Bulls-Grizzlies: Bulls Rebound at Home, Gooden and Rose Lead The Way

Immediate reaction

Derrick Rose may have received the player of the game nod by the announcers, but I feel it was the strong interior defense that contributed the most to this hustle win. Drew Gooden, while not flashy in the point column tonight, missed his career high total of 21 rebounds in a game by one. He also had 3 blocks and what I thought was a marked defensive improvement down in the paint against the Grizzlies post players.

Tyrus Thomas hustled on both end of the court with 5 blocks leading all teams. But they weren’t the only guys I deem praise worthy of interior superiority tonight, Aaron Grey, Joakim Noah, and even Andres Nocioni were physical on the board and on their defensive rotations.

Second impression

Much like the Bulls first win, Kirk Hinrich came of the bench with a mission. Shooting 5-7 from 3-point land, Hinrich kept the Bulls in the game for much of the first quarter while the rest of the team shot poorly. Another zero field goals for Ben Gordon in the first half, is it possible he only feels halfway compensated for his shooting ability and chooses to turn it on after halftime?

Thabo Sefolosha has started all three games at shooting guard, but has garnered bench minutes so far. I think his inclusion in the starting lineup is fairly obvious, defense. After Michael Redd had his way with him in the season opener, Sefolosha has settled down and done nicely against Ray Allen and O.J. Mayo. With Sefolosha starting the game, it allows Rose to defend the less offensive of the other team’s guards and focus more on the offensive end. As Rose develops defensively he will be able to be paired with a more offensive minded shooting guard which will help our half court offense greatly.

Rose was a consistent scorer throughout the game, his jump shot looked confident and his dunks ignite the fan base. Late in the game as Rose performed one of his trademark drives to the basket, Kyle Lowry hit him with a hard foul. I think this will become more commonplace as the season goes along. It’s much like a power hitter crowding the plate, eventually some pitcher is going to throw at his chin and make him second guess hanging it out over the plate. This will be something to monitor as the season progresses.

Bull market moments

First play of the game, O.J. Mayo drives to the hoop where he is met by an elevated Thomas who sets the defensive tone of the game with a highlight block.

Always getting after it on the offensive end, Rose receives a pass from Gordon in the paint for a high percentage two handed dunk.

Bear market moments

It must be hard for an athlete of Thomas’ stature to throw alley-oop passes to others knowing he can jump from anywhere and dunk the ball. Well unfortunately for Rose and Gordon, both of whom were the target of errant alley-oop passes, missed on easy scoring attempts that would’ve been better handled with bounce passes.

On deck

The Magic have looked sub-par to open the season but I expect them to be near the top by the end of the year. This is another measuring stick type outing, the last came in the form of a beat down by the Celtics. While the Magic have a dominant interior player in Dwight Howard, they do not have championship caliber guard play like the aforementioned Celtics. I think our guard play will be pivotal along with the improved defensive presence in the middle. I expect this game to be a very good back and forth game. I think the Bulls win this game by a 2-3 point margin.

*NOTE* due to internet problems this article was late in getting published. I apologize for the inconvenience.