Offensive rebounding tends not to matter unless the teams are close in talent, then OREB can be decisive. No reason to mention that.
If FVV is shooting well the Bulls are cooked. It'd be nice if Pat Will played to his size in one game. In most of the Bulls lineups Pat is the second biggest guy on the floor. Too bad Coby is a better defensive rebounder.
My thought is Toronto wins a squeaker because LaVine will dribble the ball off his leg twice in the fourth. Something like Raptors 104 Bulls 98 sounds good.
My snark doesn't come across in text. I thought "No reason to mention that" helped denote my snark. I missed. But yeah, they're close in talent. Raptors get 15 OREBs and that's a wrap.
If I'm the Raptors, I basically leave Vucevic unguarded, have Poeltl defend the paint, and play everyone else straight up. Maybe Vuc beats them, but my guess is that as long as they have someone at least closing out on him (and they've got plenty of long and quick guys to do that), he probably doesn't.
I actually don't think the Raptors are actually all that great defensively outside of OG. They're just long. The Bulls should resist the Vuc spot up strategy when it's offered. Have him screen, for Zach and DeMar, try to clog up OG, and I think Zach and DeMar can outscore the Raptors.
Seeing as Vooch craps the bed 4 times out of 5 when playing other centers of decent skill or above, I'd say that strategy would likely work out quite well for Toronto.
Although I can't lie, it would be fun to see Vooch go like 10 for 20 from deep just for the storylines alone! 😂
I kind of doubt it too. Vooch basically has two options: sign a vet minum with a contender to chase a ring or sign a big, longer term deal with a middle-to-bad team where he'll be featured prominently.
I'm not entirely sure which one of those he'd prefer, but Chicago can't really offer him the best of either of them.
Great post. You basically described a Bulls team cobbled together with wire and string. Some scoring here, some defense there. If the eye test doesn't tell you that the stats do. They found ways with a deeply flawed roster to go .500, which I guess deserves some credit for Billy and the players. How AKME could not see the obvious shortcomings and try to address them proactively at the trade deadline is amazing. No team is on the aging clock quite like this one with DDR and Vuc.
My expectation is that this 0-1, 1-1, or 1-4 playoff 'run' will make the the limits (and possibilities via reshuffle) of this roster clear. If AKME doesn't act decisively this offseason we'll have the final evidence of their hamstrung, fearful ordinariness.
Watching the play-ins last night, I'm always reminded that playoff basketball is essentially a different sport from regular-season basketball. I think TOR covers tonight and the under tickets get cashed again here.
Bulls fans promptly get back to the unenviable position of looking forward to the off-season more so than the on-court product.
When I think back to all the playoff victories of Bulls past, the star players would go to another level. Nate Robinson, Joakim Noah could rise to the occasion.
Toronto have players that have proven themselves in the playoffs. And while I hope for a memorable performance from someone, none of the Bulls players have a history of going to another level in the playoffs. Kobe-brain, yep.
I think we're gonna see hero-ball, the breakdown of offensive plays, poor rebounding, poor decision making and a Bulls loss.
I would love to see Messr. Kobe-Brain move while he's off-ball and the dude who got 6.9 assists per game for the '20-'21 Spurs and draws an automatic double feed him on cuts and spot-up threes.
(biggest sigh ever in human history)
LetttsssGooooo 🐂💪🏽
Hope the game thread is active for the final game of the season!!
Second to last game of the season! Unless.. rebounds happen, or don't happen. Meh, Bulls just need to get some damn boards!"
Offensive rebounding tends not to matter unless the teams are close in talent, then OREB can be decisive. No reason to mention that.
If FVV is shooting well the Bulls are cooked. It'd be nice if Pat Will played to his size in one game. In most of the Bulls lineups Pat is the second biggest guy on the floor. Too bad Coby is a better defensive rebounder.
My thought is Toronto wins a squeaker because LaVine will dribble the ball off his leg twice in the fourth. Something like Raptors 104 Bulls 98 sounds good.
you don't think these teams are close in talent?
My snark doesn't come across in text. I thought "No reason to mention that" helped denote my snark. I missed. But yeah, they're close in talent. Raptors get 15 OREBs and that's a wrap.
If I'm the Raptors, I basically leave Vucevic unguarded, have Poeltl defend the paint, and play everyone else straight up. Maybe Vuc beats them, but my guess is that as long as they have someone at least closing out on him (and they've got plenty of long and quick guys to do that), he probably doesn't.
I actually don't think the Raptors are actually all that great defensively outside of OG. They're just long. The Bulls should resist the Vuc spot up strategy when it's offered. Have him screen, for Zach and DeMar, try to clog up OG, and I think Zach and DeMar can outscore the Raptors.
Seeing as Vooch craps the bed 4 times out of 5 when playing other centers of decent skill or above, I'd say that strategy would likely work out quite well for Toronto.
Although I can't lie, it would be fun to see Vooch go like 10 for 20 from deep just for the storylines alone! 😂
So that Chicago can re-sign him for more money this offseason than they would've otherwise, citing "playoff success".
We all know they're already going to do that, so he might as well do it in style!
I'm not convinced they'll resign him. He'll probably walk for nothing instead of at least having gotten a little something at the deadline.
I kind of doubt it too. Vooch basically has two options: sign a vet minum with a contender to chase a ring or sign a big, longer term deal with a middle-to-bad team where he'll be featured prominently.
I'm not entirely sure which one of those he'd prefer, but Chicago can't really offer him the best of either of them.
Great post. You basically described a Bulls team cobbled together with wire and string. Some scoring here, some defense there. If the eye test doesn't tell you that the stats do. They found ways with a deeply flawed roster to go .500, which I guess deserves some credit for Billy and the players. How AKME could not see the obvious shortcomings and try to address them proactively at the trade deadline is amazing. No team is on the aging clock quite like this one with DDR and Vuc.
My expectation is that this 0-1, 1-1, or 1-4 playoff 'run' will make the the limits (and possibilities via reshuffle) of this roster clear. If AKME doesn't act decisively this offseason we'll have the final evidence of their hamstrung, fearful ordinariness.
Watching the play-ins last night, I'm always reminded that playoff basketball is essentially a different sport from regular-season basketball. I think TOR covers tonight and the under tickets get cashed again here.
Bulls fans promptly get back to the unenviable position of looking forward to the off-season more so than the on-court product.
When I think back to all the playoff victories of Bulls past, the star players would go to another level. Nate Robinson, Joakim Noah could rise to the occasion.
Toronto have players that have proven themselves in the playoffs. And while I hope for a memorable performance from someone, none of the Bulls players have a history of going to another level in the playoffs. Kobe-brain, yep.
I think we're gonna see hero-ball, the breakdown of offensive plays, poor rebounding, poor decision making and a Bulls loss.
The stats don't count for the regular season. The stats don't count for the postseason.... Play-in basketball ladies and gentlemen, #CatchTheFever
Man the Timber Woofs choked last night
Hey remember when the first round was only Best of Five and not a single fan complained about it?
I would love to see Messr. Kobe-Brain move while he's off-ball and the dude who got 6.9 assists per game for the '20-'21 Spurs and draws an automatic double feed him on cuts and spot-up threes.
I gotta admit, I'm kinda hyped for this one although I think Bulls have a better chance against Miami due to rebounding.
Got a nice bottle of wine ready to go and took the day off tomorrow. At least it's a 01:00 game for me, and not, as most games are, a 02:00 start.
Lets go Bulls!
I see this is going about as well as I thought it would lol