chefo wrote:I think the narrative is becoming a bit too skewed with expressions that are not looked in context. Examples:
1. "Lauri cannot create his own shot."--what does that mean in the context of a 7 footer who is not the primary, secondary... or even tertiary ball handler on the court? He's not Al Jefferson and can't post up. Sure, that's true. But I don't remember him having ANY issues getting a good shot from the FT elbows pretty much any time he got the ball there his first couple of years. He did his little half spin and just shot over people and he has an incredibly soft touch from that spot. The Bulls removed that shot from the entire team's arsenal by design. Dunn doesn't do it and that's the only thing he did well on offense. Lauri doesn't do it any more either. So, to me the premise that he can't create his own shot is flawed. We actually know he can, if he gets the ball in his spots... and we actually know what these spots are. You can't ask of him to handle the ball from the 3 point line consistently (it can be done against certain match-ups) like guys that are half-a-foot shorter than him.
This year, he is really struggling to get his own shot. You are right that its worse than before. At one point recently, he had ZERO unassisted shots from more than 15 feet. He isn't showing a mid post game, pull up shots, not able to run a pick and roll, etc.
2. "Lauri is an average shooter." Lauri is right on the cusp of where teams really do not want him to be open. And, most importantly, Lauri shoots a very high volume, not just for a 4, but for any player, and has a quick trigger from 3, with a very high release. Lately, I've been surprised at how many well-contested 3s he makes because he just shoots over the top. Lauri, whether he has a good game or not, is treated by good defenses like a 40% shooter (just like Niko was) and that is a huge advantage scheme-wise. Not everybody can do that--Thad and WCJ are pretty much left to do what they want outside of 15 feet. Lauri has a guy in his shorts 25 feet out. He is only one of two Bulls currently, with the other being Zach, that is being obviously game-planned for. That's not replaceable by some random scrub--example being Bobby Portis. When he was here, teams were leaving him wide open, even though he was shooting it just as well--and Bobby is no scrub on O by any stretch and often got doubled when posting up--but teams only guarded him from 3, if he was having a hot game. Lauri has 'gravity' like a really good shooter and unless you're a threat to hit 5 or 6 in a game, opposing teams are not going to give just any guy the same defensive attention.
A long time ago, finding anyone to shoot the 3 was hard. 10 years ago, finding a big who could shoot the 3 was hard. Nowadays, a lot of players shoot the 3. As was noted, Lauri is currently 109th out of 145 qualified players for 3p percentage. At BEST that's average.
3. "Lauri is a poor rebounder for a 4." I'd say he's about average. Rebounding, apart from certain individual freaks, is a lot about team schematics. Rolo, as has been pointed out, was probably the best at boxing out in the entire league. Dude was superb at positioning and taking out sometimes multiple guys out. Bulls don't have that any more. As a matter of fact, the entire team sucks at boxing out... and obviously, it's not a point of emphasis by the coaches, if I see it happen pretty much every game by multiple players. As coldfish pointed out, Lauri does not seem to be a 'go-get-it' kind of rebounder, but I do not remember him being man-handled on the boards. If its near him, he usually gets it.
I thought that PF's get 15 to 18% rebounding rates. Realistically nowadays its 12 to 14%. Lauri is normally on the bottom of the range of that but its not by orders of magnitude.
Anyhow, Lauri had a great December and even if that flawed, under-used Lauri is what you get, that's better until WCJ can prove he can do anything on O that is not a spoon-fed dunk. I think he can, he has the talent and could do it in college, and god knows teams don't give a **** about anything he does on O so he has all the space in the world, but until he does, he'll be a 6'9 garbage-man, and as I mentioned a couple of pages earlier--that can be a valuable complimentary cog in a good team, but that kind of player gets you nowhere if he is one of your top 3 players.
Lauri is, at this point seemingly by his own choice, just a shooter. He has no post game, doesn't pass, doesn't put the ball on the floor, is a horrific help defender, an average at best rebounder. Since he doesn't use his size, he can be replaced by countless slightly smaller PF's and you can likely get more out of them. Just shooting 36% from 3 is no big deal.
You are right about Wendell. He looks like his upside is a defensive specialist. He can be a role playing center and 5th best guy on a high level team.
Lauri? He is carving out a niche as a bench shooter. A 9th man. If Thad hadn't been so horrible this year, people would be suggesting that Lauri lose his starting spot.
