Bulls’ Taj Gibson: ‘I was worried, having flashbacks’
By Mark Carman
Taj Gibson and the Chicago Bulls have been eliminated by LeBron James in the playoffs 3 times and the scars still linger despite leading 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
The Chicago Bulls have faced LeBron James in the playoffs three times before this season, winning only one game in each series, a combined 3-12. After last night’s Derrick Rose bank-shot at the buzzer prayer was answered they have now doubled their series win output with 2 wins in the series and 2-1 series edge. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon at the United Center.
While the Cavaliers present many challenges on the court despite being significantly banged up with Kevin Love out and Kyrie Irving hobbled, one of the biggest obstacles left for the Bulls to conquer is the mental challenge of beating LeBron James.
Taj Gibson summed up those concerns after the game. Gibson had his head down slowing walking up the court a couple times in the fourth quarter. He had a right to be tired having entered the game at the 6:48 mark of the third quarter for an injured Pau Gasol and never coming out the rest of the way. But it wasn’t physical exhaustion that was causing Gibson’s body language to sag, but rather mental exhaustion from competing against James in yet another tight playoff game. Gibson feared the standard outcome.
“It was so much emotion going on to tell you the truth. We have been in the situation before where the series was tied, we had times to win the game late and magically LeBron would hit a tough shot, or a tough and-one basket and it would crush us. My emotions were still going through that from previous years,” Gibson said.
Gibson is one of the few athletes who is consistently honest and raw with what he is really feeling and it should be no surprise that the James playoff victories have caused a dent in some of the Bulls mental state, though few would ever admit it. Joakim Noah and James got into it in the third quarter when James got free from Jimmy Butler and dunked on a late-helping Noah. Double technicals were issued.
Elsewhere, diminutive Aaron Brooks picked up a technical shoving Cavalier pest Matthew Dellavedova, right after Dellavedova was shoved by Jimmy Butler for locking Butler’s arm on a screen. Emotions will continue to run high as the series builds to what is looking like an epic conclusion.
The Bulls have to be better than the Cavs on the court, but also off it keeping their minds fresh and optimistic about the possibilities of advancing past their James nemesis. The games promise to be close and winning the mental battle will be huge in finally getting past the best player in the game. Taj Gibson’s thoughts after Game 3 gave a clearer mental picture of what the Bulls are up against facing James.
Watch Taj Gibson discuss his fear of LeBron James below.