From your statement about these games being close late, you might not be aware of: "The five laws of refereeing." Who gets called for the foul or turnover?
1. Not the star player.
2. The team that's winning.
3. The road team.
4. The team that's lower in the standings.
5. Not the glamorous team.
It's tough being a ref, having to immediately apply these sometimes contradictory rules to every situation.
Naah, I doubt if the refs placed bets. I'd say others placed bets and they just did the right thing. But even more than that, without being told, the refs know that the NBA wants the stars on the floor, the home team fans to go home happy, and the game to be thrilling right up to the end to keep asses in seats, in the stadium and in front of TVs.
they usually get turnovers right with the reviews. foul rules are so ridiculous though with regulation on incidental contact for jumpshooters being so absurd that I don't blame them for looking like confused idiots from having to enforce some of that crap.
that said, every game is different, sometimes they just let contact happen and sometimes they don't. mostly I'd rather they did over the ticktack garbage
Recently Luka was sent to the line because he "feii" after taking a jump shot. Years ago, no one "fell" the way he did, and got free throws for it. The worst for me is the palming on every dribble and the steps, especially the Eurostep. Maybe for 8-year-olds, give 'em a break while they're learning, and tighten it up when they're in Jr HS. You wouldn't have 6'8" PGs if they had to actually dribble the ball. Just play half-court and shoot threes and dunk. Make it more like a darts tournament where they can just stand at their spot, fake a jump shot, get their defender in the air, jump into him, shoot, fall while landing, and get awarded extra shots. Take turns doing that.
It's been a tough stretch of games against tough teams with actual size. His rebounding is down, his 2pt% is down. His improved 3pt shot is his life line against real competition at this point.
It's scary to think Vuc might get extended. But Karnisovas's vision is working out so far this year, and fortunately part of that plan is to create maximum cap space this off season, which means not protecting Vuc's rights.
There's a chance, maybe even a probability, that he comes back, but it would be at a much reduced salary. The BAE will be $5.2 million, that would be a good number.
Well maybe that's true. Maybe AK doesn't have a plan. Maybe he's just been stumbling into good fortune. But either way we're going to have a shitload of cap space this summer and Karnisovas is not dumb enough to use it on Vuc.
We’re less than a year removed from AK planting a message to the local media that he didn’t trade Vuc at the deadline because he was laying the groundwork to trade him in the summer. Then in the summer, the front office called Vuc to let him know the trade rumors aren’t true and he’s not going anywhere.
You shouldn’t expect him to do anything logical. He’s 100% dumb enough to use legitimate cap space on Vuc.
This is what I mean by the angst of Vuc-ball. Some of it is unfair personal bias. But there is something to be said for this coming at the expense of the younger players.
The Bulls figure - and maybe they're not wrong, just lying - that the way for young players to develop is making sure they are participating in "meaningful" games moreso than more minutes.
I don't really understand how this is attributable to Vuch, and Donivan is a good coach, but I do agree that Matas was done dirty there. The main thing I care about with Matas is his development as a rebounder and rim protector (because among other things, I see no reason not to believe he can score), and I think he's been modestly trending upward in those regards thr past handful of games. In my opinion, that should buy him a lot of leeway, even when his offense isn't flowing and he's getting cooked 1v1 defensively.
It was more that, in general, Billy is not giving young players a lot of leeway whereas he's riding his veterans and Vuc the most. And he's a good coach and it's producing victories.
more odd - and perhaps nuking my point - was the deployment of the Dalen Terry nuclear option yesterday. He came in before Ayo. And his 'style' actually did help in that game. But they're certainly not developing Dalen Terry using him this way (though he's a lost cause IMO so not a huge issue)
If he can do what he did the last 2 nights, then I think he's worth that no question. But, doing that consistently, being solid consistently, has always been his challenge.
All I know about the NBA season is that the Thunder are head and shoulders above any other team in the league. The rest is just a crap shoot. The Raptors are in second place in the East this season for crying out loud! Nothing makes a lot of sense.
the Raptors are interesting, they are also doing the AK "9-10 very good players" schtick but they have better players than the Bulls (albeit more expensive)
After starting 1-4, the Raptors are 9-1 including two wins at Cleveland. Detroit looks like the second best team in the league. The trade deadline might get interesting.
I must admit I'm really eating shit on the Pistons. watching that opener against the Bulls and I was just like what the fuck is going on here this team looks like shit and a clear regression candidate. classic dumbass overreaction.
Calling it now, we're going to get a KC tweet in the near future saying he believes the Bulls and Vooch are close to reaching an agreement on an extension and that Vooch is taking a hometown discount (basically exactly what he said about Vooch's last extension). And then it'll be for like $15 million a year and we'll all be befuddled at how KC could consider that a hometown discount.
As a Vooch hater, I must begrudgingly give the guy credit for somehow becoming the best 3-point shooting big man in the NBA in his mid-30s to save his career.
looking at some of his numbers this year is quite funny. obviously the 3-point shooting is hot, and his clutch shooting has won them at least 4 games (Pistons, Sixers, Nuggets, Blazers). He's 4 of 5 from 3 in clutch games in the final minute, with the one miss being that Jazz one the other night that was right on line.
on the other hand, the Bulls are getting crushed when he's in there (-5.5 on-court net rating), which is partially just a function of the starters being kinda sucky.
Bulls are now 8-6 with a negative point differential (what's up Bears), thanks in large part to Vucevic going beast mode in clutch time and mostly not missing his biggest shots of the game.
Only thing I would add to that is Bulls have had the 2nd most difficult schedule in the NBA so far, according to B/R. To date we've only played two teams in the bottom 3rd of the league. (OKC, with the easiest schedule so far, has already played 11 games against the bottom 3rd and has Utah tonight.)
I'm in the minority as more of a Vooch defender here, except when he's in "pout" mode, which I haven't seen much lately. I think that mode was a function of how poorly he was able to coexist with Zach and DeMar (one of whom had zero bball IQ and the other being a top-tier ball-stopping iso player).
But ironically I felt that after a great start but before the winning shot, he actually looked pretty damn awful in the heart of the 4th Q. Honestly, I kept thinking that if the "Vooch is good" crowd and "Vooch sucks" crowd each decided to make highlight/lowlight reels to prove their points, they'd both have all the footage they'd need from this one single game.
Once the Blazers upped their intensity he looked overmatched on D, ineffective on the glass, and rushed/stressed on offense. I think his game is best suited to the the casual, phoned-in, "pace yourself, it's a long season" style of regular season NBA ball. At playoff-level intensity his advantages (savvy positioning, skilled-if-slow footwork, soft touch) tend to diminish. I have similar concerns about Giddey but his game seems to be evolving so we'll see.
We know where this is going. They’ll have a 40-something win season, do nothing at the trade deadline, get eliminated in either the play-in tournament or the first round of the playoffs, AK will act like he achieved something, and then he’ll give new contracts to at least two of Vuc/Coby/Ayo and do little else.
This team hasn’t had a convincing win since Halloween. They’ve lost 7 of their last 10 and needed last minute shots from Vuc for all three of the wins during that stretch.
The next seven games are critical for building up the win total: Wizards, Pelicans, Hornets, Pacers, Magic, Nets, and Pacers again. They SHOULD go at least 6-1 over that stretch. If they struggle for a few of those games, then we honestly might as well just fast forward to the play-in tournament.
Well there's no denying we're struggling right now. We started out 5-0 and we've been 2-7 since. And sure we haven't looked good. We are never going to look good. Thank god it's not a fashion show. All we need to do to win is score more points, not please the judges.
What we need to not lose sight of is that we are 7-7 while playing the 2nd toughest schedule in the NBA. We have a soft stretch coming up and as you say we could go 6-1. Even 5-2 would put us at 12-9 over the first 4th of the season. And that would be a good start.
I agree with you though, these next games will be a test. We've been scrappy so far, can we now put away the teams we should beat. We are favored by 12 tonight, it would be nice to see a double digit win. And then definitive wins going forward against the bad teams.
As for expectations for the year, I have been on record here that we should want a top 6 finish, and a competitive 1st round series. A win would be a plus. AK has not put goals on this team, for whatever reason, but if we get to a game 7 on the road this year, I will count it as progress.
More Vuc stuff: the interview after the Wizards win. Matas and Jalen Smith are being goofy, and he’s just getting pissed. Like, it’s a post game interview, it’s not that serious. And then his whole analysis was “We suck, and we were soft, and ::gggrrrruump::” I would never ever want to hang out with Vucevic. He just seems like the most miserable person around.
From your statement about these games being close late, you might not be aware of: "The five laws of refereeing." Who gets called for the foul or turnover?
1. Not the star player.
2. The team that's winning.
3. The road team.
4. The team that's lower in the standings.
5. Not the glamorous team.
It's tough being a ref, having to immediately apply these sometimes contradictory rules to every situation.
I agree with you, you shouldn't follow the NBA
Ooh a conspiracy theory. I thought the calls depended on who the refs had money on.
Naah, I doubt if the refs placed bets. I'd say others placed bets and they just did the right thing. But even more than that, without being told, the refs know that the NBA wants the stars on the floor, the home team fans to go home happy, and the game to be thrilling right up to the end to keep asses in seats, in the stadium and in front of TVs.
they usually get turnovers right with the reviews. foul rules are so ridiculous though with regulation on incidental contact for jumpshooters being so absurd that I don't blame them for looking like confused idiots from having to enforce some of that crap.
that said, every game is different, sometimes they just let contact happen and sometimes they don't. mostly I'd rather they did over the ticktack garbage
Recently Luka was sent to the line because he "feii" after taking a jump shot. Years ago, no one "fell" the way he did, and got free throws for it. The worst for me is the palming on every dribble and the steps, especially the Eurostep. Maybe for 8-year-olds, give 'em a break while they're learning, and tighten it up when they're in Jr HS. You wouldn't have 6'8" PGs if they had to actually dribble the ball. Just play half-court and shoot threes and dunk. Make it more like a darts tournament where they can just stand at their spot, fake a jump shot, get their defender in the air, jump into him, shoot, fall while landing, and get awarded extra shots. Take turns doing that.
At least they are entertaining to watch [highlights of]!
It's been a tough stretch of games against tough teams with actual size. His rebounding is down, his 2pt% is down. His improved 3pt shot is his life line against real competition at this point.
It's scary to think Vuc might get extended. But Karnisovas's vision is working out so far this year, and fortunately part of that plan is to create maximum cap space this off season, which means not protecting Vuc's rights.
There's a chance, maybe even a probability, that he comes back, but it would be at a much reduced salary. The BAE will be $5.2 million, that would be a good number.
that's not his vision, otherwise he wouldn't have added Tre Jones and Isaac Okoro or had Smith on a 3-year deal last offseason
they have a lot of cap space because they don't have great players making a lot of money, it's not a plan of theirs
Well maybe that's true. Maybe AK doesn't have a plan. Maybe he's just been stumbling into good fortune. But either way we're going to have a shitload of cap space this summer and Karnisovas is not dumb enough to use it on Vuc.
We’re less than a year removed from AK planting a message to the local media that he didn’t trade Vuc at the deadline because he was laying the groundwork to trade him in the summer. Then in the summer, the front office called Vuc to let him know the trade rumors aren’t true and he’s not going anywhere.
You shouldn’t expect him to do anything logical. He’s 100% dumb enough to use legitimate cap space on Vuc.
famous last words man. please retract
Counterpoint: yes, he is.
This is what I mean by the angst of Vuc-ball. Some of it is unfair personal bias. But there is something to be said for this coming at the expense of the younger players.
https://bsky.app/profile/stephnoh.bsky.social/post/3m63cbtvb2c2t
The Bulls figure - and maybe they're not wrong, just lying - that the way for young players to develop is making sure they are participating in "meaningful" games moreso than more minutes.
I don't really understand how this is attributable to Vuch, and Donivan is a good coach, but I do agree that Matas was done dirty there. The main thing I care about with Matas is his development as a rebounder and rim protector (because among other things, I see no reason not to believe he can score), and I think he's been modestly trending upward in those regards thr past handful of games. In my opinion, that should buy him a lot of leeway, even when his offense isn't flowing and he's getting cooked 1v1 defensively.
it's unfair to attribute it to Vuc, specifically
It was more that, in general, Billy is not giving young players a lot of leeway whereas he's riding his veterans and Vuc the most. And he's a good coach and it's producing victories.
more odd - and perhaps nuking my point - was the deployment of the Dalen Terry nuclear option yesterday. He came in before Ayo. And his 'style' actually did help in that game. But they're certainly not developing Dalen Terry using him this way (though he's a lost cause IMO so not a huge issue)
We're developing Dalen Terry to be a 4yr/20mil veteran energy/defense/utility player and any time on the court will help him get there.
That's quite an optimistic take. I'm not sure he's earned the minutes he has or proven that he has the skill to get to what you're suggesting.
If he can do what he did the last 2 nights, then I think he's worth that no question. But, doing that consistently, being solid consistently, has always been his challenge.
And he's not going to be able to be more consistent (better) since the team keeps bringing in players burying him down the depth chart
No chance. Now if they are sandbagging to bring him back on the minimum then at least that's a strategy.
All I know about the NBA season is that the Thunder are head and shoulders above any other team in the league. The rest is just a crap shoot. The Raptors are in second place in the East this season for crying out loud! Nothing makes a lot of sense.
the Raptors are interesting, they are also doing the AK "9-10 very good players" schtick but they have better players than the Bulls (albeit more expensive)
After starting 1-4, the Raptors are 9-1 including two wins at Cleveland. Detroit looks like the second best team in the league. The trade deadline might get interesting.
I must admit I'm really eating shit on the Pistons. watching that opener against the Bulls and I was just like what the fuck is going on here this team looks like shit and a clear regression candidate. classic dumbass overreaction.
also not pleased that the #trashtors look good
Cade a fraud (whoops)
Calling it now, we're going to get a KC tweet in the near future saying he believes the Bulls and Vooch are close to reaching an agreement on an extension and that Vooch is taking a hometown discount (basically exactly what he said about Vooch's last extension). And then it'll be for like $15 million a year and we'll all be befuddled at how KC could consider that a hometown discount.
As a Vooch hater, I must begrudgingly give the guy credit for somehow becoming the best 3-point shooting big man in the NBA in his mid-30s to save his career.
looking at some of his numbers this year is quite funny. obviously the 3-point shooting is hot, and his clutch shooting has won them at least 4 games (Pistons, Sixers, Nuggets, Blazers). He's 4 of 5 from 3 in clutch games in the final minute, with the one miss being that Jazz one the other night that was right on line.
on the other hand, the Bulls are getting crushed when he's in there (-5.5 on-court net rating), which is partially just a function of the starters being kinda sucky.
Bulls are now 8-6 with a negative point differential (what's up Bears), thanks in large part to Vucevic going beast mode in clutch time and mostly not missing his biggest shots of the game.
Only thing I would add to that is Bulls have had the 2nd most difficult schedule in the NBA so far, according to B/R. To date we've only played two teams in the bottom 3rd of the league. (OKC, with the easiest schedule so far, has already played 11 games against the bottom 3rd and has Utah tonight.)
I'm in the minority as more of a Vooch defender here, except when he's in "pout" mode, which I haven't seen much lately. I think that mode was a function of how poorly he was able to coexist with Zach and DeMar (one of whom had zero bball IQ and the other being a top-tier ball-stopping iso player).
But ironically I felt that after a great start but before the winning shot, he actually looked pretty damn awful in the heart of the 4th Q. Honestly, I kept thinking that if the "Vooch is good" crowd and "Vooch sucks" crowd each decided to make highlight/lowlight reels to prove their points, they'd both have all the footage they'd need from this one single game.
Once the Blazers upped their intensity he looked overmatched on D, ineffective on the glass, and rushed/stressed on offense. I think his game is best suited to the the casual, phoned-in, "pace yourself, it's a long season" style of regular season NBA ball. At playoff-level intensity his advantages (savvy positioning, skilled-if-slow footwork, soft touch) tend to diminish. I have similar concerns about Giddey but his game seems to be evolving so we'll see.
Those are interesting observations and I hope we all get a chance to see how they prove out in the playoffs.
Heat game thread is up: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/d9109629-fe3b-47bf-9293-0244e5b73187
We know where this is going. They’ll have a 40-something win season, do nothing at the trade deadline, get eliminated in either the play-in tournament or the first round of the playoffs, AK will act like he achieved something, and then he’ll give new contracts to at least two of Vuc/Coby/Ayo and do little else.
This team hasn’t had a convincing win since Halloween. They’ve lost 7 of their last 10 and needed last minute shots from Vuc for all three of the wins during that stretch.
The next seven games are critical for building up the win total: Wizards, Pelicans, Hornets, Pacers, Magic, Nets, and Pacers again. They SHOULD go at least 6-1 over that stretch. If they struggle for a few of those games, then we honestly might as well just fast forward to the play-in tournament.
beating the nuggets on their court was pretty convincing
I don’t mean convincing from a narrative perspective. I mean convincing from the perspective of definitively looking like the best team on the court.
This team has been struggling to win for the last 3 weeks and I think that unfortunately means something.
Well there's no denying we're struggling right now. We started out 5-0 and we've been 2-7 since. And sure we haven't looked good. We are never going to look good. Thank god it's not a fashion show. All we need to do to win is score more points, not please the judges.
What we need to not lose sight of is that we are 7-7 while playing the 2nd toughest schedule in the NBA. We have a soft stretch coming up and as you say we could go 6-1. Even 5-2 would put us at 12-9 over the first 4th of the season. And that would be a good start.
I agree with you though, these next games will be a test. We've been scrappy so far, can we now put away the teams we should beat. We are favored by 12 tonight, it would be nice to see a double digit win. And then definitive wins going forward against the bad teams.
As for expectations for the year, I have been on record here that we should want a top 6 finish, and a competitive 1st round series. A win would be a plus. AK has not put goals on this team, for whatever reason, but if we get to a game 7 on the road this year, I will count it as progress.
What do you think Karnisovas should do?
Resign
Cute.
More Vuc stuff: the interview after the Wizards win. Matas and Jalen Smith are being goofy, and he’s just getting pissed. Like, it’s a post game interview, it’s not that serious. And then his whole analysis was “We suck, and we were soft, and ::gggrrrruump::” I would never ever want to hang out with Vucevic. He just seems like the most miserable person around.
Game Thread for Bulls/Pelicans https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/cfc1666f-0217-4026-a190-6b3fba9dc070