Schuster: Bulls Flat Again

By: David Schuster

Flatter then a vinyl record, flatter then a pan cake, heck flatter then a crepe. You name it because that's what the Bulls were Monday night to start the 2nd round of the playoffs and it cost them big time. The Hawks came in and won game One,  103-95. And yes I know some of you will say wait a minute the Bulls actually had the lead in the 3rd quarter so the start shouldn't be a big deal but it was.

Atlanta jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led by as many as 11 in the opening minutes because the Bulls treated the opening quarter like it was a pre season scrimmage. Derrick Rose and crew missed their first 9 shots and the crowd actually gave a sarcastic cheer when Luol Deng finally made 2 free throws almost 5 minutes into the game.

Making matters worse was the other end of the court where the Bulls played uninspired defense. What ever shot Atlanta wanted Atlanta got. The Hawks got open jumper after another and when they weren't hitting jumpers they were driving the lane for uncontested  lay ups. Where was that defense that this team was noted for in the regular season? In fact, where has it been in the playoffs at all? Very simply, the Bulls are playing their best basketball when they extend their D and force other teams into turnovers which then leads to fast break points. That has been fairly non existent in the 6 playoff games that the Bulls have played.

Adding injury to insult was Derrick Rose re-spraining his left ankle right at the end of the game. Rose limped pretty badly into the locker room and this time around wont have much time until he has to play on it again Wednesday night.

Rose will have an MRI on that ankle on Tuesday and then later in the day be awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Award. Knowing Rose, he would give up the trophy if his team played better Monday night and had won.

So it's back to the drawing board for Tom Thibodeau. If he truly is the Coach Of The Year then he will find a way to infuse energy into his team and come up with a much better defensive formula. What we saw Monday night just wasn't good enough.