Since Oprah is more powerful than basically any person or any entity, today’s column is the Game 2 preview instead of the Game 2 recap.
As much as people have been making a joke out of this topic, Heat forward Lebron James offered some good perspective.
“She’s [Oprah] very important. Not only to the world, but to this city. We’ll take a back seat to Oprah. We don’t have a problem with that.
Now that the Oprah angle has been exhausted, let’s move on to basketball.
By: Brian McCabe
Game 1 was something of a back-and-forth affair until the basketball fans outside of Chicago were introduced to Taj Gibson. The poster-izing of Dwyane Wade has been seen far and wide on the internet, and the one-handed rebound slam was simply ridiculous. Even some of his teammates were in awe.
“He was a monster last night,” Carlos Boozer said. “He’s been a monster all season long for us. The two dunks he had were inspiring.”
In a more even-keel approach, Joakim Noah added, “They are very nice dunks. They were very nice.”
Gibson’s rebound dunk is a great example of why the Bulls won Sunday night’s game going away. Rebounds.
The Bulls dominated the Heat on the glass and out-rebounded them 45-33. However, it was more than just rebounding. It was the second-chance opportunities the rebounds created. This is why the Bulls won, and this is what the Heat will need to improve upon in order to have a better chance Wednesday night.
Lebron James said, “ We can’t give a team like that second-chance points.”
Dwayne Wade agreed by saying, “We have to get better second-chance effort. There’s not going to be one guy getting 13, 14 rebounds. We all have to chip in and box guys out.
However, Miami has to decide if it was simply a team effort or their decision to go small and not play Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Eric Dampier. Will Heat coach Erik Spoelstra make changes in game 2 or will he try the same approach and hope for a different outcome?
The Heat has to figure out a way to slow down the Bulls on the glass or they will most likely face the same fate in game 2. Derrick Rose’s ability to drive the lane and draw more defenders gives the Bulls a greater chance to pull in offensive boards that lead to second-chance points.
The Bulls know how important it is to keep up the effort.
Noah said, “We have some very good rebounders. I think that our guards do a good job rebounding as well. We understand that winning the rebounding battle is important for winning basketball games. “
The Bulls approach has been created by a season-long commitment to defense and effort.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, “They build the right habits. They play hard and they play for each other.
“Everybody is crashing. They are going to make sure they put bodies on people. WE have to try hard. We’ve been doing this the whole season. So guys on our team, we just try hard to go out there and be together, have Joakim and Booze on the rebounding side,” Rose said.
The Bulls started this season outside of the conversation about the best of the best, but they are definitely in the heart of it now. That might worry some, but this team is focused and appears able to handle it all, no matter how popular they have become.
“We’ve been the underdog all season. We didn’t have this many cameras during the training camp or during the season,” Boozer said. “We’re used to that role.”
Results might change from game to game, but the effort from the Bulls remains the same. Count on seeing the same intensity the rest of the series. It would behoove Miami to be prepared for this. You know, if they want a chance to win.
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