to abandon hope and claim the possible to be impossible. We lost to a good Cleveland team last night. Our play was inconsistent. But they were the better team heading in. Its not overly surprising they won.


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## kukoc4ever (Nov 20, 2002)

The troubling thing for me is, just like in the Pistons games, the opponents do not seem to be trying all that hard. They are hanging in there... and turning it on when they need to.


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

One thing I would like to mention......

The score was 19-12 IIRC when Gordon entered the game. 

At some point, we retook the lead in the 1st quarter, again, IIRC.



Perhaps we need to begin exploring the options of potentially starting Gordon? Because our starting lineup is struggling to score; or at least, thats what happened against Cleveland. I haven't been able to watch many Bulls games thus far (Finals week, personal stuff I had to take care off, etc...)

But this is something I noticed in the Cleveland game.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

Vintage said:


> No one expected we'd turn it around like we did after the 0-9 start. I seriously doubt anyone predicted we'd go 13-3 in January either.
> 
> There was no prior indication we'd be able to do that last year. But we did.
> 
> ...


That's all fine.

Tell me about the Bobcats game prior to this one. Those are the kind of games you expect a 47 win team to win.


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

I realize you just posted that merely seconds after I made my other reply....


I didn't watch the Bobcat game. Needless to say, its been a rough couple of weeks. A friend of mine died, once again, during the Christmas season. I had finals that week too. They were oh-so-enjoyable. My sister was in a car crash last night. Thank god she and the other person are all right. I found out a lot of my old HS buddies are doing drugs/selling drugs/failing out of school/becoming losers that I do not wish to hang out with anymore.

Basketball hasn't been on my mind in quite some time.

I just started watching games yesterday, the Bulls game.....

My comments were made on the basis of that one game, as I have nothing other to go by.


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## ScottMay (Jun 15, 2002)

Vintage said:


> Keep things in perspective guys....
> 
> Last season, we started 0-9 and it was pure chaos here. Everyone was screaming for heads to roll.
> 
> ...


I have a lot of problems with the "keep 0-9 in mind" perspective.

One, it's just too low of a bar. Anything's better than 0-9, so being better than 0-9 doesn't tell too much. I mean, in related news, I didn't crap in my pants yesterday. Does that make it a successful day?

Two, recovering from 0-9 was, statistically and historically speaking, a massive fluke. It's great that it happened, and it does speak to the moxie and don't-quit that the Bulls have, but it's hardly a basis on which to build a championship contending team.

Three, after 0-9, the Bulls were one of the best teams in the NBA last season. Yeah, 12-13 is better than 0-9, but it's a lot worse than 47-25, and even worse than that, I've been saying for a couple weeks that some key numbers suggest that we might not even be as good as our record. 

Maybe it's not sky-is-falling worthy, but I think that stagnation/regression of this type is not a good thing for what's supposed to be the developing nucleus of a championship team. 

(You also have to factor in board politics into this argument. I was told by a lot of posters that the Bulls would be as good as last year's team without Eddy, or even considerably better. I would submit that the early returns show that the Bulls are not all better off without Eddy, regardless of whatever's going on with the Knicks. Either that, or Antonio Davis had the highest impact 7 and 6 season in the history of the league.)


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

And we technically regressed from the 2003-2004 season when we started 0-9. 

I see and agree with a lot of your points. I am not disagreeing we may not be a better team than last year. In fact, I kind of expected it. We did trade our best low post scorer, who despite his faults, was our only real option in the post.

But we can still recover.

We can still make the playoffs.

And we can still build a team around Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, and Chandler. Paxson just has to fill in the missing pieces.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

ScottMay said:


> in related news, I didn't crap in my pants yesterday. Does that make it a successful day?


Yes!


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## Vintage (Nov 8, 2002)

About the crap in the pants thing....

It depends.....did you crap your pants yesterday?

If so, Id say its a successful start to your day.....


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## bullsville (Jan 23, 2005)

If this team doesn't start playing some defense, it won't be as good as last season's team, plain and simple.

Our numbers on offense are up across the board- scoring +1.7, FG% +1.6%, 3-pt% +5.2%, ast +1.3, TO -0.4, pts +1.7. Our pts/100 poss is up as well.

But our defense has been horrible, and it's mostly perimeter shooting that is killing us. Teams are still taking 69% of their shots as jumpers against us, but or eFG% allowed is up to 44.1% from 40.7%. 

A lot of this falls on Tyson's shoulders, though. He hasn't been a shot-blocking force in the 4th quarter like he was last season, and we've had to help on penetration a lot more. That is leaving guys open for wide-open perimeter shots, when last season we stayed in front of shooters and let Tyson block and/or alter shots. 

If Tyson doesn't start playing up to his capabilities, this team is going to continue to struggle on defense, and they will continue to hover around .500 and the 8th seed, which isn't good enough IMHO.

At least there are a few road games coming up, since we seem to play like garbage in front of the season-ticket holders.


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

Lack of size and chandler is hurting this club. The way Tyson is playing reminds me of the way he played two years ago.


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## Ron Cey (Dec 27, 2004)

ScottMay said:


> I mean, in related news, I didn't crap in my pants yesterday. Does that make it a successful day?


This is a good question.

It all depends on the value one ascribes to crapped-in vs. non-crapped-in pants.

I'm personally not a fan of crapped-in pants when I'm the one wearing them. But my 2 year old son doesn't seem to have that big of a problem with it. Indeed, he may take some satisfaction in it since the crap is no longer in his body, where he obviously didn't want to store it anymore. 

Like most things, its a subjective inquiry.


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## The 6ft Hurdle (Jan 25, 2003)

The Krakken said:


> I didn't catch the first half, but here is what I saw after halftime.......
> 
> -Kirk overdribbles on every posession. He really needs to work on making quick and decisive plays as a PG, instead of letting the basketball stagnate.
> 
> ...


Thank you.

The ability to score double digits in a limited amount of time and in the 4th quarter doesn't suddenly disappear. There's a reason commentators brought up clutch statistics as much as they did last season --- because our very own guy was tearing it up. 

Any other team would've rode production like that into the next season. But unfortunately for our coach that makes too much sense. I mean, he's getting the minutes, but he's not getting his touches/opportunities, and definitely not as much as Kirk and Chris.

Last night, Ben barely even touched the ball in the 2nd half. I could count the number of times he did on one Ronnie Lott left hand. On offense, they only give him the ball when he went on that hot streak in the 1st and 2nd quarter. Other than that, he was forgotten. On the rare occasion he got the ball, he was already effectively removed from the offense and out of sync.

(On a sidenote, it's nice to see that Deng isn't as momentum-driven as Ben, and that's what makes him our most versatile and best all-around player.)


> We need a big man so bad it isn't even funny.


Perhaps Skiles has created such a hostile, isolative, tattle-tell, needlessly competitive, it's-your-fault, favoritist environment (as opposed to the "we-are-a-family" team) that Tyson actually fed off Eddy being blamed for problems. Now that he's the only big guy on the team, a lot more rests on his shoulders. Simply put, with Eddy out of the picture, and losing our defensive leader big man, he was asked to do more than he could handle. And were seeing him try to adapt to that. He wasn't even allowed to outgrow his old niche, and now he's been asked to fill a much bigger one.

The guy already showed us what he could do last season, and while he doesn't strike me as a Charles Oakley, I doubt he's lounging around after having received a fat contract. It's more than the lack of hard work.


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## ndistops (Oct 31, 2005)

Skiles: "I've been in the league 15 to 20 years as a coach and a player and I don't ever remember seeing a game where two guys on the other team both shot more free throws than our team."

Someone asked Ben if he'd ever seen that kind of FT differential - of course he has, like three or four other times this season!

Maybe Skiles needs to complain about the refs more often. If he keeps doing that then it might force them to take action against this trend of having at least one game per 10 days with a 30+ FT differential against the Bulls.


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## rlucas4257 (Jun 1, 2002)

I was at the game last night. Lebron is really a special player. People compare him to Jordan or Magic, but he is more Pippen then either. But stronger. 

As for the FT disparity, its hogwash on the Bulls part. The Bulls shoot jump shots, they have no post presence whatsoever and none of the perimeter players took the ball to the basket. In regards to the season, we have little guards who simply can not finish at the rim with power. Those guys are the ones who get to the line, not the ones who throw up runners. Its not the refs fault, and anyone who thinks so is reaching for a cop out. Its the make up of the team. The Bulls just dont have anyone, outside of maybe Deng, who deserves to get to the line more then the average NBA player. I like Noc, but he really is playing more as a jump shooter now, which is unlike the way he played in Europe.


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