Game Preview #79: Chicago Bulls vs. Philadelphia 76ers
by chgobr on Apr 9, 2009 10:51 AM CDT
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Print[Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 04/09/09 12:50 PM CDT : Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview. -ed.]
How sweet it is - April 9th and we are playing a meaningful game.
TONIGHT'S GAME OUTCOMES
We win tonight-
Philadelphia - We are 1 1/2 games behind Philadephia. We have an outside chance to overtake Philadelphia. Here is the kicker. Philly plays Boston and Cleveland at home, at Cleveland and at Toronto. Philadelphia will have the tie-breaker because they have the better conference record after the first tie-breaker, head-to-head competition is tied 2-2. Assuming Philly loses 3 of 4 of their remaining games the Bulls would have to win all 3 remaining games to get the 6th position. Remote but possible. Philly falls 1 game behind Miami for the 5th seed.
Detroit - We are 1/2 game ahead of Detroit. The key game will be Monday at Detroit. If we win that game the only way we do not make the 7th seed is we lose to both Charlotte and Toronto at home and Detroit wins against NJ at home and Ind and Mia on the road.
Charlotte - Any Charlotte loss or Chicago win we are in.
We lose tonight-
Philadelphia - We have no chance to catch Philly. Philly is tied with Miami for the 5th seed.
Detroit - We are 1/2 game behind Detroit. A win Monday at Detroit and winning against Charlotte and Toronto and we are in the 7th seed. We lose Monday and Detroit must lose there other 3 games and we have to win our other 2 games for us to get the 7th seed..
Charlotte - If Charlotte beats OK tomorrow and the Bulls on Saturday we are at risk of not making the playoffs. Assuming the above, if Charlotte splits their last two games at NJ and Orl and we split our last two games at Det and Tor then Charlotte makes the playoffs and we go fishing. This is a real concern.
To me tonight's game has it's main importance to insure we make the playoffs. That last Charlotte scenario concerns me the most. We have not played well in our last two games against NJ and the Knicks. Hopefully being on national TV helps motivate us to play better and win this game.
Keys to Philly tonight -
The 76ers are focused on getting the 5th seed via Philly.com.
They knew they had an achievable goal to shoot for - a higher seed that would steer them away from the Eastern Conference Bermuda Triangle of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.
And on Saturday, after a victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Sixers were a half-game ahead of the Miami Heat for the fifth seed in the East and a playoff matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
Instead of stepping up to the occasion, they sank into a hole.
On Sunday, it was a pathetic trip up the Jersey Turnpike and an embarrassing 96-67 loss to the New Jersey Nets, and on Tuesday, the Sixers fell behind by 20 points before losing at Charlotte, 101-98. ........
That's unacceptable.
In our last game with Philly at the old Spectrum 3/13/2009 Thaddeus Young went off for 31 points and Iguodala had 25 in Philly's 104 - 101 win. Thaddeus Young is out with a right ankle sprain but Willie Green has played well in his place. Courtesy of Liberty Ballers Tuesday against Charlotte
Bill Green played the best basketball game I've ever seen him play. The Sixers came out of the locker room down 14 points and in the blink of an eye, the lead was cut to three. And It was all thanks to Bill Green. He hustled for loose balls, he hit open shots, including three threes. He played tenacious defense, he gave the team an energy boost, and he set up his teammates beautifully. What? Are we talking about the same Bill Green? Yes. Bill Green played out of his mind tonight, and was mostly responsible for the Sixers furious comeback.
All 3 games against Philly have been close. We split a back-to-back in 11/30 and 12/2/2008. We won in overtime at Philly 11/30 103 - 95 and lost at home 12/2 97 - 90. The 12/2 game is remembered for Rose's 24 points and his crippling crossover on Andre Miller. Andre Miller got revenge 12/2 torching us with 28 points.
For those having a Passover Seder - they have to sneak peaks at the score while we get out of Egypt.
Blogging with the enemy - Liberty Ballers
TV/radio: 7 p.m. Thursday; TNT, WMVP-AM 1000.
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Sixers are second best offensive team in NBA
And Bulls are third worst defensive team.
So that means Noah gotta play a lot tonight,right Vinny?Right???
And Tyrus better play closer to the rim.
Charlotte scenario is very scary because it’s Very possible.
I hope crowd in UC will be loud enough to make it close to “playoff like atmosphere” not only when the score is around 100 point mark.
General manager needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow,next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Sir Paxdorf.
I'm sorry I was talking about rebounds.Offensive and defensive rebounds.
General manager needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow,next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Sir Paxdorf.
by Azabullsfan on Apr 10, 2009 12:25 AM CDT up reply actions
Those numbers are completely wrong
Philly is 20th in offense, 10th in defense
Chicago is 15th offense, 17th defense
Confusion breeds success. If they don't know each other, opponents can't have strategy. GENIUS.
by Ozzie Montana on Apr 9, 2009 6:28 PM CDT up reply actions
The people over at
the Versus Network would like to have a word with your headline…
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Hope the Bulls come out with a sense of urgency in the first half.
Sleep walking through games until the last 3 minutes has got to stop. Come playoff time every possession counts.
I would just like for them to treat this as a playoff game.
48 minutes of in-ten-sity!
Go Bulls!
Pool and a pond... Pond be good for you.
Seems to me...
… that it’s more like they sleep walk through the first 40 minutes, get it going for 5 minutes, then collapse for the final 3 minutes.
I don't want to scare you guys
But almost every time I get the chance to watch the game on my national tv, the Bulls lose – I think the last game against Miami was the exception. And today they’re broadcasting the game. But since Philly lost the last two and we won the last two, maybe we get the win… I’m praying for that!
I hate myself for this, but...
…I almost want an “epic collapse” and missing the playoffs to hopefully ensure a new coach. I think a 20-game-into-the-season firing next year would pretty much destroy this team for the near future.
Viva la nuance! Reading comprehension rules!!!
I'm the same way
but it’s highly unlikely. I don’t get why people are even excited about the possibility of us getting into the playoffs. We’re going to get tarred and feathered by any of the 1-3 seeds – so that’s fun to watch? I would much rather us lose out and miss the playoffs if it means we can rid ourselves of Vinny.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Vinny would still stay
you can’t really have an epic collapse in 4 games. Plus there’s the injury excuse.
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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Apr 9, 2009 2:04 PM CDT up reply actions
You're right
Vinny’s here to stay for now, playoffs or not.
Barring a total collapse, I think he’ll be here all next season too.
They won't fire him midseason.
we may have to wait another year after they fail to get into the playoffs.
Pool and a pond... Pond be good for you.
nah, they would
he’d only have less than a (guaranteed) year of contract to eat, which isn’t that big of a deal.
And based on how the team is trying to sell this playoff appearance as a success, they will go into next season with actual expectations. So an early stumble could do it.
A huge offseason deal (I still think it’s pretty likely, actually) changes a lot of that…makes Vinny’s seat hotter.
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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Apr 9, 2009 2:46 PM CDT up reply actions
I think it would have to be a collosal stumble
They would have to be 10 games under 500 at the all star break.
I don’t see them making a change until that point…. and I think even with VDN as coach, there is enough talent on this team to be better than that.
nice way to put it...
didn’t exactly think of it like that. Unfortunately, I still think Pax and JR will still be touting the ol’ “we knew this wasn’t going to be a quick fix” card next season. And Vinny will still be waving his “I don’t have a magic wand” stick around. Bleh.
http://awsomepeoplesearch.com/
Unfortunatley, I don't think Flip (the coach I want) will be available
at that point into next season. He’ll be hired in the offseason when the coaching vacancies are filled. Thibs too most likely. So we’re going to be in the same position we were when they fired Boylan – desperate for anything that resembles a coach and is willing to work on the cheap.
If Pax were smart, he would realize that while this season is a slight improvement, Vinny is not going to ever take this team beyond a 1st round shellacking.
This team has the talent that should contend in the Eastern Conference, all Pax has to do is hire a proven coach that has been to multiple playoffs so he can have an upper hand on the players.
Once the players finally see that they’re being led by an organized, proven coach, they’ll have to do everything to improve, and their childish fits won’t be tolerated.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Did you mean: Unfortunately?
Why yes, yes I did.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
do you think they would have the balls to do it after this season?
I mean they have to be seeing all the same things we are. Is eating his contract that big of a deal considering they would have paid D’Antoni triple VDN’s pay? Now I’m just getting my hopes up.
Pool and a pond... Pond be good for you.
no way.
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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Apr 9, 2009 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions
any chance one can bank on the fact that this
is more or less the same organization that fired doug collins even though he coached the team to the ECF and took the eventual champions to 6 games
Collins was fired because
he couldn’t handle MJ or beat Detroit in the ECF. I don’t think they would’ve won all those Finals w/o Jackson and the way he was able to manipulate the team to work together and handle MJ at the same time.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Collins was an emotional reck!
Jordan had to calm him down. He really was cramping his style too. The dude would go crazy.
Pool and a pond... Pond be good for you.
Exactly
The relationship w/ him and Krause was awful and Collins would go up to JR trying to get Krause fired, which would piss off Krause because he got Collins the job in the 1st place and so ya…he wasn’t taking this team any further than the ECF.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Sam Smith on this
…. Collins was fired because in the 89 playoffs Jordan had tuned out Collins and Michael would go to Phil during timeouts and have him diagram the plays for the team.
Read that in either Jordan Rules or some book by Telander.
Now back to Vinnny, if Derrick had the personality to say to Pax, I dont want this numbnuts coaching me anymore I think Vinny would be gone this summer.
Actually, the Bulls' magic number is 2
so any number of Chicago wins or Charlotte losses totaling 2 or more means the Bulls make the playoffs.
Is this the same MrBungle that had us
losing a tie-breaker with them when we were not tied yet and had one additional win on top of that? If so then there is your answer.
Everything I post is speculation. I have no insider information nor ideas deemed concrete enough by those who are self-elected to regulate post content.
by cranscape on Apr 9, 2009 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
LOL
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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Apr 9, 2009 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions
I guess reading comprhension is a lost art for some BaBer
From above:
“We lose -
Charlotte – If Charlotte beats OK tomorrow and the Bulls on Saturday we are at risk of not making the playoffs. Assuming the above, if Charlotte splits their last two games at NJ and Orl and we split our last two games at Det and Tor then Charlotte makes the playoffs and we go fishing. This is a real concern."
I think even you would agree that when he says split he means that the Bulls win one game while Charlotte loses one game. If you take 1 and add 1 you get 2 which is the magic number which would mean the Bulls make the playoffs. He stated the opposite.
Even if the Bulls lose tonight the magic number will
2 meaning if Charlotte and the Bulls split in the games you mentioned above, the Bulls will still make the playoffs. The situation is not as bad as you make it out to be.
Just look at it this way. The best record Charlotte can have is 39-43. The Bulls are 38-40. If the Bulls go 1-3 they would be 39-43 meaning Charlotte cannot lose any games if they want to make the playoffs.
I WANT THE CELTICS!
"That's a spicy meatball-a!" - Vinny Del Negro
by Juiceboxjerry on Apr 9, 2009 4:50 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Beat them sixers! Six in a row at the UC. Protect the UC at all costs.
Operation destroy Philly is now in full implementation.
Derrick Rose colored glasses, gives you a "ROSY" outlook.
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