Bulls players, coaches know all about Philly
The Bulls have a large number of Philadelphia ties on the team, as long as the coaches are included.
Kyle Korver started his NBA career by playing 4½ seasons with the Sixers, before being traded to Utah. Richard Hamilton is a native of Coatesville, Pa., which is just west of Philadelphia.
Among the coaches, Ed Pinckney played in college at Villanova and Rick Brunson played at Temple.
Tom Thibodeau and Ron Adams were both Sixers assistants when John Lucas was head coach from 1994-96, which means Bulls guard John Lucas III, who was around 13 at the time, was always hanging around.
“Just being there, being a ballboy, going to shootaround with (his dad), watching how he prepared for the games and how he worked the players out before the game,” Lucas said of his Philadelphia memories.
“It was tough times with the team my dad had, but being around the guys — Shawn Bradley, Dana Barros, Clarence Weatherspoon. Being around those guys at a young age was great.
“Watching Kobe (Bryant) and Rip (Hamilton) play against each other in high school was another thing that was great in Philly.”
Those teams with Lucas, Thibodeau and Adams finished 24-58 and 18-64. The good news is they were so bad, the Sixers won the lottery and drafted Allen Iverson in ’96. The bad news is the coaching staff was dismissed before Iverson arrived.
The Lucas family stayed in town, though, so John’s older sister could graduate high school.
“We still had season tickets to the games, so I got to see A.I. live in person,” Lucas said. “He was one of my favorite players growing up. I was actually at the game where he double-crossed (Michael) Jordan.”
They still love showing that young Iverson play on the video board whenever the Bulls are in town.
Noah becomes high-scorer:
With Derrick Rose out of the picture, center Joakim Noah has been the Bulls’ leading scorer in the series against Philadelphia. Through two games, Noah is averaging 16.5 points and shooting an impressive 78.9 percent from the field (15-for-19).
Noah’s not just getting dunks and tip-ins. Of his 21 points in Game 2, four baskets came on outside jumpers and three were driving bank shots or hooks.
During the third quarter, though, when the Bulls were outscored 36-14, Noah and Carlos Boozer combined to take just 1 shot.
“The game’s going to tell you where you’re going to go with the ball,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “What happens when (the big men) do get the ball? If they’re making the right play, that’s what I’m concerned with. Philly does a very good job of collapsing into the paint. Then you have to make the right read.”
Sixers mix and match defense:
On Thursday in Philadelphia, Sixers coach Doug Collins talked about the defensive matchups at the start of Game 2.
He not only added 6-foot-7 guard Evan Turner to the starting lineup, he matched Turner against Bulls point guard C.J. Watson, while Jrue Holiday guarded Rip Hamilton.
Collins claimed it wasn’t necessarily done with any intent to attack Watson with a bigger defender.
“We didn’t want Evan chasing Rip,” Collins said. “We thought Jrue would be a better guy chasing Rip. Evan does a better job on the ball than he does chasing.”
Collins expects few changes:
Sixers coach Doug Collins tried to read the mind of Tom Thibodeau when he spoke to reporters Thursday.
“Tom Thibodeau is a pretty meat and potatoes guy,” Collins said. “It’s not like he’s going to reinvent the wheel. What he’s going to say is, ‘We’re going to do what we do. We’re going to do it better and we’re going to do it stronger.’ That’s his philosophy. I just don’t see Thibs making a ton of changes.
“He might get some different personnel units out on the floor. We might see more of Luol (Deng) as a 4. I think he knows his advantage is those big guys and rebounding the ball. He doesn’t want to lose that. I’d expect them to try to do some more posts tomorrow with (Carlos) Boozer.”
Long time gone:
The 76ers are hoping to head back to Philadelphia with homecourt advantage, but they actually haven’t won a game at the Wells Fargo Center since March 31 against Atlanta.
The Sixers not only finished the regular season with a road-heavy schedule, they also dropped their final four home games. Overall, they’re 19-14 at home this season, while the Bulls were an NBA-best 24-9 on the road.