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BlogABull has moved to blogabull.substack.com

2023-04-03T11:08:46-05:00

BlogABull is now on Substack

http://blogabull.substack.com

You can read my welcome post here, where you can sign up for email delivery and sign in for posting comments.

See you there! The BlogABull dot com domain should be up in a matter of days, until then go to that Substack URL.

blogabull.substack.com

Cash Considerations Podcast: Bulls too small vs. Lakers

2023-03-30T17:32:07-05:00

not pretty

Jason and Ricky took to Spotify Live after the Bulls’ 121-110 loss to the Lakers, making it two straight ugly defeats after the big win over the Lakers in Los Angeles. While Chicago has played better with Patrick Beverley since the All-Star break, it’s still looking like the No. 10 seed will be the outcome.

Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast is part of the Blue Wire Podcast Network.The pod can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.

Bulls vs. Lakers final score: Anthony Davis comes home and brutalizes Bulls

2023-03-29T22:47:08-05:00

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Davis had himself a night

Well that was a bummer.

Tonight against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, our Chicago Bulls looked absolutely outmatched from the jump. With D’Angelo Russell back following a two-game absence and LeBron James wisely moved back into the starting lineup (albeit on a minutes restriction), Los Angeles had a much more well-rounded two-way night than they did in the two teams’ prior encounter Sunday, a 118-108 Bulls victory.

A key strategic shift was Lakers head coach Darvin Ham’s decision to double-team Chicago’s best scorers, wings DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, especially off pick-and-roll actions. As a result, the Bulls were forced to take a bunch of jumpers, to middling results. Chicago did launch significantly more triples (33) than Los Angeles (20), although thanks in part to a poor long-range shooting night from Zach and Patrick Williams (a combined 0-for-7), the Bulls only made two more than LA did (9-7).

Nikola Vucevic also benefitted from all the coverage on Chicago perimeter players, scoring 19 quick points in the game’s first half. As has fitfully been the case this season, the Bulls went away from feeding the big man in the second half. He still finished with a 29-point, 12-rebound double-double, his 47th of the year, while also chipping in six assists.

The Lakers started things out with a bang, galloping to a 27-10 lead in the game’s first eight minutes, thanks to a balanced offensive attack. Vucevic, Derrick Jones Jr. and Coby White helped the Bulls mount something of a comeback, and the final tally in the first quarter was a still-bad 31-20, Lakers.

Chicago actually clawed its way to a one-point lead midway through the second frame, as a lineup of Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, DeRozan, Patrick Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. went on a 17-6 run to kick off the quarter. The half ended with Los Angeles only up eight, 59-51.

LA built up its lead a bit in the third quarter, before really turning on the jets and leaving Chicago in its dust in the fourth. Austin Reaves even got his revenge on Patrick Beverley with a spin move-and-“too small” gesture in garbage time.

Austin Reaves says Pat Bev is too small.

pic.twitter.com/YnASHTIHrK
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 30, 2023

Chicago just doesn’t have a ton of high-level two-way players. Starters Patrick Beverley and Alex Caruso, the team’s best defenders on the perimeter (and everywhere, really), couldn’t get cooking offensively tonight. The duo combined to make just 2-of-9 field goals... the entire game. Off the bench, guards Coby White (17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and a +18 plus-minus) and Ayo Dosunmu (12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a +17 plus-minus) helped make up a bit for Caruso and Beverley, though some of those buckets came with the contest already well out-of-hand.

On the Lakers side, LA made a point to look for contact, and enjoyed a massive free throw edge. The Lakers went 24-for-30 from the charity stripe, lapping the Bulls’ paltry 11-for-13 night. Center Anthony Davis alone took more fouls (he went 11-for-14) than the entire Chicago roster!

The Brow was the star of the show for Los Angeles, scoring 38 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the floor plus the aforementioned free throw efficacy. He also pulled down 10 rebounds. In his second game back, LeBron James looked like he had his sea legs under him a bit more, scoring 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to a 36-40 record, as LA improves to 38-38. The Bulls are still two games clear of the East’s 11th seed, the 34-42 Washington Wizards, and have pretty much a guaranteed win (although I’ve regretted saying that before) coming up Friday against Michael Jordan’s 26-51 Charlotte Hornets.

Bulls vs. Lakers game preview and thread: revenge or repeat?

2023-03-29T12:26:03-05:00

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers head to Chicago

Bad night for the play-in standings for your Chicago Bulls, as they didn’t play but all the teams around them won. The Bulls are still comfortably going to make the play-in tournament, but it would be a lot better to be in 8th versus 10th. They’re currently 1.5 games behind that mark against the tied Hawks and Raptors.

Both of those teams are off, but the Bulls play tonight, returning from their 3-game west coast road trip to face the Lakers. The Lakers last played on Sunday when they lost to the Bulls at home in spite of LeBron James’s return.

The Bulls played quite well in that one, and even had some fun at LeBron’s expense by the hands of Patrick Beverley being Patrick Beverley.

Will that fuel the Lakers or whatever? They have their own play-in lives to contend for, they don’t need anything extra.

Injury Report:

LeBron is listed as questionable but you’d think given the time off he will play again. Anthony Davis is probable. Missing from the last matchup, D’Angelo Russell is also listed as probable.

For the Bulls, Alex Caruso is, as always, listed (questionable). Javonte Green is also questionable as he had a setback in his knee surgery recovery.

Game Time: 7pm Central, NBC Sports Chicago

Bulls vs. Clippers final score: a 3-point barrage sinks Bulls defense in second half

2023-03-28T10:44:27-05:00

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

the Nic Batum game

The Bulls held serve with the Los Angeles Clippers for about a quarter, but after that found themselves at the wrong end of way too many transition opportunities and wide open three pointers. The Clippers surged ahead over 20 points in the second half to eventually beat the Bulls by a 124-112 final score as the Bulls split their L.A. series.

The Bulls had many things going against their surprisingly-stout defense in this one. It was the second night of a back-to-back, and they were without Javonte Green and Alex Caruso.

The Clippers also simply made a ton of shots.

Bulls 112, Clippers 124

Defensive rotations have been the Bulls calling card all year. Clippers totally demoralized them with 20 made threes, tied for 3rd most the Bulls have allowed all year pic.twitter.com/UJKjzsWEhC
— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) March 28, 2023

Thought-to-be-washed Nic Batum went 8-10 from three.

The Bulls, as a team, went 9-23.

Chicago simply cannot win a game where the opponent puts up that many attempts from distance (40) while shooting that high a percentage (50%). Their team far exceeded the Boylen Line with 41 assists. That category was led by Russell Westbrook’s 10 dimes, who the Bulls were probably paying too much attention too and leaving open 3-point shooters.

More than a bit of the Bulls 112 went up in garbage time, which helps the tweets about point differential but not much else. Zach LaVine was ultra efficient from the field with 24 points on 14 shots, but only attempted 2 threes (missed them both). The rest of the ‘big’ three also exceeded 20 points, and Patrick Williams had one of his better outputs of the season with 16 on 7/8 shooting. The other role players didn’t do much of note.

Bulls get a couple days off before their rematch against the Lakers on Wednesday. L.A. won’t have played since that Sunday Bulls win, and will likely have revenge (and their own play-in seeding) on their mind when they come to Chicago.

Bulls vs. Clippers game preview and thread: the L.A. back-to-back conclusion

2023-03-27T13:20:35-05:00

Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images

Can Da Bulls beat a more talented LA team a second night in a row?

After a surprisingly good 118-108 win (coughed-up leads aside) against a solid and fairly whole Los Angeles Lakers club yesterday, our Chicago Bulls are hoping that lightning can strike two days in a row at Crypto.com Arena, where they will try their darnedest to fend off Kawhi Leonard’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Yesterday against the Lakers, the Bulls’ perimeter defense — led by the Patricks and Alex Caruso — effectively stuck with Los Angeles players on pick-and-roll actions, which limited a lot of the Lakers’ offensive attack.

On offense yesterday, Chicago performed surprisingly well, even without Nikola Vucevic for all of the second half, following a pretty flimsy ejection (Andre Drummond and Derrick Jones Jr. stepped up in his absence). As a team, Chicago connected on 54% of its field goals (including 45% of its triples), and dished out for 32 dimes (against just nine turnovers).

The star of March for the Bulls has been Zach LaVine, who scored 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field yesterday. Across 12 games this month, the 6’5” swingman is averaging 30.2 points per contest on .523/.456/.877 shooting splits. And he’ll be facing a Clippers team missing its second-best perimeter defender, Paul George, who’s done for the regular season with a knee sprain.

Obviously the Bulls’ playing on the second night of a back-to-back means that the Clippers will be the better-rested club. Can starting Chicago point guard Patrick Beverley (who had an efficient-if-quiet 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting) will his weary hometown team to strike down another of his prior franchises for the second straight night?

Injury Report:

The Bulls will be without the usual suspects. Javonte Green remains out as he continues to rehabilitate from his knee surgery. Alex Caruso is questionable with his nagging foot.

For LA, Paul George is done for the rest of the regular season with a sprained right knee, Sixth Man of the Year candidate Norman Powell is sidelined with a left shoulder subluxation, and bench shooting guard Brandon Boston Jr. is out with a tailbone contusion.

Kawhi Leonard is probable to play through the facial contusion he suffered at the hands of Brandon Ingram on Saturday.

Game Time: 9:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Chicago

Bulls vs. Lakers final score: Zach LaVine leads Chicago to 118-108 win

2023-03-26T20:36:19-05:00

Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

LeBron’s surprise return not enough for Lakers

After their win at Portland Friday, the Chicago Bulls continued their mini West Coast road trip with a 118-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite a noon local time tip, the Bulls were the ones who raced out to an early lead, going up by as much as 20 points in the first quarter. The Lakers rallied back and made it an eight point game at halftime with all of the momentum. Nikola Vucevic played just 15 minutes as he was ejected during the second quarter. He initially got T’d up for arguing about a foul call then was subsequently called for his second technical just seconds after as he was walking away from the referees. It was a tough blow for Chicago as this was during the stretch in the first half where LA was fighting their way back into it.

Nikola Vucevic received back-to-back technical fouls and was ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/N5zGAZ0s6i
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023

But Chicago struck back, starting the third quarter strongly and never looked back. They fended off every Lakers rally and picked up a key victory in terms of their postseason status.

As a team the Bulls were great on offense, shooting 54 percent from the field and 45 percent on three-pointers. They had 32 assists on 47 made baskets and did a good job limiting mistakes with just nine turnovers. Chicago didn’t get to the line as much as they with just 13 free throw attempts.

Zach LaVine continued his scorching month of March with a 32 point performance. He went 13 of 19 from the field along with four assists. LaVine was able to get to the basket with ease and score whenever he wanted.

DeMar DeRozan had a double double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. It wasn’t the same usual dose of usage for DeRozan as he took just 13 shots but made it count with seven made baskets, including two three’s. He also added six rebounds and a block.

Patrick Beverley scored 10 points and had five assists in his return to LA. He scored the game sealing basket with 1:12 left and then proceeded to hit LeBron James with a “too small” celebration.

PAT BEV SAID YOU’RE TOO SMALL.@PatBev21 | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/zBz46GI7q5
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 26, 2023

Chicago’s bench stepped up big time with 48 points an entire unit. Coby White led the way with 13 points, six assists, and seven rebounds. He hit three shots from downtown and added a steal. White had some clutch three-pointers late to held fend off a late Lakers rally. Andre Drummond had 12 points and eight rebounds while Ayo Dosunmu and DJJ had eight points each.

Despite coming off the bench, LeBron James led the Lakers in scoring with 19 points while Malik Beasley and Troy Brown Jr. had 18. Anthony Davis finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Bulls are now 36-38, three games ahead of the Wizards for the 10th seed. Chicago is also within striking distance of both the 8th and 9th seeds, meaning that they could potentially host one of the play-in games. There are eight games left and their magic number for the 10th seed is six while for the 9th seed it’s eight.

The Bulls are on a back-to-back tomorrow, but won’t have to travel far for their next game as they play the Clippers.

Bulls vs. Lakers game preview and thread: play-in East meets play-in West

2023-03-26T09:30:22-05:00

Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images

Pat Bev Revenge Game incoming?

This afternoon at Crypto.com Arena, our Chicago Bulls will face off against Patrick Beverley’s last team, the ascendant Los Angeles Lakers.

LA is currently in the midst of a three-game win streak, and looks like a wholly different team since president Rob Pelinka offloaded $65.4 million’s worth overpaid of veteran point guards in trades to add players around stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis who actually made sense. Yes, that salary sum includes our guy Pat Bev, who has been an absolute steal off the buyout market in starting for his hometown team, but was overpriced and out-of-position as LA’s $13 million starting shooting guard. All 6’1” of him.

In the weeks since the February 9th trade deadline, Los Angeles has gone 12-6 with its new-look lineup, featuring fresh additions D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Rui Hachimura and Mo Bamba. Bamba could be done for the season with a high left ankle sprain, while James and Russell are both working their way back from less long-term ailments, but appear unlikely to suit up today.

The 37-37 Lakers are banged-up, yes, but so are the Bulls, missing surgically-enhanced Lonzo Ball and Javonte Green, plus possibly injury-prone ex-Laker Alex Caruso.

At 35-38 and playing on the road, the Bulls are 4.5-point underdogs against Los Angeles. The very definition of a “mid” team, Chicago really could go either way tonight. Neither the Lakers nor the Bulls shoot a particularly high volume of threes, but Los Angeles is deeper and will have a healthy Anthony Davis available to brutalize Nikola Vucevic and ex-Laker Andre Drummond in the post all night.

Look for Chicago to be 35-39 later this evening.

Injury Report:

For the Bulls, Javonte Green returned from his knee surgery last week, after a two month-plus layoff, for a whopping two games before being shut down again. Will we ever see him suit up again in a Bulls uniform? Who knows?

Elsewhere, Alex Caruso is questionable with left mid foot soreness. He did play on Friday, albeit sparingly.

Among their rotation players, the Lakers will be missing LeBron James, probably D’Angelo Russell, and definitely Mo Bamba.

Game Time: 2:30 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago