Gill: Can't Play Boozer In Critical Times
(WSCR) Since he signed a five-year, $80 million deal before the start of the 2010-11 season, Carlos Boozer's defense has been a liability for the Bulls.
One NBA expert said it's gotten so bad the Bulls are now forced to sit Boozer in key moments.
"I don't know if you can play Carlos Boozer in critical times when you need stops," Kendall Gill of Comcast Sportsnet told The Mully and Hanley Show. "I don't know what it is with Carlos. I love him when his offense is clicking, but if his offense isn't clicking, then, really, on the defensive end, he becomes a liability to you. This is not anything new. We saw this last year, especially in the series against Miami."
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As evidenced by the Bulls' loss to the Heat on Sunday night, they will need Boozer to step up his intensity on defense if they have any desires of beating the Heat in the playoffs.
"You cannot continue to play like this defensively if you're going to get past the Miami Heat, if you're going to win a championship," Gill said. "I said I was going to relax on my comments (about Boozer) until I saw his teammates reactions. Well, I saw his teammates reactions last night on defensive lapses by Carlos.
"This was true when I played -- If you have four guys out there busting their butts and that fifth guy doesn't rotate, and you've played a hard defensive series and all he needs to do is rotate and you stop that basket. That gives your team confidence, it builds your teammates confidence in you. (But) if that continues to happen where you don't come over and stop the other guy, your teammates lose confidence in you."
