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  • Nov
    22

    Thoughts on Game No. 12: Bulls 115, Warriors 110

    By Geoff Lepper
    48minutes.net

    Before Cleveland shipped Larry Hughes out of town last season as part of an 11-player, three-team trade, one disgruntled Cavaliers fan was so moved by Hughes’ continuing legacy of inaccuracy that he started a Web site with the following address: heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com.

    Friday, the Warriors wanted Hughes to stop shooting, but for a very different reason: The ex-Warrior hit five of his seven 3-point attempts en route to a team-high 26 points in the Chicago Bulls’ 115-110 victory.

    Though their first 10 games, the Warriors were doing pretty well at defending the 3-pointer. This week, that’s all changed. Thanks to a combined 22-for-45 performance on treys by the Trail Blazers on Tuesday and the Bulls on Friday, Golden State has gone from a top-five spot in the league (31.1 percent) to 15th-best (34.9).

    To see Portland, the league’s best 3-point shooting team, have success at the arc is understandable.

    But to be battered outside by the Bulls, who are strictly middle-of-the-road when it comes to that discipline (35.0 percent, 16th in the league), demands some further investigation. Especially when you consider that Hughes, Thabo Sefolosha and Lindsey Hunter, who hit for nine treys against the Warriors, came into the game having shot a combined 2-for-19 in that zone.

    The details:

    10:07 remaining, first quarter, Sefolosha, left wing: This one wasn’t quite cricket, as the Brits would say; Chicago took advantage of the fact that Corey Maggette fell down while scoring on the Warriors’ previous possession and Sefolosha took his time before draining the shot.

    6:31, first, Sefolosha, right corner: The possession started to break down for the Warriors (as so often was the case Friday) when point guard wunderkind Derrick Rose blew past his man (in this case, C.J. Watson). When Andris Biedrins slid over to provide help, Rose fed the ball to Biedrins’ man, Drew Gooden. Gooden steamed down the lane, and when Maggette left Sefolosha to stop penetration, Gooden found him for the open look.

    2:33, first, Hughes, left wing: Anthony Morrow, Hughes’ defender, stumbled trying to avoid crashing into Maggette while the play was developing. Sefolosha swung the ball to Hughes, who immediately pulled the trigger.

    11:18, second, Hughes, top key right: Maggette, who is covering Hughes at this point, gets sucked into the lane when Hunter misses a long 2. Andres Nocioni grabs the offensive rebound and kicks the ball out to Hughes.

    5:48, second, Hughes, top key left: Stephen Jackson stands at the free-throw line and watches while Hunter beats Watson on the drive, then stops short and kicks to Hughes. By the time Jackson closes out, it’s too late.

    3:50, second, Ben Gordon, left wing: This one must have been especially teeth-grating for Nelson. Watson is guarding Hunter; Jackson’s on Gordon. Watson shadows Hunter as he follows the 3-point line down the left wing, then drops the ball off for Gordon, who heads the opposite direction. Jackson waves to Watson, calling for a switch, but by the time that information is relayed, Watson can’t change direction quickly enough to do anything about Gordon’s shot.

    0:00.4, second, Hunter, right corner: Another poor defensive effort. Hughes inbounds for the Bulls with 2.7 seconds left to a wide-open Hunter, whom no one covered as he beelined for the right corner. Maggette reacts late, but Gooden walls him off with a pick and Hunter hits his shot to cut Chicago’s halftime deficit to two points.

    5:50, third, Hughes, left corner: The cascading effect at work. Rose whips past Morrow and kicks out to Sefolosha on the left wing. When Maggette leaves Hughes to provide help, Sefolosha shovels the ball to Hughes in the left corner for the trey.

    10:19, fourth, Hughes, top key: Rose inbounded the ball from under the hoop directly to Hughes, who was inexplicably left free by Morrow.

    6:48, fourth, Hunter, left wing: Hunter gets left open when Morrow digs into the lane as a stumbling Nocioni drives toward the hoop. Hunter buries the shot off Nocioni’s kick out.

    ** Jackson, for all the good he did at the offensive end, did not have an especially great day defensively — Gordon got four of his six buckets off him — and I wonder how much of that kept Nelson from trying Jackson on Rose.

    Jackson has covered quick guards before with solid results (think T.J. Ford last year in Toronto when Jackson was playing in his first game after the suspension), but the Warriors clearly wanted no part of that action, even as Rose was killing them in the second half.

    The breakdown of who gave up what to Rose, if you’re keeping score:

    Watson 13 points
    Morrow 8
    Marco Belinelli 2
    Team 2

    ** It’s too bad that Anthony Randolph couldn’t hit that layup/dunk at the rim in the final seconds, because it overshadowed what had been a solid game for the rookie. My favorite play was Randolph closing out from the lane with two giant steps to snuff out a 3-point attempt from Gordon in the corner.

    ** Keeping track of my prediction for the Warriors’ record without Monta Ellis: I had this down as a “LEAN WIN,” so Golden State flipped my prediction. That puts the Warriors back on pace to fulfill my projection of 9-17.

    Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

12 Responses to “Thoughts on Game No. 12: Bulls 115, Warriors 110”

  1. commish November 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 am

    Oh vey! Jackson does so much right and wrong and doesn’t seem to know the difference. Did he play the whole game again or was he out for a minute or so? Nelson must be showcasing Marco for a trade because he was in a lot more than the closeness of the game would have dictated. He sure didn’t bring much one way or the other. But what I really don’t understand is the lack of good touches for Marrow to highlight his talent for putting the ball in the hoop with a lot higher prercentages than Jax or Maggette. What is the point.

    I don’t look up a lot of stats but I was really impressed with Chicago’s shooting all night, but especially the second half. And OMG, is Rose the real deal or what! The guy is absolutely fearless and filled with the confidence of an NBA all star several times over. I wish I could get to see him in person twice a year rather than once. I haven’t paid any attention how Beasley is doing, but Rose was just as amazing to me as Chris Paul.

    That being said, CJ is a great story and wonderful guy, but clearly he is hurt and can’t hang with Rose in any case. I guess Crawford isn’t known for his defense (probably just the opposite), but I would have liked to see him stepping up to the task, if he could. Last but not least, Geoff, what did Wright not do to get pulled for the rest of the game after an ok few minutes? Oh vey.

  2. JoeSez November 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 am

    Da Bulls.

  3. Son of Ahmed November 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Commish,
    Nelson went with AR in the half in lieu of BW. Nelson won’t play them both together. AB, CM, and AR made a nice front court. Unfortunately, we won’t see much of that because when Crawford gets here we’re likely to see a lineup of JM, AM, Jax, CM, and AB.

    AR was very productive in 13 mintues last night: 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Prorate that over 48 minutes. My goodness. Hopefully he’ll get more minutes from here out. Honestly, how can Nelson justify keeping this kid out of the line-up.

  4. JoeSez November 22nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    “AR was very productive in 13 mintues last night: 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Prorate that over 48 minutes. My goodness. Hopefully he’ll get more minutes from here out. Honestly, how can Nelson justify keeping this kid out of the line-up.”

    Nelson’s got to find a line up and games where he can play AR and rest a starter. He’s got to figure out how to put the young guys in and keep the core players fresh for the 4th Q and also to make a playoff run.

    Developing the team is part of being a great coach — Doc Rivers figured how to use Leon Powe and that experience Leon gained during the season rested the starters and helped cement a championship.

    We all remember how Leon stood out in the finals.

  5. Jon November 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    There must have been a full moon or something for Larry Hughes to outshoot Anthony Morrow. I mean, seriously, even if the Warriors played 4 on 5 and didn’t defend Hughes, I’d expect Hughes brick it.

  6. JustPuked November 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm

    One of the drawbacks of going small at the 4 is your wing players are forced to help in the paint, leaving those three point shooters wide open. Funny how that started happening after Maggette took over the 4 spot.

    Nice call, highlighting this aspect of the game Geoff.

  7. commish November 22nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    Son of Ahmed, dare I be a heretic and suggest Randolph spell Jax and BW spell Maggette, not necessarily at the same time. How many more 45+ minute games must we endure of Jax struggling to drive into a non-existent lane with three or more defenders closing in on him. Does he (and Nellie) not watch tape. I was screaming to Jax to pass from my seat on one such play and he glared at me after making a very difficult and unlikely shot, like wtf do you know srcub. Well, yes I don’t know s**t, really, but I do know the young and restless need to play and Jax and Maggette need to be spelled. I’m not sure how many minutes is ideal for a starter, even a Captain no less. But whatever it is, I’m sure at least Jax far exceeds it in both a practical and percentage point of view.

    I think JustPuked makes an excellent point about the open three. Did that NOT happen a lot last year with Harrington at the three? I think it did. It just amazes me how little Nelson seems to learn from the past; or perhaps he just doesn’t care. At least the team is fun to watch in a heartbreaking kind of way and Nelson is playing more bench players. Anyone out there want to suggest a model of how much each of our starters should play and the playing time of those coming off the bench once Crawford settles in? I’d be curious if someone would consider doing that for fun, obviously.

  8. M.Squared November 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    Rose showed all kinds of game last night. Pretty impressive.
    He and Mayo are going to duke it out for ROY. Fernandez might be in the convo as well- but those two appear to be in a 2 man race.
    I would assume that there are going to be nights where his Maggette at the 4 lineup is not going to work and length will be needed.
    Nelson needs to realize that the Warriors can win by givng BW and AR consistent minutes. It isn’t a straight developmental mode IF the guys are contributing- which both have proven they can do. There are going to be some mistakes made- but thats how they are going to evolve. I watched KG’s first game in Oakland when he was a rook in ‘95. His game was much more raw than AR or BW and yet he made a lot of athletic plays. By his 3rd game against us that year- you could see how much progression he had made and that he was going to be a good player -contributing in multiple categories across the board. These guys can progress much the same.

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