Wednesday Morning Sketches: Where There's No "I" In Bulls.

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In Sketches, we’ll be taking you on a quick trip through the NBA blogosphere to get our finger on the pulse of all of the key happenings and storylines in the L each day.

NOTE: It's been exactly a month now since Free Darko closed its doors. I used to read the site religiously, and I'll lead off this morning's Sketches with an excerpt from my favorite Free Darko post ever.  I'm not sure why it's my favorite.  It's short, and I was never particularly fond of Seven Seconds or Less.  And yet, I've always kept it bookmarked.  February 6, 2008, in response to the Suns acquiring Shaq:

FREE DARKO: And with that, the dream died. I heard Obama say in every way imaginable tonight that a change was gonna come, and yet he left out the part where, for the NBA, that train stopped hard. I don't know what Kerr is thinking, or particularly care. I guess this team could be tough for the playoffs, if Shaq's got one last run left in him. But this site could give a fuck less about that.Tonight, Steve Kerr trampled on the ideals that sustain us. Politics as usual. Grind-it-out big man ball, no matter how compromised the giant. One last shot as a mechanistic ploy, not an appeal to the gods, faith, and beauty's left-hand zephyr.

If the Suns were going to win a title, it should've been on their own terms. They should've thrown themselves back in it again, knowing that they'd brought something to this game, something that could beat back others. It would've taken a little luck, or a particularly torrid run, but that's what their whole style was predicated on. Now, we're back in the realm of positivism. Rotting positivism. As far as the eye can see.

I'll be burning alive in a big pile of wheat.

BLOG-A-BULL: Deng was providing offense even in the rare time when Rose was out, much-needed as the bench mob's performance in the 2nd quarter was so disorganized it caused an angry Thibs timeout (as if there's another kind?). Another factor that made his decision to ride a bench-heavy lineup later in the same game so bold. It's seems easy to expect a coach to 'play the hot hand', but in practicality it's incredibly risky to not go with the safety of your usual best. Seeing Noah, Boozer, and Kyle Korver (only 4 minutes all night and didn't attempt a single shot) sit the entire 4th quarter was startling. Seeing their replacements do what they did was spectacular. And a neat part about this team as I don't think we as fans enjoyed it nearly as much as they did from the bench.

BALL DON'T LIE: Rose's ascension was almost to be expected; he started Game 5 by getting to the rim well, and the Hawks couldn't keep him out of the paint for long. But Gibson's contributions were something else. He seemed to baffle Josh Smith on a couple of drives, and he didn't miss a shot in the final period, finishing the game and the quarter with 11 points.  "His motor is very quick," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It doesn't take him long to get going," and with both Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer struggling to hit from the floor once again (the two combined to shoot 4 for 13), Gibson's touch was needed. Badly.

ESPN CHICAGO: Gibson’s strong play down the stretch only reinforces the fact that the Bulls have one of the best benches in the league. A key that most teams aren't able to lean upon this late in the postseason. "One thing about us, we've been all growing as a unit all year long," Gibson said. "So like Thibs said, 'We're going to walk through the fire together.' Nobody else is going to walk through it with us, we're going to walk through it together. Everybody's been helping everybody out and nobody's been really pointing fingers. That's what I really like about our team. Nobody really blames anybody for anything. We always stay together." They proved it again Tuesday night.

PEACHTREE HOOPS: I will ask the question again, where would the Hawks be without Jeff Teague in this series? Teague led the way again for the Hawks scoring 21 points while handing out seven assists without a single turnover. Credit Zaza Pachulia for coming off the bench and providing a spark with 13 points in 23 minutes. Josh Smith (16 pts), Joe Johnson (15 pts), and Al Horford (12 pts) found the going much tougher. Smith was once again effective inside and Atlanta still needs to find ways to ensure that he remains closer to the basket.  The fourth quarter was about execution and knowing who to turn to at the appropriate time. Coming down the stretch, Atlanta spent a few possessions being really slow at getting in their offense and allowed the shot clock to become a factor. That suggests that their is indecision still while on the other hand Chicago knew where they were going with the ball and successfully played off of it.

HOOPINION: If anything, Drew played Crawford too much. That early 15-point deficit came about, in no small part, because Crawford allowed Keith Bogans to score roughly a week's worth of points (that would be a total of 8 points) on three consecutive possessions. Crawford provides no value if he's not making shots and he missed eight of his nine shots tonight, generally showing a greater interest in flopping post-release than even pretending to play defense.

BULLETS FOREVER: Now that the Washington Wizards have changed their jerseys and colors, the immediate follow-up question would have to do with their name.  I think it's a pretty popular sentiment that returning to "Bullets" is something many of us would like to see. So with that in mind, I figured I'd pass along all the comments I heard Ted Leonsis make today on the subject.  He didn't really shoot down the possibility offhand, choosing instead to say that it wasn't something worth doing right now.

LEONSIS TO THE MEDIA TODAY:

"As I put on my blog today and I said 100 times, this is what we've done. It took a year to do. The team changed their name, changing the ID. It's a really, really big process. I think this was a very dramatic pivot for the franchise. We were able to do it in the time period we promised."

"People really like the Bullets and the red, white and blue, because they won a championship. I understand that. So what we've done is make something that's true to what we want to accomplish, but gives great comfort and harkens back to a big part of our past."

REPORTER: I suppose it's like going back to Bullets without actually going back to Bullets?

"Yes."

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