So many thoughts and overflowing frustration makes for a perfect time to rant.
This game typified what LeBron was hoping for as he quit on his Cavalier teammates last year during the Celtics playoff series. His dream came true. He got everything he wanted: Maximum glory, Minimum effort. He successfully came across as "carrying" the Heat to victory in the same game where he disappears for about 20 minutes during the 3rd and beginning of the 4th quarter. Classic LeBron. The best player in the NBA decides he doesn't want to carry a team to a championship. Rather, he prefers to show up at spots during the game and disappear at others. Unprecedented.
The Bulls played arguably their worst game of the year. Let's start with 34, 15, and 60. These were the Bulls' shooting percentages from the field, 3pt, and FT, respectively. Wow. Yet, the Bulls were right there with 3 minutes left to play. A small, yes small, part of this was due to the Heat, but most was due to simply a bad night. Further, Derrick Rose probably played his worst game since he went 0-7 and his team lost 15-11 in the Englewood kindergarten championships. He looked out of sorts most of the game. I've seen that before, but was a tad more concerning was he looked a half step slow. This is hard to figure since, a.)Oprah gave the Bulls an extra day off, and b.) Rose sat much of the 2nd quarter with foul trouble. I'd love to know the last time he missed both free throws. This won't happen again.
Loose balls and rebounds. The Bulls utterly and completely dominated the glass in Game 1. Game 2? The Heat somehow grabbed 4 more rebounds than the Bulls. I sincerely feel that this was a fluke. It wasn't so much the Bulls were out of position or got out-worked, but anyone who watched the game could see that the if the Bulls zigged, the ball zagged. A fingertip here, a misstep there, and an awkward bounce all add up to frustratingly, yet unacceptable missed loose balls. This won't happen again
Not much left to say about Boozer. Whether he's hurt or not doesn't change the fact that he's now at the point where he's hurting the Bulls by being on the court. He adds nothing. As soon as Taj came in in the 4th quarter the Bulls went on a run. Have you ever seen more missed layups? Seriously. It will be interesting to see How Thibs deals with this. He's been rigid with his lineup and rotation all year, but this is getting a little out of hand. Boozer played too much. This won't happen again.
I'm not impressed with the Heat. Did they play better than the Bulls tonight? Yes. Did they play better than they did in Game 1? I suppose. But this effort was far from spectacular. The Bulls' defense was good enough to win, thanks to Omer, Deng, Taj, and Brewer. I think they'll be able to reproduce tonight's effort throughout the series.
Thibs also has a decision to make about Korver. If he's not hitting 3s consistently (1-5 would not qualify) then obviously his value is limited if not zero. But as always, you have to consider the other options (Watson, Bogans, Brewer). I think this is moot because Thibs is going to keep Korver out there as he has all year.
This isn't sour grapes, but the officiating was atrocious. There was about a 10 minute stretch from the end for the 1st and into the 2nd where the refs could've done a better job if they decided to blow their whistle every 3 minutes randomly. There was a brief moment where the Bulls seemed like they could've pulled away but a handful of brutal calls kept the Heat in the game. It's a fact.
Even with all the above, Korver missed an open 3 that would've put the Bulls up 3 late in the 4th.
Bah Humbug.
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