In the post: Bulls frustrated by turnovers

Share

Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010
12:04 AM

By Aggrey Sam
CSNChicago.com

--Thibodeau played Noah, Rose and Deng approximately 35 minutes apiece in the game, with the latter pair participating in the contest down the stretch, but was less concerned about their usage (I just wanted to see him at the end of the game was his explanation for Roses playing time) than he was about the teams 21 turnovers.

Its a big problem. If we dont correct it, its going to cost usWeve been high turnover three games in a row and its a close game, so its costly, said Thibodeau, who also expressed dismay at Chicagos 31 three-point attempts. Theres certain turnovers that you can live with, but wed like to have less than 14 in every game. The ones I dont like is when were holding on to the ball, dancing with the ball, the defense gets set and we try to thread the needle or go one-on-one. Youre just asking for trouble. As for his minutes, Rose only commented, After the game, of course youre going to feel all right because you just got done playing, but tomorrow when I wake up, I know Im going to feel sore a little bit.

--One byproduct of the right-heel injury that sidelined power forward Taj Gibsonhes a game-time decision for Saturday nights game in Orlandowas Thibodeau getting his desired extended look at Noah playing the position.

Noahs done fine. Defensively, I thought he did okay. He helped shut the lane down, his reboundings terrific. Im concerned with the turnovers; weve got to get that down. But overallnow how much we do it, I dont knowbut hes shown hes capable of playing there some, and like I said before, there are certain situations and times during the game when you like to have that size out there. When you have two seven-footers, its hard to get the ball into the paint, evaluated Thibodeau. "Playing without Gibson and Boozer will be different because youre primary low-post scorers wont be there, but we still have to get the ball into the paintprobably more off dribble penetration and well try to get some duck-ins off pick-and-rolls and things like thatbut we still want to play inside-out.

Rose chimed in: It hurt us, especially for pick-and-pop players. It opens up the floor a little, especially with those two missing.

--Roses reasoning for the Bulls turnover issues was a combination of players making the extra pass and being flummoxed by the Mavericks zone defense.

People playing unselfishjust trying to make the right playbut sometimes youre wide open and you dont realize it, especially in the zonein practice, were moving the ball well, but were overthinking when were out there in the game and making little turnovers, but we can easily fix that. When people look at video tomorrow or whenever, we can easily go ahead and get that out of our game, said Rose. "That was our first time facing it zone defense. It was kind of weird at first. People that were shooting the ball that were supposed to be hitting werent in their groove tonight, but thats just one night. Weve got great shooters on this team, so if somebody does play zone again, I feel bad for them.

Added Thibodeau about Dallas defensive tactics: They played zone most of the game, so it was a chance for us to work on some zone things. Were playing two centers, so there were some good things about it. The good things were that our rebounding was much better, so that was a plus, but the negative is when they go zone, theres one less shooter on the floor.

--Although Dengwho also saw minutes at power forward toward the end of the game; Thibodeau was pleased (I thought that was very effective in the fourth quarter for us) with his playwas aware of the challenge of matching up with Nowitzki, its something hes used to and therefore willing to deal with until Gibson (and eventually Boozer) return, if necessary.

Every night, its someone else. Nowitzkis a great player, but Im not really going into the game expecting to have an easy task. If it happens, it happens, but the NBAespecially the three and the fourit seems like every team has a guy at that position, said Deng. Hes hard to guard. Hes seven feet and can shoot, and if youre up on him, he knows how to get to the basket and get to the free-throw line.

--Deng, whose improved range and accuracy from deep was one of the more underrated storylines of the offseasoncheck his Great Britain national team box scores for proof w asnt at all surprised at his success (5-for-7 from behind the arc) on the evening.

Ive been shooting it well in practice and with the zone defense, I had a lot of good looks, he stated. We take what we get in the game. I think Coach is very smart and just seeing whats going on out there and just using us the right way. Some nights, if my shot is not falling, Ill probably look to drive more and be more aggressive towards the rim. Deng, too, had an opinion about Chicagos ballhandling miscues. Its just something weve got to work on. A lot of different lineups out there, a lot of guys getting used to each other, but its something weve got to improve on, he said. The last couple games, were not happy with our turnovers and its something weve got to focus on.

Aggrey Sam is CSNChicago.coms Bulls Insider. Follow him @CSNBullsInsider on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bulls information and his take on the team, the NBA and much more.

Contact Us