Game Preview #43: Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs - PtR Gets Together
by Tim C. on Jan 24, 2010 10:56 PM CST
in Game Previews
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PrintSo tonight is the big PtR meet-up, with LatinD actually being in the house all the way from Argentina with his supposedly terrible spoken English(which is actually pretty good, compared to the cast of Jersey Shore). And all who attend will bear witness to Wayne's shiny bald dome. To those of you who will be at the game, have fun. From those of us who will be riding the bus to work in Phoenix today, we really wish we could also attend, but there'll be another time. For everyone else, just hope for a Spurs win.
For those of you who are in or near San Antonio, LatinD and Wayne will be at Rosario's on S Alamo St at 3:00pm today - meet up there, and head to the game later. Hell, you should meet up there even if you're not going to the game.
First, something that has nothing to do with anything... OK fine, when we're talking about "bulls" and "spurs", maybe it isn't too weird for the term "vaquero" (cowboy) to come to mind. Plus, I love this band... enjoy.
 Chicago Bulls @ San Antonio Spurs Where: AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX When: January 25, 2010, 7:30 PM Spurs time Watch: FSNSW (SA), Comcast Sports (Chicago)
How They Stack Up
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Matchups
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 Tony Parker Needs Rest |
Point Guard Tony is definitely hurting, but he wasn't the reason we lost the best game. In fact, he was even playing better defense than most of his teammates, which is rather unusual for Tony. Last year's ROY needs better teammates, and the Bulls FO might just help him out with that this summer. Advantage: Tied |
 Derrick Rose Needs Teammates |
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 Manu Ginobili The Sickness |
Shooting Guard These players have some similarities, mostly in the fact that they are both absolute pests on defense. But Manu's definitely the more creative player on offense, giving him the edge. Advantage: Spurs |
 Kirk Hinrich Low-rent Manu |
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 Richard Jefferson Hasn't been working |
Small Forward Not much explanation needed here. Deng has been consistently good this season. RJ? Not so much. I've defended him up until recently - it's time to come through for your new team, Rage. Advantage: Bulls |
 Luol Deng Works for them |
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 Tim Duncan Over 20,000 points |
Power Forward Gibson is the only rookie big men who has looked as good as Blair, and absolutely deserves to be the Beast's frontcourt partner in the rookie game. Being a rookie, there was no photo available on Yahoo, so it's from ESPN. Timmeh is still better than anyone the Bulls can throw at him. Advantage: Spurs |
 Taj Gibson Blair's rookie game running mate |
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 DeJuan Blair The Beast |
Center I love Noah's game - he's the consummate hustle player, and is second the league in rebounding. In fact, even his rebound rate is better than DeJuan's, if only just barely, and the same thing applies to his defense. Blair's a little better at scoring, however, which makes this pretty much a tossup. Advantage: Tied |
 Joakim Noah Rebounding Machine |
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 George Hill Now starting |
Bench & Role Players Chicago's bench is pretty decent, but they're definitely not the BAM. Dice needs to bring it tonight, especially if he's matched up with Miller. Advantage: Spurs |
 Brad Miller Still pretty good |
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 Gregg Popovich Bring back the Beard |
CoachThis one shouldn't need explanation. I love Vinny from his days as a Spur, but even the less-than-perfect job Pop is doing this season is much better than Vinny's coaching. Advantage: Spurs |
 Vinny Del Negro Still has a job |
| images via yahoo.com | ||
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Other Factors
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Intangibles |
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The Spurs are at home, which doesn't mean shit lately. Advantage: Nobody |
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Mojo |
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Guess what team the Bulls just beat on the road? The same one we lost to at home in our last game - Houston. However, LatinD will be in the house, along with many other PtRer's Advantage: Spurs |
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Winner: |
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PtR is in the house - if that isn't enough mojo, nothing is.
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Key To The Game
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Strength of ScheduleThis is the third game of the homestand, after two days of rest. This is the easiest opponent of the homestand, with Atlanta coming to the AT&T center on Wednesday. After the next 3 games, the rodeo road trip begins. The Bulls beat Houston on Saturday, and are in the midst of their annual Circus road trip, their equivalent of the rodeo trip. Last Time They MetThe Spurs and Bulls last played on October 28th, when the Spurs lost 92-85 in Chicago's home opener, despite an absolutely dominant performance from Timmy. |
Some Other ReadingBullsBlog a Bull - One of the first SBN hoops blogs, where you can find some great participation and stories. Spurs48 Minutes of Hell: Best damn TrueHoop affiliate out there. Always a must visit Spurs site. |
Where to Tune In
TVThis game will be aired by FSNSW in San Antonio and by Comcast Sports in Chicago. If you have cable or satellite, you'll have to look up your individual channel. And of course, there's always League Pass for the haves. For the have nots, read on. OnlineAs always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Most Spurs games will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". Or you can shoot an email asking for more assistance(with your PtR username) to poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com, and one of the admins can help you out. NBA League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out. RadioIf you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM). |
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Comments
Yes, we do need a win. I’m getting LatinD all psyched up for the game with a tour of the Alamo at noon. I think he thought it would take a whole day! Anyway, he will hear lots of legends and folklore about the place from a Texas history teacher.
Tim, Tim. Tim… tsk tsk tsk.. sometimes I worry that you’re being too harsh on RJ. Be nice to the man. He just needs time to adjust.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
And a hug. From JanieAnnie, which he got. So now he’s got what he needs.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Jan 25, 2010 8:35 AM CST up reply actions
we might be kind of harsh on RJ now – but we just might love him next year. do remember that there were some george hill doubters in the early days too (not Wayne though…..this just in).
George wasn’t paid 14 million
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Jan 25, 2010 11:14 PM CST up reply actions
Wish I could go today but its my wife’s birthday. I’ll be at the Atlanta and Memphis games though.
Have fun!
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Jan 25, 2010 6:29 AM CST reply actions
so where will the PTR section/row be tonight? are we meeting up at the AT&T somewhere before the game?
I want to go to Rosario’s but I doubt I will be able to with work and it would be kind of cruel on my dogs.
Those are some good questions. I’m not sure where we are sitting and I’m not sure what time we will be heading out of Rosario’s. Let’s just say I think it “very likely” that we will be stopping by Headliners, aka The Bud Light Courtyard, to have a drink before the game.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Jan 25, 2010 9:28 AM CST up reply actions
Not for this one.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Jan 25, 2010 11:08 AM CST up reply actions
Yes, I hope that can be a motivation buster they needed since playoffs seedings alone won’t do it.
by spursfan_needs_counseling on Jan 25, 2010 4:00 PM CST up reply actions
Noah game-time decision vs. Spurs; Rose sick
Which of these things is not like the others? 15 NBA Championships, most wins in NBA history, current NBA champions, lost by 20 to the F'ing Spurs.
You do realize that the more key Bulls players are out of the game, the more likely the Spurs are to lose, right?
The Spurs - now playing like sh*t again!
Damn, I always get confused with that Spurs mojo stuff. I think both may still play but Rose has the flu & Jokim has planer faciatias (or however you spell it).
Btw, did you guys dry out OK? (My dad lives in the local mountains and they got 5 feet of snow in their driveway – most snow in years.)
Which of these things is not like the others? 15 NBA Championships, most wins in NBA history, current NBA champions, lost by 20 to the F'ing Spurs.
Everyone has plantar faschmitis.
by silverandblack_davis on Jan 25, 2010 6:12 PM CST up reply actions
Platinum Fascist?
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Jan 26, 2010 7:14 AM CST up reply actions
Tonight is an awesome night of NBA basketball with the only complete dud game being Pacers @ Sixers. The other games are:
LAC @ BOS
CLE @ MIA
ORL @ MEM
ATL @ HOU
CHA @ DEN
PHX @ UTA
NOH @ POR
All of these teams currently think they have a shot to make the playoffs. Two west up and comers Memphis and the Clippers have tough Eastern conference games. It should be some good team losses all around the league tonight.
Hey BlaseE (or anyone who’d care to answer),
Can I ask you a real stats question about the Spurs? (Translation: No sarcasm intended in the question.)
I generally only watch nationally televised Spurs games. So the last one I saw was the Utah game and I was not watching that one too closely. But I was surprised at the pace of the game. I am used to Parker’s patented “one man fast breaks” but it seemed like the entire game was faster than I expected to see from the Spurs.
So was that game played faster than the Spurs’ usual pace? And / or has the Spurs’ pace quickened this year compared to other years?
Thanks.
Which of these things is not like the others? 15 NBA Championships, most wins in NBA history, current NBA champions, lost by 20 to the F'ing Spurs.
Actually they have been playing faster trying to run the fast break more often. Ironically there is less of those TP one man fast breaks he just doesn’t have that explosion this year.
I’m too lazy after a loss to look it up but Graydon or Wayne asked Pop about this and got burned, but wrote a real nice piece anyways. Maybe someone else can remember it and get a quick link for you. Basically, the Spurs will play as fast the opposing defense is willing to collapse or something to that effect. We don’t hold the ball in the half court for the sake of doing it.
It should be some good team losses all around the league tonight.
and then the Spurs can loose too…
by spursfan_needs_counseling on Jan 25, 2010 4:14 PM CST reply actions
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