Game Balls: Bulls 77, Sixers 69

Caleb Nordgren — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:18:51 +0000

After what can really only be described as depressing performances in games two, three and four by the Bulls, they returned home and managed to not totally embarrass themselves, although the game itself was ugly beyond belief. Game six will be in Philadelphia on Thursday, and there’s a possibility that Joakim Noah could be back in time to play. But for now, it’s on to the game balls for the guys that are largely responsible for tonight’s win.

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson celebrates scoring during the second half of game five against the Philadelphia 76ers at the United Center.

OVERALL — PF Taj Gibson (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks)

Sure, his statline isn’t particularly impressive, but he came into the game in the first half and completely changed the dynamic of the game. A Bulls team that had looked flat for much of the previous three games and was showing more of the same to start things off suddenly started to show some life and managed to take a nine point lead into halftime. Taj also rolled his ankle in the third quarter and returned to give solid minutes in the fourth quarter after entering to a solid ovation from the United Center crowd. Just a great overall performance. The Bulls will need more of the same to survive game six in Philly.

I feel bad not mentioning Ronnie Brewer here, who also provided a huge energy boost and was an integral part of the Bulls’ winning effort, but them’s the breaks. There’s always game six, I suppose.

(Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE)

OFFENSE — SF Luol Deng (24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals)

Luol really stepped up when the Bulls needed him tonight. He turned the ball over a few times early on, but nailed some HUGE threes down the stretch to bail the Bulls out of frankly poor offensive possessions. He shot over 50% from the field and went 4 of 5 from downtown. Oddly enough, the only three he missed was the most open of the five, when he ran into the shot in transition off of a steal and couldn’t put the shot down. But the others definitely made up for that.

Also, we’re honoring him for his offense here, but he was in contention for the defensive game ball too, for his work on Andre Iguodala. Iguodala managed to go just 4/19 from the field and 1/6 from downtown today and was largely a non-factor offensively.

(Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE)

DEFENSE — C Omer Asik (4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks)

Much like Gibson, Omer’s statline really doesn’t do the performance justice. Filling in admirably for Noah, Asik was able to consistently force Philadelphia’s penetrators to shoot over his incredibly long arms. Those three blocks go along with countless contests of shots at the rim, forcing the Sixers out to the perimeter, where they regressed hard to the mean after being on fire over the last few games.

Also, much like with Deng, we’re talking about Omer’s defense, but his offense is worth mentioning as well. He was actually catching passes and finished a few layups around the rim, something the offense-starved Bulls could really use going forward.

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Breaking Down The Bulls: The Bench

Josh Hill — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:00:52 +0000

The Bulls bench is a instrumental to this championship caliber team as the starting five is

They don’t get much love from ESPN or the other major NBA media outlets, but if it wasn’t for the support of the Bulls bench, this team would wear a very different face.

The Bulls boast one of the NBA’s best benches that continually come into the game and relieve the starting five. Guys like Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson and even Omer Asik could be starting guys on any other roster.

The depth of the bench is going to be vital if the Bulls are really serious about this championship run and each guy has his own specialty that makes this bench so potent.

Taj Gibson and Omer Asik are quickly becoming hot commodities for other teams to add to their roster but the Bulls know the power and talent they possess in these two big men. Case and point being the Bulls could have traded one or both at the deadline to get that big name playmaker that everyone in the media felt the Bulls needed in order to rise up against the Celtics and Heat. The Bulls stuck to their guns and the payoff of keeping those two guys is far more rewarding than anyone they could have gotten in return via trade.

Kyle Korver carves it up from three point range as he did in Utah and another Utah import, Ronnie Brewer, serves as a decent sub for Keith Bogans.

And then of course there is the guy who seldom plays, but probably has as big a fan following as Derrick Rose and that guy is the White Mamba, Brian Scalabrine. The Ginger Giant seldom plays but when the Bulls are in the midst of blowing out a team, even away arena’s become filled with the deafening roar or “SCALABREENEE!!”

But even that serves as evidence that even if you don’t play, you can still contribute by amping up the fans which amps up the bench and the starting five.

Pippen Ain't Easy » Omer Asik

Game Balls: Bulls 77, Sixers 69

Breaking Down The Bulls: The Bench