Andrew's 06 Bulls, Part 2 :: 07/08 (October 2007)

[Patr1ck]

Wow, your turnovers and assists are quite high. What happened different since March?

[kibaxx7]

Nice to see you back Andrew. And as Clutch said, it's nice to see some reality despite it's 2006 in your calendar. Boozer and Korver will surely do good for you

[Andrew]

Wow, your turnovers and assists are quite high. What happened different since March?

Some of it's due to sloppiness though a decent amount of them are coming from deflections that NBA Live 06 mistakenly registers as turnovers. I've been playing the passing lanes a bit more in the last couple of games meaning more deflections and more false turnovers. However it's also meant a few more steals and fast breaks, which has inflated the assist numbers a bit.

Thanks for the comments on the trades, guys. To be honest I thought I'd receive a few more "What the hell are you doing?" replies, partly for shaking up the roster that much and for overpaying for a couple of the players I got in return, which is why I whipped up that insider report to outline the long term plan. And as I said before, I feel like this roster gives me a rotation that I can handle a little better without having players go to waste.

[Axel The Great]

What the hell were you thinking on those trades, Andrew? Jk.

Nice to see you doing a dynasty, I liked the Boozer trade, and Korver will up your atrocious 3pt shooting. You took a risk in overpaying Boozer, but like they say, if you don't risk, you don't win.

[Andrew]

I'm counting on it being a smaller risk than it appears as there was a bit of a logjam in the rotation and the players I've traded away were underachieving and proving to be a poor fit. Next game might be a tough one as I'm holding out all the newly acquired players. I'll be running with a starting five of Chandler, Collison, Deng, Gordon and Hinrich with Kemp, Ellis, Steve Smith, Matt Carroll and Eddie Gill coming off the bench.

[Andrew]

November 29th, 2006
Chicago (110) at Washington (80)
Shorthanded Bulls dominate Wizards
[ Boxscore ]

Dressing only ten players following a flurry of trades, the Chicago Bulls embarrassed the Washington Wizards on their home floor with a 110-80 victory. Ben Gordon top scored for the Bulls with 21 points and Kirk Hinrich added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists as the defending champions won their third straight and now sit alone atop the Eastern Conference at 10-4. Brendan Haywood (19 points, 9 rebounds) and Antawn Jamison (18 points, 13 rebounds) did most of the damage for the Wizards, who looked listless throughout most of the game.

It did not help matters than star point guard Gilbert Arenas played just 20 minutes due to early foul trouble. Even while on the floor, the man who dubbed himself Agent Zero did not have much of an impact, shooting a dismal 2/8 from the field and tallying just four points to go along with two assists. Normally outspoken, Arenas was noticeably subdued after the game, merely commenting "It wasn't my night".

The game was competitive through the first quarter and the Wizards held two and three point leads during the first six minutes of the game, but fell victim to hard-nosed defense and hot shooting in the second quarter as the Bulls opened up a sixteen point lead. Washington struggled throughout the game from the charity stripe and beyond the three point arc, connecting on just 6/15 free throw attempts and coming up empty from downtown with an uncharacteristic 0/11 on threes. In contrast, the Bulls were a scorching 26/28 on free throws and shot 4/15 from three point range.

Washington would not fare much better in the second half, which was littered with bad shot attempts and defensive errors, including fouls on three point attempts by Gordon and Hinrich who each knocked down all three free throws on the play. Chicago's starters sat the entire fourth quarter while the team ran with a makeshift lineup of Shawn Kemp, Steve Smith, Matt Carroll and Eddie Gill. Smith, Carroll and Gill all made their season debut in the game with Smith scoring a surprising 14 points in 20 minutes, knocking down two three pointers while grabbing four rebounds. Kemp also put in a solid performance with 13 points and 6 rebounds.

"I'm ashamed of our effort tonight," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said of the game. "They came in with only ten guys but they showed up to play. We didn't. (Arenas) being in foul trouble didn't help, but we were just going through the motions out there. It's not good enough." The Wizards now trail the Magic in the Southeast Division and are currently in fifth place in the East.

Current Record: 10-4
Next Opponent: Charlotte Bobcats; 5-11 (December 1st)

[Kenny]

Wow, I can't believe you kept Agent Zero to 4 points in an NBA Live game... some mighty fine defense there

[Andrew]

Thanks. Yeah he was really quiet, to put it into perspective Eddie Gill had a better game than him! The foul trouble certainly helped.

December 1st, 2006
Chicago (121) at Charlotte (106)
New Bulls impressive in victory over Bobcats
[ Boxscore ]

Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Mike James didn't take long to settle in with their new teammates. Boozer contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Korver scored 15 points of his own and James handed out nine assists in just fourteen minutes as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 121-106 for their fourth straight victory. Ben Gordon and Tyson Chandler top scored for the Bulls with 20 points apiece, while Gordon also tallied 7 assists.

The Bulls got off to a hot start, hitting their first seven field goals and opening up a 17-6 lead. In that would become a trend for the night however, the resilient Bobcats battled their way back into the game behind the trio of Emeka Okafor and rookies Malik Marshall and Ayeshi Tam. Okafor, who top scored for the Bobcats with 20 points, went head-to-head with Boozer and outmuscled him to throw down several emphatic dunks. Tam, the second overall pick of the Atlanta Hawks who was acquired for Raymond Felton during the offseason, scored 18 points and shot 8/19 from the field while seventh overall pick Malik Marshall scored 17 points and handed out five assists coming off the bench.

Chicago opened up a 14 point lead halfway through the second quarter but soon found themselves watching the lead dwindle as the Bobcats capitalised on a couple of unforced errors and defensive lapses, coming within two at 49-47. A late surge allowed the Bulls to stretch their lead back out to twelve by halftime but in the third quarter Charlotte once again ate into the deficit behind the strong play of Okafor, Marshall and Tam, as well as starting point guard Raul Lopez who finished with 19 points and four assists. The teams continued to trade runs through the fourth quarter before the Bulls finally pulled away for good with just over three minutes remaining.

"We're happy with the win but we could be better defensively," Kirk Hinrich said after the game. "Carlos, Kyle and Mike all played great, we shot the ball really well out there but we let them get too many easy ones." Ben Gordon agreed, while noting the contributions of his former college teammate. "Mek was a beast tonight. Carlos did a good job but we missed some rotations and didn't do a good enough job helping out with double teams." Gordon also praised the low post presence that Boozer provided. "I can already see he's going to make it a lot easier for us on the perimeter, with the attention he draws." The Bulls, struggling from three point land as of late, were 8/16 from downtown in tonight's game with Gordon making 2/5, Korver 3/7 and Hinrich 3/3. Hinrich also handed out 11 assists in the win.

Notes: Gerald Wallace sat out the game as he continues to rest his injured knee but may return to action soon. Jermaine Jones started in his place...seven players scored in double digits for the Bulls (Gordon, Chandler, Boozer, Hinrich, Korver, Deng, Collison) compared to five for the Bobcats (Okafor, Lopez, Tam, Marshall, Jones)...Charlotte won the battle on the boards 39-33 including 15 offensive rebounds to Chicago's 11...the Bulls tallied 37 assists compared to 23 by the Bobcats.

Current Record: 11-4
Next Opponent: Atlanta Hawks; 8-8 (December 2nd)

[Phil89]

Great debut by Boozer Those last 2 games were much easier it seems.

[Andrew]

The Wizards game certainly was, though the Bobcats game was a bit more challenging than I anticipated and a bit more competitive than the final score suggests. The way they kept coming back - pleasing enough, quite realistically and not the usual comeback logic takeover - I was a bit concerned I was going to falter long enough to really give them a chance in the fourth. Fortunately, I pulled it out.

[Clutch]

love the new starting 5 espec. the front court rotation ... Collison's definitely a key asset for your squad... how old is Kemp in your dynasty? still seems able to make the most of his minutes whenever he hits the floor

[Axel The Great]

Nice two wins against the Wizards and the 'Cats. The game against Charlotte sounded like a tough one, and the trades seemed to work to your advantage. Try to increase that winning streak!

[Andrew]

love the new starting 5 espec. the front court rotation ... Collison's definitely a key asset for your squad... how old is Kemp in your dynasty? still seems able to make the most of his minutes whenever he hits the floor

Thanks, I'm liking it too. Collison's play in the two games leading up to the trade is another reason I was willing to pull the trigger as I could see him being productive without playing starter minutes, backing up Boozer and also Chandler when needed. Kemp would have just turned 37 in my Dynasty, as his birthday is November 26th (born in 1969).

Nice two wins against the Wizards and the 'Cats. The game against Charlotte sounded like a tough one, and the trades seemed to work to your advantage. Try to increase that winning streak!

That's certainly the intention. If it's getting too easy I'll have to adjust the sliders but hopefully a combination of the comeback logic, Superstar difficulty and a combination of complacency and pressure on my part will make it more difficult as I go along. I'd like to challenge myself to set a few franchise records as you did, with four losses already 72-10 is safe I'd say but perhaps some other noteworthy achievements can be equaled or bested along the way.

[Andrew]

December 2nd, 2006
Chicago (113) at Atlanta (87)
Bulls crush Hawks behind team effort
[ Boxscore ]

Nine Bulls scored in double figures with no Bull playing over 27 minutes as Chicago picked up their fifth straight win against the Atlanta Hawks. Carlos Boozer top scored with 16 points and added 10 rebounds while Ben Gordon balanced out a quiet 11 points with 10 assists. Mike James scored a season high 14 points, while shooting 4/5 from downtown. Joe Johnson led all scorers with 21 points for the Hawks, who fell to 8-9 with the loss.

For the second straight game, Chicago blazed out with a quick start, making their first six field goals and sharing the ball at the offensive end on route to a 16-4 run. Atlanta would rebound and come within eight before a three by Korver allowed the Bulls to extend the lead back to eleven. Chicago would lead by as many as eighteen during the second quarter but a spectacular dunk by Josh Smith spurred a run for the Hawks at the beginning of the third quarter that briefly threatened to erase the deficit. The run was short lived however as the Bulls outscored the Hawks 31-20 in the third before resting their starters from the ten minute mark of the fourth, cruising to an easy victory.

"We were much happier with our effort at the defensive end," Kirk Hinrich commented after the game. "Last night we let the Bobcats back into the game a few times, we were determined not to let it happen again tonight." Hinrich finished the night with 14 points and 6 assists, playing only 21 minutes due to foul trouble in the third quarter.

Notes: The Bulls tallied 36 assists, doubling the total by the Hawks...every player on the Bulls scored and played at least 11 minutes...Chicago made all nine of their free throws...former Bull Jannero Pargo scored 7 points against his old team but was 0/3 from downtown.

Current Record: 12-4
Next Opponent: Oklahoma City Thunder; 8-8 (December 4th)

[Phil89]

9 players scoring in double figures surely is the definition of team effort.

Boozer and Gordon lead the way nicely.

[Andrew]

Yeah it was a fun game, though definitely a bit easy. I think the challenge will pick up when I play some higher rated teams that are producing better records, if not I'll have to look at tweaking the sliders a bit more to increase the difficulty. Getting nine players in double figures wasn't something I set out to do (well, I kind of did once I noticed Ellis and Collison were both on eight points and would make the nine but otherwise it happened fairly naturally).

[Martti.]

Really nice job distributing the ball and a great bench effort.

[George7]

Nice job and a pretty good game from you especially on the sharing the ball part.
Especially the fact that all players scored and as it seems BG and Boozer will be the leaders on this.double double for both of them

I'm pretty intrigued by the possibility of making a Bulls dynasty by myself too on live 08.

[Phil89]

(well, I kind of did once I noticed Ellis and Collison were both on eight points and would make the nine but otherwise it happened fairly naturally).

I do that sometimes

[Andrew]

Thanks for checking in guys. As I said that last game was a lot of fun, I'm glad I made those trades to shake up my roster and sculpt it into one I enjoy playing with.

December 4th, 2006
Lewis scores 50, but Bulls win in blowout
[ Boxscore ]

Rashard Lewis poured in 50 points, but it wasn't enough to avoid a blowout loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. Trailing by 30 points for most of the second half, the Oklahoma City Thunder salvaged some dignity with a fourth quarter run but ultimately could not overcome a spectacular first half by the Bulls, in which Ben Gordon scored 19 of his team high 20 points and handed out all nine of his assists.

The Bulls were red hot in the first half, shooting an incredible 73.8% from the field including 71.4% from three point range and 87.5% from the free throw line, holding a dominating 74-46 lead by the halftime break. Although Rashard Lewis would score 21 points in the first half in an attempt to cut into the lead, the Bulls swarming team defense held the Thunder to just 19 second quarter points and triggered several fast breaks. The lead would balloon to as much as 32 before the Bulls benched their starters for good and Lewis' hot shooting helped the Thunder cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter.

"It's a good thing they cooled off a little in the second half," Thunder coach Bob Hill noted. "If they'd kept raining threes, they would've won by fifty. This is a night we'd like to forget." The Bulls were 5/7 from downtown in the first half but struggled in the second despite getting several good looks, shooting 3/10 from long range in the third quarter and a quiet 1/9 in the fourth. "It's a bit concerning," admitted Kyle Korver, who finished the night 3/10 from beyond the arc. "We got the win tonight but we won't always have leads like that. We got some great looks but they weren't falling for us in the second half. I think perhaps we got a bit too excited."

Chicago now owns a six game winning streak, having won the last four games in impressive fashion. "We're on a roll right now. Everyone's having a good time and all the new guys are fitting in really well," said Gordon after the game. "But it's a long season and we know we'll be in for some tough nights. Right now, we can't wait to get back home." The Bulls' next home game will be December 9th against the Atlanta Hawks. They complete their seven game road trip in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Notes: Oklahoma City made 7/7 free throws. The Bulls were 17/21 from the free throw line...Rashard Lewis' 50 points is the most by a Bulls' opponent this season...seven Bulls scored in double figures compared to three for the Thunder...both teams grabbed 38 rebounds, though the Thunder outrebounded the Bulls on the offensive glass 13-9.



Tyson Chandler sends back Ray Allen's layup attempt

Current Record: 13-4
Next Game: @ Cleveland Cavaliers; 7-11 (December 6th)

Even though I picked up the win, the second half was kind of frustrating as my three point shooting percentage dropped like a stone. I was getting a lot of open shots too, even using the Shooter FSS but the game was being pretty unkind as the comeback logic was half kicking in. A bit frustrating but I know I rushed at least a few of them. Still should've finished with a better percentage, I was robbed on some of the attempts. But again, I got the win so can't complain too much I guess.

[George7]

Nice with there. So the story was generally something like a Bulls vs Lewis game?

[Martti.]

Shard is like D-Wade during the 08-09 season against the Magic, scoring 50 in a 20+ losing effort.

Nice that you're not afraid to bomb with Korver.

[[Hyperize]]

Nice job getting all of the reserves involved in that last win. Blowouts are always a good way to increase the averages. Ray Allen was awful for the Thunder though, and he just doesn't look right in that jersey. I'll be looking forward to see how you do against the Cavs.

[Axel The Great]

This game was a 2010 NBA Finals for Ray Allen. Nice job picking up the win , though bricked three's were frustrating you. I sometimes feel that the game is against me when I brick a bunch of three's in Live 10, but yet I'm still the leader among 3pt% among all teams in my dynasty. Keep the winning streak alive!

[Clutch]

seems Heir Gordon has really learned how to draw multiple defenders and kick it out to the open man... awesome win