Holmes' Morning After Blog: Thursday Edition
By Laurence W. Holmes
CHICAGO (WSCR) Call it 'Mission Accomplished' for the Miami Heat. They wrestled away homecourt advantage. Wednesday night 2 > 10. Many people will spend the next few days telling you that the Bulls beat themselves. They'll tell you that the referees took the game away from the Bulls or that it was just a bad shooting night. Don't listen to them because they're wrong.
Yes, the Bulls did have a bad shooting night (34% FG, 61% FT), but that's because they were directly affected by Miami playing stifling on-the-ball defense. The Heat contested shots and made the Bulls work for points. Don't forget that Miami was one of the better defensive teams in the NBA and they showed it in Game 2. Their rotations were more decisive and their individual man defense was more inspired. Because the Bulls had to work, it led to tired legs and tired legs leads to missed shots. Yes, even from the free throw line.
The Bulls were outscored 13-2 down the stretch and didn't deserve to win. Ten points in the fourth quarter isn't going to get it done. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade went to the basket and it led to a lot of points in the paint. The Heat won the hustle stat, out-rebounding the Bulls 45-41 and even though the 'Bench Mob' outscored Miami, Udonis Haslem had the biggest impact of any reserves, scoring 13 points and snagging three offensive rebounds.
My advice to Bulls fans is this: don't make excuses, quit crying, tip your cap and get ready for Game 3. The Bulls are playing a team with tremendous talent that has now shown they can take a punch and counter.
-Get the milk carton out because: Kyle Korver, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah were missing for Game 2.
-In listening to the postgame I came to two conclusions: I like Erik Spoelstra, and I don't like that.
-Jake Peavy was masterful for the Sox last night. It was fun flipping over during halftime and timeouts of the Bulls game to watch him work. His fastball was still topping out at 94 mph in the ninth inning, but I was more impressed with his off-speed stuff. In the eighth, he got a two-strike count on Shelly Duncan. He dropped down 3/4 and flipped an 81mph pitch that buckled Duncan's knees for a strikeout. It was NASTY!
-Sox pitchers can learn something from Peavy when it comes to dealing with baserunners. Peavy varies motions to the plate and length of time he holds the ball. He makes it really hard for runners to get a read for how and when he's going to the plate.
-It's a little scary that Brent Lillibridge has been the Sox best outfielder.
-I love to watch Carlos Marmol pitch. The scary thing is that the before last night, the Cubs closer didn't have a save opportunity since May 3rd.
We'll breakdown what happened to the Bulls and talk about the Sox winning eight of 12 tonight when we hit the air at 6:00 p.m. Follow me on twitter @lholmes670
