Granger comments on Bulls...Pacer match ups

by Real Talk on Apr 12, 2011 1:46 PM EDT

Just shows that he'd rather deal with Deng than Paul Pierce....lord knows Danny Granger gets destroyed on the regular by the leagues elite wing players. Obviously Granger won't be guarding Derrick Rose when we play the Bulls. By the way, Luol Deng is no slouch either. Roy Hibbert has no chance to hedge the pic n roll vs. the Bulls and will likely find himself on the bench early and often. Vogel should make a bold move and start Jeff Foster! Have Hibbert play with the 2nd unit when Rose is out of the game. Also, I would pair Josh McRoberts and Tyler Hansbrough at 4 and 5 for a stretch. Don't put Collison on D. Rose, that is a very bad match up for the Pacers and leads to early foul trouble for Collison and our bigs when Rose attacks the rim. Let PG, Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush take turns guarding him. Playing time for those guys should depend on their defense. We need Darren Collison fresh and focused on attacking the Bulls defense. DC needs to see 35+ mpg this series. Mike Dunleavy needs to play extended minutes at the 3. At times Dunleavy is better for our team offense than Granger as he knows his limitations and doesn't try to do too much, plus he MAKES SHOTS! We can't afford to see Danny take 20+ shots on a bad shooting night. He's not Kobe Bryant. If Granger can't find his stroke then go with Mike Dunleavy. Competing with the Bulls is going to take a total team effort. I hope Frank Vogel doesn't just stick to a blind rotation. Play guys based on strategic match ups. It's time to see certain guys playing 40+ mins and other guys playing very limited minutes if need be. This is it!

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Playoff Experience

I think is why Danny said he would rather play the Bulls and I think it’s a valid argument. This current Bulls team hasn’t won a playoff series which is a big deal especially when comparing them to the Celtics. Now that being said, I still don’t think we win the series, but I think all the Bulls fans and media should be cautious. It seems like most have them coasting to the Eastern Conference Finals, but I don’t think their road will be that easy. I also think starting Foster would be terrible. Roy’s confidence would be shattered by a benching, also getting him going early is key for him having a good game. No one is stopping Rose, throw everyone you have at him to try to limit the damage.

by donnyfher on Apr 12, 2011 2:30 PM EDT reply actions

I agree to an extent

Maybe pulling Roy early is a better idea than not starting him. Pull him out at the 6 min mark and reinsert him at the beginning of the 2nd qtr when the bulls have their reserves in. play DC and Danny 40 mins plus if they’re playing well…rest isn’t a concern at this point. If Danny isn’t making shots, go with Mike early. A combination of Danny and Mike in the 2nd qtr vs their 2nd unit would go well also. We have to stay away from predictable line ups. Starts who are playing well need to play extended minutes. Game 1 is basically our game 7. if we win then we might have a chance the rest of the series.

by Real Talk on Apr 12, 2011 2:36 PM EDT reply actions

A McBob/Hansbrough frontcourt hasn't faired well.

I don’t think you change the starting lineup in the playoffs, short of injury. I don’t think moving DC to play a bigger guard is better, I’d rather we double Rose to get the ball out of his hands and force others to make the plays. A poster in a separate post made the comment that we should play zone defense. I really hate zone, but if an article that IndyPacers posted holds any value then playing a zone, in theory, would be ideal. Since they apparently stink at hitting spot up jump shots. Also, I feel like you can’t exactly tell your best scorer not to shoot, I think you just try to get him to avoid the jump shot and drive to the basket in attempt to acquire some freebies.

by infinityzero.systemerror on Apr 12, 2011 2:44 PM EDT reply actions

I thought in the last game against Detroit we did a really good job of hiding Collison and keeping him off McGrady when McGrady was running the point. Whatever defense we were running seemed to work pretty well, maybe we do something similar against Rose. Although Detroit didn’t seem like they cared about winning that game and for some reason they weren’t posting up DC every time down the court. He did play some decent defense on Hamilton when he got it on the wing though. That game was a while ago though, I just remember Collison had a really good game which surprised me because Detroit had caused problems for him all year. And Danny has been playing much better lately. I expect him to be aggressive in the playoffs and not settle for jumpers.

by donnyfher on Apr 12, 2011 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions

That's a nice theory.

However, Detroit is not Chicago and McGrady is not Rose. I’d be very happy and surprised if it worked though.

by infinityzero.systemerror on Apr 12, 2011 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions

he was...

RIP TMac

by mast on Apr 13, 2011 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree with the zone

We have to mix it up, sometimes double team, sometimes zone, sometimes strait up. But we can’t allow rose to get in a groove and hope we can eventually stop him. We can’t stop him. We have to force him to play out of character. I like the idea of zone the more I write this response…if the bulls beat us with 3s then so be it, at least we made them play out of character.

by Real Talk on Apr 12, 2011 2:49 PM EDT reply actions

Only problem is...

I don’t know if our team has ever played an effective zone.

by infinityzero.systemerror on Apr 12, 2011 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

D ROSE IS A NIGHTMARE

He drives hard, draw fouls, makes free throws, hits 3s, finds open man, play defense. That guy can win a game by himself. he had 43 against us and we barely won in overtime because he fouled out. Without slowing him down we don’t have a chance. in the game we won the Bulls didn’t have Boozer…this could be a competitive series but I wouldn’t be surprised if its a sweep. Just way too much to overcome at every position. I see match up problems 1-5.

by Real Talk on Apr 12, 2011 3:01 PM EDT reply actions

High scoring game

looking at the past games we played vs Bulls, are best chances are to make it a high scoring uptempo game

by Real Talk on Apr 12, 2011 3:57 PM EDT reply actions

My plan for the Bulls:

Dahntay on Rose
Duns & Josh run the point.
Collison comes in for the second unit with Pauly George the primary option.
Roy plays 40 + mins.
Stephenson gets a run out.

I literally cannot see how this could fail!

by Benajamin38 on Apr 13, 2011 7:09 AM EDT reply actions

SMDH....

What? How else will these other guys get good shots? We need DC in the game to run the offense. DC needs to play extended minutes WITH the 2nd unit instead of playing AJ so much. Limit AJ to 4 mins per half. Stephenson can’t help this team win right now. At this point in his career, he’s at his best when he’s wearing a nice suit. Who’s going to hedge the screen n roll if Roy plays 40 + mins. Sorry sir, you don’t understand basketball…good day.

by Real Talk on Apr 13, 2011 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions

by infinityzero.systemerror on Apr 15, 2011 6:18 AM EDT up reply actions

.....

I like the idea of starting Jones to guard Rose. Dunleavy and George is good fire power off the bench, plus PG can have his turn guarding Rose. Rush needs to plays also.

by Real Talk on Apr 13, 2011 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions