Chicago Bulls Thread

[Valor]

Yeah I guess, but I think that's why the Spurs are better than everyone else - They don't copy, they invent and lead. Kinda like what Phil said in his interview..."when everybody does the same damn thing it becomes, 'Who has the best Rolls-Royce?...You have to be unique. You have to have something no one else is doing to have genius in this game."

If you're trying to be somebody else, you'll never beat them.

[Andrew]

Absolutely, you're not going to be able to copy their strategy verbatim. You can observe successful strategies and adapt them for your own purposes, though.

[Dee4Three]

This opinion is coming from a Celtics fan.

Good luck with Rondo, he will fill up the stat sheet, and make a cool play every once in awhile, but you will find yourself wanting Grant or someone else on the floor in many situations throughout the season. For every good stat, Rondo makes plays that will make you scratch your head, and his shooting woes (which still exist) make it so players play far off of him making it easier for them to help on better scorers. He had a great run with Garnett/Pierce/Allen, but I question his value on a team like the Bulls. Yes, last year with the Kings he led the league in assists, but the Kings as a team had nothing to show for it.

Again, he will stuff the stat sheet with his rebounds and assists, but stats don't tell the whole story. He doesn't switch gears as well anymore either, his first step seems to be a bit slower, which is why you seeing him shoot an average of 3 for 9 each night (Hes shooting .341% this season). That is a stat that will give you concern, and hes shooting .250% from three, and .625% from the line. He is also slower on defense and gambles even more than he did when he was in Boston.

Jerian Grants shooting numbers are not much better, but I think you get the point I am trying to make. At some point, a players name needs to stop getting him a ton of minutes and key roles on teams. However, Rondo does put the fans in the seats, his name looks great on paper in that starting lineup. To me, he doesn't look like an elite guard in this league anymore. You may say that I am overreacting only 10+ games into the season, but I saw Rondo's decline at the end of his Boston tenure, and watching him this season is reminding me why so many of us in Boston wanted Rondo out towards the end in order to have a fresh start. Not to say there weren't many still saying "Lets build around him", but I believe that was more out of nostalgia for him helping Boston win a title in 08.

Either way, good luck with Rondo.

[air gordon]

The Spurs initial rebuilding process was greatly expedited by them landing the best ever Pf following a season of tanking. Poor Boston who had 2 shots at the top pick. But I digress

Kudos to the Spurs for beings one of the first teams to scout euros and draft them. And also for developing some college Pf who can't shoot or dribble into the the beast known as Kawai Leonard.

Can you imagine the Bulls doing any of those 2?!

It goes back to the lack of foresight, the lack of a long-term plan. In all fairness, the situation with injuries hasn't helped, but there's been a lot of short-term solutions, and seeing what they can throw against the wall and get to stick.

I think the big difference in the Gasol-Wade signing was management was "going" for it/ believing themselves as contenders when they signed Pau. In the big scheme of things it wasn't a fit but the Bulls badly needed an offensive scoring big. Hoiberg absolutely botched the situation when he said Noah accepted a bench role when he in truth Noah didn't

I agree the Wade signing is a job saving move.

Dee- I think most are on board believe Rondo sucks. Still some stragglers hahaa

Was expecting the Portland backcourt to feast on the Bulls! Go Jerian Grant. Take your time coming back, Rondo

[Valor]

The Spurs initial rebuilding process was greatly expedited by them landing the best ever Pf following a season of tanking.

I wouldn't say they "tanked", certainly not in the way that the Hinkie Sixers blatantly tanked, those Spurs had a bunch of injuries even if you don't count in David Robinson.

Kudos to the Spurs for beings one of the first teams to scout euros and draft them. And also for developing some college Pf who can't shoot or dribble into the the beast known as Kawai Leonard.

Can you imagine the Bulls doing any of those 2?!

Well, we did get Kukoc! As for the defensive forward......would've gotten Draymond Green but since he's someone Thibs wanted GarPax stuck it to him by going Marquis Teague

Either way, good luck with Rondo.

Best case scenario with Rondo is sticking him on the bench and somehow getting a second rounder for him at the trade deadline

[air gordon]

Yeah I can agree it wasn't a blatant tank. Definitively defied the odds in landing the top pick

Gar Pax would've found a way to screw dray greens development by doing something like drafting a yearly Pf bust from New Mexico State. At least that's what I'm telling myself

would you rather not get Kukoc and have the Bulls never pick dalibor bagaric, dragan tarlac, and kornell david? Or have Kukoc and endure krause's genius picks??

[Andrew]

The partial guarantee on Rondo's contract is looking better and better. It's hard to give GarPax too much credit there, but I guess even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[Valor]

Gar Pax would've found a way to screw dray greens development by doing something like drafting a yearly Pf bust from New Mexico State. At least that's what I'm telling myself

I reckon if Thibs was still around he would've been able to milk every ounce of basketball out of Draymond no matter what, oh well.

would you rather not get Kukoc and have the Bulls never pick dalibor bagaric, dragan tarlac, and kornell david? Or have Kukoc and endure krause's genius picks??

Well we got 3 rings with Kukoc on the roster (big motivation for MJ and Scottie since they felt snubbed and disrespected by Krause) so I'll take the latter


End of first quarter 25-26 losing to the Jazz, Hoiberg responds with "We need more pace, our D was good"

[Moz]

Gutted that MCW is not around I would like to see how he will fare as a starter since he's more of a PG than Grant. Not that I'm complaining about Grant he's been very helpful for their spacing and he's fantastic on defense just want to see if the pace is much faster with MCW. It seems Lopez impressed them in the Heat game and they're now feeding him a lot on offense since then. Perhaps it's not a bad idea to run those plays they assigned on Gasol to him. Butler definitely erased those doubts about his capability of carrying this team he's been superb so far. Perhaps DWade embracing the decoy role helped him a lot. Same can be somewhat said to Taj and McDermott, aside from him under concussion protocols on a weekly basis... Again, they need a back-up bigman...

[air gordon]

the genius of landing kukoc almost equals how bad those other picks were. but yes i would rather have kukoc and deal with those nightmares later

Gutted that MCW is not around I would like to see how he will fare as a starter since he's more of a PG than Grant. Not that I'm complaining about Grant he's been very helpful for their spacing and he's fantastic on defense just want to see if the pace is much faster with MCW. It seems Lopez impressed them in the Heat game and they're now feeding him a lot on offense since then.

i say just give the keys to Butler & Wade and just let the PG be competent on both sides of the ball. i'd like to see MCW play the livingston/andre miller type role off the bench.

is Lopez slight inefficiency due to the missed tip ins he tries? if that's just the case, keep on feeding the big guy

Butler definitely erased those doubts about his capability of carrying this team he's been superb so far. Perhaps DWade embracing the decoy role helped him a lot. Same can be somewhat said to Taj and McDermott, aside from him under concussion protocols on a weekly basis... Again, they need a back-up bigman...

Yessir Butler. Dougie Buckets was displaying some of that college versatile scoring game before the concussions.

what's wrong with Portis and Niko? haha
In closing- take your time coming back, Rondo

[Valor]

How about screw PG and just start Wade, Butler, and Dougie together (when he's back, anyways)? That way we get the shooter we desperately need. Wade and Butler are both capable enough to bring the ball up anyways, and they can switch around defensively to preserve Wade's legs. Use MCW and Grant off the bench with the second unit.

On Niko and Portis...one has no D and the other can't hit a mid range shot to save his life.

Def agree with Rondo staying out. Hopefully even if he's healthy Hoiberg will keep his ass on the bench too.

[Andrew]

Reckon they'll end up cutting Rondo loose, or paying him to stay home as the Mavericks ultimately did?

[Moz]

is Lopez slight inefficiency due to the missed tip ins he tries? if that's just the case, keep on feeding the big guy

He may be stiff like a lego but he's a capable pick n' pop guy. Am I the only one who got excited from those last few games where he fed alley oops to Butler just like how Jimmy and Pao are having it almost every game last year?

Pretty good game that one. Felt like it's playoffs already. A lot of people are criticizing Hoiberg for not putting Lopez back in the 4th (although I'm kinda worried that he's getting the Boozer treatment for a couple of games now) but I can understand it because Reddick will kill them if they did. Doc Rivers did not put him back in until the Bulls' bigs were already exhausted trying to figure out Blake. Speaking of Hoiberg, how bout that ejection huh? I only catch the replay of the game and I'm expecting that he'll get those techs from that BS call on the Griffin foul turns out it's unnecessary... T'was like he just want to be ejected so that he can wash his hands and blame the refs for the loss So many golden opportunities with those 2nd chance possessions... Oh, and also Rondo is kinda aight on this one. He doesn't forced his shots and just went to be the facilitator that he should be.

[air gordon]

How about screw PG and just start Wade, Butler, and Dougie together (when he's back, anyways)? That way we get the shooter we desperately need. Wade and Butler are both capable enough to bring the ball up anyways, and they can switch around defensively to preserve Wade's legs. Use MCW and Grant off the bench with the second unit.

On Niko and Portis...one has no D and the other can't hit a mid range shot to save his life.

Def agree with Rondo staying out. Hopefully even if he's healthy Hoiberg will keep his ass on the bench too.

Throw in Canaan and I'm board. It's sad to Portis get the minutes but continue to underwhelm most of the time

Moz, LAC got the home cooking on that call. Could've used Dougie late in the fourth. And of course Jamal Crawford enjoys playing against the Bulls

Really thought they were going to have a let down facing the other LA team. An extra day of night life there normally does you in

[Valor]

Canaan cold off the bench with a fadeaway three is the best option Hoiberg drew up to potentially win or tie the game?

[Moz]

If there's someone to blame, it should be Jimmy. He should've burn some time on that last play instead of forcing that shot and expecting the refs to bail him out with a foul... The game tying 3 is pretty clutch though. The starters had a good game it's just that Mirotic is the only bench help they have at this one and they look tired on some occasions... How come they're not using Hunter while Doug is out? Speaking of Doug, thank goodness he'll be back on the next game.

[Valor]

Just talking about that last play though, Jimmy's 3 gave them a chance to go OT so all good there imo. That last play is on Hoiberg, with so much time remaining in a 2 point game the best play he could draw up is for Canaan to shot a fadeaway 3? Even if they just cleared it out for Wade to go one on one in the post on that catch it would've been a better option. Come on now.

[Andrew]

Is that what he drew up, or did the play just break down? I didn't catch the game.

[Valor]

Is that what he drew up, or did the play just break down? I didn't catch the game.

Looked like a designed play to me, inbounded directly to Wade in the high post and Canaan coming over on a double pick.

[Andrew]

Oof...I mean, I'll never claim to be a wizard with Xs and Os, but yeah, it's fair to wonder whether that was the right call.

[Valor]

Well, he did admit afterwards that it wasn't the best of calls and the loss is on him, but also said the initial option was for Jimmy...I fail to see how. Jimmy inbounded and never even tried to get the ball, Taj screened for him to go screen Canaan, Butler never even looked in the direction of Wade (who had the ball) the entire play.

[Andrew]

Hoiball is an enigma, it would seem.

[Valor]

Hoiball is an enigma, it would seem.

Me when watching some of his coaching decisions play out.

[Moz]

Just talking about that last play though, Jimmy's 3 gave them a chance to go OT so all good there imo. That last play is on Hoiberg, with so much time remaining in a 2 point game the best play he could draw up is for Canaan to shot a fadeaway 3? Even if they just cleared it out for Wade to go one on one in the post on that catch it would've been a better option. Come on now.

I still can't blame him for that since the shot that Canaan took was pretty wide open it's just that it didn't go in unfortunately. It's expected that Butler and Wade will be heavily guarded so why not use the Steve Kerr option?

[Valor]

Just talking about that last play though, Jimmy's 3 gave them a chance to go OT so all good there imo. That last play is on Hoiberg, with so much time remaining in a 2 point game the best play he could draw up is for Canaan to shot a fadeaway 3? Even if they just cleared it out for Wade to go one on one in the post on that catch it would've been a better option. Come on now.

I still can't blame him for that since the shot that Canaan took was pretty wide open it's just that it didn't go in unfortunately. It's expected that Butler and Wade will be heavily guarded so why not use the Steve Kerr option?

They weren't though, Butler never even tried to get open as he went straight over to screen (inbounder is usually the most dangerous option too, missed opportunity there I reckon), Wade was single covered in the high post on the catch, they didn't even try to go double him...and well, Kerr shoots close to 50% from 3 while Canaan barely breaks 31% this year. Now if it was a drive and kick cause there was no room in the paint I would be fine with it, but only down two and their favored option is a fallaway 3 from a decent bench scorer who has been sitting on the bench cold as ice? Yikes.

No reason to not even test the defense by attacking the rim like the Nuggets did the previous possession. Plenty of time, a three point play would win it, a two or free throws would send it to OT. I just don't get it.