[TomBoerwinkle#1]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull202.html

Before Saturday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Bulls coach Scott Skiles admitted his young players may have been feeling the heat of being in a playoff race for the first time in their NBA careers and said he was curious to see how they would react to the pressure.

''Our guys were noticeably down about [Friday] night's game, which now I can see was good,'' Skiles said. ''You don't know what down means. Does down mean you're [ticked] off and going to come out and stick it to someone, or you're down and not going to be able to muster it up?''

''This is a big win for us,'' Duhon said. ''We just let it all hang out. We started thinking too much during the losing streak, and tonight it was like, we're just going to shoot our bullets and see what happens.''

''We needed this desperately as a team,'' Hinrich said. ''We've been struggling. We made mistakes, but we played hard. They played hard. We were just able to tough it out.''

''I think we realize what it's going to take to win games right now,'' said Duhon, who had two key three-pointers in the fourth. ''I think we lost sight of that the last couple of games. Our defense has to be our catalyst.''

Missing starters. 5th game in 7. Riding a losing streak. Some weird-*** officiating at both ends.

Bulls played through it, played it tough and won a pretty solid game.

This is what "No (more) Excuses" is all about.

When we get Curry and Deng back, I expect to see a solid push toward the end of the season.

 

[Bulls4Life]

[When we get Curry and Deng back, I expect to see a solid push toward the end of the season.

I hope you're right, but will the refs give them a fair shake, or will they get shafted every time they play a marquee team? That's the million dollar question right there, baby!
:whoknows:

Maybe Pax can call Stern and get him to call Joey Crawford and then he can call..........this is ridiculous.
:clown:

 

[Hustle]

The defense has to be our catalyst?

Of course, even when we have Curry and Deng.

 

[TomBoerwinkle#1]

The kids did see the losses as a wake up call, which is a good thing. Woke up and did something about it. Now lets stay on track.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull21.html

For forward Tyson Chandler, the last straw came Friday night when the Bulls suffered a home loss to a New Orleans Hornets team that had won only three previous road games this season.

The Bulls had built-in excuses (injuries, late-season fatigue), but the loss to New Orleans -- their fourth straight -- triggered flashbacks to the start of the regular season when they opened with nine straight defeats.

''I think that was like the ninth game of the season,'' Chandler said of a loss at Phoenix on Nov. 22 before the Bulls finally broke through at Utah two days later. ''Everybody was fed up with losing, fed up with the way they were playing, and we just came out here and played.''

''Not just winning, but coming out and establishing the way we play again,'' veteran forward Antonio Davis said. ''I think that was the most disappointing thing against New Orleans. That's not the way we play. Even if we have guys out, we don't play that way.''

Chandler agreed: ''To suffer a loss in a game we were expected to win and get outplayed and then come play a team that's been playing well, it says a lot.''

Now its time to recognize that wins matter:

''What we've been doing all year is trying to take the pressure off by saying we're concerned with how we play instead of focusing on the standings or something like that,'' Skiles said. ''You get down to the final month of the season, and it's obvious: The heat is naturally on.''

. . . .

''When you sit around in the summertime, this is a good way to evaluate your players,'' he said. ''Who can step up, who can make big plays. We are very young. I realize that. You have to be realistic about that. ... I don't care how old you are. You either play hard or you don't. We need to make sure whatever game we're playing, we're not getting outworked.''