Thursday 5/10

Chicago v Detroit (Pistons up 3-0) – The Bulls gave it a valiant effort in Game 3, but did not have enough for Detroit in the end. After racing out to a 44-28 halftime lead, Chicago fell apart in the second half getting outscored 53-30. Included in that was a 32-17 meltdown in the 3rd quarter capped by a Rasheed Wallace 3-pointer at the buzzer that cut the Bulls lead to one. Game over. Chicago shot a miserable 10-41 (24.39%) in the second half and an unfathomable 4-25 (16%) in the 4th quarter. You can call that good Piston D, but the Bulls were also playing with their hands around their throats.

I didn’t think it was possible to play three consecutive games in the post season with your head completely up your arse, but Kirk Hinrich has proved me wrong. The “Captain” has been plain old awful in this series. At first glance his numbers don’t look that bad (10 points, 6.7 assists & 7 rebounds), but they do not tell the entire tale. Hinrich has not only completely lost his confidence, but he also seems befuddled at how to deal with the pressure that goes with the second round of the playoffs. He was so bad last night that my estimation of him as a player dropped a notch or two. Seriously, he played scared.

I know I just took it out mostly on Kirk (shooting 41.4% for the series), but Ben Gordon (28.1%), Luol Deng (38%) and Andres Nocioni (32%) have been equally out classed by Detroit as well. Those are arguably Chicago’s four best players too, which explains the Bulls struggles to contend with the Pistons. Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and Sheed have absolutely owned their individual matchups with Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Noch and P.J. Brown/Tyrus Thomas respectively. That’s why Chicago GM John Paxson has some tough decisions to make this summer. Pax can either keep this group together and hope they improve with experience while at the same time age takes its toll on Detroit’s core. Or he can get proactive and try to land someone like…say…Pau Gasol. D’oh!