If I taught a class called How to Lose a Basketball Game 101, last night’s game would undoubtedly be on the syllabus.
- While the Bulls’ offense did finish with an efficient 52.1 percent performance from the floor, they allowed the Raptors to take 23 more shots over the course of the game. How did this happen? Endless turnovers and offensive rebounds. Indeed, the Raptors shot just 40.4 percent on the night but pulled off the 104-98 win thanks to more heart and hustle (somewhere Jim Boylen just smiled).
- I re-watched all 19 offensive rebounds for Toronto – which led to a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points – and felt even more annoyed than I did last night (and I was pretty freakin’ annoyed!). While I thought I remembered a good portion of those boards coming on long rebounds, I actually only counted two (maybe three depending on what we want to consider a true long rebound). The strong majority of the Raptor’s second-chance opportunities came simply from leaping over the Bulls’ small starting lineup and outworking them in the paint. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is a particular skill that Toronto tends to be very good at, but that just means the Bulls have to come in better prepared!
- The lack of any real adjustment by head coach Billy Donovan in last night’s game was surely frustrating. While I understand that this starting lineup picked up two much-needed wins coming out of the All-Star break, it became abundantly clear that having Caruso and Beverley on the floor wasn’t offering the team the size they needed. Whether it be Patrick Williams’ wider frame or even Derrick Jones Jr.’s length, I would have liked to see someone else try to help stop the bleeding. Keep the Raptors from grabbing two or three extra possessions, and that could have been the difference between winning and losing.
- With a game later tonight in Detroit, the Bulls have no choice but to shake this one off. Fortunately, it sounds like Patrick Beverley knows to do just that:
“Nineteen offensive rebounds and turnovers and to lose a game by six, eight points, I’ve been in this league a long time and that’s pretty impressive,” Beverley told Bulls’ dot com. “Get some more shots up. I don’t know, box out, get three more rebounds, 16 instead of 19, and we win this game by eight points. I’m not worried, I’m excited. I was very anxious to see the locker room after a loss, see what I’m dealing with. So I’m excited.”
- Beverley also didn’t hesitate to re-emphasize the Bulls’ goal over these final few weeks after an ugly loss:
“The goal is not to get to the playoffs. The goal is to get to the playoffs and compete. Not just to go there and be a wash rag for another team. Not even only that, but we had 15 turnovers with the first unit. I think I was the leading rebounder in the first unit. That’s unacceptable. The first unit has to be better, and we will.”
- Beverley was, in fact, the starting lineup’s leading rebounder with 7. I agree that is basically unacceptable, but let’s also not forget that Nikola Vucevic had one of the toughest matchups on the night against Jakob Poeltl. If someone like Poeltl is able to help take him out of the game, you need some more size out there to compete with the length of guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby (all finished with 8 rebounds). Would I like to see LaVine and DeRozan potentially fight a little harder on the glass? Sure. But I don’t necessarily blame them for not being able to overcome this glaring mismatch.
- Chicago has had Detroit’s number this season, and there are zero excuses not to make it three-straight wins against them tonight. The Pistons have lost five in a row and have the third-worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA. In other words, they aren’t a dynamic offensive team and can really struggle to take care of the basketball, which should have the Bulls’ 6th-ranked drooling.
- Ah, I see …
- Patrick Beverley sat down for the latest episode of the Pat Bev Podcast and wanted to clear the air about his trade to the Magic:
“To some people, it could be that ‘Pat Bev got traded.’ When, all of reality, it was like. ‘I didn’t like what was going on. Let’s find a better home for me,'” Beverley said. “Not ‘ok, he ain’t good enough, let’s get rid of him.’ All that sh*t was my decision. So, you got to think, I’m making a decision that’s my decision that they honor my request but at the same time, now I’m sitting here without a home.”
- So Beverley was clearly saying the trade was his idea, but I think he’s also trying to stress that having to go through the buyout market to find a new home wasn’t the plan? Maybe he was hoping to end up in Minnesota as part of the Jazz-Timberwolves-Lakers deal? Regardless, I’ll be curious to see if we hear any more about how this actually went down. I would be a tad surprised if Beverley actually pushed his way out of LA for multiple reasons.
- As he should …
- It’s Official: Patrick Kane is no longer a Blackhawk.