As a die-hard fan, you need to learn to negotiate the highs and lows; true fans will really feel each of them. Sometimes you feel both on the very same night. Walking into the UC for Game 3 of the Bulls Bucks series, you felt the excitement. The place was packed; it was electric. During the intros, I was already on my way to losing my voice. To be back in the house for a playoff game for the first time in what felt like forever; we were hyped up. We were definitely enjoying one of those highs of being loyal fans. It was short lived.
It was like passing by a car crash on the expressway; we couldn’t look away. You could use so many different words to describe what happened during what would become the worst home playoff loss in Bulls history. Ugly, disgusting, horrible, brutal, embarrassing… and we were lucky enough to be there in person to witness it. Seeing your team get their ass kicked in the playoffs in person qualifies as a low. I told my son he’d always remember this game.
Where to begin… is it even worth dissecting this game? OK, let’s take a quick shot. When there is nobody on the team that scored 20 points, when one of the 4 guys in double digits is Tony Bradley, it makes sense. Let’s start off with the good shall we? Tony Bradley got the Scalabrini chant late in the 4th during garbage time from the 300 level after a couple dunks in a row; that was fun. The bar was set pretty low this evening. What the hell happened to the Bulls? The Bucks defense was really good; the Bulls built themselves an early hole. I guess it snowballed from there. The crowd was ready; the Bulls were not.
DD… 9 shots all night? Maybe don’t take all those practice shots before the game on your night off; you blew your wad my guy. Zach Lavine was on a milk carton during the first half; so much for taking advantage of your first playoff appearance. Vooch had the make a trey early syndrome. Although the crowd screamed loudly when Vooch made a couple early ones from deep, we groaned the rest of the game as he consistently clunked them. Patrick Williams… thanks for playing I guess? 1 point?!?! I could probably luck my way to 1 point in a playoff game… good God PWill. Caruso scored 9 points, but you have to include him with the defensive effort that lead to giving up 33 first quarter points. That’s just the starters… I’m not going to go through the bench; all you need to know is that besides 10 from Tony, they scored a combined 16 points… all of them… and they were on the floor most of the 4th quarter! So we because got zip from them all game when it counted. Don’t bother looking at the box score like I did; please save yourself.
In summary, there was only one good thing about this game, besides the whole Tony Bradley chant; the Bulls are still alive. Yes, it felt like more than just one loss; it felt like one of those kicks to the crotch that catches both of them. Yet, the Bulls could still even up this series on Sunday with a win; I know… it’s hard to imagine that right now. For all the excitement, the anticipation that had built up in the building before the balloon pop… it’s gone. I’m sure it will be back to some extent as we sit down to watch Game 4, but man… are the Bulls really ready for this? There’s only one way to find out. Stay tuned… hopefully one of those highs is around the corner. Go Bulls…
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