Posts tagged ‘TNT’

Webber’s back, TNT was in the house and the hype machine was in full swing at the Oracle, but the end product was too ugly for TV.

Box Score

The young Bulls upended your Warriors on a night full of anticipation and expectations. The Dubs’ defense was pudding soft and all the energy and hustle came from the players in red. Chris Duhon dropped a career-high 34 points, Josh Smith and Tyrus Thomas gorged themselves on easy buckets in the paint, and even offensively stunted Ben Wallace got his licks in.

You can’t blame this kind of flat defeat simply on rust from the time off. There was some severe lack of execution at fault. Baron and Stephen had horrible shooting nights and no one seemed able to deny a pass into the post. Biedrins worked very hard on the boards, but got destroyed down low on defense.

The Bulls were without three of their main players in Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, and they came into Oakland after a hard loss in Portland the night before. They are an extremely young, raw and physical team. They caught the Warriors sleeping and basking in their own hype, never let up, and took one on the road.

Chris Webber:

Number 4’s debut was definitely more of a fizzle than a bang, but it wasn’t a complete bust. His conditioning is nowhere near what it needs to be to hang with this team for any extended playing time, but he clicked a bit with everyone in the second quarter. He hit a couple of jumpers and dished out two assists in his 12 minutes. Webber absolutely slowed the team down when he was on the floor, but I think he’ll be able to sync up with practice and contribute down the road.

Andris Biedrins:

The big Latvian seems to be getting stronger and stronger. He more than held his own on the boards against the flailing power of the Bulls’ young big men and came up with 18 rebounds, nine of which were offensive. His offensive execution leaves a lot to be desired, but no one else can provide that kind of rebounding.

Monta Ellis:

Is a superstar. Once again, the Mississippi Bullet was the only consistent offense for most of the game. His jumper was spot on and he was finishing with ease. Monta went a mind-boggling 11-12 from the field. That kind of consistency is sorely needed on this sketchy, unpredictable team. He finished the second quarter with an absolutely monstrous dunk that brought the entire arena out of their seats.

The whole game was a sloppy mess and a huge let down after the spectacular, gutsy wins against the Hornets and Bobcats.

Time for the Dubs to lick their wounds and get their heads back on straight for a NorCal grudge match against the Kings on Saturday.

exclusive Postgame Audio

Stephen Jackson

Don Nelson

Chris Webber