Game #32 - Bulls @ Heat - Game Thread

[bullsger]

@


Game 31, Road Game 14
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – 7:00 PM CT
AmericanAirlines Arena
WCIU-TV / ESPN / ESPN 1000 AM

BULLS VS. HEAT ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME ................... Bulls Lead 49-39
BULLS CURRENT STREAK ...... 1 Loss
BULLS HOME STREAK ............ 4 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK .......... 2 Losses

BULLS VS. HEAT THIS SEASON
Jan. 4 @ Miami –
Feb. 21 @ Chicago –
March 27 @ Chicago –
April 14 @ Miami –

LAST FIVE BULLS GAMES
Jan. 02 @ Magic W 96-94
Dec. 31 vs Bobcats L 81-91
Dec. 29 vs Wizards W 87-77
Dec. 26 @ Pacers - Postponed
Dec. 25 vs Rockets L 97-120

Game Notes



Chicago Bulls (17-13)
Home 9-8
Road 8-5

Bulls Averages:
PPG: 92.4 (Opp: 91.6)
RPG: 43.00 (Opp: 40.93)
APG: 22.7 (Opp: 18.5)
SPG: 7.37 (Opp: 7.77)
BPG: 5.07 (Opp: 5.40)
TO: 14.77 (Opp: 14.20)
FG%: .436 (Opp: .431)
FT%: .797 (Opp: .754)
3p%: .347 (Opp: .333)

Probable Bulls starters


Kirk Hinrich - PG -
Richard Hamilton - SG -
Luol Deng - SF -
Carlos Boozer - PF -
Joakim Noah - C -

Bulls Stats Leaders
Points: Deng 17.7, Boozer 14.5
Rebounds: Noah 10.3, Boozer 9.5
Assists: Hinrich 5.5, Noah 4.4
Steals: Noah 1.41, Deng 1.00
Blocks: Noah 2.10, Gibson 1.13

FG%: Butler .509, Noah .483
FT%: Hamilton .930, Belinelli .873
3FG%: Belinelli .402, Hamilton .381

Injury report
Kirk Hinrich (left knee), Joakim Noah (flu-like symptoms) and Vladimir Radmanovic (flu-like symptoms) are day-to-day
Derrick Rose (left knee) is out.

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.



Miami Heat (22-8)
Home 15-2
Road 7-6

Probable Heat starters

Mario Chalmers - PG
Dwyane Wade - SG
LeBron James - SF
Udonis Haslem - PF
Chris Bosh - C

Injury report
None
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[Dornado]

Sounds like Noah is going to play.

[Firefight]

The Heat are going to be the Heat and try and run the Bulls off the floor early. We need Noah to be 100%, he will be a key factor in the game. Also, I'd love to see Boozer establish a low post offense early on to get some easy buckets and slow the game down a bit. Man, I hate the Heat.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using VerticalSports.Com App

[eazy8o5]

nice win tonight!
how come noah wanted to dribble/touch the ball so badly right after the game finished?

[taco_daddy]

Long live the Booze!

[jnrjr79]

That was effing awesome.

Boozer can really beast against teams with crappy frontcourts.

[narek]

Originally Posted by jnrjr79

That was effing awesome.

Boozer can really beast against teams with crappy frontcourts.

I finally watched it this weekend, it was a pretty amazing game.

Have to say I'm impressed with Butler. He's come a long way.

[yodurk]

Originally Posted by narek

I finally watched it this weekend, it was a pretty amazing game.

Have to say I'm impressed with Butler. He's come a long way.

Butler is so invaluable against Miami. Kid can defend both Wade and Lebron equally well, and will do so better than 95% of guys in the NBA.

Also watching this game, it made me wonder if Miami was one reason we chose to bring Hinrich back. Hinrich has always been one of the best Wade stoppers in the league, if not the best.

[thebizkit69u]

Originally Posted by yodurk

Butler is so invaluable against Miami. Kid can defend both Wade and Lebron equally well, and will do so better than 95% of guys in the NBA.

You do know Lebron James shot like 57% and Dwayne Wade shot 63% right?

The reason the Heat lost was not due to some magical non existent defense. Almost every time the Bulls out-rebound the Heat, they win. The Bulls destroyed the Heat on the offensive glass 19-4.

[yodurk]

Originally Posted by thebizkit69u

You do know Lebron James shot like 57% and Dwayne Wade shot 63% right?

The reason the Heat lost was not due to some magical non existent defense. Almost every time the Bulls out-rebound the Heat, they win. The Bulls destroyed the Heat on the offensive glass 19-4.

Jimmy Butler was only in the game for 17 minutes, and besides I was not commenting on this specific game, rather narek's positive impression of Butler. Just saying, Butler's defense, strength, and quickness is a great asset against a team like Miami where their 2 best scorers are at the SG and SF positions.

[thebizkit69u]

Originally Posted by yodurk

Jimmy Butler was only in the game for 17 minutes, and besides I was not commenting on this specific game, rather narek's positive impression of Butler. Just saying, Butler's defense, strength, and quickness is a great asset against a team like Miami where their 2 best scorers are at the SG and SF positions.

Jimmy does fine on defense, we all know that. But, saying that he defends those 2 guys better than 95% of the players in the NBA is a bit out there, especially when both guys din't really struggle all game.

But I agree that Jimmy does a good job defending both positions, that's where his value is.

[mvP to the Wee]

Butler is a good defender, but I still think Brewer was a lot better on that end. That said, I think the difference offensively is more significant in Butler's favor.

[thebizkit69u]

Originally Posted by mvP to the Wee

Butler is a good defender, but I still think Brewer was a lot better on that end. That said, I think the difference offensively is more significant in Butler's favor.

Agreed, Brewer was arguably our best man defender. Biggest difference is that Jimmy is capable of guarding bigger 3's while Brewer was more of shut down defender on guards.

[yodurk]

Originally Posted by thebizkit69u

Jimmy does fine on defense, we all know that. But, saying that he defends those 2 guys better than 95% of the players in the NBA is a bit out there, especially when both guys din't really struggle all game.

But I agree that Jimmy does a good job defending both positions, that's where his value is.

He is a better defender than the vast majority of players that I see play basketball in this league, IMO, and in particular he has the physical makeup to make Lebron and Wade work for their points. I've seen him defend both guys in games prior to this in small spurts and does a very nice job, about as well as you can hope for against superstar talent. The kid is really quick laterally and strong as an ox. He may not play the passing lanes or have the freakish length like Brewer, but he is just as good if not better at positional defense and also a better rebounder than Brewer is/was.

Sometimes it isn't just about the end result against superstar players...superstars will score one way or the other, but you still want to make life more difficult for them to have an impact on the game. Lebron's 30 might've been 40 against other defenders...he could've had 10 assists instead of 2...etc etc.

[jnrjr79]

Originally Posted by yodurk

He is a better defender than the vast majority of players that I see play basketball in this league, IMO, and in particular he has the physical makeup to make Lebron and Wade work for their points. I've seen him defend both guys in games prior to this in small spurts and does a very nice job, about as well as you can hope for against superstar talent. The kid is really quick laterally and strong as an ox. He may not play the passing lanes or have the freakish length like Brewer, but he is just as good if not better at positional defense and also a better rebounder than Brewer is/was.

Sometimes it isn't just about the end result against superstar players...superstars will score one way or the other, but you still want to make life more difficult for them to have an impact on the game. Lebron's 30 might've been 40 against other defenders...he could've had 10 assists instead of 2...etc etc.

Not to mention expending more effort on offense to get those 30 points can result in the player taking it easier on the other end of the court.

That said, the Heat's "problems," to the extent defending champions have problems as such, are generally the same as they have always been: 1) lack of size, and 2) lack of depth. A lot of the names they have brought in look like great moves on paper, but haven't panned out incredibly well. Hell, Ray Ray just went scoreless against Indiana and the Heat lost again.