Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

To be fair, he's not excluding himself from criticism. He's referring to the team as a whole, and his own shortcomings don't necessarily make his point invalid.

It's never pleasant when frustrations boil over like this, and I hope that they get back on track and it's all water under the bridge sooner rather than later. At the same time though, I'd rather hear him expressing frustration with the team's struggles than talking about being healthy for his kids' graduation.

[air gordon]

A Noah Gibson duo is nice is great for defense. More of the same stagnant offense though. Gibson puts the ball in the basket but he is a ball hog

With Noah out, we are seeing gasols defensive efficiencies on full tilt. He wasn't brought here to be a defensive anchor in the first place. Factor in Rose is not consistently good on defense, crappy defense is the end result. I think Washington ran high screen 99% of the time lol

Maybe phatG is right- dust off Mohammed and see if he can give 5-10 minutes against the big guys pushing gasol around. He is probably slower than him but at least he won't get thrown around like a rag doll

Gasol does looked gassed at times which may be the reason he is mentally out of it. The bonehead passes me makes are trivial

[Moz]

A Noah Gibson duo is nice is great for defense. More of the same stagnant offense though. Gibson puts the ball in the basket but he is a ball hog

Until MJD comes back, perhaps try an experiment with both Rose and Brooks as the starting backcourt... if you reckon that a Pau-Niko pairing would be marshmallows on defense, play Niko as a temporary reliever at the 4 and have him a dual role, sag Taj's minutes a bit so he can play along with Pau on the second unit then reinsert Noah appropriately or give Bairstow some minutes...

[I Hate Mondays]

Mohammed over Bairstow any given day. His defensive play style is much needed

[air gordon]

Yeah maybe a Brooks rose backcourt in the first qtr instead of the 4th could start a spark. Just hope it is not not tried against the spurs. Parker would have a field day on brooks

Mjd should be coming back soon and allegedly Noah has been moving well in practice

Even though the bulls face a tough stretch in their schedule I think there's no sense in rushing Noah back. I think he is the key to this team. The bulls can get away with rose slowly rounding into form but not without their defensive anchor not firing on all cylinders.

[Moz]

More lively and aggressive this time and it seems they adjusted their defense with the high screen n rolls... finally Snell showed some significance with the team good morale booster win...

[Andrew]

Whether it was Rose and Thibbs making those comments, or simply frustration with their play that snapped them out of it...here's hoping it continues.

Actually, it was me picking against them in the daily predictions thread, once again. Time to put my powers to good use, I suppose...

[air gordon]

Bulls fans can step back from the ledge... for now haha

From Gasols post game comments, it sounded like it was a must win

Should be a big confidence booster for snell. This plus mjd returning, maybe butler doesnt have to pay big minutes anymore

[Stress Fracture]

I wonder why Thibs doesn't give Snell some minutes. He seems to be a good defensive player to me.

[Moz]

Almost the same scenario with their last battle but this time Taj fouled Ellis instead of Hinrich... and yeh they won this one of course... too many turnovers highlighted by a couple of Gasol's dumb passes and Rose doing unnecessary fancy dribbling... another good game by Snell and a solid one for Butler in a while...

[air gordon]

I will stay an optimist and say 2 out 3 from Spurs mavs heat is most welcome

The Sunday' unis looked pretty sweet except on snell and gasol

[Moz]

phpBB [video]

What a game! I was already dismissing this game and expecting a massacre but I'm glad I didn't missed this one... Same with Rose' turnovers, I forgive Hinrich 's shooting woes tonight for that steal and dagger in the 4th... also he did a good coverage on Klay Thompson... only complains are their usual turnovers and they should've put the ball more on Pau at this one but it's a win nonetheless and they did good on their perimeter defense without Jimmy Buckets... Also surprise of Niko's quickness against the Warrior's SFs...

[air gordon]

Haha I felt the same way. Didn't think they had a chance. Kudos to Thibs and co

Do you think jimmy buckets still makes the all star team?? November and December he was pretty damn good. January not so much

[Moz]

I reckon he will since he has this "established hype" on him and probably coaches know that the Bulls' offense doesn't give him much touches nowadays compared earlier...

[Andrew]

I'm guessing most of us were expecting the worst. The stats may not have been pretty across the board, and the turnovers are troubling, but still, gotta love a win over the best team in the league and a gamewinner from Rose.

I agree with PhatGeezer, I expect there's a pretty good chance Butler makes the All-Star team based on his overall season performance. I'd be surprised if the Bulls didn't have two representatives this year, and while Noah has still been their anchor and Rose has shown flashes, it's Butler who's grabbed the most attention (rightfully so) and had a breakthrough, All-Star worthy season. So yeah, I think he'll be that second selection.

[air gordon]

We'll find out soon enough. I'm not as sure as you guys since butler has cooled off and Atlanta may have 4 players make it.

I think last nites win was their best of the year. Missing 2 starters, Noah back to being active, grind out win against the wests best on the road, and rose a game winner

Now watch. An extra day off in LA does them in and a letdown game vs Lakers happens

[Andrew]

Four players from the Hawks would be overkill, but fair point, it could happen.

The Lakers have been playing better without Kobe, so there is that. On the other hand, they got the job done on Christmas Day. Here's hoping they keep up the momentum...some quality wins after that rough patch.

[air gordon]

Thoughts on the recent thibs vs management reports?

First Chris sheridan says his job is in jeopardy. Last week van Gundy says Chicago has a history of undermining their coaches and now the local guys ego cost the team say they would not be surprised if thibs will not be coaching the team next year

[Andrew]

It's a bit troubling, the last thing the team needs is dysfunction like that. Hopefully it's just exaggerations and rumours that came about because they were struggling for a little while there but...well, you know what they say about smoke and fire.

I hope that he does stick around, and that any issues can be ironed out, as I do think Thibbs is a great coach. As we all know, it's easier to fire the coach than get rid of the players when things aren't going well, but I think there's merit in consistency and standing by a coach through good times and bad, as the Utah Jazz did with Jerry Sloan.

[allnickstaken]

Always there are problems for the Bulls! They can not get a peaceful season.

[Andrew]

On the bright side, they've been able to win six championships with dysfunction behind the scenes.

[NovU]

The Lakers beat the Bulls in a game Butler played 45 minutes, Pau 45, Rose 43, Noah 42?

One night the Bulls play great against a good team but in next one they're dreadful against a bad team. Why the inconsistency, can anyone explain?

[Moz]

This one is right in the bag at the first OT and then they rushed it and there goes the momentum... another off night by Rose and I reckon for sometime now he's playing too much hero ball... Pau, again, is a pushover on defense... Jimmy Butler though had a statement game for those who doubt his all-star selection...

Everyone's putting Thibs in the hot seat nowadays but I reckon Pau too can be blamed with the Bulls' inconsistency at this stage of the season... Teams have figured him out already and seems like they're not intimidated anymore unlike earlier... I may get criticized for this, but trading him will not be a bad idea... It's not that I'm not appreciating his contributions in the team (he's a hell of a player and no doubt one of the reason the Bulls offense is much improved this season) but it seems as time passes it's not ideal if the Bulls stick with him on their contention... If ever the Bulls go that way, I hope they'll consider Wilson Chandler... perhaps, a Wilson Chandler + JJ Hickson/Nurkic for Pau + Dunleavy is passable and fair...

[Andrew]

One night the Bulls play great against a good team but in next one they're dreadful against a bad team. Why the inconsistency, can anyone explain?

They have a habit of playing down to the competition; instead of being the superior team that comes in and takes care of business against a lousy or mediocre team, they'll play to their level.

To a certain extent, I think they may also still be figuring things out. Rose is still working his way back and starting to play heavier minutes after a lot of time on the sideline, Jimmy Butler is emerging as an All-Star, and of course, Pau Gasol is now on board.

[air gordon]

It was a double OT game. Starters will play a lot minutes

The Bulls are 15-9 against teams under .500, 7-3 against the top teams. Someone figure that one out

Piggy backing on what Andrew said, I agree they are still figuring things out. Add injuries on top of that as well. The Bulls have had their full starting lineup for only 15 games this year. Even Thibs mentioned the injury thing. Quite a surprise as he was always the no excuses/next guy up mentality to the press

I'm not on the bus with trading Gasol. I was never a fan myself but I think you're expectations are a bit high, PhatG. He's going to score but it can be unpleasant at times and he wasn't brought here to anchor this defense. He is best suited to play center at this point in his career

All issues aside, it's like a kick to the sack watching them lose to mediocre teams. You seldom would see this happen to the teams past 2 years. Ironically they were doing it with less talent

As far as Thibs vs management... I think it's media made. Van gundy and Thibs are buddies, think he was just backing him up. On national tv in a game they won was a poor time to do it though.

Maybe overall the expectations are a little high for the team. They benefitted from a somewhat early soft schedule so when the losses started happening the media was looking for answers.