Brooks's secret, 2nd unit spacing and stretch 4 impact

[Proven_Winner]

Damn, hard not to be excited with what the Bulls could potentially have with Dougie and Mirotic. I see you included Snell as a "shooter" though in that first post!

I could've sworn he said Mcd/Mirotic/Kirk/Brooks

[Payt10]

I wish Taj could shoot 3's. We could run out a stretch 5 lineup.

[Rerisen]

Damn, hard not to be excited with what the Bulls could potentially have with Dougie and Mirotic. I see you included Snell as a "shooter" though in that first post!

I could've sworn he said Mcd/Mirotic/Kirk/Brooks

If people are going to guard Snell as a shooter, then he counts as far as spacing purposes. But yeah, they should probably wake up and make him prove it first.

[RedBulls23]

Remember when the Bulls first played the Lakers (in 2010) and Kobe didn't even bother to guard Bogans? He kinda just waived him off....good times.

Yup, he did the same with Brewer.

[Proven_Winner]

Damn, hard not to be excited with what the Bulls could potentially have with Dougie and Mirotic. I see you included Snell as a "shooter" though in that first post!

I could've sworn he said Mcd/Mirotic/Kirk/Brooks

If people are going to guard Snell as a shooter, then he counts as far as spacing purposes. But yeah, they should probably wake up and make him prove it first.

Yea they still guard him like a shooter which may be due to him being more of a shooter last year than this year. I think if he keeps clanking jumpers they'll stop guarding him, but they do now probably because they think he's just warming up to the start of the season.

[Mech Engineer]

Even JVG mentioned it during the telecast of how Acy

A side note -- even I, the Taj fan, was saying to myself on Wednesday, "Well yeah looks great but anybody can score on Acy."

Then I turn on last night, watch Acy stuff Kevin Love on a 1v1 near the basket, and in general do a decent job of harassing Love and I realized ... no, actually, Taj is a nasty customer to guard 1v1 near the basket. That is all there is to the matter.

Not to make conclusions from a few possessions but Love was having a tough time backing up Jason Smith compared to the moves Taj was making against Smith. That said, we will see how Taj does tonight and obviously that should not be the deciding factor either way.

But, the point is Taj will have an easier time against one big guy in the paint when the other big guy has to guard Mirotic compared to the other big guy guarding Noah/Boozer/Gasol, IMO.

[BuffaloBull]

The stretch 4 look does create great spacing and put a ton of pressure on a defense. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Derrick, at times, as the point in this set with Kirk or Jimmy at the 2 instead of Snell.

McDermott and Mirotic are really nice in this set as well because unlike counterpart players who are strictly shooters (like say, Battier and Channing Frye), both guys possess the ability to pump and go/duck inside on a mismatch. So that when these guys reach their full potential, you don't just have a static 3 out situation; you can do a lot of stuff with misdirection, off ball screens, and option sets based on the defense.

I AM NOT SAYING THE BULLS ARE THE SPURS, but bringing a gang of shooters off of the bench is typically what they have done the last few years, starting Splitter next Duncan. Now Pops has enough familiarity and trust with his guys to make adjustments, like pulling Diaw up to go small, that I don't see Thibs getting into.

But for at least one game, we had a bench mob that flipped roles with our old one: the shooters came in and stabilized the game with offense.

Thibideau's defense, with a real stretch 4 and a shooter like Korver at the wing, it's got a lot of potential.

[mj234eva]

Huzzah!

Contrast-

Bogans in the corner with nobody anywhere near him.

I still get pissed when I see comments like "Bogans shot 38% from 3." Yea, while being totally ignored by the defense.

[kingkirk]

Aaron Brooks should be in for continued success this year. Whether he is really better than Nate or DJ is a question, but he should have similar success because he is working with far superior offensive lineups to attack the lane.

Below is a play from Perdue's PG breakdown, and look at the amazing spacing, with Taj setting the pick and 3 shooters all outside the arc. No Deng cutting and clogging, no broken elbow Brewer at 16 feet.

You honestly don't know how happy that spacing makes me.

Whilst i agree with everything you're saying, that the stetch 4 in Mirotic gives us a more modern flavour of offense, to add to your point, don't forget that we have 4 guys on the floor that are able to bury the deep ball.

On the weak side, you have McDermott & Snell.

Tony's shooting can be erratic at times, but he can knock it down. We know the pedigree McDermott comes with.

Brooks himself is a career 37% shooter from deep as well.

So, not only is this second unit including a stretch 4 which i've longed for since forever, but it also has multiple shooting options on the floor at one time, unlike the starting unit, which pretty much only has Dunleavy.

Like you say, we need to find ways to blend this, by having Rose playing the Brooks role with the 2nd unit through stretches, or integrating some of these guys into line ups with the starters if need be.

Very encouraging, though.

[aaqubed]

I completely agree with the premise of this thread, but it will be interesting to measure its implications. If this is true, we should see Mirotic rate out really strongly on the offensive RAPM numbers. His ability to shoot should open up the offense for everyone, regardless of who he's playing with.

If this happens consistently, we will really have to think about how to get Mirotic more minutes, particularly in the playoffs.

[waffle]

When they said they were bringing in Brooks it made me excited for one reason, he has REALLY good handles, best we have had for a bit. He can weave through guys and make it look natural. Thibs can knock out some of his less productive traits, but I just love having someone on this team who can really move the ball

[sicko]

Not worried about Brooks, that was a PHENOMENAL PICK UP! Everywhere Brooks goes he plays well, I don't get why he bounces around the NBA like he does, maybe because it is SO MUCH TALENT at the PG Position around the NBA. But with Brooks running with that 2nd Unit I think that is a great guy to have on the floor with the Rookies and the young guys like Snell because not only can Brooks create his own shot and provide a spark Offensively, he can also distribute very well. I LOVE the Brooks pick up!

[FecesOfDeath]

FYI, the Spurs play a 2-in, 3-out offense, not a 1-in, 4-out offense that some people in this thread are inferring. The only stretch-4 the Spurs have in their regular rotation is Bonner.

I'm also sick of seeing the 180 degree change in opinions people are now having about Aaron, especially from those who were pining to see E'Twaun play in front of him.

[Ring_Me]

Who were the posters in our forum that listed Aaron Brooks as a bad pick up or saying that he will suck? I don't remember and I don't wanna bother looking for it in the recent game threads.

[pylb]

FYI, the Spurs play a 2-in, 3-out offense, not a 1-in, 4-out offense that some people in this thread are inferring. The only stretch-4 the Spurs have in their regular rotation is Bonner.

I'm also sick of seeing the 180 degree change in opinions people are now having about Aaron, especially from those who were pining to see E'Twaun play in front of him.

Diaw is a stretch 4/5, even if he's reluctant to shoot (41% 3pt shooter on roughly 1 attempt per game).

[Bandit King]

The only Brooks secret I've seen all preseason is ball hogging.

[FecesOfDeath]

Who were the posters in our forum that listed Aaron Brooks as a bad pick up or saying that he will suck? I don't remember and I don't wanna bother looking for it in the recent game threads.

Just go through any one of the preseason game or post-game threads.

[Ring_Me]

Who were the posters in our forum that listed Aaron Brooks as a bad pick up or saying that he will suck? I don't remember and I don't wanna bother looking for it in the recent game threads.

Just go through any one of the preseason game or post-game threads.

[mj234eva]

It's only 16 minutes, but this lineup has an OffRtg of 139.6 thus far. +31.7 net.

FWIW, of the lineups that have combined for more than 10 minutes (only 6 combos), this lineup has the highest OffRtg. They have the worst DREB% under the said criteria.

[MrSparkle]

I was ragging on Brooks' pre-season play, but his shooting is too good to hate on anymore.

I love the fact that the Bulls, for the first time since the light bulb was invented, are actually playing a line-up with 5 dribblers and shooters on the floor at the same time.