Vinny Hangs Rose and the Bulls Out to Dry in Fourth Quarter Meltdown

There are plenty of explanations for the Bulls fourth quarter meltdown tonight in New Jersey.

Maybe they just ran out of gas on the back end of a two-game, home-and-road stretch. Maybe it was because Derrick Rose got outplayed, out-manned, and out-talented by Devin Harris all night.

Maybe it was because Tyrus Thomas, with the game in the balance, started taking it upon himself to take and miss every shot. Maybe it was because Vinny Del Negro, in the midst of his team’s collapse decided to just let it happen.

Some coaches who watch their team go from being up four to down five in little more than two minutes might call a timeout.

Some coaches, after watching their rookie point guard gets schooled on both sides of the ball might sit him down and put in his bigger, more defensive minded back up. But not Vinny Del Negro, he just did what he seems to do best, let his players get white-washed when things start going bad.

Arguably this was not a game the Bulls would have easy time beating. Flying halfway across the country after last night’s home win to face a scrappy Nets team is no easy task. But what makes the fourth quarter meltdown, wait, is there a better word than meltdown? How about surrender? How about nosedive, or face plant?

What makes the game a tough loss is the fact that the Bulls led by as much as nine late in the third quarter. They were getting good contributions off of the bench and had a balanced attack going.

When things went bad early in the fourth Del Negro could have called a quick timeout and taken Derrick Rose out of the game. It was clear he couldn’t stop Devin Harris, who scored 19 of his 42 points in the fourth.

What’s more, Rose was ineffective on offense scoring just nine points. He looked lost offensively and certainly wasn’t scaring the Nets defenders at all.

If Rose can’t be an offensive force, and he is being lit up on the other end it is time to let Hinrich run the team.

What’s more, Hinrich was playing good ball in the third quarter. He ended up with 14 points and five assists in ten minutes less playing time than Rose. If you believe that the plus-minus statistics means anything Hinrich was plus 10, while Derrick Rose was a horrific -17, the worst on the team.

Vinny Del Negro left Rose and the Bulls out there to die last night, and he let the Nets pull even with the Bulls for ninth place in the East.