Preseason Games

by Moses Taylor on Oct 12, 2005 11:56 AM CDT Comment 7 comments

The Bulls had their first preseason game last night in Grand Rapids against Detroit. Similar to last season, the offense struggled to score (76 points on 33.8% shooting) and turned the ball over (16 times). However, they significantly outrebounded the Pistons (49 to 35), including the offensive boards (19 to 11). The Pistons shot 44.7%, which while good, was above the percentage the Bulls allowed last season.

Individual standouts included the new main post scorer, Sweets, who had 17 points (on only 6 of 13 shooting, but 5 for 5 at the FT line). He only had 5 boards, but that might have been Chandler's fault; Tyson had 14 boards in only 24 minutes (7 offensive). Skiles is already talking about Sweetney's weight regularly, so I hope he gets into acceptable shape by the time the season starts.

It also sounds like Gordon struggled and Thomas sprained an ankle. Deng played 20 minutes, but I haven't seen many comments about him.

Last night's game wasn't televised, but tonight's against Memphis will be. CSN is airing the game, which starts at 7pm. If those damned White Sox weren't in the playoffs still, I might actually have been able to watch it. The next televised game is Monday the 17th against the T'Wolves.

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The SHORT of it

Well, its hard to expect to beat a team that is so experienced, largely intact, and smarting from the Finals loss at home in the first game back, particularly when you're trying to look at a lot of different guys.

I am concerned though about the 12 blocked shots and the sudden perception that the Bulls are now unusually "small." Am I wrong, or did we just lose three inches in one player?

by preverbal on Oct 12, 2005 12:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

getting small

Well they always had a small backcourt, so losing 3 inches out of the center/pf spot (however you want to chart the Curry-for-Sweetney comparison) may be more important than we think.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 12, 2005 2:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

deng

i'll be curious to see how deng plays this preseason. i initially suspected he was completely healed but i read in an article somewhere that they're holding him back. not sure if it's for the wrist or conditioning.

and yes, we're small now. minus AD (for however long) and curry, the tallest guy in our lineup after tyson is probably sweetney or othella but i think they're both under 6'9".

Dalibor and Dragan

by FAQ on Oct 12, 2005 2:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

hey shorty

Othella 6'9"
Sweets 6'8"
Malik Allen 6'10"
TT Tim Thomas 6'10"
Songaila 6'8"
and don't forget Deng 6'9"

Assuming we get AD back, we're still back to the same 3" from our C/PF spot. The rest of the forwards are not really that small.

The real issue is that we have short guards, but that's not really news. We could have two 8' guys in the middle and that won't make Gordon 6'4" (or 6'3" for that matter -- lol).

by preverbal on Oct 12, 2005 3:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

it's about positioning and reach

yes, Curry is 6'11" or whatever, but he never was good at positioning himself for the boards. Sweetney is listed at 6'8", but some articles mentioned that he had a long reach--hoopshype says he has a "great wingspan". I think this is more important. Remember Rodman was 6'8" and Barkley was somewhere between 6'4" and 6'6"...

by CRG on Oct 12, 2005 5:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wing Span

This what Chad Ford had to say about him when he came out of college.

For big men, teams look at standing reach. Despite measuring just 6-foot-8 with shoes, Sweetney's standing reach was just a hair under nine feet. That puts him in the same category with Bosh. In other words, like Elton Brand, Sweetney will be able to play "taller" than he actually is.

The backboard is your friend.

by simplesinger on Oct 13, 2005 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sweetney

Wednesday night was the first I saw Sweetney play professionally. I read posts from Knick fans that said there was a reason he was called "Sweets", but I was still really surprised that he looked so woefully out of shape. I've seen him compared to Curry, but I think he may be closer to Robert Traylor at this point. I know that using his size is an important part of his game, so maybe the Bulls can just get him to turn some of that bodyfat into muscle. Maybe once he gets acclimated to the Bulls' environment of hard work, it'll motivate him to get in shape.

by MMP on Oct 13, 2005 5:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs