Captain Omerica: The First Avenger (From Turkey)

Who would have thought that Thibs had the cohones to ride the hot defensive hand of RonRonJuice/TajMahal/Omerica? For a guy who is known to go with the same rotations from game to game, it was surprising to see him not be so stubborn. Overall, the Bulls played a balanced game. Deng got things popping off real nice in the first quarter and played well throughout on both ends. He started off slow in the 2nd half, but got things going later. Lt. Deng had a good bounce back game from his poor showing in game 4 and put up 23 points. Bogans had an 8-0 run by himself to put the Bulls ahead by double digits in the first quarter and played great D on JJ. Boozer had a decent game (11 and 12) but still had a few idiotic moments. Thought he was gonna get a T after head bobbing after a dunk, and he threw a elbow to J-Smooth's jaw after a dunk. Jo had a rough night all-around. He didn't have the aggressiveness and intensity and it seemed to carry over to the rest of his game. He ended up with only 6 rebounds and 0 points. DRose had another great game. He was aggressive going to the rim and got to the line frequently. His decision making on was spot on and he was able to get Boozer, Deng, and Taj involved. Still not hitting outside jumpers with great frequency, but putting up 33 points (on 24 FGA's) and 9 assists will make you forget that. With the line up that Thibs put out in the end of the third and fourth quarters, he had to carry the offensive load. Mission accomplished.

Teague is no longer playing under the radar. The dude is pretty much a poor man's 2008 Derrick Rose. JT pretty much got to the rim off the pick-and-roll when he wanted. Almost makes me wish CaptainKirk wasn't injured. News flash: his quickness is a problem for the Bulls. J-Smooth had an okay game, but wasn't able to dominate game 5 like he did in game 4.

The first stint of the bench mob was brutal. Their offense was brutal and unable to score. Korver was exposed as a defensive liability in the only 4 minutes that he played (zero shot attempts). Meanwhile Pachulia was keeping his team in the game by knocking down every shot and getting some timely putbacks. With a couple minutes left in the third, Thibs inserted Brew/Taj/Omerica and they didn't come back off the court. The Brewer/Deng/Bogans wing combination were able to stiffle JJ/JCraw for 15 and 2 points respectively and Taj/Omer worked hard inside. Omer has learned how to protect the rim without fouling and Taj can roam. Omer's numbers may not be pretty (0 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block). But it was his defensive presence that made the difference. His +8 was better than both Boozer and Jo's combined (+4 and +3 respectively). Taj was perfect from the field in the fourth quarter. He was able to make his own shot on the post, and Derrick was able to find him open at his favorite spots on the court to knock down those jumpers.

In these playoffs, its been obvious that the Bulls need another scorer to help out Derrick. Their defense has been able to win them some games and Deng has usually been a reliable 2nd option. Last night Taj was able to be that other option down the stretch which was huge for his confidence and the team's success last night. The Bulls won't be able to hide Korver on the bench because of his defensive liabilities every game. He is too important to the spacing on the Bulls offense, especially when he knocks down shots to close games.