Y-Basketball: Bulls 28, Mavericks 18

Just when you thought that the Bulls had played their best game of the season (as I mentioned in last week's Blog entry for the 26-16 victory against the Spurs), the Bulls found a way to top that performance last Saturday morning with a dramatic 28-18 victory from the talented Mavericks in Champaign County YMCA Basketball.

The older, more mature Mavs jumped all over the Bulls after the opening whistle and they easily built an 8-2 advantage by the end of the first period (Quentin scored our only basket in the quarter). We coaches were even questioning our decision to introduce some 2-3 Zone-attacking offense to the kids in the practice session prior to the game. Our starting five just looked shellshocked in that first quarter - standing around, not hustling, not playing fundamentally solid defense, not rebounding. We were, basically, one-and-done each time at the offensive end of the court and we weren't hitting our shots.

So we went back to a more simple approach on offense, starting with the second quarter. And the Bulls started clicking. And, as it typically happens, our increasing success on offense fueled a much stronger effort at the defensive end of the court. The Bulls started to get defensive stops, pass interceptions, and rebounds. The momentum that the Mavs enjoyed in the first quarter had all but disappeared while the Bulls were clearly back in the game and starting to do some good things on the floor. The second half pretty much belonged to the Bulls and we coasted to a nice 10-point win from a solid (previously unbeaten?) team.

The Bulls were very balanced on offense: Joe paced the team with 8 points, and George, Jack and Quentin all added 6 points apiece. Luke made a nice mid-range jumper for the remaining 2 Bulls points. Rebounds were plentiful for the Bulls. Unfortunately, I don't usually have a chance to keep good rebounding stats so I cannot report who grabbed them. Just know that George, Jack, Johnny, Joe, Quentin, Michael and Luke all shared in the strong rebounding effort. There was another multi-offensive rebounding possession for the Bulls in this game: As I recall, we grabbed three - and possibly four - boards following missed shots, only to finish the possession with a basket. Coaches love to see offensive rebounds like this!

By the way, the 28 points were a new game-high offensive total for the Bulls. And the ten-point victory is our second straight such margin of victory. One other interesting statistic: The Bulls have increased their offensive output in each successive game this season, having scored 14, 16, 18, 26 and 28 points in their five games this season.

Michael continues to play solid defense - his hands are very active and he is good at stealing errant passes and grabbing loose balls. He does a lot of the dirty work that needs to be done when he's on the floor. He also added at least 2 (and possibly 3) rebounds for the Bulls. Even though MJ did not score a basket in this game, he scored with his hustle, defense, rebounding and toughness. He continues to make me very proud as I watch him grow on the court week after week.

Unofficially, but accurately, these Bulls are now 5-0 this season. (I know we're not supposed to focus on the scores of our Y games, but I can't help it!) And several of our current nine-man roster were involved in winning all 7 games last spring and our 2 final games in the Fall of 2006 season. So, we've been winners of 14 straight games dating back to a year ago. That's a nice accomplishment and it's been a blast to be a part of this!

Next up for the Bulls: a game with the Raptors at 9:00 AM this Saturday at the Champaign County YMCA.

LET'S GO BULLS!!!