The humble art of the assist. Teams across the league this season are averaging approximately 20.95 assists per 48 (give-or-take) minute game.

Last night the Chicago Bulls only managed to amass 13 assists in a double overtime game with the Miami Heat. That's right -- an anemic 13 assists in 58 minutes of selfless basketball action at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Let's put this in perspective ... hold on, let me just wipe John Stockton's vomit off the keyboard ... there we are. The Bulls only had 11 assists at the end of regulation -- on 104 points. How is that even possible?

Are the Miami Heat some remarkable assist-stopping team? No, the Heat's opponents this season average 20.05 apg. That's average where I come from.

Did it have something to do with Ben Gordon lining up at the three point line for 8/11 from downtown? Perhaps.

If anyone has some insight into how the Bulls managed to average just one assist per every seven-plus field goals, I would love to know.

On the other hand, how they managed an assist-to-turnover ratio of 13:22 on the game? That their coach would like to know...

• Quite obviously, fail to make assists, make a lot of turnovers, you lose the game.
• Chicago (twice) and Sacramento (thrice) seem quite adept at this type of performance. Perhaps Derrick Rose and Beno Udrih need some point guard classes?
• It is worth noting that Chicago's other AST:TO epic failure occured in an OT game as well!
• None of the other games in question saw the offending team score anywhere in the region of the Bulls' 127 points. 

*******

This was a remarkable statistical game on so many levels. Take a look at the boxscore and read along with me. Let's put the Bulls' assist/turnover situation to one side for a moment and consider:

• The Bulls only played seven active players in the 58 minutes of action.
• Dwyane Wade's statistical line was one of a man calling out for MVP consideration. 48 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks and phenom-like shooting percentages from the field and deep (let's ignore his 13/18 at the charity stripe).
• How close were these two teams? It took double overtime to separate them. Both teams shot 93 field goal attempts. Both teams made 43 field goal attempts. Both teams shot 37 three throws, Miami managed to make 32 to Chicago's 30 and they also managed one more trey than the Bulls. That was the game right there.

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Comments (5)

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written by jjhicks, March 10, 2009

Brilliant analysis!

Rose has to really pull his socks up if he's going to be an elite PG.

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written by HEAT, March 10, 2009

DWade was a beat last night!!!!!!!!!!!!

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written by The Zoner, March 11, 2009

It's not Rose, trust me. They don't run offensive sets well, but it's not on Rose. In turn, shot clock winds down and they are forced to create their own shot. It was a fantastic game though. Rose is 6.2/2.5 Asst/TO ratio. And considering that he is constantly forced to create his own shots and the Bulls bigs are fairly lame, he's done very well.

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written by mookie, March 11, 2009

So does the major weight of the blame for this type of performance lie back there with Vinny D?

Rose's stats don't look like those of a poor floor general. When you add a great passing big man like Prodigal Son, Brad Miller to the mix... I don't know, it has to be the coach, right??

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written by San Fran, March 16, 2009

mookie,

Nice work...as a lifelong Bulls fan I really enjoyed this post. Obviously those are some glaring statistics...definitely a statistical anomoly.

In that 2OT game vs. Miami, Salmons, BG, and Rose were looking for their own shot (as were most of the other players based on stat breakdown) - no one seemed to even be thinking about passing - they almost got away with it. too..almost...freakin' D-WADE (grrrr)

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