I was at the Bulls game hoping the Raptors would exact some measure of revenge for their shellacking the week before. The game was close for the most part, the Raptors even strayed ahead, but in the end the Bulls’ sheer excellence in offensive execution won out. While the Bulls were making their run to seal the game in the fourth, I thought instead of beating the subway rush, I observe some “off-the-ball” activities, and I got four than I can vaguely remember.
Joakim Noah and the Bulls Bench
There’s a play in the fourth quarter where DeMar DeRozan tried to make a pass, and instead threw it straight to Joakim Noah wearing a white tracksuit and standing on the sideline. It happened with 1:21 and if there was any hope of a comeback in a 9-point game, it just died with it. Noah, after catching the ball and passing it back to the ref, went down the pine and high-fived every member of the bench, each time followed by a fist-pump.
The guy was amped about having DeRozan make that mistake (and making the Raptor look a little silly in the process), and was so overstated in his reaction that Tom Thibodeau even gave him a “c’mon man, calm down” look right after his last fist-pump.
Dwane Casey’s timeouts
The Raptors called a timeout down 11 with 30 seconds left, which I thought was unnecessary because the game was out of hand. As the players were coming to the bench, Dwane Casey ignored them, and spent about 2 minutes talking to the five assistant coaches present in a huddle away from the players. The only communication with the players was as the timeout was ending and they were heading back out to the floor, where Casey had the time to utter maybe five words.
Maybe this was one of those timeouts where you just call to stick it to the players and make them reflect on the mess they’re in. That’s the only way it makes sense to me because there was nothing conveyed to the players during this time from the coaches, and also, we’re down 11 with 30 seconds left and all you’re doing is pissing off the ushers who’d like to go home at this point.
4Korners or their Equivalent
If you ever read this space, you know that I think the Raptors in-game entertainment is horrible. But, credit to 4Korners, the local group that I presume are still DJing at the game. They don’t really stop and seem to have survived the Babcock, Colangelo, and the Ujiri eras. Even when you’ve blown a lead at home and lost, everyone’s feeling a little crappy, the Dance Pak continue dancing around the DJ booth as 4Korners blasts some home-grown shit on the crowd. It’s a bit of a joke, but respect to this group for hanging in there through some tumultuous times.
“One Plus the Penalty”
This one you really don’t need to be at the game to notice, but you might hear the PA announcer, Herbie Kuhn say “one plus the penalty” when two FTs are awarded after a foul. I always thought this was odd, and I finally searched it and the best I could find was this rulebook entry, Section V:
Each team is limited to four team fouls per regulation period without additional penalties. Common fouls charged as team fouls, in excess of four, will be penalized by one free throw attempt plus a penalty free throw attempt.
Second, there’s something about a carry-over from high school basketball in the 50s:
I seem to remember watching the 1954 Indiana high school basketball championship and seeing a single free throw awarded for any foul, even on the floor. Perhaps this is a carryover from those days – if they existed – when the single shot was automatic and the second shot was the bonus. I don’t know if any of this is true, but it’s my inference based on one old video.
Have a nice Sunday.