GT Play-In #1: Atlanta Hawks @ Chicago Bulls - Wed 4/17 @ 8:30pm CT - ESPN

[ChettheJet]

to paraphrase Johnny Red Kerr, 42 Big Boys

All around, they played a very good game, yeah Coby scored, Demar moved the ball for the most part and didn't try to match the scoring, Vuc for being the garbage player some want to keep harping about was at 24 and 12 I believe AND against the defensive Capela that so many think the Bulls should replace him with.

Seeing the replay a few times it looks like Drummond thought AC was going to move one way or the other to guard somebody but he didn't and they hit. Ayo kind of slowed down in the 2nd half, I think maybe ATL decided to stop him from driving right to the rim.

They haven't beaten Embiid very often but at this point you just don't know what Bulls' team is going to show up and for how long. I think the key will be not getting off the a slow start, not letting Embiid go off early so he can coast, they could actually win and then if only Rajon Rondo unretires for 2 weeks and revenges the decades old missed opportunity.

[MrSparkle]

It’s amazing watching sure-bet young teams absolutely implode. The Hawks are a terrible defensive team, and Bulls played very well, but I wouldn’t take too much away. They’re not gonna shoot over 50% in Miami, even without Jimmy.

Atlanta’s young promising team got wrecked by injuries and mediocre trades. Goes to show, a bunch of high lotto picks, an early ECF run and cap space don’t guarantee longevity.

[jc23]

Cool night.

[DuckIII]

It’s amazing watching sure-bet young teams absolutely implode. The Hawks are a terrible defensive team, and Bulls played very well, but I wouldn’t take too much away. They’re not gonna shoot over 50% in Miami, even without Jimmy.

Atlanta’s young promising team got wrecked by injuries and mediocre trades. Goes to show, a bunch of high lotto picks, an early ECF run and cap space don’t guarantee longevity.

Atlanta does not have a young and promising team. Young I guess. The only reason they aren’t worse off than us is because some clown will still give up a bunch for Trae Young to help them more quickly reshape their roster. We don’t have a guy like that.

[DuckIII]

That was a ridiculously fun game to watch. It’s the most fun I’ve had watching a Bulls game in a very long time.

Let’s get that next win so we can get Coby and Ayo at least 6 postseason games of experience.

[Mr. Tibbs]

First game I've attended post pandemic, and I feel lucky I chose this one. Despite all the ill feelings this org has given us, players have kept trucking and man last night was a blast. The main feeling I felt throughout was how badly the fanbase deserves better given how dedicated they've remained.

As for the game itself, Coby deserved a moment to shine like this on a big stage. His handles have obviously improved, but man this was absurd..he was relentless driving the ball, every play was elite level handles and manipulating the defense, and somehow he didn't have a single turnover. Now he gets a chance to do it to Miami and hopefully this time Billy won't trip on his own dick and sub him out in a 1 pt game w 2 minutes left.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Another thought I had mid game..wasn't there a concerted effort from the refs post allstar break to be more discerning about foul calls and not rewarding foul merchants? I'd love to see splits on how it's impacted certain players, because man that was satisfying as hell to watch Trae neutralized like this.

[MrSparkle]

It’s amazing watching sure-bet young teams absolutely implode. The Hawks are a terrible defensive team, and Bulls played very well, but I wouldn’t take too much away. They’re not gonna shoot over 50% in Miami, even without Jimmy.

Atlanta’s young promising team got wrecked by injuries and mediocre trades. Goes to show, a bunch of high lotto picks, an early ECF run and cap space don’t guarantee longevity.

Atlanta does not have a young and promising team. Young I guess. The only reason they aren’t worse off than us is because some clown will still give up a bunch for Trae Young to help them more quickly reshape their roster. We don’t have a guy like that.

I mean, they aren’t today. Trainwreck.

But 2021? They went 6 games in the ECF with a majority of the rotation under 24yo.

[Betta Bulleavit]

I know a lot of people may hate this, but this is a situation where continuity may actually help us. The vast majority of the guys on this current roster were here last year when we almost took Miami down in their house before we allowed them to hang around and ultimately win.

This time around, I feel like they will be better prepared (mentally). In my opinion, the only way that they beat us without Jimmy is if Spo massively out coaches Billy. Granted, even if we win, all we get is an all expenses paid trip to a Boston smoking. But at least we’d be able to say that we were a playoff team….

[Red8911]

Coby had probably the best game of his career, doesn’t matter if it’s counted in the stats we ll always remember this game and how they kicked out the hawks. Thats more important than stats. If Coby plays at this level every game Bulls are a difficult team to beat. Problem is hes a bit inconsistent.

Other than Coby the rest of the team did their jobs as well.Demar was killing them all night, very good games from Vuc, Ayo,and AC/Jevonte/Drum/Terry did their role. Basically everyone but Carter and Craig had positive games last night.

Now let’s go to Miami and beat the Heat !!! No Jimmy for them is huge. Still a difficult game but the bulls can pull this one out. Time to get revenge for last year !

[FriedRise]

They haven't beaten Embiid very often but at this point you just don't know what Bulls' team is going to show up and for how long. I think the key will be not getting off the a slow start, not letting Embiid go off early so he can coast, they could actually win and then if only Rajon Rondo unretires for 2 weeks and revenges the decades old missed opportunity.

Philly already secured the 7th seed. We're playing a potentially Jimmy-less Heat next.

[Mr. Tibbs]

It’s amazing watching sure-bet young teams absolutely implode. The Hawks are a terrible defensive team, and Bulls played very well, but I wouldn’t take too much away. They’re not gonna shoot over 50% in Miami, even without Jimmy.

Atlanta’s young promising team got wrecked by injuries and mediocre trades. Goes to show, a bunch of high lotto picks, an early ECF run and cap space don’t guarantee longevity.

Atlanta does not have a young and promising team. Young I guess. The only reason they aren’t worse off than us is because some clown will still give up a bunch for Trae Young to help them more quickly reshape their roster. We don’t have a guy like that.

I mean, they aren’t today. Trainwreck.

But 2021? They went 6 games in the ECF with a majority of the rotation under 24yo.

They weren't bad by any means, but it felt much more like a 2nd round out type of team that lucked out by running into this guy.



Still can't get over this btw lol

[DuckIII]

It’s amazing watching sure-bet young teams absolutely implode. The Hawks are a terrible defensive team, and Bulls played very well, but I wouldn’t take too much away. They’re not gonna shoot over 50% in Miami, even without Jimmy.

Atlanta’s young promising team got wrecked by injuries and mediocre trades. Goes to show, a bunch of high lotto picks, an early ECF run and cap space don’t guarantee longevity.

Atlanta does not have a young and promising team. Young I guess. The only reason they aren’t worse off than us is because some clown will still give up a bunch for Trae Young to help them more quickly reshape their roster. We don’t have a guy like that.

I mean, they aren’t today. Trainwreck.

But 2021? They went 6 games in the ECF with a majority of the rotation under 24yo.

Go back and look at that roster. They had an unlikely playoff run. And that’s really all that happened.

[drosestruts]

I don't love Trae Young, but I don't dislike him as much as people here.

Trae has elite handles, vision, and passing - those things are going to be impacted when you're coming back from a broken hand.

Trae is horrible at defense.

He's a foul merchant, but eh, it works somewhat for him.

He's a streaky scorer who does a poor job with self-awareness as to when he's on or not.

He is definitely not a plug & play guy that works anywhere and can boost any team. You do need to specifically build around or at least with his limitations in mind. Honestly San Antonio could be a good fit and seems to be the popular team mentioned in hypotehcital Trae trades.

I like when he just completely shifted his body to get into Coby's way on a fast break then acted offended he was called for a foul. What a dork.

[DuckIII]

Another thought I had mid game..wasn't there a concerted effort from the refs post allstar break to be more discerning about foul calls and not rewarding foul merchants? I'd love to see splits on how it's impacted certain players, because man that was satisfying as hell to watch Trae neutralized like this.

If you hate Trae Young’s game, which I clearly do, it’s one of the rare good things about being a Bulls fan lately. Since Ayo was drafted Trae Young has averaged the following against the Bulls:

20/21: 20/10 with a 2.5/1 A/TO ratio on .395 fg%
21/22: 25/11 with a 2/1 A/TO ration on .362 fg%
22/23: 20/13.5 with a 3.5/1 A/TO ratio on .290 fg%

And of course zero defense. And it doesn’t include last night’s embarrassing display.

When Trae Young is an old man his private live-in nurse is going to be confused googling Eye-O trying to figure out why he keeps saying that word in his sleep.

[League Circles]

Another thought I had mid game..wasn't there a concerted effort from the refs post allstar break to be more discerning about foul calls and not rewarding foul merchants? I'd love to see splits on how it's impacted certain players, because man that was satisfying as hell to watch Trae neutralized like this.

If you hate Trae Young’s game, which I clearly do, it’s one of the rare good things about being a Bulls fan lately. Since Ayo was drafted Trae Young has averaged the following against the Bulls:

20/21: 20/10 with a 2.5/1 A/TO ratio on .395 fg%
21/22: 25/11 with a 2/1 A/TO ration on .362 fg%
22/23: 20/13.5 with a 3.5/1 A/TO ratio on .290 fg%

And of course zero defense. And it doesn’t include last night’s embarrassing display.

When Trae Young is an old man his private live-in nurse is going to be confused googling Eye-O trying to figure out why he keeps saying that word in his sleep.

Lol, I love it. Ayo is such a nicely surprising development for this team, and yes Trae Young sucks. Very talented offensive player who is meaningless due to atrocious defense.

[umfan83]

That was a ridiculously fun game to watch. It’s the most fun I’ve had watching a Bulls game in a very long time.

Let’s get that next win so we can get Coby and Ayo at least 6 postseason games of experience.

Agreed. I'm pretty damn negative about the overall direction of the franchise and know that all we're playing for is a probable dismantling by the Celtics, but for 2 hours last night I was able to put that aside and just enjoy basketball for the first time in a long time.

I hope AKME or JR doesn't read this.

[MrSparkle]

Coby had probably the best game of his career, doesn’t matter if it’s counted in the stats we ll always remember this game and how they kicked out the hawks. Thats more important than stats. If Coby plays at this level every game Bulls are a difficult team to beat. Problem is hes a bit inconsistent.

Other than Coby the rest of the team did their jobs as well.Demar was killing them all night, very good games from Vuc, Ayo,and AC/Jevonte/Drum/Terry did their role. Basically everyone but Carter and Craig had positive games last night.

Now let’s go to Miami and beat the Heat !!! No Jimmy for them is huge. Still a difficult game but the bulls can pull this one out. Time to get revenge for last year !

TBF, Zach had an epic Toronto game before having a quiet performance and loss in Miami.

So Coby’s gotta play out again, or we will forget!

[umfan83]

Also I feel bad for Coby that he had this breakout season the year after signing a very modest contract extension. If he had this type of year last year, his contract is probably double what it is now (and it wouldn't be the Bulls giving to him most likely). Heck he might have had this type of year last year had LaVine not have been in the picture. Not a shot at Zach, just the reality that his absence allowed Coby to take a huge step this year.

Though I feel bad, I also feel very fortunate as a Bulls fan that we have him locked in for 2 more years at such a great value.

[umfan83]

Coby had probably the best game of his career, doesn’t matter if it’s counted in the stats we ll always remember this game and how they kicked out the hawks. Thats more important than stats. If Coby plays at this level every game Bulls are a difficult team to beat. Problem is hes a bit inconsistent.

Other than Coby the rest of the team did their jobs as well.Demar was killing them all night, very good games from Vuc, Ayo,and AC/Jevonte/Drum/Terry did their role. Basically everyone but Carter and Craig had positive games last night.

Now let’s go to Miami and beat the Heat !!! No Jimmy for them is huge. Still a difficult game but the bulls can pull this one out. Time to get revenge for last year !

TBF, Zach had an epic Toronto game before having a quiet performance and loss in Miami.

So Coby’s gotta play out again, or we will forget!

I wouldnt characterize the performance as quiet, I would bluntly say it was a bad performance in Miami. But we also don't win that Toronto game without his heroics. Very perplexing player.