Yesterday I did a recap of the Nuggets last game vs Milwaukee:
“So the Bucks wanted to “outgun” the Nuggets in Denver against a rested Nuggets team? Good luck with that! Last night’s game was the second fastest contest so far this season, only one HOU vs OKC game back in December was faster! The Nuggets game plan early on was quite simply: edge hard Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings in order to force them to take long range jumpers! If we look for both players FG%’s numbers at the end of the game, they were successful because Ellis = 6-21 FG & Jennings = 5-15 FG! The problem is that the Nuggets simply didn’t seem worried about the “Bucks bigs” and Dalembert…. well, he was 10-11 from the field for 21 points in just 9:29 of action at the half time!
In the second half, DEN was way more aggressive while Coach Karl decided to use his crazy small ball lineups something that MIL’s Coach Boylan acknowledged after the game:
"They played small the whole second half, which caused a little bit of a problem for us," said Boylan. "Especially with the guys I like to have out on the floor. Sometimes unfortunately you can't have everyone out there because when teams are playing small like that, I like to try to stay big to make them pay for it, but then the game started to slip away from us and we had to re-adjust and match up to them a little bit more."
Dalembert still ended up scoring 35 points w/ 17-21 FG and grabbed 12 rebounds but down the stretch he simply ran out of gas and the Nuggets won despite trailing by as many as 17 points. “
In the second half, DEN was way more aggressive while Coach Karl decided to use his crazy small ball lineups something that MIL’s Coach Boylan acknowledged after the game:
"They played small the whole second half, which caused a little bit of a problem for us," said Boylan. "Especially with the guys I like to have out on the floor. Sometimes unfortunately you can't have everyone out there because when teams are playing small like that, I like to try to stay big to make them pay for it, but then the game started to slip away from us and we had to re-adjust and match up to them a little bit more."
Dalembert still ended up scoring 35 points w/ 17-21 FG and grabbed 12 rebounds but down the stretch he simply ran out of gas and the Nuggets won despite trailing by as many as 17 points. “
Regarding the Bulls, it looks like coach Mike Thibodeau will finally get some healthy bodies for tonight’s game. Boozer returned last game @IND but he was “invisible” w/ 4-12 FG and just 23 minutes of action; Joakim Noah practiced yesterday and he is confident that he will play tonight while Belinelli played through a minor right ankle sprain Monday and is a game time decision for tonight.
Despite being shorthanded, the Bulls were able to remain competitive in all the latest games = it’s a pretty good testament of how tough they are mentally. They defeated the Bucks on the road; they lost a close game against the Nets in Brooklyn; they humiliated against the Hawks in Atlanta and finally don’t be fooled by their 10-points loss in Indiana – with 2 minutes to go, the Bulls were trailing by just 4 points!
The key factor was that all those 4 opponents played in a style where the Bulls fit well: half court grind out games as the Bulls simply outworks their opponents no matter who is on the floor. The question is that the Nuggets as we all know play a completely different type of basketball: run and gun system so for tonight we are dealing with a battle of tempo. DEN is ranked #3 in pace factor vs. the Bulls who are ranked #26. The team that controls the flow of the game will have improved chances to win tonight.
Despite being shorthanded, the Bulls were able to remain competitive in all the latest games = it’s a pretty good testament of how tough they are mentally. They defeated the Bucks on the road; they lost a close game against the Nets in Brooklyn; they humiliated against the Hawks in Atlanta and finally don’t be fooled by their 10-points loss in Indiana – with 2 minutes to go, the Bulls were trailing by just 4 points!
The key factor was that all those 4 opponents played in a style where the Bulls fit well: half court grind out games as the Bulls simply outworks their opponents no matter who is on the floor. The question is that the Nuggets as we all know play a completely different type of basketball: run and gun system so for tonight we are dealing with a battle of tempo. DEN is ranked #3 in pace factor vs. the Bulls who are ranked #26. The team that controls the flow of the game will have improved chances to win tonight.
Bulls @ Nuggets: "Battle of tempo" quotes:
"They're a well-disciplined defensive team. Some people think they might be one of the best defensive teams in basketball," Karl said Wednesday. "The pace of the game is important, and they're going to try to play a 90-point game. I think our aggressiveness defensively (is important), giving them different looks because they're going to run a lot of different shooters off screens."
"We need to move the ball and we need to run, especially against a team like the Bulls that plays good 5-on-5 defense," said Corey Brewer, who scored 20 points Tuesday in Denver's 112-104 victory over Milwaukee. "We want to run them up and down the court."
"We need to move the ball and we need to run, especially against a team like the Bulls that plays good 5-on-5 defense," said Corey Brewer, who scored 20 points Tuesday in Denver's 112-104 victory over Milwaukee. "We want to run them up and down the court."
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