Will We Run The Wheels Off? When?

[MrSparkle]

I went through all of Scottie Pippen's scores on the Memphis game and the vast majority were the guards simply not getting back in transition & semi transition.

The Bulls may have the "shoot a lot" portion of fast pace down, but clearly they do not have the defensive aspect of fast pace down. True fast pace teams like Golden State also play fast on defense (5th in pace, 4th in defense). But they'll get there, and probably not this season.

But I do agree w/ the schedule losses. For this season we've had the crazy compressed schedule and tough opponents. We now have the 3rd easiest schedule in the league, and after this upcoming stretch of playing Orlando-Boston-Pacers-Boston-Boston-Milwaukee, we'll probably have the easiest schedule in the league. Not great if you are pro tank.

When I hear fast pace defense, I'm thinking of full-court press and a bunch of half-court trap type of defense. Really need high defensive IQ and stamina to do something like that.

I don't know how often GS traps, but definitely stamina to get back in transition and Kerr is famous for low minutes. No GS player even Steph plays more than 29 mpg, and key guys like Podz play 23 mpg.
12 players on GS average 15+ mpg.
Excluding Lonzo, only 6 players average 15+ mpg in Chicago.

Team transition defense:
#1: Golden State
#27: Chicago Bulls

But it's not 100% or even mostly on the new style of play, last season we played at one of the slowest paces and we were still #23 in transition defense. I think the similarity of both seasons points to a lot of our roster just isn't doing their job on transition D, and probably won't change until Billy benches veterans based on performance. There's a lot of just jogging back while the opponent is sprinting, and it's not just the old guy Vuc it's the young players.

It is bizarre that for a coach who wants #1 pace and stifling defense, he completely ices his youngest and most lengthy/athletic/energetic players in favor of overplaying his 1-way starters a large majority of the game.

20-min splits amongst most these guys would make much more sense for RUNNING 48min.

[Dan Z]

No it doesn’t. We are 7-11 when many thought we might 2 or 3 wins. We’re on track to win 30+ games.

Bulls were projected to win 30 games and they are on pace to win about 30 games. That will probably go under once Zach & Vuc are traded. They also score 117 ppg and give up a league worst 123.9 ppg.

Zach and Vuc traded is not a guarantee. Also 30 wins is way better than 20.

30 wins is about where the Jazz ended up last year (31 wins to be exact). They had the #10 pick in the draft.

Lottery odds and trades could change where the Bulls end up, but if they get #10 that's not an exciting outcome (although better than giving the 2025 pick to the Spurs).

[kodo]

Bulls were projected to win 30 games and they are on pace to win about 30 games. That will probably go under once Zach & Vuc are traded. They also score 117 ppg and give up a league worst 123.9 ppg.

Zach and Vuc traded is not a guarantee. Also 30 wins is way better than 20.

30 wins is about where the Jazz ended up last year (31 wins to be exact). They had the #10 pick in the draft.

Lottery odds and trades could change where the Bulls end up, but if they get #10 that's not an exciting outcome (although better than giving the 2025 pick to the Spurs).

After Dec we'll probably have the easiest schedule in the league, there's a real danger of losing the pick without trading Zach.
With all the B2Bs and tough teams frontloaded, we should be where PHI/WAS are but instead we're only a game behind Indiana.
Whether or not AK trades Zach is going to say a lot about how he's going to lead this team.

[Dan Z]

Zach and Vuc traded is not a guarantee. Also 30 wins is way better than 20.

30 wins is about where the Jazz ended up last year (31 wins to be exact). They had the #10 pick in the draft.

Lottery odds and trades could change where the Bulls end up, but if they get #10 that's not an exciting outcome (although better than giving the 2025 pick to the Spurs).

After Dec we'll probably have the easiest schedule in the league, there's a real danger of losing the pick without trading Zach.
With all the B2Bs and tough teams frontloaded, we should be where PHI/WAS are but instead we're only a game behind Indiana.
Whether or not AK trades Zach is going to say a lot about how he's going to lead this team.

One criticism that the Jazz have faced the past few seasons is that they haven't properly tanked. The Bulls could be in a similar situation this season.

Hopefully the Bulls are able to keep their 2025 and that it's top 5.

[FriedRise]

Last year, 19 games into the season we were 5-14 on a 5-game losing streak right after getting shellacked by Boston as they tried to run up the score for point differential. They went 34-29 (.539) the rest of the way and ended the season with 39 wins.

Any predictions to how they're gonna do the rest of this season?

To match the Vegas prediction of 27 wins, they're gonna have to go 19-44 (.300) the rest of the way, which I don't think is realistic. They'd have to trade Zach and Vooch last week if they wanted to reach that.

If they continue at the current rate, they'll end up with 34 wins. But they also did this with a difficult start, various injuries, and the schedule being super compressed. How compressed? The Bulls have played FOUR more games than Miami.

As of today, we have the 5th easiest remaining schedule, but to counteract that, we probably can expect some drop in efficiency for Vooch and Zach as they're not realistically gonna shoot 65%+ TS the rest of the season. Those two have been carrying the offensive load for this team.

We'd also need to factor in how bad the East is too, with only 5 teams currently at or above .500 (compared to 10 in the West). Outside of those 5 teams, we can probably go toe to toe with everyone else, which might make matchups closer to a coin flip thanks to the volatility of the 3pt shot. We know we take a lot of them, and as long as we make them, good chance we might win despite consistently sporting one of the worst defenses in the league.

[sco]

Zach after Hawks game…

“I didn’t make it past half court without having to get back,” LaVine said about the tennis match pace of the game. “We’re sticking with the idea of what we are trying to do, guys playing fast; you have to get in shape for it. Whether we think it’s sustainable or not we have to stick to it. We put the work in for it, guys have bought in and accepted certain roles and we are trying to play fast and get up threes. And I think that gives us our best shot.”

We ran out of gas against the Grizz. Thank Silver and the NBA schedule for that. 5 games in 7 nights is crazy especially when you are #1 in pace and when you have guys out hurt and your coach sticks to a rotation.

Will we see injuries happen because guys aren’t ready for it?

Will just see more of the no gas on B2B’s?

I was thinking more about this after watching last night's game.

First, it is really sort of amazing how this team completely changed its offense from what we saw last year. Going from nearly last in pace to 1st is even more amazing when you watch the ball and our guys zip around on offense. And sure, victory hinges on if our 3's are falling on any given night. That said, I think a key reason that more of them are falling are that guys are ready to shoot and it is that 1/2 second of indecision that guys had last year that IMO hurt our accuracy. We've added 10+ 3 pt shots per game while adding 3%+ to our 3pt %.

The impact has been "energy conservation" on defense...I definitely see it in guys like Ayo, who have taken a noticeable step backward. I'm sure that replacing Caruso's minutes with Giddey's has factored in too. I do think our defense improves if/when we get Ball back (and Pat).

What's still not clear is whether all of this amounts to just moving lounge chairs around on the Titanic or if there is a real trajectory change at work here.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Zach after Hawks game…

“I didn’t make it past half court without having to get back,” LaVine said about the tennis match pace of the game. “We’re sticking with the idea of what we are trying to do, guys playing fast; you have to get in shape for it. Whether we think it’s sustainable or not we have to stick to it. We put the work in for it, guys have bought in and accepted certain roles and we are trying to play fast and get up threes. And I think that gives us our best shot.”

We ran out of gas against the Grizz. Thank Silver and the NBA schedule for that. 5 games in 7 nights is crazy especially when you are #1 in pace and when you have guys out hurt and your coach sticks to a rotation.

Will we see injuries happen because guys aren’t ready for it?

Will just see more of the no gas on B2B’s?

I was thinking more about this after watching last night's game.

First, it is really sort of amazing how this team completely changed its offense from what we saw last year. Going from nearly last in pace to 1st is even more amazing when you watch the ball and our guys zip around on offense. And sure, victory hinges on if our 3's are falling on any given night. That said, I think a key reason that more of them are falling are that guys are ready to shoot and it is that 1/2 second of indecision that guys had last year that IMO hurt our accuracy. We've added 10+ 3 pt shots per game while adding 3%+ to our 3pt %.

The impact has been "energy conservation" on defense...I definitely see it in guys like Ayo, who have taken a noticeable step backward. I'm sure that replacing Caruso's minutes with Giddey's has factored in too. I do think our defense improves if/when we get Ball back (and Pat).

What's still not clear is whether all of this amounts to just moving lounge chairs around on the Titanic or if there is a real trajectory change at work here.

The crazy thing is right now, if we just brought in one rim protector. A guy that all he does is rebound, dunk and block anything around the basket, the team improves significantly.

This version of Baby Bulls needs their Tyson Chandler.

[sco]

Zach after Hawks game…

“I didn’t make it past half court without having to get back,” LaVine said about the tennis match pace of the game. “We’re sticking with the idea of what we are trying to do, guys playing fast; you have to get in shape for it. Whether we think it’s sustainable or not we have to stick to it. We put the work in for it, guys have bought in and accepted certain roles and we are trying to play fast and get up threes. And I think that gives us our best shot.”

We ran out of gas against the Grizz. Thank Silver and the NBA schedule for that. 5 games in 7 nights is crazy especially when you are #1 in pace and when you have guys out hurt and your coach sticks to a rotation.

Will we see injuries happen because guys aren’t ready for it?

Will just see more of the no gas on B2B’s?

I was thinking more about this after watching last night's game.

First, it is really sort of amazing how this team completely changed its offense from what we saw last year. Going from nearly last in pace to 1st is even more amazing when you watch the ball and our guys zip around on offense. And sure, victory hinges on if our 3's are falling on any given night. That said, I think a key reason that more of them are falling are that guys are ready to shoot and it is that 1/2 second of indecision that guys had last year that IMO hurt our accuracy. We've added 10+ 3 pt shots per game while adding 3%+ to our 3pt %.

The impact has been "energy conservation" on defense...I definitely see it in guys like Ayo, who have taken a noticeable step backward. I'm sure that replacing Caruso's minutes with Giddey's has factored in too. I do think our defense improves if/when we get Ball back (and Pat).

What's still not clear is whether all of this amounts to just moving lounge chairs around on the Titanic or if there is a real trajectory change at work here.

The crazy thing is right now, if we just brought in one rim protector. A guy that all he does is rebound, dunk and block anything around the basket, the team improves significantly.

This version of Baby Bulls needs their Tyson Chandler.

For sure, but honestly, I'd like to give Smith a good look with the starting unit. He's surprised me with his all-around game.

[FriedRise]

Zach after Hawks game…

“I didn’t make it past half court without having to get back,” LaVine said about the tennis match pace of the game. “We’re sticking with the idea of what we are trying to do, guys playing fast; you have to get in shape for it. Whether we think it’s sustainable or not we have to stick to it. We put the work in for it, guys have bought in and accepted certain roles and we are trying to play fast and get up threes. And I think that gives us our best shot.”

We ran out of gas against the Grizz. Thank Silver and the NBA schedule for that. 5 games in 7 nights is crazy especially when you are #1 in pace and when you have guys out hurt and your coach sticks to a rotation.

Will we see injuries happen because guys aren’t ready for it?

Will just see more of the no gas on B2B’s?

I was thinking more about this after watching last night's game.

First, it is really sort of amazing how this team completely changed its offense from what we saw last year. Going from nearly last in pace to 1st is even more amazing when you watch the ball and our guys zip around on offense. And sure, victory hinges on if our 3's are falling on any given night. That said, I think a key reason that more of them are falling are that guys are ready to shoot and it is that 1/2 second of indecision that guys had last year that IMO hurt our accuracy. We've added 10+ 3 pt shots per game while adding 3%+ to our 3pt %.

The impact has been "energy conservation" on defense...I definitely see it in guys like Ayo, who have taken a noticeable step backward. I'm sure that replacing Caruso's minutes with Giddey's has factored in too. I do think our defense improves if/when we get Ball back (and Pat).

What's still not clear is whether all of this amounts to just moving lounge chairs around on the Titanic or if there is a real trajectory change at work here.

The crazy thing is right now, if we just brought in one rim protector. A guy that all he does is rebound, dunk and block anything around the basket, the team improves significantly.

This version of Baby Bulls needs their Tyson Chandler.

Been thinking about that. If we replaced Vooch with a defensive rebounding center, would we jump from bottom 10 to top 10 on defense?

One player in a critical position can change the entire dynamic of the team - much like how DeMar no longer being here turned us into this high paced, 3pt spamming team.

[Chi town]

I was thinking more about this after watching last night's game.

First, it is really sort of amazing how this team completely changed its offense from what we saw last year. Going from nearly last in pace to 1st is even more amazing when you watch the ball and our guys zip around on offense. And sure, victory hinges on if our 3's are falling on any given night. That said, I think a key reason that more of them are falling are that guys are ready to shoot and it is that 1/2 second of indecision that guys had last year that IMO hurt our accuracy. We've added 10+ 3 pt shots per game while adding 3%+ to our 3pt %.

The impact has been "energy conservation" on defense...I definitely see it in guys like Ayo, who have taken a noticeable step backward. I'm sure that replacing Caruso's minutes with Giddey's has factored in too. I do think our defense improves if/when we get Ball back (and Pat).

What's still not clear is whether all of this amounts to just moving lounge chairs around on the Titanic or if there is a real trajectory change at work here.

The crazy thing is right now, if we just brought in one rim protector. A guy that all he does is rebound, dunk and block anything around the basket, the team improves significantly.

This version of Baby Bulls needs their Tyson Chandler.

Been thinking about that. If we replaced Vooch with a defensive rebounding center, would we jump from bottom 10 to top 10 on defense?

One player in a critical position can change the entire dynamic of the team - much like how DeMar no longer being here turned us into this high paced, 3pt spamming team.

Losing Vuc would hurt our offense significantly. However, a strong rim protector would create some easy fast break offense.

I personally think we are better defensively than we think. We have the worst defensive C in the league and C is the most important defensive position. Vuc is a multiplier of suck for our D.

I want Rocco Zikarsky as that defensive C in the draft. With so many rising wings and guards I bet he goes 18-24.

[FriedRise]

Losing Vuc would hurt our offense significantly. However, a strong rim protector would create some easy fast break offense.

I personally think we are better defensively than we think. We have the worst defensive C in the league and C is the most important defensive position. Vuc is a multiplier of suck for our D.

I want Rocco Zikarsky as that defensive C in the draft. With so many rising wings and guards I bet he goes 18-24.

Yeah perhaps, but maybe that defensive C isn't gonna get many looks outside of those high percentage dunks and layups. The rest of the FGAs will just be distributed to other players who should be shooting 3s anyway.

The thing that irks me watching Vooch on defense is how he sometimes doesn't even bother raising his hands to contest. He'd just watch whatever player make their easy layup. It may or may not make a difference, but a couple missed layups could be worth a few points a game.