The Bulls 'Raptored' our Dinos

Raptors 98 - Bulls 102

I could not help but feel like an opposition fan when the Raps beat them. The Bulls went ahead by double digit leads, the opposition came back to make it a close game by half-time, the teams went toe-to-toe in the third, the bull surged ahead in the fourth but the raptors came back and the bulls squeaked out the win. This sequence the bulls had has been the recipe for almost every toronto win this season.

The Bulls raced out to leads of 8-15 in the first quarter due to excellent spacing, hard cuts and sticking the jumper. From 5:26 to 1:23 of the first quarter, the Bulls made a 13-4 run to lead 26-14. This was primarily due to Rose penetration and assisting his team for easy shots. What also really contributed to the run was the obsene amount of offensive rebounds that the Bulls grabbed during the time coupled with untimely turnovers and our reliance to shoot the jump shot.

The second quarter started with more of the same for our Raps. We were taking and missing many long range jump shots and the Bulls raced to 34-21 lead. During this time, Bosh was sitting on the bench due to two early fouls and was quickly brought back in. He was very active with the ball running through him, getting a lay up, getting to the foul line twice and making a jumper. The lead fluctuated between 8-12 points for the Bulls until Bargnani entered the game. Due to our increased effort on defense, we started forcing some turnovers and this allowed us to get on the fast break. We got fouled and started making our foul shots and the lead was cut to 3. One play which I want to point out which showed our increased desire on defense was Bargnani's on Deng with about two minutes left in the half. Deng caught the ball at the top of the key and started to drive against Bargs. Bargs cut off the interior so Deng decided to head back and go right, around Bargs, but Il Mago kept moving his feet and forced the turnover on Deng when he threw it away. This increased defensive awareness has complemented his increased productivity as he had a career night scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 boards. Check the 2:12 mark, this was not the play described above, but it was another excellent defensive possession for bargnani. The Raps ended the quarter up a point thanks to Bosh and Bargnani's contributions.

The third quarter was a scrappy affair where both team traded blows and Bosh and Bargnani were crucial for our success in the quarter. We won the quarter +2 and lead 71-68 entering the final quarter.

The Bulls started the final quarter on a 9-0 run, thanks to a balanced contribution of Derrick Rose, Sefolosha and Nocioni. Rose, in particular, started to heat up scoring 5 points during the run. Rose was penetrating with ease and this helped open the shooters for the Bulls for easy scores. The space created from the drives coupled with the collapse of help defenders freeing Chicago's shooters was too much for the Raptors to handle, as Chicago pulled to a 5 point lead with around 7 minutes remaining. Bargnani scored four straight points and it resulted to 96-94 lead for Chicago, which set up an interesting final two minutes. Derrick rose scored 4 straight points for the bulls through two dribble penetrations and this was countered by a Bosh score. Anthony Parker scored a driving layup with 29 second remaining which set up a bizarre finish. The Raptors had a foul to give and decided not use it a first; with the 5 second game/shot clock differential. Then, inexplicitily, Solomon fouls Rose 24 feet out with 14 seconds remaining, which reseted the shot clock at 14. This meant that if Chicago inbounded the ball and made their free throw they would win the game, but Hinirich on the inbound threw it straight at Bosh. The Raptors got a gift from god and had 12 seconds to score down two. Jay drew up a play where Bosh was isolated against Noah on the left block. Bosh went baseline, got sealed picked up his dribbed and shot a fadeaway with 5 seconds left, and got blocked. I am not sure why he decided to pick up his dribble and also why he didnt look for Bargnani, who was having a career night. It was a disappointing way to end the game, but the Raptors are good at that.

The Bulls went ahead by double digit leads, the opposition came back to make it a close game by half-time, the teams went toe-to-toe in the third, the bull surged ahead in the fourth but the raptors came back and the bulls squeaked out the win. This sequence the bulls had has been the recipe for almost every toronto win this season.

I was quite impressed with Bargnani's performance. I think he has really turned the corner, producing in nine straight games while contributing to rebounding and defensive. With respect to rebounding, he is going for the ball and is starting to get the tough ones. His offensive does not look forced and is trying to get what the defense is giving him, a sign of offensive maturity.

Joey Graham and Jason Kapono were not productive today, with Joey only contributing two reboundings and missing the only shot he took. Kapono scored 7 points in 22 minutes but the duo were -11 and -10 respectively. Joey seems to be losing his place in the rotation and he really seems like a player who needs consistent burn to remain productive and Jason Kapono is really killing the team in terms of defensive liability. His offensive will never outweigh the negatives that we lose on defense as he is usually the link which make the oppenent's offense easier and therefore more efficient. He does not have the positional awareness and is just not physically capable of staying with the quick guards.

We're at Indiana on friday and hopefully we can end this three game losing streak. Jermaine might be back, but he may start of the bench due to Bargnani's recent performances.