Bulls vs Pacers 7pm CT Dec. 6th 2024

[Stratmaster]

Just looked at the box score, is Coby just chucking?

Yes. He is currently the 5th best guard on the team. So of course Billy starts him, and I guess tells him to Chuck away.

[Stratmaster]

Bulls will always underachieve under Donovan.

With that said, Indy shot what? 60% plus from 3?

In today's NBA sometimes it just comes down to one team being outrageously hot that night.

[SfBull]

Giddey can look really rough at times. He needs some polishing.

When I heard Coby was starting, right before the game began, I immediately thought "this is a loss". He can be a very valuable piece on this team. But notc as a starter and not chucking up 19 shots. Billy will never learn.

Same thing with THT. There is a role for him. Just not a big a role as Billy has suddenly decided to give him.

I get not wanting to start Lonzo because he is sitting out too many games and you want to find a consistent starting lineup. Based on that the starters should be Giddy, Ayo, Lavine, Matas, Vuc. Eventually that leaves you with Lonzo, Coby, Smith, Williams as solid quality bench players.

How does Ayo go 6-8, and Coby 7-19 1 game after a trip-dub for Ayo? Again, where is Billy's head? He needs to get it out of his....

Totally agreed.We could have a better record without Billy.

[kodo]

Just looked at the box score, is Coby just chucking?

Yes. He is currently the 5th best guard on the team. So of course Billy starts him, and I guess tells him to Chuck away.

The biggest problem with Coby chucking isn't even him missing a lot of 3s, it's that the team just stops even trying to feed people down low. Vuc had 39 points vs SAS, barely saw the ball tonight.

You couldn't hardly tell it was the same team from 24 hours ago.

[Muzbar]

Mateas needs to get stronger.

Matas*

[Clint Eastwood]

The only things i learned watching this game is that Giddey is not a long term answer for us, Matas should be starting now, and Lonzo is as good as he ever was-hope his injury eventually is not a factor in his playing time. Oh, and phillips THT and terry should not get any minutes when we have most of the team healthy.

[pipfan]

This loss was all on Indy shooting 60% from 3-it happens

But my lineup of
Ayo/White/Ball
Lavine/White/Ball
Matas/Giddy/Terry
PWill/Phillips/Giddy
Vuc/Smith

is the way, if they want to win games. Giddy and White are very solid bench pieces, but White is just an ok starter, and Giddy is clearly below average

[Dan Z]

The only things i learned watching this game is that Giddey is not a long term answer for us, Matas should be starting now, and Lonzo is as good as he ever was-hope his injury eventually is not a factor in his playing time. Oh, and phillips THT and terry should not get any minutes when we have most of the team healthy.

What do you think the front office shoud do with Giddey going forward?

[Muzbar]

The only things i learned watching this game is that Giddey is not a long term answer for us, Matas should be starting now, and Lonzo is as good as he ever was-hope his injury eventually is not a factor in his playing time. Oh, and phillips THT and terry should not get any minutes when we have most of the team healthy.

What do you think the front office shoud do with Giddey going forward?

Personally I'd be open to trading him for another young player or picks or package him in some sort of deal.

Give Ayo the PG keys.

[Clint Eastwood]

The only things i learned watching this game is that Giddey is not a long term answer for us, Matas should be starting now, and Lonzo is as good as he ever was-hope his injury eventually is not a factor in his playing time. Oh, and phillips THT and terry should not get any minutes when we have most of the team healthy.

What do you think the front office shoud do with Giddey going forward?

I was a big proponent of the Giddey trade. But I would look to move him if we can get any value. If not, hopefully sign him to a value deal that makes him a tradeable asset in the future. If that is not possible, unfortunately, I let him go. Don’t double down on a sunk cost if that happens.

[RSP83]

Bulls will always underachieve under Donovan.

With that said, Indy shot what? 60% plus from 3?

In today's NBA sometimes it just comes down to one team being outrageously hot that night.

Yes. So true.

[Guru]

Be Calm

Be Patient

Every player who is succeeding now this fan base wrote off.

Basketball is long.

These players are young.

[coldfish]

I just love it when I check the box score and the Bulls drop 123 on 47% and 42% and lose by 9. What a different world.

FYI: Chicago's offensive rating of 114.8 is about even with the best teams of the Bulls dynasty, which were in the low 115 range. That just blows me away.

[Guru]

I just love it when I check the box score and the Bulls drop 123 on 47% and 42% and lose by 9. What a different world.

FYI: Chicago's offensive rating of 114.8 is about even with the best teams of the Bulls dynasty, which were in the low 115 range. That just blows me away.

This style of basketball would be unwatchable with a team of unlikable players

[kodo]

Bulls will always underachieve under Donovan.

With that said, Indy shot what? 60% plus from 3?

In today's NBA sometimes it just comes down to one team being outrageously hot that night.

Yes. So true.

Agreed and we had just a bad 2nd quarter.

1Q
IND: 114 offensive rating
CHI: 134 offensive rating
2Q
IND: 144
CHI: 76
3Q
IND: 126
CHI: 134
4Q
IND: 120
CHI: 125

Bulls won 1st, 3rd, 4th quarters, soundly.
2nd Qs was a Coby Q where the other starters don't play too much with him and he's the main offense, and he had a bad quarter.
Coby: 1-5
Giddey: 2-3
Smith: 2-3

Nobody else gets more than 2 FGA, even Vuc or Lavine. Might have been just a rest thing due to the B2B.

[CROBulls]

Bulls will always underachieve under Donovan.

With that said, Indy shot what? 60% plus from 3?

In today's NBA sometimes it just comes down to one team being outrageously hot that night.

Bulls are only team in city with actual coach. Who is not only decent but I would say good enough for this franchise. I dont like some of Donovan's methods, but in reality he doesnt have much to work with on roster. Bulls underachiving and result will always come to GM decisions. Nobody will ever say Billy Donovan ruined Patrick Williams or something like that. Because we see it that coach has nothing to with how same bust player plays on floor.

While last part of your post is true. If you have good team you will still win 60 games. Because you will find ways to stop momentum of teams in key moments or out shoot those teams. That's what good teams do. They make stops when they need to and make key baskets when they need to. Rest of game is just run and gun.

[DuckIII]

The only things i learned watching this game is that Giddey is not a long term answer for us, Matas should be starting now, and Lonzo is as good as he ever was-hope his injury eventually is not a factor in his playing time. Oh, and phillips THT and terry should not get any minutes when we have most of the team healthy.

What do you think the front office shoud do with Giddey going forward?

Personally I'd be open to trading him for another young player or picks or package him in some sort of deal.

Give Ayo the PG keys.

Even with people saying Ayo is having a poor year (he’s not), this season has clarified two long term items for me: (1) Matas is the only figuratively “untouchable” player on this team; (2) Ayo is the guard to prioritize over all others on the roster (for different reasons relative to each).

The only exception to #2 would be Ball choosing to thank us with a cheap deal with team options which is so unlikely to not even discuss it really.

[MrSparkle]

I'm starting to wonder if at this pace, Coby will be offered anything over $15M next summer. His stat line looks good (18/4/5... lot of minutes on a sub-500 team), but his advanced metrics stink. They're on par with Tre Jones'.

Not saying it's worth keeping such a player, but you also don't lose anything by resigning a 3P-specialist 25yo combo guard to some cheap money. He's falling short of my expectations for the 5th season in a row. He had multiple 30+ games in his rookie season, in a slower paced, worse offensive system. Since then, he just doesn't seem to come up with huge games very often: 1 exceptional night (MIL) this season, but also 3 that were just pitiful (OKC, DAL, ORL).

I thought something clicked last year, but after a strong Dec-Feb, he had a very mediocre last 2mo. About the only thing he does well right now is he takes a lot of 3Ps and makes 37.6% of them. But that's also turning out to not be a very good percentage in today's NBA- also think he still needs more attempts. He keeps drifting back to this 37% career average, and for all my thoughts of him over-achieving, he has a hell of a time breaking and maintaining above his averages.

His TOs are up; R/A are down. No doubt his on-ball role shrunk with Zach and Josh, but he's either way he's not a reliable starter. Doesn't help he's the smallest guy in a small line-up with tons of switching... but his efficiency isn't up. His games this year are split 1/3 bad, 1/3 average, 1/3 good. 2 blowout wins when he was out. 0-8 when he has a bad game. That's a lot of bad games for early December. Him being our top-3 option, we are over-reliant on him (thus why we should tank, but alas). I don't think Ayo is a starter, but he does fit the starting 5 better.

[Jello Biafra]

What do you think the front office shoud do with Giddey going forward?

Personally I'd be open to trading him for another young player or picks or package him in some sort of deal.

Give Ayo the PG keys.

Even with people saying Ayo is having a poor year (he’s not), this season has clarified two long term items for me: (1) Matas is the only figuratively “untouchable” player on this team; (2) Ayo is the guard to prioritize over all others on the roster (for different reasons relative to each).

The only exception to #2 would be Ball choosing to thank us with a cheap deal with team options which is so unlikely to not even discuss it really.

Since I can't get CHGO, I've had to watch online and usually get the other teams broadcasts. Other teams announcers universally praise Ayo more than any other player on the team. Quinn Buckner, while praising him last night, concluded "He's just a baller". When discussing potential Bulls moves, Brevin Knight when asked who might be untouchable on their roster said " Umm, Dosunmu?" After that it's Zach's shooting and Buzelis' potential and raw skill they are talking about. They don't say much about the other guys other than perhaps Vuc and the Lonzo Ball story if he plays.

With regard to Giddey, it looks to me like he is down on himself. His body language does not look good. Still a very young kid, struggling in a new town on a new team with a lot more hater fans than OKC. I kinda feel bad for him and hopes he gets it together.

[Stratmaster]

Bulls will always underachieve under Donovan.

With that said, Indy shot what? 60% plus from 3?

In today's NBA sometimes it just comes down to one team being outrageously hot that night.

Bulls are only team in city with actual coach. Who is not only decent but I would say good enough for this franchise. I dont like some of Donovan's methods, but in reality he doesnt have much to work with on roster. Bulls underachiving and result will always come to GM decisions. Nobody will ever say Billy Donovan ruined Patrick Williams or something like that. Because we see it that coach has nothing to with how same bust player plays on floor.

While last part of your post is true. If you have good team you will still win 60 games. Because you will find ways to stop momentum of teams in key moments or out shoot those teams. That's what good teams do. They make stops when they need to and make key baskets when they need to. Rest of game is just run and gun.

Did something happen to Craig Counsell?

Donovan is horrible.

In the last 5 full seasons (discounting the abbreviated Covid seasons) only 4 teams have gotten to 60 wins. That's 2.6%.