The Chicago Bulls lack of a true low post threat in terms of scoring and rebounding is something I believe will haunt them all year long. Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum had 26 rebounds between the two of them. The majority of their rebounds were defensive rebounds as well. Meaning the Bulls did the same thing they have done all year long...taking one shot and dropping back on defense. No second chance points. No extended offensive strikes. The entire Bulls team had 41 boards and all but 7 were defensive boards. Ben Wallace, our supposed defense and rebounding guy had 5 boards. Yes thats right, 5.
On a night hyped by the Kobe fiasco at the beginning of the season, the Bulls at least looked better than the last time they played the Lakers. But even with that it was pretty apparent that they are missing something. While they were close for some good stretches of the game, they still have not reached consistency yet. It is good to see Andres Nocioni playing as well as he has been playing. And the field goal percentage has started to creep its way back up. So there is some true potential.
While I will remain an optimist about their true potential, it still seems like they need something. And that really means someone to really rebound consistently and someone who can score those easy buckets to help alleviate the need to shoot 20 ft jump shots and hope they go in consistently. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they are trying to find someone of that ilk. So I'll keep watching and we'll see what happens.
Keywords: Andres Nocioni, Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant, Lakers
