Bulls winning (in entertaining fashion from what I've heard) ain't a bad thing aside from AK keeping his job a bit longer. Haven't had time to watch any games so I can't speak to the quality of play but so far this sounds infinitely better than the shitty vibes to start last season.
Based on W/L record alone, this season is better than last. Plus, supposedly the Bulls early-season schedule is tough this season. I haven't watched every game but Zach and Vuc look better/healthier. Maybe I'm wrong about Giddey, but I'm glad to see Coby, Ayo and Phillips get PT.
Two years. Yes. A lot of shitty basketball. It's almost like we've been paying more attention than he has. In his defense, he missed almost all of 2021 and nearly half of 2023. But to us who have not been in whatever fugue state he just snapped out of, 3-2 is intoxicating.
No matter how much the Bulls or Bears win or lose, it won't be enough and they did it the wrong way. The analytics are a valuable tradeoff for the gift to the author of my mouse clicks.
I thought they had more going for them than many here, but this is NOT an enjoyable team to watch and it comes down to validation anxiety about AKME and BD.
Please AKME don't pay Giddey. That's going to kill me. He was hunted by every Magic player last night mostly successfully. Five assists with the ball in his hands that much shows the limitations of his so-called strength. His rebounds are a function of being 6 8, playing no defense and blocking out no one but stepping into clear space to grab (steal) easy rim bounces. The shooting. We'll see. If he's the paid, long contract centerpiece if this team we are effed. I'd prioritize selling him high at the deadline.
Please BD figure out appropriate player roles and make them play those roles, now and into the future. Settle Vuc down. No PW dribbling. More Ayo. Have Zach play off Coby, not vice versa. Give Matas some G League run and grow into real minutes in the second half of the season. Don't pretend Giddey is something he's not.
"I thought they had more going for them than many here, but this is NOT an enjoyable team to watch and it comes down to validation anxiety about AKME and BD."
The Orlando game was one of the most excruciatingly bad games I've ever seen. Adam and Stacey should have been recorded in silhouette on the bottom of the screen because at a certain point there was nothing to do but make fun of how bad it was (and since the Magic were playing just as badly, the ownership box granted them this indulgence).
It says a lot about collective expectations that a 3-2 start is so jarring. I would like to be wrong about the long-term prospects of this team and would be happily wrong if I thought the individual defensive parts of this team did not amount to a mesh sieve.
But, as it stands the Bulls are currently 7th in defensive rating and, as the article cites, opponents are shooting 29% from 3 against them. If you think that's a consequence of pace (e.g. other teams' legs are weak, and our legs are Forrest Gump legs metaphorically breaking through material limitations), well, that's certainly a take. And it sounds like something Jim Boylen might mutter to himself in a spiritual trance after too much blended whiskey and shrimp cocktail that someone else paid for.
But, also: fuck it: "We don't run, we're done." - Billy D.
I'd agree there will be regression to the norm for this team in a few ways - they will shoot themselves out of more games and should have shot themselves out of this game if Orlando didn't give it away; their defense will suffer as teams get better targeting Giddey and Lavine; the Bulls pace will actually be counter productive and injury a bunch of guys who aren't sturdy enough to play this pace long term(Ball, Lavine, Williams).
In good news, let's please give Ayp the game ball. The stat sheet might not show it but he basically single handedly brought the Bulls back to life, and guarded Orlando well during those brutal no offense bench lineups when Orlando should have ate the Bulls for dinner.
I'm fine compartmentalizing. I didn't hate my co-workers when I worked for billionaires and their lackies (we all work for billionaires in one way or another). Dorf and AKME can go jump in the lake but I won't hate on the Bulls players playing well and winning games. It's fun to watch.
I think with Giddey, I reason he could be really improved and it still not justifying the trade and AK still stinks, so it's OK to root for Giddey made threes
I predicted they’d have a terrible start to the year (something like 7-18 in their first 25) and it’s looking like that’s unlikely to happen.
I do wonder how much these wins can be attributed to opponents just not expecting the Bulls to play with this level of pace. It’s 75% or so of the same team as last year, so I could see them continuing to take teams by surprise until about December. Then there will be enough tape on them that teams will start to prepare for them.
There are guys on this team I like and it’s never bad when the Bulls are winning, so it’s not like I’m angry over the fact that they’re exceeding expectations so far this season. I do worry though that this is going to result in a very Bulls ending that looks like the following:
They keep winning 50-60% of their games the first six-eight weeks when everyone wants them to lose, people finally start to buy in, the team starts losing right after fans become hopeful, they limp into the play-in tournament, don’t make a playoff run and hand their pick to the Spurs, pay Giddey because he had moments and his contract looks bad as soon as next year.
I don't think that's unlikely at all. Historical standings exist, last year Atlanta was 3-2 and tied for 3rd place with Brooklyn and Indiana. Brooklyn has beaten the same two teams Chicago has but lost to Orlando, it will be some kind of nudge-able object vs barely measurable force when the two face off tomorrow.
Three of Chicago's players are shooting 45%+ from 3 and none of them have career averages above 34%. I don't think it has anything to do with pace. They just have 3 guys shooting incredible from 3 that haven't, and likely won't continue to.
I mean Caris LeVert is currently leading the league with an **82.8%** eFG%. Karl Anthony Towns is currently leading the league shooting **72.7%** from deep. There's a reason there is no HOF for 5 games into the season.
They have the point differential of a 2-3 team, having been outscored by almost 3 ppg. They are taking tons of 3s and hitting them at a rate which I would not expect them to by the end of the season, and they are still 27th in offense. Hard to see how that gets rescued. And defensively, this just can't continue. The Bulls are giving up 36 points per game on 3s. If their opponents shot league average, they would give up almost 45 points per game on 3s. Ceteris is rarely paribus, but combine that with the nearly -3 point differential? Could get really ugly.
Banchero playing through a torn oblique to the point that he's out "indefinitely" explains a few things. He was virtually unstoppable in the first half. Suddenly he was dumping off at the rim to teammates that didn't see to be expecting it, showed no touch and Julian Phillips began looking effective on defense. Basically Zach vs Banchero, but each with one arm tied behind their back.
Pat also questionable for tonight's game. The injuries are adding up already. Can't wait for AK to cite the first five games as his reason for not making any moves this season.
Some interesting shooting stats through 6 games for Giddey:
1. He's taking 3 pointers as a % of his FGAs at exactly the same rate as last year (.287 to .288 of FGA). His shot selection by distance compared to last year is nearly identical across the board.
2. His FG% from 3 has exploded.
3. His FG% from nearly everywhere else has collapsed and is actually horrible (.500 at the rim, .364 from 3-10 feet).
4. His free throw rate is through the roof (.146 to .342).
5. His FT% has likewise collapsed.
People are free to assign faith or cynicism to any of these things. My view is that nearly all of this is fluke, both good and bad.
Having watched every game, I would say that distance isn't the issue with Giddey (as it was, say, with DeMar to some degree). It's that his form is both unusual and, from watching over 6 games, erratic. Having gotten to the NBA I can't say I'm surprised he won't change it. But there's kind of a reason why 99% of people shoot jump shots the same way. His most reliable shot is not a mid-range jumper or drive but the 5 foot floater — a shot that does not rely on his bizarre shooting form and which he shoots like everyone else.
I think we're seeing something similar from the FT line (.560 vs .740 career, on more than 2.5x as many attempts), where his form is just as eccentric.
"Improvement" isn't a matter of increasing his touch from 5 feet further away, I think. It's a matter of, if not straightening out his form, then at least drilling until he's shooting with the same form all the time rather than his arms sometimes popping out and sometimes not.
For this reason I think Giddey is more of a project than anyone else in the starting line-up and "improvement" is not going to be a line gracefully sloping upward.
Totally agree. His form totally changes from shot to shot. The games where he's shot well, his form has looked way better (still bad) than the games where he's shot poorly.
I'm a lot more encouraged by his drawing fouls at a reasonable to good rate than I am by his shooting. He seems like he's trying to draw contact and is maybe a little more physical than I thought he was in OKC. At least on offense
I don't mean to go off topic but I saw your post from a few weeks ago that you were squatting on a BlueSky account, but I can't seem to find it? Do you know the exact handle?
Bulls winning (in entertaining fashion from what I've heard) ain't a bad thing aside from AK keeping his job a bit longer. Haven't had time to watch any games so I can't speak to the quality of play but so far this sounds infinitely better than the shitty vibes to start last season.
Based on W/L record alone, this season is better than last. Plus, supposedly the Bulls early-season schedule is tough this season. I haven't watched every game but Zach and Vuc look better/healthier. Maybe I'm wrong about Giddey, but I'm glad to see Coby, Ayo and Phillips get PT.
Based on W/L record, this is the first time the Bulls have been over .500 in two years.
this was funny: https://x.com/byjuliapoe/status/1851822775024988179
Two years. Yes. A lot of shitty basketball. It's almost like we've been paying more attention than he has. In his defense, he missed almost all of 2021 and nearly half of 2023. But to us who have not been in whatever fugue state he just snapped out of, 3-2 is intoxicating.
Also, the guy in charge always keeps saying things are actually great
it's funny that there are two comments about people being entertained by the Bulls but not enough to actually watch them
This feels like the Zen of Blogabull right here lol
What is the sound of one fan crapping?
No matter how much the Bulls or Bears win or lose, it won't be enough and they did it the wrong way. The analytics are a valuable tradeoff for the gift to the author of my mouse clicks.
I thought they had more going for them than many here, but this is NOT an enjoyable team to watch and it comes down to validation anxiety about AKME and BD.
Please AKME don't pay Giddey. That's going to kill me. He was hunted by every Magic player last night mostly successfully. Five assists with the ball in his hands that much shows the limitations of his so-called strength. His rebounds are a function of being 6 8, playing no defense and blocking out no one but stepping into clear space to grab (steal) easy rim bounces. The shooting. We'll see. If he's the paid, long contract centerpiece if this team we are effed. I'd prioritize selling him high at the deadline.
Please BD figure out appropriate player roles and make them play those roles, now and into the future. Settle Vuc down. No PW dribbling. More Ayo. Have Zach play off Coby, not vice versa. Give Matas some G League run and grow into real minutes in the second half of the season. Don't pretend Giddey is something he's not.
"I thought they had more going for them than many here, but this is NOT an enjoyable team to watch and it comes down to validation anxiety about AKME and BD."
The Orlando game was one of the most excruciatingly bad games I've ever seen. Adam and Stacey should have been recorded in silhouette on the bottom of the screen because at a certain point there was nothing to do but make fun of how bad it was (and since the Magic were playing just as badly, the ownership box granted them this indulgence).
It says a lot about collective expectations that a 3-2 start is so jarring. I would like to be wrong about the long-term prospects of this team and would be happily wrong if I thought the individual defensive parts of this team did not amount to a mesh sieve.
But, as it stands the Bulls are currently 7th in defensive rating and, as the article cites, opponents are shooting 29% from 3 against them. If you think that's a consequence of pace (e.g. other teams' legs are weak, and our legs are Forrest Gump legs metaphorically breaking through material limitations), well, that's certainly a take. And it sounds like something Jim Boylen might mutter to himself in a spiritual trance after too much blended whiskey and shrimp cocktail that someone else paid for.
But, also: fuck it: "We don't run, we're done." - Billy D.
106 Pace <- highest ever?
32 combined fouls per game <- lower ever?
Last Year's Pacers
101 Pace
39 combined fouls per game
7orLess Suns
95 Pace
40 combined fouls per game
86 Nuggets
106.7 Pace
53 combined fouls per game
Small sample size, caveats everywhere, I'm into it though.
not only 2nd fewest fouls/possession, and lowest rate of turnovers forced
bold "no touching" defensive strategy. It's true going to the FT line is a break from all that running!
I didn't go back far enough, 82-83 Nuggets were 112 Pace, 53 combined fouls.
I'd agree there will be regression to the norm for this team in a few ways - they will shoot themselves out of more games and should have shot themselves out of this game if Orlando didn't give it away; their defense will suffer as teams get better targeting Giddey and Lavine; the Bulls pace will actually be counter productive and injury a bunch of guys who aren't sturdy enough to play this pace long term(Ball, Lavine, Williams).
In good news, let's please give Ayp the game ball. The stat sheet might not show it but he basically single handedly brought the Bulls back to life, and guarded Orlando well during those brutal no offense bench lineups when Orlando should have ate the Bulls for dinner.
I'm fine compartmentalizing. I didn't hate my co-workers when I worked for billionaires and their lackies (we all work for billionaires in one way or another). Dorf and AKME can go jump in the lake but I won't hate on the Bulls players playing well and winning games. It's fun to watch.
I don't believe I'm hating on the players either. Except Vuc. And Dalen Terry. And Zach... ok maybe I am.
I think with Giddey, I reason he could be really improved and it still not justifying the trade and AK still stinks, so it's OK to root for Giddey made threes
Ringer article on how Alex Caruso has made the Thunder's very good defense go supernova:
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/10/30/24283573/oklahoma-city-thunder-defense-turnovers-alex-caruso
Takeaways:
1. We have 3 "top guards!"
karnisovas_weird_mouth_thing.exe
2. "As Pina noted, the Thunder projected so well because of three reasons: 1. They traded Josh Giddey, their weakest defensive link."
karnisovas_twitching_eye-thing.exe
If Karnisovas' expressions were executables, running on, say, BeOS, it would explain a lot.
Wasn't that the OS that delivered error messages as Haikus?
(I was going to write one here but it's hard, Karnisovas only says like 5 words total.)
AK runs on Windows Me and you know it
I predicted they’d have a terrible start to the year (something like 7-18 in their first 25) and it’s looking like that’s unlikely to happen.
I do wonder how much these wins can be attributed to opponents just not expecting the Bulls to play with this level of pace. It’s 75% or so of the same team as last year, so I could see them continuing to take teams by surprise until about December. Then there will be enough tape on them that teams will start to prepare for them.
There are guys on this team I like and it’s never bad when the Bulls are winning, so it’s not like I’m angry over the fact that they’re exceeding expectations so far this season. I do worry though that this is going to result in a very Bulls ending that looks like the following:
They keep winning 50-60% of their games the first six-eight weeks when everyone wants them to lose, people finally start to buy in, the team starts losing right after fans become hopeful, they limp into the play-in tournament, don’t make a playoff run and hand their pick to the Spurs, pay Giddey because he had moments and his contract looks bad as soon as next year.
I don't think that's unlikely at all. Historical standings exist, last year Atlanta was 3-2 and tied for 3rd place with Brooklyn and Indiana. Brooklyn has beaten the same two teams Chicago has but lost to Orlando, it will be some kind of nudge-able object vs barely measurable force when the two face off tomorrow.
Three of Chicago's players are shooting 45%+ from 3 and none of them have career averages above 34%. I don't think it has anything to do with pace. They just have 3 guys shooting incredible from 3 that haven't, and likely won't continue to.
I mean Caris LeVert is currently leading the league with an **82.8%** eFG%. Karl Anthony Towns is currently leading the league shooting **72.7%** from deep. There's a reason there is no HOF for 5 games into the season.
They have the point differential of a 2-3 team, having been outscored by almost 3 ppg. They are taking tons of 3s and hitting them at a rate which I would not expect them to by the end of the season, and they are still 27th in offense. Hard to see how that gets rescued. And defensively, this just can't continue. The Bulls are giving up 36 points per game on 3s. If their opponents shot league average, they would give up almost 45 points per game on 3s. Ceteris is rarely paribus, but combine that with the nearly -3 point differential? Could get really ugly.
Music to a tank-humper's ears.
Zach dislocated his shoulder and is "questionable," which based on how it was dangling off his body in the 2nd half, seems incredible to me.
*sigh* god damn it.
It's just a flesh wound.
Banchero playing through a torn oblique to the point that he's out "indefinitely" explains a few things. He was virtually unstoppable in the first half. Suddenly he was dumping off at the rim to teammates that didn't see to be expecting it, showed no touch and Julian Phillips began looking effective on defense. Basically Zach vs Banchero, but each with one arm tied behind their back.
Makes more sense than 'he got tired not being slowed down on offense'
Pat also questionable for tonight's game. The injuries are adding up already. Can't wait for AK to cite the first five games as his reason for not making any moves this season.
Nets LIVE OPEN THREAD is UP: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/0845f59f-feec-4d23-bc2e-8962c5ab36b3
Matas with his first DNP. Bulls officially going for the play-in.
🌎🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀 "always were"
Assigned to the GLeague today
Some interesting shooting stats through 6 games for Giddey:
1. He's taking 3 pointers as a % of his FGAs at exactly the same rate as last year (.287 to .288 of FGA). His shot selection by distance compared to last year is nearly identical across the board.
2. His FG% from 3 has exploded.
3. His FG% from nearly everywhere else has collapsed and is actually horrible (.500 at the rim, .364 from 3-10 feet).
4. His free throw rate is through the roof (.146 to .342).
5. His FT% has likewise collapsed.
People are free to assign faith or cynicism to any of these things. My view is that nearly all of this is fluke, both good and bad.
Having watched every game, I would say that distance isn't the issue with Giddey (as it was, say, with DeMar to some degree). It's that his form is both unusual and, from watching over 6 games, erratic. Having gotten to the NBA I can't say I'm surprised he won't change it. But there's kind of a reason why 99% of people shoot jump shots the same way. His most reliable shot is not a mid-range jumper or drive but the 5 foot floater — a shot that does not rely on his bizarre shooting form and which he shoots like everyone else.
I think we're seeing something similar from the FT line (.560 vs .740 career, on more than 2.5x as many attempts), where his form is just as eccentric.
"Improvement" isn't a matter of increasing his touch from 5 feet further away, I think. It's a matter of, if not straightening out his form, then at least drilling until he's shooting with the same form all the time rather than his arms sometimes popping out and sometimes not.
For this reason I think Giddey is more of a project than anyone else in the starting line-up and "improvement" is not going to be a line gracefully sloping upward.
Totally agree. His form totally changes from shot to shot. The games where he's shot well, his form has looked way better (still bad) than the games where he's shot poorly.
I'm a lot more encouraged by his drawing fouls at a reasonable to good rate than I am by his shooting. He seems like he's trying to draw contact and is maybe a little more physical than I thought he was in OKC. At least on offense
I don't mean to go off topic but I saw your post from a few weeks ago that you were squatting on a BlueSky account, but I can't seem to find it? Do you know the exact handle?
haven't posted there yet. When I do I'll holler.
Jazz game LIVE OPEN THREAD is UP. https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/36f79572-25b3-4731-abbf-e035ec122c51
look at that roster!