The internet is an amazing place for playoff basketball. The work being done by writers today is truly amazing. The swiftness in which information is gathered and processed tends to blow my mind. Here's what I've been reading today. If you have any links you've enjoyed, or writers I should hone in on, send me a link. I'm going to continue to link to work I find interesting over the course of the postseason.
- Remember those small ball lineups we all enjoyed so much? Well, it looks like they may have met their match in this series with the Bulls. It will be a serious blow to the Heat moving forward.
- The Heat were pounded on the offensive glass by Joakim Noah and the rest of the Bulls. The Heat will need to figure out what went wrong and how to fix the problem if they are to have any chance of winning this series.
- Speaking of the offensive rebounding woes, Kevin Arnovitz of the Heat Index on ESPN goes rebound by rebound and reveals the culprits. It's safe to say that Chris Bosh's 30 points lose some of their luster through this exercise.
- The Heat have some options, albeit limited ones, in trying to stop the bleeding on the offensive glass. Basically, the Big Three need to step it up.
- In all of the talk about rebounding, the Heat's lack of offense has gotten lost in the shuffle. The Heat offense regularly played into the hands of the great Bulls defense. Adjustments will have to be made, especially by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
- Defensively, the Heat defended Derrick Rose about as well as they could have hoped to. Heavy trapping forced the young point guard into early mistakes. He recovered and played better as the game wore on. Still, there are some positives to take home from Game 1
- In Sunday night's game, the Heat's Big Three didn't outperform a trio from Chicago. A statistical breakdown shows what exactly the Heat need to work on for Game 2.
- LeBron James has struggled in Game 1s this post season, and yesterday was no different. The King dropped a dud on Sunday night, something that cannot happen again for the Heat.
- To me, no one was more impressive or fun to watch last night than Taj Gibson. Here's a closer look at Gibson's effect on Game 1, and the path that brought him there.
- The Bulls unveiled a new wrinkle last night. The Derrick Rose-Kyle Korver pick and roll proved to be something worth keeping an eye on. It led to that dagger three by Korver in the fourth quarter.
- Finally, perspective is needed in any situations like these. Much of what caused the Bulls offensive rebounds was lack of hustle or effort, but much can also be attributed to bad luck and randomness. The Heat's defense regularly caused bad shots on first attempts, it was the second looks that killed the Heat.
I'll have my own thoughts on Game 1 published in the near future, but these links should more than hold you over until then.
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