Nikola Vučević discussion thread

[Southpaw]

Is there a power forward who you think would work well with Vucevic? I'd like Patrick Williams to continue developing as a SF (if possible).

I think Boucher could be a good fit. Mobile, athletic, protects the rim and can shoot the 3 well enough.

[ZOMG]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

[HomoSapien]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

He shot 48% from the field and went 4/7 from downtown. I'm not sure how anyone who watched that game could walk away with the analysis that he was atrocious.

[Pentele]

I really like Vuc's offensive game. I am not sure he is truly elite at any particular skill, but he is very very good at many things. He definitely helps stabilizing the offense so that we would not have to be so reliant on hot shooting (particularly from Zach). The downside could be reduced pace, but who cares if it leads to improved execution and, as a result, wins.

[ZOMG]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

He shot 48% from the field and went 4/7 from downtown. I'm not sure how anyone who watched that game could walk away with the analysis that he was atrocious.

Of course Vuc wasn't atrocious, but at that volume, it starts to matter how many shots you miss. Not exactly like shoooting 7/15 or something.

Anyway, hopefully this was an outlier, with the Pacers being so depleted

[HomoSapien]

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

He shot 48% from the field and went 4/7 from downtown. I'm not sure how anyone who watched that game could walk away with the analysis that he was atrocious.

Of course Vuc wasn't atrocious, but at that volume, it starts to matter how many shots you miss. Not exactly like shoooting 7/15 or something.

Anyway, hopefully this was an outlier, with the Pacers being so depleted

The one thing surprising about Vuc is that he doesn't really get to the free-throw line much. Hopefully that's a facet he can still add to his game.

That said, if someone's giving you 32 points on good shooting, it's hard for me to understand why you'd say it was atrocious (although, you then said he wasn't atrocious, so I'm not sure what exactly your criticism is). The number of shots missed don't really matter if the overall shooting percentage is at least on par or better than what we shoot as a team. In this game Vuc shot better than the team (although Zach primarily dragged down the rest of the team's FG%). The days of equal opportunity offense are over IMO. This is Vuc and Zach's team now, so the offense is going to be designed to get them the most shots and that also gives us the best chance to win games.

[imagge]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

Actually if you watched the game he was fouled a lot on missed bunnies but he commanded a lot of attention which freed other players...the gravity he created could be felt outside of his 29 shots

[FriedRise]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

Actually if you watched the game he was fouled a lot on missed bunnies but he commanded a lot of attention which freed other players...the gravity he created could be felt outside of his 29 shots

Yeah they were definitely hacking him a lot in the post. Also dunno if teams just don’t care about giving up points from post-up plays or if the Pacers were more interested in generating steals (poking the ball loose), but he and Thad were rarely doubled even when they had clear size advantage posting up. We got so many easy 2 points that way.

I know the Vooch is more of a skilled/finesse player, but 0 free throws when you mostly operate in the paint is pretty suspect.

[coldfish]

When you look at Vucevic’s offensive efficiency, don’t forget the 5 assists. He is legitimately collapsing the defense and finding people for wide open shots. The idea that you can just have 5 guys stand around the arc and get efficient offense is Boylen type thinking and we saw how that worked out.

The team is actually still struggling to integrate Vuc. They are forcing things at times. It will get better.

[Ice Man]

Super small sample size, but so far in Chicago he's been a 99th percentile post up player with an eFG% of 70%. In Orlando he was 39th percentile, eFG% 48%.

Stacey and Adam put up that stat yesterday, but claimed it was for the team, not Vuce. At any rate, he's more of pick-and-pop player. Thad is our true post-up guy.

[sco]

Is there a power forward who you think would work well with Vucevic? I'd like Patrick Williams to continue developing as a SF (if possible).

I think Boucher could be a good fit. Mobile, athletic, protects the rim and can shoot the 3 well enough.

Don't know why TOR would trade him...he's non a good contract next season IIRC.

I like the idea of PWill at the four and finding a good 3-D SF, which are more available.

[BeatDaCavs420]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

[FecesOfDeath]

Additionally, he beats out Rolo as the best screen-setter in the league. That's picture-perfrct technique right there. He even knows the correct angle to set them at.

[Southpaw]

Is there a power forward who you think would work well with Vucevic? I'd like Patrick Williams to continue developing as a SF (if possible).

I think Boucher could be a good fit. Mobile, athletic, protects the rim and can shoot the 3 well enough.

Don't know why TOR would trade him...he's non a good contract next season IIRC.

I like the idea of PWill at the four and finding a good 3-D SF, which are more available.

Maybe they'd want to redistribute their talent since he's stuck behind Siakam. Tho I don't know what we have that could interest them other than PaW.

But I agree, it's likely that PaW will transition into a PF as he gets older but I wish he can develop more as a big SF.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Things are just so god damn easy for this guy on offense. It's a nice change of pace to have a guy who can just easily get his baskets.

32 points on 29 shots is atrocious. Certainly nothing "easy" about it.

He shot 48% from the field and went 4/7 from downtown. I'm not sure how anyone who watched that game could walk away with the analysis that he was atrocious.

It appears to be "Euro big" jealousy.

[RSP83]

Offensively Vuc reminds me of Pau when he was here, but younger. A lot of the defensive problem we had with Pau, were the same that we have to deal with now with Vuc. But I remember our offense with Pau was one of the better Bulls offense I've seen post-Dynasty. I'm a big fan of a big that can hit the mid-range, post-up, grab rebound, run the pick-n-pop, and play a bit of point center from the high post similar to Brad Miller, Pau, and Jo. So I definitely love what Vuc brings.

Defensively, we definitely need a strong defender at the 4, preferably the long athletic type. A guy who can switch with Pat between 3 and 4 throughout the game. This type of player is a good complementary player to put next to Vuc.

I like the inverted 4 and 5, Thad and Vuc, setting. Thad is a better playmaker with his back to the basket deep in the post, he usually find somebody cutting or Vuc open on the perimeter. I like that Thad is also pretty good at scoring near the basket with his baby hook. And Vuc is just so skilled offensively he can hang anywhere on the perimeter and no shot looks like a bad shot for him.

[madvillian]

Vuc had 6 offensive rebounds, that certainly helps bolster his 32 points on 29 shots. Vuc was awesome last night. I can't see how you could watch the game and think otherwise. And as mentioned, he isn't a great defender but he knows how to use his size and just being big to his advantage as a floor bound big. Lauri could stand to take some lessons.

[Dan Z]

Is there a power forward who you think would work well with Vucevic? I'd like Patrick Williams to continue developing as a SF (if possible).

I think Boucher could be a good fit. Mobile, athletic, protects the rim and can shoot the 3 well enough.

Don't know why TOR would trade him...he's non a good contract next season IIRC.

I like the idea of PWill at the four and finding a good 3-D SF, which are more available.

What 3 & D SF's do you have in mind?

[Ice Man]

Offensively Vuc reminds me of Pau when he was here, but younger.

Yep, it's a good comparison.

[TheStig]

Vuc had 6 offensive rebounds, that certainly helps bolster his 32 points on 29 shots. Vuc was awesome last night. I can't see how you could watch the game and think otherwise. And as mentioned, he isn't a great defender but he knows how to use his size and just being big to his advantage as a floor bound big. Lauri could stand to take some lessons.

Vuc wasn't the problem. He's been the solution. Would love to see him get some calls. He definitely should have been to the line more. That would have made it 36 points or more from him.

I think he's going to beat up on a lot of the EC bigs. Only guys who will give him fits are Giannis or KD when they go small and switch.

He's could legit be the best big we've ever had on this team. Noah is the only one and he didn't really garner the attention on offense. He was just an all around beast for a couple of years.