PG: Free Bitim

[ChettheJet]

The Game: Maybe CLE wants to say they were tired, better than saying they just chocked to allow the Bulls to stay close the entire game,

It's mind boggling that the Cavs with their 2 young, athletic twin towers got stomped by the Bulls old slow veteran pair. When Andre starts next to Vuc and they've got Demar at the 3, the Bulls have a very slow, non transition team with only Coby and Ayo getting out to run and CLE takes getting back on defense seriously so there weren't that many fast break chances or points. To me that's the flaw in how the Bulls are constructed. When they're on and winning they run the half court offense well and get open shots. That's solid playoff basketball. Their problem is they they don't get out and run in the open court enough, which is regular season basketball, and you see the record, still under .500 because they don't face many opponents playing playoff basketball during the regular season. That's the contrast yous ee in the loss to the worst team in the league DET and being able to beat one of the top 3 teams in the East, and do it without Caruso even playing.

Very good to see Bitim get meaningful minutes. They did point out this guy isn't some raw kid off the boat, he's played real games professionally in Europe and has been learning the American game in the G League. He's already in one game hit the floor for loose balls more than Zach has in 3 seasons. When you see the hustle and speed Phillips brings it confirms my being unhappy that with Lavine and Williams being done, Craig and AC continuing to get injured that they didn't make deals to of course set up next season but to give guys like Bitim and Phillips the minutes off the bench this year so they'd be steps ahead when training camp opens.

[pipfan]

Full credit to both the players and Billy for not doing the same. The Bulls have a great attitude. If they had the talent to match, they would be a handful.

This is so true. I don't like the front office and hate the "direction" of the franchise, but the players deserves a ton of credit.

I just posted a "which team is farthest away from the Conf Finals" in the league, and we are tied with Wash, running away from the other options.
But, I then added that-at least our current team plays hard and most games are enjoyable. We have good guys who play well together for the most part. At least that's something

[The Explorer]

As for Bitim , imo , his ideal comparison is in the opposite of us today , aka Max Strus .



Sent from my SM-S9160 using RealGM mobile app

Yeah that's a pretty good comp.

Strus was on the Bulls roster and never got a chance before going to Miami and performing well.
Hopefully they don't screw it up this time with a similar player.

[pylb]

Winning a double OT game on the second night of a back to back isn't easy.

Good job.

[madvillian]

I loathe this franchise but respect the hell out of the players that are still grinding with all that talent and payroll sidelined. I guess you gotta give BD some props as well the guys haven't quit, and honestly much like the Hornets or some other banged up team they easily could have by now.

[BeatDaCavs420]

This sums up me right now lmao

[FriedRise]

Our next game is tomorrow vs Milwaukee. They'll be on the second night of a back to back (tonight @ Charlotte).

Decent chance we get a tired Bucks squad and maybe pull out a W, but it'd be SO Bulls to beat the Pelicans, Cavs, Bucks and lose to the Pistons lmao.

[BeatDaCavs420]

Our next game is tomorrow vs Milwaukee. They'll be on the second night of a back to back (tonight @ Charlotte).

Decent chance we get a tired Bucks squad and maybe pull out a W, but it'd be SO Bulls to beat the Pelicans, Cavs, Bucks and lose to the Pistons lmao.

Knowing Charlotte Bucks will be resting guys by 3rd quarter due to a blowout

[FriedRise]

Our next game is tomorrow vs Milwaukee. They'll be on the second night of a back to back (tonight @ Charlotte).

Decent chance we get a tired Bucks squad and maybe pull out a W, but it'd be SO Bulls to beat the Pelicans, Cavs, Bucks and lose to the Pistons lmao.

Knowing Charlotte Bucks will be resting guys by 3rd quarter due to a blowout

Milwaukee embarrassed them by 40 the other night, so we can hope that maybe these Hornets will come out with a little fire on their home floor (probably not).

[DropStep]

This sums up me right now lmao

B-but your screen name! They did it. Get pumped.

[HomoSapien]

Even though we're 1-3 against the Cavs, I feel like we match up really well against them. This wouldn't be the worst playoff matchup for us.

[weneeda2guard]

Even though we're 1-3 against the Cavs, I feel like we matchup really well against them. This wouldn't be the worst playoff matchup for us.

I will scream until the end of the season

We were supposed to beat them on national TV

Refs hosed us

But Andre Drummond is a serious issue for their front line.

And now that we see ayo and Caruso can have some success in defending their back court

Wouldn't mind seeing them in the 1st rd.

[FriedRise]

Even though we're 1-3 against the Cavs, I feel like we matchup really well against them. This wouldn't be the worst playoff matchup for us.

I don't understand how they're the 2nd best defensive team in the league. With Mitchell, Garland, and Strus, that's 3 guys you can target defensively. Our bigs also neutralize Allen and Mobley pretty well (maybe this is why?).

But to match up with them, we'd need to somehow finish 7th or 8th. We're 5 games behind that and that's a lot of games to make up IMO. Both Orlando and Miami have easier remaining schedule, and we're so shorthanded we're kinda resting a lot on Onuralp Bitim lol.

[drosestruts]

As for Bitim , imo , his ideal comparison is in the opposite of us today , aka Max Strus .



Sent from my SM-S9160 using RealGM mobile app

Yeah that's a pretty good comp.

Strus was on the Bulls roster and never got a chance before going to Miami and performing well.
Hopefully they don't screw it up this time with a similar player.

If by never got a chance you mean "tore his ACL" then yes, we never gave him a chance. And there were a couple stops in between Chicago and his eventual success in Miami

[GoBlue72391]

Yeah that's a pretty good comp.

Strus was on the Bulls roster and never got a chance before going to Miami and performing well.
Hopefully they don't screw it up this time with a similar player.

If by never got a chance you mean "tore his ACL" then yes, we never gave him a chance. And there were a couple stops in between Chicago and his eventual success in Miami

Tore his ACL yes, but his next stop was Miami after his contract expired with us.

It's easy to blame the injury, but if we saw the type of potential in him that Miami apparently did then we could have easily brought him back the season after the ACL injury on another two-way contract or even a standard minimum contract.

That's what we did with Justin Lewis and it didn't work out.

[BeatDaCavs420]

This sums up me right now lmao

B-but your screen name! They did it. Get pumped.

LMAO well played

[Chi town]

A lot of teams (most?) would have phoned it in after starting 5-14 after back to back meh seasons. The fans did. They gave up on these guys. Full credit to both the players and Billy for not doing the same. The Bulls have a great attitude. If they had the talent to match, they would be a handful.

I remember when Billy first got here, he was flabbergasted at how the (mostly young) players would just give up at the first sign of adversity. They'd have a competitive game, and as soon as the other team goes on a run, they were just done.

The Bulls are a lot of things, but we can always count on them always being... competitive... no matter how stacked the odds are against them. They always go on a run and will make any game close, no matter how big the deficit is. Gutting out a W against a fully healthy second best team in the conference when you're down FIVE rotational players is no joke. They found a way to win, and last night it was by effort and rebounding the hell out of the basketball.

The only game where I felt like they were completely outclassed was that Boston game. That game required everyone to be perfect, which is a tall task for this team. But every other game they've been right there. It's malpractice that management does so little to keep adding talent to the team, because I agree that they can go pretty far with this attitude if the playing field were more leveled.

Weird. Thought the same thing during first OT. Remembered Billy talking how we would cave. Thought about how much this team has changed and grown THIS SEASON.

Wonder what we would look like with Zach Pat and Craig healthy with this Ayo and Coby. Neither would have broken out but they have now.

Personally think we are 6th seed if healthy. Which is a problem because AK will use that to keep team going even though it doesn’t work and we would be even better with just one trade.