Honestly my biggest takeaway was the maturity in buzis game. I was hopeful on him before, but I think he has the chance to be something real in the league. Like luol Deng vibes, a two way versatile wing. He may not be able to carry a team, but I think he's going to be a terrific support for some star player.
think he has a way higher offensive ceiling than Lu. He already has better handles and a potentially more credible 3 pt shot. Loved Lu but his nonexistent handle and iffy 3 pointer capped him at 17/18 a night. Matas can get to 24 in 2 years, plus he is taller with more athleticism
Agreed. I meant more in that role. Like luol is a multi year allstar, was constantly our second best scorer while also being out best defender. An absolute lynchpin at the forward position. I think buzelis is that. I don't think he can be the guy that carries the offensive load, but he's your secondary.
They are both slashers that don't really create for themselves (so far at least). Luol was from a different era offensively and regularly took long 2s just a couple of feet inside the line. And he made them! Matas at least exists in a world where developing a 3 point shot is a necessity.
The finishing that we've seen last night and through the preseason, that's a different level. Finishing with either hand, going both left or right, the intelligence to time out the cuts. Those are the ingredients for something greater.
Matas can already get to the rack and has some wiggle in his dribble that Lu never ever had. Not knocking Lu, I think he was super underrated but i think i can count on one hand the amount of times he got all the way to the rim. Lu was more of a run off a screen, take a dribble and hit a 16 footer type guy.
I think you are underrating Lu a bit, but I get your point. Deng could never be the first option on offense, but Matas could get there. Of course Lu was a great 2-way player, 5 years in the top 25 in the NBA, by RAPM. Matas has a lot of work to do to get to that level.
Bulls: "Hey, maybe this feel-good opening night win will get us some real attention from NBA fans and insiders!"
FBI: "Hold my beer."
But on a more serious note, the Bulls are impacted by today's news in that I believe maybe the 2nd-best realistic thing that could happen for the franchise (after Buzelis blossoming into a true star) would be the Blazers making the playoffs as the 8th seed and getting their pick. I know there are scenarios where it's better to NOT convey so we can hold hostage their future pick flexibility, but I don't see AKME as someone who's good at negotiation tactics.
As for the game last night, I'm just happy this team seems like one I'm happy to root for, even if "middle-of-the-pack" is probably their ceiling (and maybe their floor). I could let my disdain for AKME and the 'Dorfs turn me bitter, but I didn't do that with Krause and the 'Dorfs in the late 90s. I think I'm willing to invest a bit of emotional energy into these guys that I could never really muster with the Zach-led groups....and probably no squads since Noah and Butler departed.
Now for Vuc, nice game for him. He's gonna beat up on teams like the Pistons (I don't regard them that highly) who don't play skilled centers. He's still going to look bad against elite centers, but if he can stay "engaged" (quoting Stacey King) like last night and not get distracted/emotional, he is going to have a lot more games like this one.
All right! We are legitimately 1-0. I think all our 44 wins will look like this. I wouldn't expect any of them to look pretty. We've got an old center who can't jump, a point guard who has an ugly shot, and a bunch of one-way role players who all look like overachievers. It is what it is.
I hadn't heard this narrative about Lauri before. It could be true...but also the Bulls weren't using him the same way in their offense starting in year 2, when they started running everything through Zach in his "breakout" year. But certainly two major issues with him were always durability and strength (ability to finish at the rim and not get pushed around by stronger forwards on D). With Utah I think he just got the keys to the kingdom of a bad team, at the same time he was naturally growing into the prime of his career.
And yet those same strength concerns keep popping up, and Utah is pushing the same buttons the Bulls did. This article from last year is almost a carbon copy of multiple articles written in 2018:
I took a look at Lauri's stats to see what changed from his time on the Bulls to the Jazz. Comparing his last year on the Bulls (20/21) to his first on the Jazz (22/23) here is what stood out.
First, his shooting percentages for those two seasons were virtually identical. 58.2% to 58.5% on 2-pointers. 40.2% to 39.1% on 3-pointers. And the 3-point attempts were also the same, 8.1 attempts per 36 minutes both years.
Here is what was different. For the Bulls, Lauri shot 6.2 2-pointers per 36 minutes. For the Jazz it was 10.0. Also, offensive boards increased from 1.0 to 2.1. And free throws went up from 2.5 per 36 to 6.3.
Lauri became much more active in the paint when he got to Utah. Whether that was a coaching thing, or he got stronger, or maybe he was just working on his inside moves, I couldn't tell you. But his offensive game became more well-rounded.
Interestingly, last year he reverted back to being more of a 3-point shooter. His 3-point attempts increased to 9.7, his 2-point shots dropped to 7.3, and his FTAs fell to 4.5 per 36.
God, I forgot how bad Bulls coaching used to be! What is Boylen doing these days I wonder, coaching high school somewhere maybe?
Percentage of Lauri's field goal attempts that were long 2s by year. Bulls: 17, 18, 4, 5. Cavs: 9. Jazz: 9,9,8. First two years Lauri was taking a lot of bad shots.
Lauri's FG% on long 2s. 2nd year with Bulls: 35%. First year with Jazz: 50%.
Lauri's TS%. 2nd year with Bulls: 55%. First year Jazz: 64%.
Lauri's free throw rate. 2nd year Bulls 4.2. First year Jazz 6.5.
I'd say Lauri was settling for longer shots early in his career. He was a lot more aggressive once he got to Utah. And his shooting percentages have improved too.
Another player the Bulls wanted to be a passive 3-point shooter is Luke Kornet. That guy lives in the paint now, and makes his living off of put back dunks.
Boylen was in the finals as an assistant coach with the Pacers last year. NBA coaching staffs are huge and anybody that's gone through it and has connections is going to get a job.
Yeah, better handles, maybe? What's interesting to me is that those long jumpers became shorter jumpers (3-10 feet from the basket), not threes or shots at the rim.
FO suspected of illegal "connect four" games. yfbb doubts they could ever align two tokens of the same color. KCJ pray Sam Smith. Adam Silver is happy to discover there's a NBA team in Chicago (quote "never noticed that the Chicago Sky has invested in NBA")
think it's Boston. I'd say if they were serious about not bottoming out they'd trade for Vuc. But that would require a willing trade partner not the inscrutable Bulls
Milwaukee looks amazing so far. Philly looks good, but are getting inconsistent performances from Embiid and great games from a rookie, which may not last.
Note sure anything over the last 5 years has been as enjoyable as Ayo vs the Hawks and Tre Young. 67.8% TS% against the Hawks in 14 games. 26 Stl+Blks.
I meant to ask before the season, but is Matas going to lead the league in dunks for players under or 6'9"? Did you know the NBA officially makes teams list no-shoe, verified-by-physician heights? I was goingt to go under 6'10", but that would include some centers like Jarret Allen. Amen Thompson and OG Anunoby were leaders last year with 138 and 132, respectively. Probably not because they don't really have a pick-and-roll lob offense like, say, Atlanta, but it'd be interesting.
I hate to say this since I genuinely do love Coby, but this starting five may actually be better without him.
Tre Jones is a big boost to the defense in a way that Coby obviously isn't. Sure, Jones isn't the most amazing defender due to his size, but he's incredibly smart on that end and seems to always make the right play.
And then on offense the Bulls seem to making up for Coby's scoring by just having a million guys score in double figures. I'm sure there will be games they lose because of that, but I think losing a little bit of their scoring punch in return for a better defender seems to be paying off for the time being.
Could this make it an easier decision for AK to trade Coby?
The starting lineup has been maybe the worst lineup. Giddey and Buzelis have the lowest +/- on the team. I agree Tre Jones has been the best Bull, and moving him to the bench might impact the starting lineup negatively, but I can't see him losing minutes. Giddey should be losing minutes.
For sure. I should probably have worded my original comment better. I'm not saying the starting five is good. All I'm saying is that Jones may help the starting unit more than Coby would.
Personally, I'd kind of like to see a starting lineup with Coby instead of Giddey. Let Jones take over full-time point guard duties and Coby can play shooting guard. That way they still have a good facilitator out there - it could be argued that Jones is a better facilitator than Giddey - and you have a solid point of attack defender. Plus, you get all of Coby's scoring!
Obviously that'll only happen if Giddey gets injured.
Giddey didn't finish the Magic game and then last night he was on the floor for the Hawks getting ahead in the 4th, they took him and Okoro out for Ayo and Huerter, and the Bulls went on a run to come back and take the lead for good. Giddey did come back in to finish the game and keep the lead, but it's two games in a row now.
Bulls' strong start can largely be attributed to opponents shooting an unsustainable 26% from three. If opponents were shooting 35% on the same volume, they would have scored on average 7 more points per game, wiping out the Bulls' positive point differential.
- Vuc is so hated that he's become underrated and people don't acknowledge that he does quite a bit that's valuable.
- Vuc is so hated that people want so bad to think Jalen Smith is good, but he's barely playable most of the time
- Buz and Giddey are both better than their first half of last year, but not quite where their were in the second half of last year. I'm not too worried about Buz. A little more about Giddey.
- The lack of spacing probably hurts Giddey the most though.
- I wasn't an Okoro fan and I'm still not. I think he's an above average defender, but I don't think he's anywhere close to a "lock down" defender and it's implausible that his defensive stops has many points as his offense costs us.
- As Jorge notes, teams are missing a lot of shots against us, and they are also missing lots of open shots against us. When we start playing less offensively challenged teams, things are going to get worse.
Honestly my biggest takeaway was the maturity in buzis game. I was hopeful on him before, but I think he has the chance to be something real in the league. Like luol Deng vibes, a two way versatile wing. He may not be able to carry a team, but I think he's going to be a terrific support for some star player.
think he has a way higher offensive ceiling than Lu. He already has better handles and a potentially more credible 3 pt shot. Loved Lu but his nonexistent handle and iffy 3 pointer capped him at 17/18 a night. Matas can get to 24 in 2 years, plus he is taller with more athleticism
Agreed. I meant more in that role. Like luol is a multi year allstar, was constantly our second best scorer while also being out best defender. An absolute lynchpin at the forward position. I think buzelis is that. I don't think he can be the guy that carries the offensive load, but he's your secondary.
They are both slashers that don't really create for themselves (so far at least). Luol was from a different era offensively and regularly took long 2s just a couple of feet inside the line. And he made them! Matas at least exists in a world where developing a 3 point shot is a necessity.
The finishing that we've seen last night and through the preseason, that's a different level. Finishing with either hand, going both left or right, the intelligence to time out the cuts. Those are the ingredients for something greater.
Matas can already get to the rack and has some wiggle in his dribble that Lu never ever had. Not knocking Lu, I think he was super underrated but i think i can count on one hand the amount of times he got all the way to the rim. Lu was more of a run off a screen, take a dribble and hit a 16 footer type guy.
I think you are underrating Lu a bit, but I get your point. Deng could never be the first option on offense, but Matas could get there. Of course Lu was a great 2-way player, 5 years in the top 25 in the NBA, by RAPM. Matas has a lot of work to do to get to that level.
Bulls: "Hey, maybe this feel-good opening night win will get us some real attention from NBA fans and insiders!"
FBI: "Hold my beer."
But on a more serious note, the Bulls are impacted by today's news in that I believe maybe the 2nd-best realistic thing that could happen for the franchise (after Buzelis blossoming into a true star) would be the Blazers making the playoffs as the 8th seed and getting their pick. I know there are scenarios where it's better to NOT convey so we can hold hostage their future pick flexibility, but I don't see AKME as someone who's good at negotiation tactics.
As for the game last night, I'm just happy this team seems like one I'm happy to root for, even if "middle-of-the-pack" is probably their ceiling (and maybe their floor). I could let my disdain for AKME and the 'Dorfs turn me bitter, but I didn't do that with Krause and the 'Dorfs in the late 90s. I think I'm willing to invest a bit of emotional energy into these guys that I could never really muster with the Zach-led groups....and probably no squads since Noah and Butler departed.
Now for Vuc, nice game for him. He's gonna beat up on teams like the Pistons (I don't regard them that highly) who don't play skilled centers. He's still going to look bad against elite centers, but if he can stay "engaged" (quoting Stacey King) like last night and not get distracted/emotional, he is going to have a lot more games like this one.
All right! We are legitimately 1-0. I think all our 44 wins will look like this. I wouldn't expect any of them to look pretty. We've got an old center who can't jump, a point guard who has an ugly shot, and a bunch of one-way role players who all look like overachievers. It is what it is.
A little of the old razzle dazzle
Can't wait for the Bulls to ruin Matas's game by insisting that he put on extra muscle every offseason, like they did with Lauri.
good call, I forgot how great Lauri's rookie year started that was an exciting time too (2017...)
I hadn't heard this narrative about Lauri before. It could be true...but also the Bulls weren't using him the same way in their offense starting in year 2, when they started running everything through Zach in his "breakout" year. But certainly two major issues with him were always durability and strength (ability to finish at the rim and not get pushed around by stronger forwards on D). With Utah I think he just got the keys to the kingdom of a bad team, at the same time he was naturally growing into the prime of his career.
And yet those same strength concerns keep popping up, and Utah is pushing the same buttons the Bulls did. This article from last year is almost a carbon copy of multiple articles written in 2018:
https://www.si.com/nba/jazz/news/jazz-f-lauri-markkanen-reveals-eye-opening-body-transformation-01j484g7c501
For reference, 2018 article: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2789717-bulls-news-lauri-markkanen-gains-14-pounds-i-feel-stronger
I took a look at Lauri's stats to see what changed from his time on the Bulls to the Jazz. Comparing his last year on the Bulls (20/21) to his first on the Jazz (22/23) here is what stood out.
First, his shooting percentages for those two seasons were virtually identical. 58.2% to 58.5% on 2-pointers. 40.2% to 39.1% on 3-pointers. And the 3-point attempts were also the same, 8.1 attempts per 36 minutes both years.
Here is what was different. For the Bulls, Lauri shot 6.2 2-pointers per 36 minutes. For the Jazz it was 10.0. Also, offensive boards increased from 1.0 to 2.1. And free throws went up from 2.5 per 36 to 6.3.
Lauri became much more active in the paint when he got to Utah. Whether that was a coaching thing, or he got stronger, or maybe he was just working on his inside moves, I couldn't tell you. But his offensive game became more well-rounded.
Interestingly, last year he reverted back to being more of a 3-point shooter. His 3-point attempts increased to 9.7, his 2-point shots dropped to 7.3, and his FTAs fell to 4.5 per 36.
Compare his shot distribution during his second year in Chicago and his first year in Utah. They are much more similar.
What happened was that Boylen decided to "modernize" the offense. Only threes and dunks/layups. No long jumpers allowed.
That crippled Lauri's game, since it meant smaller guys had an easier time guarding him.
They don't seem like the same player.
Now, he was a much better player in Utah.
But the shot distribution ? 18/19 9.9 2PA per 36 min. 2/23 10 2PA per 36 min.
God, I forgot how bad Bulls coaching used to be! What is Boylen doing these days I wonder, coaching high school somewhere maybe?
Percentage of Lauri's field goal attempts that were long 2s by year. Bulls: 17, 18, 4, 5. Cavs: 9. Jazz: 9,9,8. First two years Lauri was taking a lot of bad shots.
Lauri's FG% on long 2s. 2nd year with Bulls: 35%. First year with Jazz: 50%.
Lauri's TS%. 2nd year with Bulls: 55%. First year Jazz: 64%.
Lauri's free throw rate. 2nd year Bulls 4.2. First year Jazz 6.5.
I'd say Lauri was settling for longer shots early in his career. He was a lot more aggressive once he got to Utah. And his shooting percentages have improved too.
Another player the Bulls wanted to be a passive 3-point shooter is Luke Kornet. That guy lives in the paint now, and makes his living off of put back dunks.
Boylen was in the finals as an assistant coach with the Pacers last year. NBA coaching staffs are huge and anybody that's gone through it and has connections is going to get a job.
Yeah, better handles, maybe? What's interesting to me is that those long jumpers became shorter jumpers (3-10 feet from the basket), not threes or shots at the rim.
Breaking News: Entire Chicago Bulls team arrested for fraud, embezzlement & general chicanery.
FO suspected of illegal "connect four" games. yfbb doubts they could ever align two tokens of the same color. KCJ pray Sam Smith. Adam Silver is happy to discover there's a NBA team in Chicago (quote "never noticed that the Chicago Sky has invested in NBA")
There's no such thing as bad publicity.
Magic on back to back and holding out Suggs. Committee to Dismiss all AKME Claims of Success has deemed this game does NOT count (unless they lose)
Bulls still 1-0 after Magic game 👍
Game thread and roster snapshot up early for tonight's game in Orlando: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/e7820a2d-9708-4d47-b373-f50216e98864
oh my ! Vooch (and Billy) asks wants young Bulls to move without the ball ^^
"En général, dans cette ligue, il y a beaucoup de mouvements sans ballon surtout avec des pivots capables d’étirer le jeu et de faire des passes"
"Generally, in this league, there's a lot of mouvement without the ball, especially with bigs able yo stretch the floor and pass"
Do what I say, not what I do ^^
or maybe, just play basket-ball ^^
By the way, a good opportunity to move without the ball is to defend ^^
https://www.basketusa.com/news/782070/billy-donovan-veut-voir-ses-jeunes-bulls-bouger-sans-ballon/
https://substack.com/@indycornrows/note/c-170444741?r=2bo
Pacers definitely missing the play-in, that's one. Bulls need one more of Bos/Mil/Phi, maybe two to be safe
think it's Boston. I'd say if they were serious about not bottoming out they'd trade for Vuc. But that would require a willing trade partner not the inscrutable Bulls
Milwaukee looks amazing so far. Philly looks good, but are getting inconsistent performances from Embiid and great games from a rookie, which may not last.
Note sure anything over the last 5 years has been as enjoyable as Ayo vs the Hawks and Tre Young. 67.8% TS% against the Hawks in 14 games. 26 Stl+Blks.
Fun with small sample sizes! Bball Reference has the Bulls with a 10.6% chance of winning the championship!
https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/playoff_prob.html
OKC squad shaking with fear ^^
game thread for tonight vs Hawks: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/b65b02e3-d55d-4a8c-9483-ab2b0aef8350
I meant to ask before the season, but is Matas going to lead the league in dunks for players under or 6'9"? Did you know the NBA officially makes teams list no-shoe, verified-by-physician heights? I was goingt to go under 6'10", but that would include some centers like Jarret Allen. Amen Thompson and OG Anunoby were leaders last year with 138 and 132, respectively. Probably not because they don't really have a pick-and-roll lob offense like, say, Atlanta, but it'd be interesting.
I hate to say this since I genuinely do love Coby, but this starting five may actually be better without him.
Tre Jones is a big boost to the defense in a way that Coby obviously isn't. Sure, Jones isn't the most amazing defender due to his size, but he's incredibly smart on that end and seems to always make the right play.
And then on offense the Bulls seem to making up for Coby's scoring by just having a million guys score in double figures. I'm sure there will be games they lose because of that, but I think losing a little bit of their scoring punch in return for a better defender seems to be paying off for the time being.
Could this make it an easier decision for AK to trade Coby?
The starting lineup has been maybe the worst lineup. Giddey and Buzelis have the lowest +/- on the team. I agree Tre Jones has been the best Bull, and moving him to the bench might impact the starting lineup negatively, but I can't see him losing minutes. Giddey should be losing minutes.
For sure. I should probably have worded my original comment better. I'm not saying the starting five is good. All I'm saying is that Jones may help the starting unit more than Coby would.
Personally, I'd kind of like to see a starting lineup with Coby instead of Giddey. Let Jones take over full-time point guard duties and Coby can play shooting guard. That way they still have a good facilitator out there - it could be argued that Jones is a better facilitator than Giddey - and you have a solid point of attack defender. Plus, you get all of Coby's scoring!
Obviously that'll only happen if Giddey gets injured.
Giddey didn't finish the Magic game and then last night he was on the floor for the Hawks getting ahead in the 4th, they took him and Okoro out for Ayo and Huerter, and the Bulls went on a run to come back and take the lead for good. Giddey did come back in to finish the game and keep the lead, but it's two games in a row now.
Bulls' strong start can largely be attributed to opponents shooting an unsustainable 26% from three. If opponents were shooting 35% on the same volume, they would have scored on average 7 more points per game, wiping out the Bulls' positive point differential.
Player observations:
- Vuc is so hated that he's become underrated and people don't acknowledge that he does quite a bit that's valuable.
- Vuc is so hated that people want so bad to think Jalen Smith is good, but he's barely playable most of the time
- Buz and Giddey are both better than their first half of last year, but not quite where their were in the second half of last year. I'm not too worried about Buz. A little more about Giddey.
- The lack of spacing probably hurts Giddey the most though.
- I wasn't an Okoro fan and I'm still not. I think he's an above average defender, but I don't think he's anywhere close to a "lock down" defender and it's implausible that his defensive stops has many points as his offense costs us.
- As Jorge notes, teams are missing a lot of shots against us, and they are also missing lots of open shots against us. When we start playing less offensively challenged teams, things are going to get worse.