Start Taj / Boozer 6th Man?

[Chitownbulls]

I've been thinking about this and I wanted to get some of your opinions...how would you feel about the Bulls starting Taj and bringing Boozer in off the bench to play against bench players. It would raise Taj Gibsons confidence level as well as his trade value. Plus it would be a good first step into the future. Can Taj be a full time starter? I think it would boost his game up a little more. Noah and Gibson would also make an awesome defensive front line as we already know. And Boozer would come in quicker than most subs to play against tired starters/weak bench players. Boozer should be able to abuse most bench players. It would help with scoring on the bench as well. Boozer might even POST UP more with this move. And defensively, it could help Boozer since he's playing against lower level competition.

There's a great chance Boozer gets amnestied so why not start the process sooner. What are your thoughts?

[chicagobullz48]

id perfer to keep taj and start him.Id trade boozer for draft picks or bench mob players or something.Boozer just sucks most of the time and has one good month a season and bull fans bandwagon him.And once he gets raped by miami every playoff matchup theyre back to wanting to trade him.Drop him now and start taj trade booz for picks or shooters or something.

[Red Larrivee]

And Boozer would come in quicker than most subs to play against tired starters/weak bench players. Boozer should be able to abuse most bench players.

This isn't exactly an endorsement of Taj then.

[Jimmy Forums]

I've been a proponent of this idea since 2011. Boozer can't defend starters, and he can hardly score on starters anymore. Kirk was always the one who got him going this season anyway, so we should just put them in a unit off the bench together. Meanwhile, Taj keeps playing D and will see an increase in minutes, hopefully leading to being more comfortable and capable offensively.

[musiqsoulchild]

I was a proponent of this idea when we had Asik.

For example:

Kirk
Marco
Butler
Boozer
Asik

is way better than Boozer operating with some Vet Min C. Typically, bench units consist of microvawish kind of players. You want your bench unit to lock down the paint just like Noah +Taj would.

Also, we should really think about using a 15 million player off the bench as opposed to trading him.

[Ice the knees]

Boozer is a creature of habit. He is the epitome of a rhythm player. He needs his touches early and often. He plays at the same speed, regardless of the game around him.

If he doesn't get the ball he becomes disinterested in a way.

He definitely needs to be a starter if the Bulls plan on playing him. That, and it's not like Taj is a lights out PF.

[Chitownbulls]

Of course trading him is #1 option but I don't think anyone wants him. Hinrich an Booz together in the 2nd unit is a nice idea. The Bulls could then feed the ball to Boozer as much as possible against bench players. Most bench players in this league wouldnt be able to guard Boozer. I really hope we look into this. Booz would be the main man with the 2nd unit and be able to get a lot of shots up.

[musiqsoulchild]

Of course trading him is #1 option but I don't think anyone wants him. Hinrich an Booz together in the 2nd unit is a nice idea. The Bulls could then feed the ball to Boozer as much as possible against bench players. Most bench players in this league wouldnt be able to guard Boozer. I really hope we look into this.

The long and short of it is that this will not happen. You will be hard pressed to find a contributing bench player who makes 15 million dollars.

Boozer and the Bulls are not about to lead the way in this sub-optimal dolalr distribution.

[Jvaughn]

Boozer is better than Taj, and having them swap places makes us worse. And for those think Taj will drastically improve as a starter, are we forgetting we had a full season of Taj as a starter? And as most will agree, Taj is the same player he was then. He literally came in the league a finished product. Just like then, any lineup with Taj starting will result in him being the worst starter on the floor. He brings one thing to the floor (defense) which isn't really necessary here. We have more than enough D. We need offense. Offense which Boozer brings.

I also don't understand how Boozer coming off the bench will make him more valuable. Yes, he'd be coming off the bench, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be guarded by an inferior player for 30 minutes. The opposing team doesn't have to match their bench with ours. If Boozer is still playing 25-30 minutes, he'll still be matched up with 1st stringers the majority of the time.

[jl342323]

Boozer is a creature of habit. He is the epitome of a rhythm player. He needs his touches early and often. He plays at the same speed, regardless of the game around him.

If he doesn't get the ball he becomes disinterested in a way.

He definitely needs to be a starter if the Bulls plan on playing him. That, and it's not like Taj is a lights out PF.

what you said is 100% true, but on this team, it doesnt really matter.

they dont play boozer to his strength. they went away from what he does well and made him into a totally different player.

they rely on their defense to win games. in utah boozer took the most shots in the 4th quarter. now he is behind marco, nate, deng, and jimmy in fg attempts in 4th quarter on a team without derrick rose. the bulls changed their offensive gameplan in 2011 so they can maximize their defense. its simple. thibs is limiting boozer, b/c thibs cant stand watching boozer in the 4th quarter. like i said before, they are worrying too much about how boozer will **** up instead of worrying about how maximize his skillset. this is why i want to see boozer gone. this team isnt going to maximize his talent.

[ManualRam]

im all for anything resulting in boozer getting less minutes.

[DuckIII]

I've been advocating this for over a year. Or at minimum, equalize their minutes.

[dafunky1]

You can start Boganizing Boozer like this- 20-24 minutes pg.

[blackhawks2013]

This is not a bad idea here me out . What does Westbrook,Rose,durant, allthose guys including top stars has been in the USA Team and all these players are excelling beyond so this will be good for Taj and his confidence will be to the roof once he works his jumpshot and have a postgame I think he can be a force in the paint.

[transplant]

If I was coaching, I'd look to have Boozer on the floor for those 12 or so minutes when Hinrich replaces Rose at the point. Hinrich knows how to get the ball to Boozer where he wants it when he wants it, and when Hinrich's in rather than Rose, Boozer can pick up the scoring slack.

You wouldn't necessarily need to start Gibson to make this work.

[Jimmy Forums]

This is not a bad idea here me out . What does Westbrook,Rose,durant, allthose guys including top stars has been in the USA Team and all these players are excelling beyond so this will be good for Taj and his confidence will be to the roof once he works his jumpshot and have a postgame I think he can be a force in the paint.

You lost me.

[Jvaughn]

This is not a bad idea here me out . What does Westbrook,Rose,durant, allthose guys including top stars has been in the USA Team and all these players are excelling beyond so this will be good for Taj and his confidence will be to the roof once he works his jumpshot and have a postgame I think he can be a force in the paint.

You lost me.

+1

Read that sentence 5 times and still don't understand what it means.

[Chitownbulls]

^haha

Hinrich actually might work better with boozer than what rose does. Boozer would be the first bigman off the bench, whether its for Noah or Gibson. Noah gets in foul trouble, taj moves to center, Booz plays 4. Taj gets in foul trouble, Booz goes straight to the 4. The 2nd unit could feed Boozer the rock all he wants and if Boozer decides to post up a little more on lesser competition the Bulls could play inside out with 3pt shooters on the floor.

Also...Boozer sometimes struggles to get calls, against 2nd stringers, he should get the respect from the refs. Which is also a big plus.

[DanTown8587]

Yeah, this is a terrible terrible idea. Rose - Butler - Deng - Gibson - Noah for major stretches is horrific offensively. If the argument is that Boozer will come in and dominate bench players, what will happen to Taj once he loses this ability to dominate bench players to put up bad offensive numbers? The Bulls need more offense in the starting lineup, not more defense.

[DNP CD]

Also keep in mind that last season Taj was also our backup center for much of the year.