Hunter likes the way Bulls came together
BOSTON - Bulls guard Lindsey Hunter has an interesting perspective on first-year NBA coaches. He spent last year in Detroit, where Terry Porter and Michael Curry were assistants, then joined the Bulls with first-time coach Vinny Del Negro at the helm.
Porter was fired halfway through the season as the head coach in Phoenix, while Curry took over the Pistons and faded badly to an eighth-place finish.
"You've got to look at the makeup of the team that these guys took over," Hunter said. "They (Porter and Curry) took over veteran teams and you had a lot of big personalities to deal with there. A lot of times, a young coach thrust into a situation like that, it's going to be tougher than dealing with a bunch of young guys.
"It's just different when you go to a veteran team. I remember when Flip Saunders came to Detroit, the culture of our team was so set in stone."
In other words, Hunter believes Del Negro had an advantage working with a relatively young group whose best player was a 20-year-old rookie. Asked what went well this season, Hunter pointed to team unity.
"We've evolved, I think that's the biggest thing," he said. "We've evolved into a cohesive tribe, so to say. That's what you look for when a season starts, things jelling and developing."
Expect Hunter, 38, to be asked back to the Bulls next season, either as a player or a coach.
Extra point comes late: There was a strange statistical error in this game. Ben Gordon knocked down a 3-pointer well behind the line with 8:32 left in the first quarter. For some reason, it was ruled a 2 and wasn't changed until a timeout with 5:44 remaining in the contest.
The Bulls finally were awarded the extra point and pulled within 89-84 after the math was completed.
Rose stays calm: Derrick Rose, the youngest player in uniform at 20, talked about his emotions before taking the floor for Game 7.
"My nerves really aren't getting to me," he said. "I slept well last night. I'm anxious just for the jump ball. I just want to go out there and play. I think I was a little bit more anxious (before last year's NCAA title game), because that was the biggest stage I had ever played on."
Quick fouls costly: A huge factor in the fourth quarter was the Bulls picking up 3 fouls in the first 50 seconds, then sending Boston into the bonus at the 8:20 mark. From that point the Celtics scored 15 of their final 25 points at the foul line.
KG doesn't leave bench: Not surprisingly, injured Celtics all-star Kevin Garnett was in street clothes for Saturday's game. There had been speculation that he might suit up or try to play, but that never seemed to have much basis in reality.
"I thought somebody was going to report seeing Bigfoot or Sasquatch," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said before the game.
Deng stays in doubt: Before the game, Luol Deng said he had no idea if he'd have a chance to play in the second round had the Bulls beaten the Celtics on Saturday. The Bulls forward, out since Feb. 28 with a stress fracture in his shin, hasn't done any running since his most recent MRI about two weeks ago.
Raving about Rondo: Boston coach Doc Rivers on the feistiness shown by point guard Rajon Rondo in this series: "It's good to see. You'd rather it be your 400-pound guy than a 180-pound guy. But at his size, he can't be a meek guy."
The Bulls got a little bit of revenge on Rondo when Joakim Noah and Brad Miller delivered hard fouls on consecutive possessions in the third quarter.