Post by CHANGEME on Sept 29, 2007 1:00:09 GMT -5
#1 VS #4
Previous Games:
Bulls 111 - Bobcats 102 - Gordon with 32, Bulls shot 54%
Bobcats 92 - Bulls 77 - Great defensive game by Charlotte, Okafor with 30 pts.
Bulls 114 - Bobcats 88 - Hinrich 34 pts. Bulls shot 54 free throws.
Bulls 103 - Bobcats 90 - Bulls shot 50%, Hinrich with 35 pts.
KEY STATS:
Points Per Game:
- 95.0 - 97.5Points Allowed Per Game:
- 91.1 - 96.9Rebounds Per Game:
- 50.9 - 51.4Field Goal Percentage:
- .437 - .428Opponents Field Goal Percentage:
- .426 - .444: Home Record - 31-10 --- Away Record - 26-15: Home Record - 26-15 --- Away Record - 18-23 Round 1 Notes:
: Game 1 - lost 82-73 to Miami, Bulls shot miserably
Game 2 - won 95-69, held Miami to 33%
Game 3 - won 100-90, 29 from Gordon, 75% from 3-pt range
Game 4 - lost 108-96, DWade put up 52 on them
Game 5 - won 101-74 - Gordon with 37 and held Wade to 17 and Miami to 34% shooting
Game 6 - lost 110-99 - DWade with another ridiculous game, 51 pts.
Game 7 - won 101-92, DWade with 29, but Bulls were very balanced and shot well.
Looking forward:
Offensively, this team will have some struggles. Charlotte can score, but they may give up some points to the guards. The inside game will be a bloodbath with Wallace and Okafor in there.
Defensively, they showed that they can be beaten by a star having a great game. Quite frankly, Miami's balance wasn't that good, and so Charlotte will test them in that area. Can they play a good defensive game against the whole team? Can they do it without their supreme leader Ben Wallace, out with an injury?
Round 1 Notes:
: Game 1 - won 97-91 despite 40 from LeBron, showed balance
Game 2 - won 90-73 by holding LeBron to only 14 pts.
Game 3 - won 96-90, they knew they'd see more from LeBron and they handled it.
Game 4 - lost 118-111, they barely got beat when Cavs only had 4 turnovers, shot 50%
Game 5 - won 118-113 - 39 pts. from Okafor outclassed a 30-pt LeBron game
Looking forward:
Offensively, they were fairly impressive. Okafor won't be able to score as well against the defensive-minded Bulls, but he'll have more room since Ben Wallace is out. They'll have to get scoring punch from their guards, and they'll have to take care of the ball.
Defensively, this will be quite a bit different than Cleveland. I think they can generally handle the defensive matchups, but Charlotte isn't a dominant defensive team, so they have to hold down the Bulls' scorers the best they can. Okafor has to continue to be a big presence in the lane.
Key players:
The key player for the Bulls is Ben Gordon. It seems like when he really gets on a roll scoring-wise, the Bulls are able to win games with their defense and his scoring alone.
The key player for the Bobcats is Okafor. With all of the athleticism of the Bulls and shotblockers and rebounders flying around, Okafor needs to play well and fend off the Bulls now weaker interior game and allow the rest of the Bobcats to win it by stepping up scoring-wise.
SERIES PREDICTION: Bobcats win 4 games to 2. The Bulls' 57 regular season wins indicates that they are a level above here. However, the Bobcats looked really impressive in their opening series and Ben Wallace is out. I think that will be the real deciding factor since the advantage in the paint goes to the Bobcats now.
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