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Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown

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Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#1 » by PaKii94 » Tue Mar 3, 2020 7:53 pm

I think with Lauri returning to practice and returning to games soon (cross your fingers :pray:), we should revisit Lauri’s season so far and hopefully we can dispel some hot takes.

Read on Twitter


When the season was happening in real time and all the random sh*t with this Bulls team unfolding, Lauri was made an afterthought and overall labeled ‘bad’. Fortunately, basketball is not a binary. There are a lot of things that go into “good” and “bad” basketball.

Lauri’s season can be broken down into 4 chunks: Beginning of the season (6 games), Oblique Injury (14 games), healthy Lauri (17 games), hopeless center Lauri (9 games), KO.

All the following stats are p36 unless otherwise noted.

----
Beginning of the season (6 games)- 20.4p/10.9r/3a on 39.3/25, 52TS%, 105 ORTG, 25% USG

This period had a lot of trouble with it but I think the main problem plaguing the bulls was they were playing a new system. This is some of the “growth” pains teams go through. The defense wasn’t on a string (and our blitzing scheme is all or nothing pretty much). The offense was having trouble with new players getting integrated, WCJ was coming back from injury, OPJ being injured & Zach playing poorly as a high usage option.

For Lauri, it was literally just a case of him not hitting his jumpers. His assists/stocks were both up, fouls down. If he hit on his career average of 3s, he would have been at 23p/11r on 45/36, 58TS%. This would have been career highs in literally everything (3pm/points/assists/rebounds/stocks/FTA). Yes the onus is on him to hit his shots, but shooters do go through down patches… this was only 6 games.

Then the Oblique injury happened :(

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Oblique Injury (14 games)- 14.4p/7.5r/1.8a on 32/30, 48TS%, 92 ORTG, 20% USG

Unfortunately for the fans, we didn’t find out about the Oblique injury until 2 weeks after the fact. So for the casuals, it was Lauri HORRIBLE REGRESSION!!! However, Lauri injured himself right at the beginning of November (during the Detroit game), right when Lauri started looking “soft” & “passive” and hanging out on the perimeter. His hops were non existent and it was easily seen with blown layups and poor rim contesting. Here is a tweet about the injury:
Read on Twitter


A strained oblique is a pretty damaging injury. A healthy core is vital for all aspects of basketball: shot form, finishing, rebounding, contesting shots, etc. Lauri obviously wasn’t healthy. We now know of Lauri & Lavine’s bid to play all 82 games. He decided to remain on the floor as a spacing decoy for the team. I think this was also due to OPJ/Hutch/Kornet all being out (who would be his replacement). This damaged his rep a lot more than if he had just taken time off.

According to my amateur level doctor research, a grade 1 oblique strain (the mildest classification) takes on average about a month of recovery (without setbacks). Source: http://m.mlb.com/glossary/injuries/oblique-strain

This falls in line with how Lauri’s performance drastically improved in December, a month later.

----
healthy Lauri (17 games)- 20.8p/7.3r/1.6a on 50/41, 64TS%, 120 ORTG, 21.8% USG

This is Lauri back in form. Unfortunately, by this point, the damage to the season was done. A hierarchy of Lavine/Coby/Everyone else was established. Lauri was relegated to spacer role. This was the most consistent Lauri has ever played.

I was clamoring for him to get more usage during this period (but he was being played limited minutes and was 4th in usage on the team at that point). Near the end of this period, Lauri WAS slowly getting more minutes and usage (and he was balling out).

Last 5 games in this period- 25.2ppg on 65% TS, 132 ORTG, 24% USG

----
Hopeless Lauri playing center on a bum ankle (9 games)- 15.5p/6.7r/1.4a on 43/32, 55.3TS%, 104 ORTG, 19.7% USG

Unfortunately, right when Lauri was starting to rev up, 2 major incidents happened. 1) Lauri had a bad ankle sprain (see video below) and then WCJ had an even worse ankle sprain a game later
Read on Twitter


A healthy Lauri playing center is pretty much already a hopeless cause. He, imo, has good positional defense but he doesn’t have the mass/length of Cs for shot contest/deterent. He can block some shots from guards because of his length and timing but that’s dependent on his athleticism. So with a bum ankle, it was pretty much game over. No chance. The numbers back it up. The defense plummeted, and Lauri was back to passive/ spacer Lauri on the perimeter.

----
KO- DNP (15 games)

Then we had this pelvis stress reaction. Lauri finally gets some rest.

----
Overall takeaways?

So let’s summarize it.
Lauri’s season overall was bad/disappointing -> True
Lauri was bad -> Only partially.

I put it on him for not making the shots earlier on. I can’t fault him for trying to play through the oblique injury. I can’t fault him for not having higher usage when he was finally healthy. I can’t fault him for trying to play out of position at C on a bum ankle. I can’t fault him for having this stress reaction.

Discussing Lauri’s injury history and his trend towards becoming injury prone is a valid argument against him. If he can’t stay healthy, it doesn’t matter what he can do when healthy. However, I wouldn’t lump all the play together into “Lauri has regressed and can’t do sh*t anymore”.

Lauri the prospect is still there looking to break out. We just need to pray for his health. I am excited to see him back on the floor soon. Hopefully these freak injuries are behind him and we see the year 3 leap we were expecting at the beginning of the season.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#2 » by Andi Obst » Wed Mar 4, 2020 3:19 pm

Very good breakdown. I have nothing but respect for anyone who puts this much effort in anything Bulls-related at this point of the season. Let's hope Lauri comes back fully healthy and gives us reasons to be optimistic about next season.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#3 » by DuckIII » Wed Mar 4, 2020 4:49 pm

Too many of the excuses are nebulous and based on unknowns. Maybe Lauri experienced horrendous multiple layered misfortunes this season which explains the entirely of his extremely troubling play. Maybe his return will help prove that.

Maybe it won’t. As of today, my view is that Lauri was not “bad” this year. It is that Lauri was barely okay and therefore cannot be considered as important in making roster decisions this summer.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#4 » by MrSparkle » Wed Mar 4, 2020 4:49 pm

Everyone's obsessed with player comparisons (naturally), but fact is Lauri is capable of playing much better, and that's all. He doesn't need to worry about filling any superstar shoes in Chicago, he doesn't have to worry about living up to some Dirk comparisons. He should just get healthy, stay healthy, take injury precautions... honestly, not play as hard on defense regardless of what Captain Tank asks him to do (manic blitz defense on every possession)... and he should get a big man coach this summer. Call up Hakeem, Kareem, Ewing, Pau Gasol, one of those guys, and learn. Those dudes have always been very willing to share their knowledge. He needs to get some training on boxing out, rebounding technique, and shot blocking anticipation. Even if he'll never be a full-time center, he should invest in some of that knowledge and training, because straight-up, it'll greatly improve his game.

Even with his injuries and system struggles this year, he was at 15 ppg. And I'll tell you, this season has had some of the worst-looking team offense I can recall. That 13/14 team was a grind, but they at least made good passes and cuts, especially once DJ came around.

Until the last Zach-less game, I don't think there's been one game all year where the Bulls played conventional, good basketball. So a 15 ppg floor is a positive take-away. Lauri literally has not had anybody generating looks for him - if anyone can list a PF who generates his own baskets in a Harden/iso manner, let me know. Cause all I see are good teams with good PGs or point-wings. Draymond looks like hot garbage without the Splash Bros. Davis stopped making the playoffs after Rondo left, until he joined Lebron. Siakam has Lowry.

What isn't positive is the 6.5 rpg. Coupled with WCJ rebounding poorly, between Jim's system (which takes the bigs way the hell away from the basket), 6 rpg from a starting big man is unacceptable. I'm convinced that with a little coaching and big man mentoring, he can easily become a 20/10 player.

Otherwise, all he needs to do is make more shots that he is perfectly capable of making, and get a coach who knows how to make him comfortable and find him those good shots. Shooting is such a team/rhythm-oriented skill. I frankly at no point in this season saw guys look for shooters in the same hot spots. That is such an important part of the game, having your sweet/automatic spots.

It really isn't hard imagining Lauri as a 22/10 player on a +.500 team. Note: I didn't say contender. Just tired of seeing the guy compared to Kornet. I would trade him 'high,' because I think he misses the mark as a defender and ball-handler, but definitely not dumping him for a bag of kettle chips. He's capable of strongly improving, pretty much every attribute in the game. I can see him bringing his rebounding up, defensive awareness, his assists, FTAs, 3P%, FG around the rim, possibly his block attempts.

Lastly, spur of the moment thought, but it's kind of stupid that the Bulls dumped Pau Gasol like a ****ty girlfriend. He could've been a cool guy to bring in for mentoring, even if he didn't make sense in that 16/17 Rondo/Wade season. Actually come to think of it, it's kind of absurd that they downgraded from Pau to a more expensive RoLo, while shredding Rose's $28m expiring contract.

Pau would've been great for Lauri. He was apparently good for Niko, except Pau got the hell out, smelling that GarPax stopped doing laundry. THE BULLS DECIDED TO OVERSTOCK ON BIG MEN IN A PERIMETER ERA. Why do they not atleast get some legendary veteran big men mentors? Noah is asking for a job. Can they not bring this guy in and have him inspire Wendell and Lauri to crash the glass and block a shot?

Listen to Kobe interviews (RIP), he credited vets and legends for teaching him secrets. Eddie Jones, Jordan, Magic, West... This is what normal all-star young players do. They have a thirst for knowledge, and they seek it. Lakers promote these connections. The Bulls got Pippen and Grant involved a little, I don't know to what degree, but maybe player-development and coaching wasn't their thing. They should get some legends who are willing to teach. Cause my sense the last 3 years... the blind are leading the blind. I think Jimmy was seeking something like that here, he kind of got it with Wade, and the Bulls FO put the kibosh on that. You're seeing a total lack of leadership and structure. Lauri is one of many Bulls who is uncomfortable and not performing to expectations.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#5 » by ZOMG » Wed Mar 4, 2020 6:00 pm

MrSparkle wrote:What isn't positive is the 6.5 rpg. Coupled with WCJ rebounding poorly, between Jim's system (which takes the bigs way the hell away from the basket), 6 rpg from a starting big man is unacceptable. I'm convinced that with a little coaching and big man mentoring, he can easily become a 20/10 player.


Do you realize that there's only 11 guys in the whole league who are averaging at least 10 rpg? And that they’re all centers and/or athletic freaks?

Meanwhile, there’s TONS of dudes Lauri’s size who definitely aren’t considered weak rebounders but who don’t average anything close to 10.

It’s just a weird complaint. For a guy with bad length who plays a lot on the perimeter, around 7-8 rpg is totally ok. Lauri has some room to improve but expecting him to be some kind of a rebounding specialist is baffling.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#6 » by MrSparkle » Wed Mar 4, 2020 6:17 pm

ZOMG wrote:
MrSparkle wrote:What isn't positive is the 6.5 rpg. Coupled with WCJ rebounding poorly, between Jim's system (which takes the bigs way the hell away from the basket), 6 rpg from a starting big man is unacceptable. I'm convinced that with a little coaching and big man mentoring, he can easily become a 20/10 player.


Do you realize that there's only 11 guys in the whole league who are averaging at least 10 rpg? And that they’re all centers and/or athletic freaks?

Meanwhile, there’s TONS of dudes Lauri’s size who definitely aren’t considered weak rebounders but who don’t average anything close to 10.

It’s just a weird complaint. For a guy with bad length who plays a lot on the perimeter, around 7-8 rpg is totally ok. Lauri has some room to improve but expecting him to be some kind of a rebounding specialist is baffling.


Fine. 8 rpg.

His rebounding skills have been a terrible display this year.

Not a specialist. Just competent.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#7 » by coldfish » Wed Mar 4, 2020 6:24 pm

One statistics class examples is for the teacher to take a normal coin and start flipping it. The class is to mark down the results. Invariably, you will get slightly more heads than tails or runs of heads or tails. The teacher then asks: Is this a normal coin or a trick coin?

Most of the time, the class will say its a trick coin. They will see a pattern where there is none.

Basketball is a game of ups and downs. You get hot and cold. Tons of factors play in. Your shot timing changes slightly over time, rest, outside factors, opponent strategies, etc.

If you look at virtually any player, you will see hot runs and stretches. Good months and bad. Lauri is no exception in that. IMO, people give him too many excuses to ignore the bad. Most of the things that are happening to him happen to every NBA player and will continue to happen to Lauri.

Offensively, Lauri can be better. His teammates, his coaches and him can certainly get more out of his talent. Defensively? Its a problem. His off ball awareness is Boozer level bad and for a 7 footer, that's an issue.

I strongly suspect that at this point, he wants out. The Bulls should agree. He is going to get a huge offer as a free agent just based on potential. That kind of contract can really hurt a team if the guy doesn't live up to it.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#8 » by ZOMG » Wed Mar 4, 2020 6:33 pm

MrSparkle wrote:
ZOMG wrote:
MrSparkle wrote:What isn't positive is the 6.5 rpg. Coupled with WCJ rebounding poorly, between Jim's system (which takes the bigs way the hell away from the basket), 6 rpg from a starting big man is unacceptable. I'm convinced that with a little coaching and big man mentoring, he can easily become a 20/10 player.


Do you realize that there's only 11 guys in the whole league who are averaging at least 10 rpg? And that they’re all centers and/or athletic freaks?

Meanwhile, there’s TONS of dudes Lauri’s size who definitely aren’t considered weak rebounders but who don’t average anything close to 10.

It’s just a weird complaint. For a guy with bad length who plays a lot on the perimeter, around 7-8 rpg is totally ok. Lauri has some room to improve but expecting him to be some kind of a rebounding specialist is baffling.


Fine. 8 rpg.

His rebounding skills have been a terrible display this year.

Not a specialist. Just competent.


"Incompetent" would mean Luke Kornet, a legitimate center with GREAT length who averaged 5.4 rpg per 36 this year.

What’s HIS excuse?
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#9 » by MrSparkle » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:14 pm

ZOMG wrote:
MrSparkle wrote:
ZOMG wrote:
Do you realize that there's only 11 guys in the whole league who are averaging at least 10 rpg? And that they’re all centers and/or athletic freaks?

Meanwhile, there’s TONS of dudes Lauri’s size who definitely aren’t considered weak rebounders but who don’t average anything close to 10.

It’s just a weird complaint. For a guy with bad length who plays a lot on the perimeter, around 7-8 rpg is totally ok. Lauri has some room to improve but expecting him to be some kind of a rebounding specialist is baffling.


Fine. 8 rpg.

His rebounding skills have been a terrible display this year.

Not a specialist. Just competent.


"Incompetent" would mean Luke Kornet, a legitimate center with GREAT length who averaged 5.4 rpg per 36 this year.

What’s HIS excuse?


He is an undrafted, $3m player with no athleticism and foot speed?

Lauri is #7 draft pick with Michael Jordan's legs in comparison?
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#10 » by sco » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:18 pm

It is very hard to tell what a healthy Lauri can do because we haven't seen "that guy" for long enough to assess. At the moment his trade value is trash compared to his potential.

I think the only answer is to try again next year. If he can play at or near the high-end of his demonstrated levels, great, we have our starting PF and we'll probably be able to find economic common ground to keep him long-term. If he has another year like this season, I think new scenery might help both sides.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#11 » by DuckIII » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:22 pm

ZOMG wrote:
MrSparkle wrote:
ZOMG wrote:
Do you realize that there's only 11 guys in the whole league who are averaging at least 10 rpg? And that they’re all centers and/or athletic freaks?

Meanwhile, there’s TONS of dudes Lauri’s size who definitely aren’t considered weak rebounders but who don’t average anything close to 10.

It’s just a weird complaint. For a guy with bad length who plays a lot on the perimeter, around 7-8 rpg is totally ok. Lauri has some room to improve but expecting him to be some kind of a rebounding specialist is baffling.


Fine. 8 rpg.

His rebounding skills have been a terrible display this year.

Not a specialist. Just competent.


"Incompetent" would mean Luke Kornet, a legitimate center with GREAT length who averaged 5.4 rpg per 36 this year.

What’s HIS excuse?


Who cares what Kornet’s excuse is?
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#12 » by DuckIII » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:24 pm

sco wrote:It is very hard to tell what a healthy Lauri can do because we haven't seen "that guy" for long enough to assess. At the moment his trade value is trash compared to his potential.

I think the only answer is to try again next year. If he can play at or near the high-end of his demonstrated levels, great, we have our starting PF and we'll probably be able to find economic common ground to keep him long-term. If he has another year like this season, I think new scenery might help both sides.


That’s not the only answer. The other answer is to trade him on draft day if we are fortunate enough that he still has value.

“If he has another year like this season” the change of scenery might help Lauri but it would kill the Bulls because he would have zero trade value.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#13 » by coldfish » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:38 pm

DuckIII wrote:
sco wrote:It is very hard to tell what a healthy Lauri can do because we haven't seen "that guy" for long enough to assess. At the moment his trade value is trash compared to his potential.

I think the only answer is to try again next year. If he can play at or near the high-end of his demonstrated levels, great, we have our starting PF and we'll probably be able to find economic common ground to keep him long-term. If he has another year like this season, I think new scenery might help both sides.


That’s not the only answer. The other answer is to trade him on draft day if we are fortunate enough that he still has value.

“If he has another year like this season” the change of scenery might help Lauri but it would kill the Bulls because he would have zero trade value.


IMO, the Bulls should have loyalty to absolutely no one on the team. If I was GM, I would assign a value to everyone on the team and shop them. If some other team exceeded my valuation, I would move them. Personally, I think there is a collective funk on this team that can only be changed by a large scale change in personnel. This team just has a bad vibe.

Regardless, getting back to Lauri, I would put top 10 pick value on him OR a recent prospect that I was interested in. If some team met that value, Lauri would be gone. If not, I would keep him and give him another chance to prove he is worth a big extension. I wouldn't just dump him for a 2nd round pick.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#14 » by madvillian » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:41 pm

I have a lot of respect for the OP but I can't agree with any of this. You can't break a season down into selective endpoints. You are what your numbers are at the end of the year. Every player goes through adversity during a season on and off the court. Part of being a successful pro is handling that adversity.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#15 » by kodo » Wed Mar 4, 2020 7:51 pm

When you hard hedge on screens the big is out of the position when the ball moves away from the double team. All the Bulls bigs have lower RPG other than Wendell who tends to stay home more than Lauri/Gafford.

When we played a older style dropback defense, Lauri averaged 10.1 and 9.6 rebounds per 36.

He's very capable of being a solid or great rebounder, that's just not what coaching is asking for him. The hard hedge defense trades bigs rebounding for more pressure on the ball and the 3 point line. Whether that's a good decision or not can be debated, but the issue here isn't Lauri's rebounding capability or potential.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#16 » by ChettheJet » Wed Mar 4, 2020 8:11 pm

To me he's just like any 5 guys you can name, I would really like to see him play healthy and with the full rotation that was on the whiteboard when the season started. Nobody has been able to do that. How badly or how long Markkanen was injured is hard to say but there were some games were he looked like the guy you wanted him to be. What I think was proven beyond a doubt was, he can't play the 5.

Lavine, White and Satoransky have played pretty much where and for as long as was expected. Virtually everybody else was injured short or long term so nobody got to see how they filled their imagined roles.

Now if Lauri can come back full speed the only guy really missing will be Dunn. He can start at the 4 with Carter and Porter on the front line, Lavine and Satoransky at guard. White, Gafford, Young and Hutchison coming in as the bench, let's at least see what might have been without the injuries.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#17 » by sco » Wed Mar 4, 2020 8:39 pm

coldfish wrote:
DuckIII wrote:
sco wrote:It is very hard to tell what a healthy Lauri can do because we haven't seen "that guy" for long enough to assess. At the moment his trade value is trash compared to his potential.

I think the only answer is to try again next year. If he can play at or near the high-end of his demonstrated levels, great, we have our starting PF and we'll probably be able to find economic common ground to keep him long-term. If he has another year like this season, I think new scenery might help both sides.


That’s not the only answer. The other answer is to trade him on draft day if we are fortunate enough that he still has value.

“If he has another year like this season” the change of scenery might help Lauri but it would kill the Bulls because he would have zero trade value.


IMO, the Bulls should have loyalty to absolutely no one on the team. If I was GM, I would assign a value to everyone on the team and shop them. If some other team exceeded my valuation, I would move them. Personally, I think there is a collective funk on this team that can only be changed by a large scale change in personnel. This team just has a bad vibe.

Regardless, getting back to Lauri, I would put top 10 pick value on him OR a recent prospect that I was interested in. If some team met that value, Lauri would be gone. If not, I would keep him and give him another chance to prove he is worth a big extension. I wouldn't just dump him for a 2nd round pick.

If you guys think Lauri has lotto trade value, I hope you are right! IMO, Lauri may have late 1st round value, at best...in that case, I'd try again at next season's deadline for a value lift, but would hope he shows improved durability and consistency.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#18 » by ZOMG » Wed Mar 4, 2020 8:44 pm

madvillian wrote:I have a lot of respect for the OP but I can't agree with any of this. You can't break a season down into selective endpoints. You are what your numbers are at the end of the year. Every player goes through adversity during a season on and off the court. Part of being a successful pro is handling that adversity.


That's a super weird take. You can bet none of the people making personnel decisions in the NBA think like that. If they do, they deserve to get fired. Hell, there's a whole number crunching industry of advanced analytics that leans on the fact that basketball isn't played in a vacuum. Everything affects everything.

What would be the point of pretending that streaks, injuries, coaching or intra-team dynamics don't mean anything when looking at the performance of an individual player? How could that ever be true?

It's easy to say that a player should "handle the adversity", but if your boss tells you that your new job is to blitz the ballhandler on defense and space the floor on offense, and your rebounding numbers drop as a consequence, what do you do? How to handle the "adversity"? After all, according to you this player has now regressed as a rebounder.
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#19 » by madvillian » Wed Mar 4, 2020 8:58 pm

ZOMG wrote:
madvillian wrote:I have a lot of respect for the OP but I can't agree with any of this. You can't break a season down into selective endpoints. You are what your numbers are at the end of the year. Every player goes through adversity during a season on and off the court. Part of being a successful pro is handling that adversity.


That's a super weird take. You can bet none of the people making personnel decisions in the NBA think like that. If they do, they deserve to get fired. Hell, there’s a whole number crunching industry of advanced analytics that leans on the fact that basketball isn’t played in a vacuum. Everything affects everything.

What would be the point of pretending that streaks, injuries, coaching or intra-team dynamics don’t mean anything when looking at the performance of an individual player? How could that ever be true?

It’s easy to say that a player should "handle the adversity”, but if your boss tells you that your new job is to blitz the ballhandler on defense and space the floor on offense, and your rebounding numbers drop as a consequence, what do you do? How to handle the ”adversity”? After all, according to you this player has now regressed as a rebounder.


Yea I'm done. Nobody in analytics uses smaller samples when they have bigger ones available. He's played to a 14.4 PER this year. You are what the back of your baseball card says you are. Players get hot and cold. Players play in bad schemes with **** coaches and poor team mates. Somehow the stars manage to elevate themselves above all that -- like Lavine and countless other players stuck on **** teams.
dumbell78 wrote:Random comment....Mikal Bridges stroke is dripping right now in summer league. Carry on.


I'll go ahead and make a sig bet that Mikal is better by RPM this year than Zach.
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drosereturn
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Re: Making Excuses for Lauri: A Season Breakdown 

Post#20 » by drosereturn » Wed Mar 4, 2020 8:59 pm

coldfish wrote:
I strongly suspect that at this point, he wants out. The Bulls should agree. He is going to get a huge offer as a free agent just based on potential. That kind of contract can really hurt a team if the guy doesn't live up to it.


Not in a million years if the Bulls dont get something out of it.
Hes never going to get a max and its actually good if he struggles as long as it gives a huge discount to the point nobody offers big sum of money like the Kings.
Same reason why Celtics nearly maxed Brown. They cannot lose these blue chip level prospects for nothing considering how high they were drafted. By letting them go, you have wasted development time and draft pick.
Lamelo will be a future superstar Bull. Book it. Lavar for president!

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