The Legion Of Booz Presents…Hey Thibs! Can You Count?

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Now we are down to two losses. Yeah, you probably thought…Hey Boozer only scored five points in Game two. I’ll bet The Legion of Booz will shut up now huh? I bet that Executive Advocate will probably quit writing after this. Come on now! Me, Ronald Agers, the Executive Advocate to the fastest growing faction at Pippen Ain’t Easy today. Tomorrow the NBA! The Chicago Bulls are now down 0-2 to the Washington Wizards in their Eastern Conference matchup. The reason why the Bulls lost is because the Wizards scored MORE points. This seems like a simple concept to everyone involved except for one guy. His name? Tom Thibodeau. For the last two games, the Bulls have shown the ability to score points in the fourth quarter like me being able to comb my bald head with an afro pick. Tom Thibodeau has put in the work to  fixing this problem like someone hard boiling an egg in a microwave. After scoring a whopping six points in the final six minutes after being up 13 points in the third quarter, the Bulls showed their anemic scoring ability in Game two. The Bulls were outscored 20-4 in one stretch in a 10 minute span. This happened after the Bulls were up by ten in the fourth quarter. When are we going to realize that the Chicago Bulls have to find a way to score more points in the second half to win games?

Well I got plenty of responses from the Leroy-alist party about how the Chicago Bulls can get away with scoring 18 points for an entire quarter. Here’s a few…

“You mention three more losses and the season is over. Okay, then you can take this Boozer legion stuff probably to the Heat or whatever team claims him. Then you can welcome Melo.”

Let’s break this statement down shall we? Now it’s two losses. Let’s say for argument sake that the Miami Heat wanted him. So the two-time World Champions and three-time Eastern Conference champions would want him. That means that this guy has some talent, considering the best team in the NBA for the last two seasons would want him. If Boozer scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench for the Heat this year, Miami would be clearing off the mantle for another trophy. As for Carmelo Anthony, let it go. He’s not coming. Sorry.

There was a longer statement but I will paraphrase the length. For the total statement log on to Pippen Ain’t Easy the best choice for Bulls news, previews and reviews. Click on The Legion of Booz…Six Points in Final Six Minutes! AND STILL NO BOOZER icon.

“The Bulls needed some defense in the 4th quarter and your idea that Boozer’s ability to score would impact stopping somebody from scoring is really shocking. Sure Noah and Gibson was getting abused but you actually do anything that could impact Nene or Gortat on defense and your suggestion his scoring would. Yeah right.”

Here’s where The Legion of Booz and the Leroy-alists  go back and forth. What in the world does defense have to do with putting that ball with Spalding on that is signed by Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner into that orange tin with the net that hangs down from it ten feet in the air? Does defense add points to the board? I would like to thank DYLSN who had a response that shows that someone is getting this. Here’s the statement.

“Stop with the defense talk. Agers admitted Boozer isn’t good. It’s time for you to admit the Bulls needed him in the fourth. They couldn’t score anything.”

Yes!!!!!

Boozer is not the issue here when it comes to defense. It is a cop-out. Think I’m playing, then watch the game Friday night. The Bulls’ defensive issues start with your point guard, Kirk Hinrich. It has  been a known fact that Hinrich can’t guard a cup of warm milk with the Secret Service in front of him. Do you really think he can guard John Wall? John Wall or any point guard that has any type of speed for that matter can break down the defense and put pressure on the Bulls frontline. No one seems to notice this. But if Boozer misses someone, everyone jumps on him. All of this is a moot point. This is a scoring deal. Game two has exposed Thibodeau for the lack of offensive system that the Bulls have. Period.

Carlos Boozer cannot be successful in this offensive system. What am I talking about? There is no system here. What playoff team do you know Pippen Peoples that run their offense through their center? I’ll wait. Carlos Boozer has gone from Deron Williams in Utah to Derrick Rose to Kirk Hinrich who’s game is so predictable that the Wizards have figured out every tendency that he has. Check out the two turnovers he had passing the ball to Boozer at the left elbow early in the first quarter that led to lay ups. The Wizards know Hinrich is  not going to drive to the basket. They would PREFER to let him drive to the basket. That’s the defensive scheme. They WANT the ball in his hands. They’ll harass Noah at the perimeter to get the ball out of his hands. Think about it Pippen Peoples, would you let a Wizards player shoot 15 shots a game on average if he shot less than 40%? Sure you would. I don’t need to go in detail. The Wizards wanted Hinrich to drive to the basket at the end of overtime. They’ve been forcing him to do it the whole series.

Now let’s talk about Tom Thibodeau. At what time did he think the Bulls were having issues scoring. Don’t answer that. Instead YOU let me know when you might have caught a clue that the Bulls might have an issue scoring points. Okay Pippen Peoples pick one it’s 87-77 and the lead is shrinking. When do you call time out and bring someone with a back to the basket post game or maybe someone who can hit a shot (Boozer maybe?)

A) When the lead was cut to four points.

B) When the Wizards took the lead.

C) When the Wizards run grew to 14-4.

D) After ten minutes of action when the Wizards have gone on a 20-4 run.

Does anyone see a trend here? Thibodeau either does not know how to make in-game adjustments or there is something more to Boozer sitting in the fourth quarter besides defense. The Washington Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman has run circles around Tom Thibodeau in this series. Wittman has made in-game adjustments in the fourth quarter that has led the Wizards to this 2-0 lead in this series. They are as follows…

Game one

Wittman sticks with Andre Miller in the stretch run in the fourth quarter knowing that John Wall is having an off night. Miller gives Augustin the business scoring eight of his ten points in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulls at bay.

Game two

Wittman makes TWO adjustments in the fourth quarter. The first adjustment was bringing in Trevor Booker in the fourth quarter after Marcin Gortat stunk up the United Center the whole night. The second adjustment and this was the adjustment that won the game. After watching DJ Augustin light up his team for 25 points he put the defensive assignment of Augustin to Trevor Ariza. Augustin was never heard from again.

You see Pippen Peoples THIS is the example of  making in-game adjustments. This is not the regular season. This is the playoffs, where teams take away your strengths and force you to try different things. The fact still remains that the Bulls aren’t scoring in the fourth quarter. Carlos Boozer can score. He’s on the bench. The Bulls STILL aren’t stopping the Wizards. Now what?