Going Upstairs: Quick Reactions to Christmas Day

I spent Christmas with the (future) in-laws, so I wasn't able to watch the early games and had only one eye on the Bulls game. I'll offer my quick thoughts on the Bulls win here...

Positives:

Obviously, Derrick Rose's clutchness. I love his confidence, taking it in for a score as soon as he saw Derek Fisher was guarding him. He was composed, took his time, and delivered another memorable moment. It's great that in his first game back, Derrick reminds us why we love him and gives us something to talk about already.

Luol Deng's defense on Kobe Bryant. Kobe had a great game (more below), but in the final minute when they needed stops, Deng did an outstanding job of making Bryant work for his shots. He also delivered both the key steal (even if he traveled right afterwards) and the key block at the end.


The way the Bulls closed the game. That's exactly what we saw Miami do to the Bulls in the Conference Finals: finishing off a team they were better than after playing poorly most of the game. The way they cracked down on defense and executed on offense when it mattered showed how great of a team they are. Now it needs to translate to the playoffs.

Negatives:

The second unit's offense. This was a problem last season, and looks like it will be again this year. With the Bulls starting unit being so strong, it's usually okay for the Bench Mob to play the opponent to a draw, but the Lakers' three-point shooting made that difficult.

Third quarter swoon. Coming out of halftime has been a problem for Bulls teams in the past, and we saw it again tonight, although a lot of that also had to do with the bench scoring.

Derrick Rose's zero free throw attempts. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but Derrick needs to get to the free throw line. It's the most efficient way to score and shows that he's attacking the basket. However, I'm willing to give him a pass tonight because he made 4-6 threes and was 9-13 overall, still giving him an efficient night.

Another note: I'm predicting a monster season from Kobe Bryant. He's made it clear that he's not happy with the roster the Lakers have constructed around him, and you could see it on his face during the game. Think about it, seven of the nine players in the Lakers rotation are Derek Fisher, Devin Ebanks, Josh McRoberts, Metta World Peace (ha!), Troy Murphy, Steve Blake, and Andrew Goudeloeocialdkcjlsdfaljc. Would ANY of those players play more a single minute on the Bulls? But I also think he'll see it as an opportunity to lead take over as the true alpha-male now that Phil Jackson is gone (the Lakers were always Phil's team first).  He always wanted to carry a team on his back the way Michael did in 1998, and this might be his final opportunity.