Ben Gordon's Latest Blog Entry, Insider's Scoop From BG7 Options

[truthandbasketba...]

Two Wins Down, Hopefully 14 To Go
Posted by Ben Gordon on April 25, 2007, 7:15 a.m. ET

International Impact: Deng-Nocioni-Sefolosha
Through the first two games of our series against Miami, but really throughout the whole season, the international guys – Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Thabo Sefolosha – have been the ones who have really lifted this team up. You look at Luol from the Sudan, Andres from Argentina, and Thabo from Switzerland, all of them have had key contributions at very critical times in the game that have put us over the hump. It hasn’t been your usual suspects. It is always good to have an x-factor in playoff basketball.
Luol has been having a great year, a breakout season. By no means is he a best kept secret anymore. He is an opportunistic scorer. That is what Pat Riley calls him and I thought that was a great way to describe him. He is just one of those guys who always finds a way to slither in there and get a layup or if a guy is too far off him, he has that great midrange shot. He runs the floor really well. You just never know how he is going to score and when. His game has been key to us playing so well in the first two games.

Andres is picking up right where he left off before getting hurt. He is coming in and shooting the trey ball for us, he is rebounding, and doing a good job defensively. He is something that we missed while he was out all that time. It’s great to have him back and he’s played well for us so far.

Thabo is a guy a lot of people don’t know a lot about because he hasn’t played a lot of minutes this year, but he is one of the most versatile players on the team. He is one of those guys who can play the one through the three. He can defend three or four positions. He just has a wealth of talent and I think throughout these playoffs he has shown just a fraction of the things he can do.

Up 2-0
We’re heading down to Miami tomorrow afternoon. Guys are going to have to do the same things and be a lot sharper because we won’t have our home crowd behind us. Miami is down two, so they’re going to be playing extremely hard. We’ll have to try to be as sharp as possible and be ready for them. I think I have done a decent job of taking what the defense is giving me. I’m just trying to do more than one thing out there. I try to rebound, I try to get guys open shots, I try to be as aggressive as I can offensively, so it’s been paying off for me.

... With Work To Do
Something that stood out to me from Tuesday’s game was the fact that I didn’t shoot any free throws. I would like to see us as a team overall draw more fouls and get to the free throw line because you can’t expect to shoot that well (55%) every single night. Getting to the free throw line is a big part of putting points on the board.

Dwyane Wade - Healthy or Not?
It is tough to tell because I know he just had the shoulder thing, but at the same time he still requires so much attention. I look at him as being maybe 90 or 95 percent. Guys like Thabo and Kirk have been doing a really good job on him, so I can’t really tell if he’s struggling with the shoulder. I haven’t really heard him say much about it, but he’s still very tough to guard and very tough to stop.

Eastern Conference Semifinals or Bust
Do we want to beat the Heat? Yes, of course but we really want to get out of the first round. We’ve been stuck here the first two years with the group of guys that have been together. It is big for us to do that. The last couple years we were known as the “Baby Bulls” and all that stuff, so just for the evolution of the team and the players, it would be a great sign if we can get out of the first round against the defending champs. They are on their home floor, so I’m assuming they’ll play a lot better there. Just the circumstances of the series, they’re going to come out and leave everything on the floor from start to finish. We just have to be ready. We can’t be surprised or taken back on our heels because they come out playing so hard.

http://www.nba.com/blog/ben_gordon.html?loc=copy

[bulls91]

nice find. the bulls players from over seas thabo, andres, and loul have and will be very big factors in the playoffs and for the rest of there career in chicago.

[Sanitarium]

I agree with what he said about free throws.

[sport1016]

knowing that ben is thinking about other things besides shooting (free throws, rebounding, setting up others for shots) demonstrates how he has truly grown the last few years

He is a few less bad decisions a game away from being an all star for years to come.

Once this guy starts playing more than 32 mins a game, he's gonna be in the same category as all stars like Arenas, ray allen, and Michael Redd

[dasox24]

knowing that ben is thinking about other things besides shooting (free throws, rebounding, setting up others for shots) demonstrates how he has truly grown the last few years

He is a few less bad decisions a game away from being an all star for years to come.

Once this guy starts playing more than 32 mins a game, he's gonna be in the same category as all stars like Arenas, ray allen, and Michael Redd

I agreed completely.

And, btw, good find, truth. Nice read.

[truthandbasketba...]

I agreed completely.

And, btw, good find, truth. Nice read.

Don't thank me thank Ben when we take the East, lol.