Open Game Thread #22: Bulls vs Los Angeles Lakers

The man is washed up.  The sooner we sit him, the better.  

Another brilliant Skiles line up

We need to clear the clutter on D15.  It's fun being the anti-Knicks, but let's try not to suck while doing so.

game over.

ugh.

And then they show Skiles sitting there with his DEFINATELY patented glazed over stare...

Ugh....ly...

Amd the most complaints are about Skiles and his substitutions.

Kobe had a solid 18 pt. game even with a groin injury and didn't even need to score in the 4th.

After all the trade rumors with him before the season, and then the Bulls collapse -
The Lakers only got BETTER from that point, and it makes me wonder if there wasn't some un-mentioned reason for nixing the trade...?

Bottom line is the Bulls are the laughing stock, Skiles is an idiot that will NEVER measure up to Phil Jackson's class and, IMHO, Chicago really missed out on something special with Kobe.

Yes, Tyrus should have played more, but that is not why we lost. Btw, I don't know if they mentioned this on TV, but after he fell down, Tyrus continually hobbled back and forth from the bench to the stationary bike. It looked like he was dinged.

Like the YMCA POY award, though.

The Bulls really had no business losing this game.  I know Kobe says he's happy in L.A., but he sure seemed to be coasting just a little for long stretches tonight.  He was pretty much settling for off-balance jumpers in the first half.  Even when he had Nocioni guarding him for a few possessions in the second quarter, he just settled for jumpers, even though he could have blown by Noce any time he wanted.  Of course, Kobe playing at 75% effort level is still damn good, but I wonder if he's going to remain happy if/when the Lakers come back to Earth later in the season.

Look, the Bulls are not winning anything this year with this current combination of players and coach.  If we want to salavge this season, we need to make some moves now.

As a side note, I'm glad Gray got some PT, although I'm not sure last night was the time to get it.  He is a rookie and is not going to light it up any time soon, so the coaches need to pick his spots carefully.  That said, he looks like a guy who can make some positive contributions to the team.

Skiles sub patterns were at their worst.  I saw TT get poked in the eye, but did something else happen that I didn't see??  Why didn't he return until the very end?  Lu sat for almost the entire 2nd quarter.  Where was Joe Smith?  He got yanked after a few minutes in the 1st & 3rd and was never seen again.  The Lakers were gobbling up almost every rebound, it would've been good to at least TRY to get Noah in the game to see what he could do.

As for the players:  I thought Kirk looked good until the 4th quarter.  As soon as the 4th came, he reverted to his self from two weeks ago...bad decisions, bad passes, bad shots, bad defense, silly fouls, ugh.

Both Bens sucked.  Wallace was horrible and again my patience for him is less and less each game.  He looked disinterested last night.

BG was no place to be found.  Some is on him but some is on his teammates too.  Come on, call some plays for the man.  True, he took only 1 shot in the 3rd, but noboby passed him the ball.  He was just running around getting exercise.  He took the ball to the hole a few times, but it was apparent the refs were giving him no love.

Hinrich was gettin absolutely roasted by Vujacic.  They KNOW that his specialty is just to sit out there and bomb 3s all day, why did Kirk keep leaving him?!  That shit made me furious...it's like how many times can the guy bust one in your eye before you guard him correctly?!?  BOTH Skiles and Kirk failed that assignment...bad opponent recognition by player and coach.  I can hear Stacey King now..."KYP!"

In the 4th, the entire team completely crumbled.  You could see the "hear it goes again" looks on their faces.  Everybody started shooting quick jumpers and making bad passes.  What in the hell?!

I can't blame everything on Skiles because his actual game plan seemed to work, but his sub patterns stuck.  I can't blame everything on the team because they played a decent game, until the 4th, when it mattered the most.  I hate this.

• The whole first half it seemed like they were lucky to still be in the game.  Noce really saved their bacon and kept them close.
• Hinrich alternately saved with his shooting and killed with his turnovers.  Ug.
• Ben Wallace had as many rebounds as I did in the first half.  He was not effective on defense, and we know he's ineffective on offense.  I think I'm done with him.
• When Ben Gordon is not hitting shots, he's useless.  His defense was awful with Farmar and Fisher beating him regularly.  He looked like a biker cop escorting a motorcade - "allow me to bring you to the basket".  On a good team he's offense coming off the bench.  On this team, he starts...draw your own conclusion.
• I thought Gray played well, but he couldn't get his shot up against Bynum.  He needs to develop some deception to compensate for his slow-motion shot.
• A Thabo sighting!  But boy it seemed brief and of little impact.
• I understand why Skiles is frustrated with Tyrus.  I watched him a lot when the Bulls were in transition, and he jogged up following the ball.  The only time he beat the ball down the floor was when he started up-court of the ball (Noce gave him a nice feed for a dunk).  If he sprinted down the court as Skiles has asked, he would get 3 or 4 buckets a game in transition, but he only does it if he starts ahead of the ball.
• One more Tyrus moment.  He made a nice basket against Walton and ended up on his butt.  He took his time getting up.  As a result, Walton sprinted down court and got a basket.  Tyrus giveth, and Tyrus taketh away.  I have a new appreciation for why Skiles is frustrated with him.
• Did Noah have some bad sushi or something?  Is he not allowed to play with Gray or Tyrus?  Apparently, Gray and Tyrus are allowed to play together (it seemed like they did last night).
• Skiles didn't know it, but he conceded the game when he brought the Bens back in the 4th quarter.  I'd seen enough of those two already.  Hadn't the coach seen enough also?
• Deng was assertive in the 2nd half.  That was nice to see.  I'd like to see it much more often.
• End on a (mostly) good note:  They attacked the basket most of the 2nd & 3rd quarters!  That was productive and nice to see.  Why did they stop that late in the 4th?