Tuesday Nite Recap & Analysis

Pistons (1) vs. Bulls (5): Bulls 108, Pistons 92 (Game 5)

- This game was about total domination by the Bulls on both ends of the floor. They came out on fire, and never reallly cooled off. Their off. execution was crisp thru-out, and they just could not miss their jumpers. When the Bulls jumpers are on like this, they are tough to beat.

- Mentioned before when Gordon gets hot, he gets as deadly hot (NBA JAM-Hot) as any player in the NBA; he can just chuck up any type of shot he wants, it will find the bottom of the net. Ben broke out from his series-long funk for 28 on 10/16, 5/6 from 3pt. Ben had been shooting 30% & 5/15 from 3pt for the first 4 games of this series. Deng was just as automatic as Ben--Luol shot 8/13 for 20, 7 rebs, 4 assts & 2 blks.

- Hinrich did his best Nash Jr. routine by keeping his dribble alive creating great looks for himself or his teammates--Kirk had 17 & 13 assts.. He flashed some of this Nash-like ability last year, but he has never consistently put it together this year. Even PJ Brown could not miss his jumper--7/9 for 15 & 8 rebs for PJ. Ty Thomas' athleticism was a great spark off the bench again--Ty had 10 (5/7), 6 rebs, & 5 stls.

- The Bulls were a lethal 57% from the field and finally got something going from long-range--10/16 from 3pt. The Bulls had been shooting 26% from 3pt for Game 1-4. The defense was excellent, extremely active & great help rotations all game. They closed off the lane well & contested shots all game. They were just so much quicker than the Pistons on both ends.

- No one for the Pistons really deserved much praise for this game. Billups was probably the only Piston of note with 17, 6 assts, & 3/7 from 3pt, but he never could get into a good groove because he was sidled with fouls in the 2nd half. And I don't think the PIstons or anyone can make the excuse that they went thru the motions in Game 5. Even if they were focused to hilt, they were not beating the Bulls with the way they were stroking like this. And I'm sure Detroit did not want a return trip to Chicago, they wanted Game 5, they were just whupped thoroughly.


Jazz (4) vs. Warriors (8): Jazz 100, Warriors 97 (Game 5)

- Similar script to Game 4 where the Jazz let G-State stick around because of numerous TOs, then the Jazz hit some big perimeter jumpers to seal the deal, while the Warriors' lack of discipline burned them late in the game

- Kirilenko finished off the series where he regained his old swagger with another terrific effort on both ends of the floor. He was non-stop motion on both ends of the floor to end with 21 (8/12), 15 rebs (6 off), & 3 stls. Another Jazz who stepped up his play in this series, Fisher, was huge in Game 5. DFisher might have been the key to Utah's win. He hit some big 3s in th 4th quarter, not to mention dove on the floor to secure a loose ball in the 4th to squelch a Warriors' rally. His individual defense on Baron was as good as you can ask; he did another good job staying in front of Baron as much as possible. Utah's duo of bruising power forwards continued to be too much beef for the undersized Warriors to deal with. Boozer & Millsap combined for 26 rebs (10 off), and basically just did this by mowing thru Warriors in the painted area.

- Jazz pounded the Warriors on the boards one last time--59 to 35, not to mention 20 off. rebs for Utah. Get this--the Warriors were outrebounded by 19.6 rpg & had a 58% Def. Reb Pct. for the series. That's dandy. Said before, you want to play downsized, smallball or whatever you want call it, you will more than likely get burned on the boards.

- This game could have been a lot easier for the Jazz if they just could have taken care of the ball. They could have been up by double figures for much of the 2nd half if they just count down on the turnovers. Just like every game in this series, the Jazz had over 20 TOs (25 in Game 5). The Jazz averaged 23 TOs per game in this series.

- Just like Game 4, G-State's lack of offensive discretion got them into trouble down the stretch. Warriors kept on jacking shots from anywhere, anytime even though they weren't falling. G-State threw up 30 3pt attempts, but only 6 connected. Baron, JRich, & Steve Jack all shot 1/7 from 3pt. 2nd game in a row where Baron & JRich came back to reality after playing above their means for most of the playoffs--they combined for 10/28 overall & 2/14 from 3pt. Steve Jackson was once again a microcosm of G-State's dubious decision making: Jack was 3/17 from the floor.

- G-State's zone was pretty effective for most of the game and kept the Jazz from living in the lane. Not sure why Nellie did not stick with his straight zone for more of the series. Once again the Warriors forced a boatload TOs--they had 16 steals--which kept them in the game while they were giving up a ton of off. boards.

- No doubt the Warriors need to get some frontcourt help, pronto. Someone 6-10 or bigger who can rebound and provide some post defense should do the trick. They might have to make a decision on thinning out the backcourt situation. They have a lot of talented scoring threats who could be fighting for minutes the next few years, and you can easily see some contention building in the locker room with some of the strong personalities. I would try to move Steve Jackson first since I think he's more trouble than he's worth, but he might be hard to pawn off on another team. If they could sucker some team into Foyle's contract, you do it toot-sweet. They have to make a call on re-signing Matt Barnes. But he might have driven up his price a little too high with his strong post-season play. If it was me, I would try to keep Barnes & dump Jackson.