Well well well, it appears when the Bulls are not massively out-talented going into a game they can make it fun and competitive. It remains to be seen what amount of opponents meet this criterion this season, but against the Milwaukee Bucks the Bulls had a mostly-good-if-looking-with-a-rebuild-focus game and came out with the victory.
And before getting into the more important elements within the game, the end result is worth discussing to me in that I had a revelatory moment in…not caring. Not even so much thinking about tanking, or the relegation zone, but no longer dueling against phantom thoughts of Arturas Karnisovas thinking his team is close to contention because fluky things like, for example in this game, the Bucks missing 12 free throws (including 5 in the 4th quarter).
AK’s successor, Bryson Graham, has said and acted like he knows his team currently stinks and has a long way to go.
And this game showed that Tiago Splitter seemingly agrees. In his first win as Bulls coach, Splitter acted unbeholden to any player on the roster, instead playing whomever was giving Wilson1 and the team the best chance at succeeding.
The first quarter in this game was making it clear that the starting lineup, especially Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, were not going to give the Bulls a good chance at winning, and the team was in danger of going 0-2 in even-competitive matchups. Even though facing an opponent that allowed them to not only stay even on possessions but have an advantage, the Bulls were dismal offensively with just 17 points going 6/14 from two and 1/14 from three2.
I have given Splitter some guff in these first two games for having all-bench lineups out there, figuring there was no chance at good offense without at least one of Giddey, Buzelis, or Norm Powell on the court. But in this game’s second quarter the likes of Noa Essengue and Leonard Miller, with Tre Jones at point guard, there was no need for half-court offense, as they were able to defensively-disrupt and run their way to a 16-0 stretch to take the lead.
At halftime, it was merely a 1 point deficit, but the team was -13 with Giddey on the court, as he plus Matas plus Caleb combined for 8 points in the half.
In the 2nd half it wasn’t some immediate return to disaster from the starting unit, but there was a noticeable difference in how the team played with Essengue, Miller, Jones (relentless dribble penetration)…with Caleb Wilson coming alive. Wilson had 12 points in the 3rd quarter alone.
If you’re focused on the rebuild, it was already a successful game3. But as an individual contest it was still very much a toss-up throughout the 4th quarter.
And then in the final ~4 minutes, it was Giddey on the bench. And Matas Buzelis didn’t play the entire 4th quarter.
And the Bulls won not in spite of this, but because of it. Kind of like the 2nd quarter, the Bulls still looked mostly hopeless in half-court sets but were able to capitalize on 9 Bucks turnovers.
Wilson went 5-6 from the line in the 4th quarter.
I can only conclude, therefore: he’s clutch! Kidding of course, but it is of utmost importance that he plays in meaningful minutes. And the bench allowed that opportunity in this game at least: Miller with 19 points, Jones 8 assists (Bulls +24 in his minutes), Hield had 13, Essengue with that 1 block and 3 steals guarding the center spot, Okoro with 12 points and his usual solid defense. They won the Bulls the possession battle and therefore the game.
So the Bulls are 1-1 in season record, as well as ‘number of games that were interesting versus rendered useless’. They face an opponent Saturday that’s in between the chasm between Milwaukee and Toronto in the still-healthy-for-now Washington Wizards.
ok, so maybe one player gets special treatment…and should
I’ll eventually stop reminding, but I really don’t think I’m going to focus too much on team defense, especially from the starters. It was bad, it will likely be bad all year.
Note that this is true, regardless of another rotation decision where Isaac Okoro played nearly 28 minutes and Dailyn Swain received a DNP. Not all young players matter the same amount.
Loved Caleb tonight but the Bulls had no chance to win this game without Okoro, Smith, and Jones. I think they could all play meaningful playoff minutes for other teams and I hope we trade them in Jan/Feb and get something decent in return. Powell obviously as well.
I've been generally a fan of Buzelis but a lot of that has been visualizing what he could become. Maybe this is a "Captain Obvious" thought but after seeing him next to Caleb it's pretty clear that Matas is both positionally redundant and inferior. I like the kid but I wonder what kind of return we could get for him. We're going to have to make a decision on extending him next summer and I'm guessing he'll be expensive to retain.
Essengue didn't surprise me today. I have been expecting this side of him to emerge. I watched a ton of highlights of him on his European squad and he just hasn't played with that freedom or confidence for the Bulls yet. He's also bigger now!
As for Giddey I really hope people remember the player he was for a long stretch during spring and fall 2025. But he's not that player now, with the wrist thing that seems to be impacting his confidence. Today was not as awful as Wed, but could the Bulls just shut him down for awhile? Could the wrist improve with a couple months off?
Should Tre Jones be starting at point guard? He adds penetration, which is something the starters could use. He's also a better point of attack defender than Giddey.
I feel like most of the talk around Essengue since drafting him was wondering if he could put on weight and become a center. But what if he just stays skinny and becomes a 6'11" small forward that picks up full court every play?