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 “It just works.” That’s what power forward Carlos Boozer had to say Monday about Tom Thibodeau’s defensive philosophy, following a dominating defensive display put on by the Bulls Sunday against the Heat. There’s no question it worked. Limiting Wade and James to just eighteen and fifteen points respectively, it had to have been working.
Following Sunday’s impressive performance, the Chicago Bulls defense is the main topic of discussion in preparation for game two Wednesday.
“They have a lot of athleticism. You have to be patient” said Wade about the stifling Bulls defense. With all the talk about Wade and James and their superior talents, the Bulls seem just fine taking the less noticeable, team first identity on both the offensive and defensive ends if it means making a trip back to the NBA finals for the first time since 1998. There’s no question that this team first, defensive mentality is something that every player agrees with and has bought into.
“Help defense mentality, where everyone helps. Our job is to help on the weak side and do a good job of guarding the man we’re guarding. And we help, we help each other” said Boozer.
When Joakim Noah was asked about the reasons behind the success of the Bulls defense, Noah replied with a sense of tiredness to it all, “Repetition. Practice hasn’t changed one bit since the first day of practice, it’s the same practice every day.” No matter how boring or tiring coach Tom Thibodeau’s style of defense is or can be, it sure is effective and there is no denying that.
A similar question was posed to Luol Deng, who was one of the main reasons behind superstar LeBron James game one struggles, hinting at the idea that the Bulls defensive philosophy can sometimes be boring. “Boring? That’s a trap”, Deng said jokingly about the apparent feelings behind the Bulls defensive approach. Deng, on a more serious note, went on to say, “It works, so it’s fine, so we keep doing it. It’s becoming a habit. It’s instincts now.” Whatever “it” is, it’s working that’s for sure, and Chicago fans are excited about the possibilities of where it could take them.
Despite a good start and appreciative of their success, Bulls players are quick to understand that it was only one game. Luol Deng understands how lethal Miami can be when they are playing their best, and tries to keep this win in perspective.“We got to let that go. Especially playing a team like this. They got guys who can take over games and can go off at any time. We got to realize that they win the next game and it changes everything.” Chicago’s defense is very good, no doubt, but Deng understands at some points in this series nothing will be able to stop Wade or James. The reason being, they are two of the best players in the world, and to top it all off, they are on the same team.
Even though the team understands what they are up against, they’re still confident. “We’re trying to do something much bigger than winning just one game” said Joakim Noah.
Similar to the thinking throughout the season for the Bulls and into the post-season, Tom Thibodeau has instilled a sense of urgency in the team to never give up, especially in star point guard Derrick Rose. “We’re not satisfied. We just try to keep things going” said Rose.
One thing is certain, the Miami Heat will come out ready to play in game two and the Bulls need to be ready. It will be hard to contain Wade and James two games in a row, if not impossible. However, it will be their defense and their bench that will continue to be the keys for success. The rest of the country expects Miami to fight back; they just have too much talent not to, even though basically everyone wants them to choke. Carlos Boozer expects Miami to step it up a notch come game two. “We expect them to play much better” said Carlos Boozer Monday afternoon. |
