Here are my bullet points from Game 5:
1. I loved our energy. This was the first time I saw us play a playoff game the way we should every day
2. We battled early and recovered despite their hot shooting. It was good to see us battle back and even briefly take the lead in the 4th.
3. Josh Smith played liked the one we know he can. That is awesome. I do not mind losing when that is the case.
4. Jeff Teague is a man. I am glad he complained about the calls because he got mugged on a couple plays.
The BAD:
1. Larry Drew and his 2 fouls and you are out rule. The playoffs is about momentum and feel. Go with what is working and stick with it longer than the regular season. Leave all your fouls on the court. Larry Drew reminds me of Bobby Cox in the playoffs. Both stick with the exact same thing that got them to the playoffs even if we do not have time to work through it in the playoffs
2. Larry Drew. Try backing up one of your players for once. Teague complained about calls. Were you watching, they were fouls. I assume Salvatore will come out today and apologize after watching the replays for not calling several fouls. Teague played hard on both ends. Back up your players
3. A body block on a layup is a foul even if Derrick Rose committed it.
4. Hand checking is illegal, even if Derrick Rose does it.
5. If the hand is not part of the ball on one end, it should be true on the other end.
6. If Derrick Rose has the ball stolen from him and he grabs the opposing team’s arm, that is a foul.
7. When the defender puts his arm out and the offensive guy sweeps under and up for the shot, thereby hitting your arm, that is a foul (Deng on Johnson)
8. Down 1 early in the 4th, Asik sets a moving screen for about 4 seconds until Rose breaks free for a layup. Refs, a screener cannot be moving. There is a penalty called a moving screen. It is a shame, as Kerr said, you have to sell the call by falling down if you want to have any chance of getting the call. We need to sell it by falling and complaining.
9. Illegal Defense on Collins. He clearly stepped out of the lane in the middle but the refs chose to ignore it to appease the Bulls
10. The refs calling for a cleaning of the court after a Bulls turnover so Rose can put his shoe back on. I was flabbergasted. The Bulls can call a timeout if they need. The worst part was that Rose did not get his normal 4th quarter break and refs helped him out there. I was waiting for the ref to go get him a glass of water as well.
11. Complaining about calls does two things publicly. 1. It gets people in general to talk about it. 2. It gets the commentators to talk about. Did you notice how Kerr said he went back and reviewed the illegal defense calls after talking to the coach of the Bulls. Phil Jackson has shown that public complaining can get the refs to change the way the calls are made. The problem is the ASG doesnt have the cash for the fine and Drew does not make enough to pay it.
12. I never thought it would be Horford I was talking about in terms of not bringing their A game. Horford, see game 4. Play close to the hoop and simply back down your man and cut towards the hoop when you do not have the ball. And please, no long outlet passes
13. Joe Johnson, when you do the hesitation dribble and get a step past your guy, go to the hoop instead of stopping and fading
14. Quit running JC as the point. Make Josh Smith the point if needed, he has shown he can handle that role bringing the ball up the court. JC is more effective catching and shooting
15. Larry Drew please watch the Indiana series vs the Bulls. We need to hard trap Rose and make him give up the ball. Our soft trap simply gets our defense out of sorts as Rose drives by after we release the soft trap, especially in the 4th. Hard trap up high, please try it
16. Let ZaZa play if he is rolling with 2 fouls.
17. It was amazing how almost every tipped/deflected ball went straight to a Bull. It was not an issue of being outhustled, bad calls or anything like that, it was simply bad luck.
18. Larry Drew needs to quit his praise of Rose and simply praise our team. You can praise the Bulls after the series but for now, just make the Bulls sound human.
Despite all that, I think we played well. I think if we play like that in ATL for game 6, a few of those calls go our way and a few bounces go our way and we come out with a victory and make this a 1 game series.