The Bulls Should NOT Be Impressed With Themselves.

[Rondo_is_better]

Well...  if the Bulls shouldn't be impressed with themselves, then the Celts should be downright ashamed, right?

There's something to be said for taking two of the first four from the defending champions, and making more key plays down the stretch.

The Celtics didn't play great today, but they also have two really key injuries (Powe, Garnett) that are hurting them, and while the Bulls may have made more key plays down the stretch, they also got a lot of really key calls down the stretch as well.  So yeah, I agree that the Celtics shouldn't feel great about today's performance.  But the Bulls didn't deserve the win.

Well, Chicago has the Deng injury to deal with, too.  You have to play the games with the players you have, and Chicago played better.  In terms of "deserving" to win, I'm a believer in the Bill Parcells' "You are what your record says you are" theory, and the Celts are 2-2 right now.

As for the calls...  The Perk call was discretionary, but legit.  The Scal call was *probably* wrong, but it was very close.  The only really bad call was the foul call on Pierce with something like 27 seconds left.  That wasn't a foul, but he was standing out of bounds, so Chicago would have just got to inbound again.  It was a bad call, but I don't think it changed the game all that significantly.

The consensus opinion that I've seen on Blog a Bull is that Luol Deng is a "meh" player who doesn't do much to help their team. A lot of guys over there argue that the Bulls are better off without him. The Deng injury means less than the Powe injury, let alone the KG injury.

[Atzar]

I disagree, the Bulls should be impressed with themselves.  We hit them in the first OT as hard as we could, and they (read:  Ben Gordon) came back to tie it up.  The roles were reversed in the second OT, and we couldn't match them.  I hate to say it, but they played a mentally tougher game when it mattered today.

[Roy Hobbs]

Perkins shouldn't have fouled out when he did, Brad Miller should have been thrown out, the clear path was a poor call...even if it was right (I'm doubtful) - it was a bad call considering the effect it had on the game, Paul should have drawn a lot more fouls than he did, the call on Pierce for the almost-steal that led to free throws was ridiculous, and on and on.  

Well, I don't think the officials should call the game differently just because of the stage of the game.  I understand discretion, but they shouldn't swallow their whistles, because doing that affects the game, too.

I think the Perk call was right (he put his foot out), and the clear path foul was right (Hinrich was clearly in front of Scal).  As for the Pierce foul, as I said, that was wrong, but what was the net effect of it?  Pierce was out of bounds when he made the steal -- that gives the ball back to Chicago even if they got the call right.

As for Pierce deserving more fouls, I'm not sure about that.  He was out of control all game, and I can't think of any egregious missed call.

We lost this game due to stupid mental mistakes, bricked layups, and lack of ball movement late in the fourth and in OT.

[Rondo_is_better]

I disagree, the Bulls should be impressed with themselves.  We hit them in the first OT as hard as we could, and they (read:  Ben Gordon) came back to tie it up.  The roles were reversed in the second OT, and we couldn't match them.  I hate to say it, but they played a mentally tougher game when it mattered today.

There was a physical fatigue factor as well.  We had 6 players: Davis, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, House, Perkins, and TA.

But still, look at the list from the beginning of the thread. How can you be impressed with yourself when you look at that list?

[Roy Hobbs]

The consensus opinion that I've seen on Blog a Bull is that Luol Deng is a "meh" player who doesn't do much to help their team. A lot of guys over there argue that the Bulls are better off without him. The Deng injury means less than the Powe injury, let alone the KG injury.

I disagree with that assessment.  Deng isn't a superstar (despite being paid like one), but he'd be a very good player, and he'd be a great option to give the Bulls some depth.  (They're actually relying on their bench less than the Celts.)

[celticinorlando]

the bulls are young....boston just gave them new life...all that matters is the series is tied 2-2 and the bulls know they can win in boston...i am worried about boston coming out slow in game 5 and letting the bulls stay around...three of the 4 games boston has played like garbage...do it again and they will return to chicago down 3-2...they must send a message in game 5

[LarBrd33]

Pierce looks spent.   Obese doesn't have the gas to last a series playing 40 minutes a game.  Rondo has been heroic, but I don't know how much longer he can play out of his freakin mind on a couple busted ankles.   Our bench is dismal.  And the young Bulls are deep, hungry, fast, athletic and talented.   

Without the savior, I'm about four times as afraid of the Bulls as I was the Hawks last year.   Our team sans KG is about even with Chicago.

[Rondo_is_better]

The consensus opinion that I've seen on Blog a Bull is that Luol Deng is a "meh" player who doesn't do much to help their team. A lot of guys over there argue that the Bulls are better off without him. The Deng injury means less than the Powe injury, let alone the KG injury.

I disagree with that assessment.  Deng isn't a superstar (despite being paid like one), but he'd be a very good player, and he'd be a great option to give the Bulls some depth.  (They're actually relying on their bench less than the Celts.)

Deng would be useful to the Bulls, sure, but I don't think he'd be a very good player. He's taken steps back since his breakout year.  Maybe Deng would be as useful as Powe would be to the Celtics... maybe.

And I disagree that they're relying on their bench less than us. I haven't looked at the box scores, but Brad Miller played a big role today and Heinrich was absolutely huge for them off the bench. We barely used our bench at all, and no one came up big for us like Heinrich did.

[celticinorlando]

will be anxious for game 5...want to see how they react...the bulls have all the mo and boston hasn't really gotten much from the homecourt so far

[housecall]

If anything,after today,they should feel pretty good about themselves.A 7th seed is neck n neck with the 2nd seed.

[Roy Hobbs]

And I disagree that they're relying on their bench less than us. I haven't looked at the box scores, but Brad Miller played a big role today and Heinrich was absolutely huge for them off the bench. We barely used our bench at all, and no one came up big for us like Heinrich did.

Well, Chicago only played 7 players, other than the couple seconds Hunter played.  The Celts put 10 guys in, although for fewer total minutes.

[Rondo_is_better]

And I disagree that they're relying on their bench less than us. I haven't looked at the box scores, but Brad Miller played a big role today and Heinrich was absolutely huge for them off the bench. We barely used our bench at all, and no one came up big for us like Heinrich did.

Well, Chicago only played 7 players, other than the couple seconds Hunter played.  The Celts put 10 guys in, although for fewer total minutes.

Yeah, so that shows the Bulls relied on and got more out of their bench than we did. We really only played two guys off the bench too, and they didn't contribute as much as Heinrich and Miller did. Do you agree?

[davemonsterband]

They're a shooting team, when they shoot well they can win without KG in the lineup, they won't do it 2 more times.

[wdleehi]

Bulls are 2-2 with the defending champ, why not be impressed with themselves?


I personally hope they get to impressed with themselves.

[cdif911]

to the op's point, that sure is a laundry list of "reasons" why the celtics lost - but guess what they did - If I'm this Chicago team, I'm amped - we're tied with the champs man...

I hope the c's can use this to their advantage - young teams + overconfidence can lead to dramatic falls when the chips don't go their way

that said, give credit where credit is due - excuses are like umm noses...everyone has one