PG:Team Effort

[Almost Retired]

Zach is enjoying his prime years now, and with the surrounding cast now he doesn't feel the burden to carry the team almost alone on his shoulders. He's been free to utilize his passing skills now that he he has real players to pass to. With his elite athleticism he always had the potential to be a good to great defender. I think the desire to improve in that area started at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Then came his utilization on the Olympic Team as more of a defensive player on a team of superstars. Players are at their peak, in general, between 24 and 30. That's when their experience starts to catch up to their physical tools. Zach is right there. In my view he is a Top 10 player in the league. And DeRozen is playing like a Top 10 Player as well. It helps both because teams can't double team both of them, and they score in different ways. Teams used to key on Zach in crunch time in prior seasons and there was nobody around to share the scoring burden. So Zach tried to play too much hero ball. Now he can pick his spots, and he has teammates than can help with the scoring especially if he's being double teamed.

[wolffy]

You have guys in the league thst get awarded foul shots for guys just looking at them, you've got guys that get calls, and then you have guys that dont get any calls.

I'd like a logical explanation on why Zach is in that last group. He gets less calls on drives then any star i can remember.

[NecessaryEvil]

https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-chicago-fans-go-crazy-dreaming-of-nikola-jokic-after-picture-with-nikola-vucevic-surfaces/

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Lol

[DuckIII]

I realize this issue matters to me more than a lot of you, but it’s going to be really interesting to see what the Bulls do with White when he comes back (especially assuming Caruso is back as projected and then Green return right after White).

How long will they hang on to this pump and dump playing time strategy when even assuming he returns to form and plays like “normal” Coby, on merit he’d be the 9th or 10th man in the rotation (depending on how BD ends up using Bradley)?

[Ice Man]

You have guys in the league thst get awarded foul shots for guys just looking at them, you've got guys that get calls, and then you have guys that dont get any calls.

I'd like a logical explanation on why Zach is in that last group. He gets less calls on drives then any star i can remember.

The reason that DeMar gets 7.6 free throw attempts per 36 minutes and Zach gets 5 is because DeMar initiates contact, whereas Zach generally does not. By the way, Lonzo is at 0.5 attempts per 36 this year, which is comically low.

[jordanwilliams6]

You have guys in the league thst get awarded foul shots for guys just looking at them, you've got guys that get calls, and then you have guys that dont get any calls.

I'd like a logical explanation on why Zach is in that last group. He gets less calls on drives then any star i can remember.

It might be similar to why D Rose didn't get the calls that superstars did. They are so athletically superior compared to other players on their drives that they manage to avoid the majority of contact.

[Michael Jackson]

Watch on YouTube

Can’t do it. That song is always reserved as first championship song. Watched that tape too many times lol.

Watch on YouTube

I can always do this one though.

[Michael Jackson]

Watch on YouTube

Can’t do it. That song is always reserved as first championship song. Watched that tape too many times lol.

Watch on YouTube

I can always do this one though.

Well to quote myself

Learning to Fly

Watch on YouTube

[dice]

Zach is enjoying his prime years now, and with the surrounding cast now he doesn't feel the burden to carry the team almost alone on his shoulders. He's been free to utilize his passing skills now that he he has real players to pass to. With his elite athleticism he always had the potential to be a good to great defender. I think the desire to improve in that area started at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Then came his utilization on the Olympic Team as more of a defensive player on a team of superstars. Players are at their peak, in general, between 24 and 30. That's when their experience starts to catch up to their physical tools. Zach is right there. In my view he is a Top 10 player in the league. And DeRozen is playing like a Top 10 Player as well. It helps both because teams can't double team both of them, and they score in different ways. Teams used to key on Zach in crunch time in prior seasons and there was nobody around to share the scoring burden. So Zach tried to play too much hero ball. Now he can pick his spots, and he has teammates than can help with the scoring especially if he's being double teamed.

while the team's defense has been very surprising thus far, zach hasn't made much of a contribution to that. he's clearly given back any gains he made on that end over the past couple of years. or delegated the heavy lifting to much better defenders, if one wants to look at it charitably. any claim that he's a top 10 player would have to be based very strongly on his scoring prowess, which itself is understandably down a tick from last season

[JockItch43]

Zach is enjoying his prime years now, and with the surrounding cast now he doesn't feel the burden to carry the team almost alone on his shoulders. He's been free to utilize his passing skills now that he he has real players to pass to. With his elite athleticism he always had the potential to be a good to great defender. I think the desire to improve in that area started at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Then came his utilization on the Olympic Team as more of a defensive player on a team of superstars. Players are at their peak, in general, between 24 and 30. That's when their experience starts to catch up to their physical tools. Zach is right there. In my view he is a Top 10 player in the league. And DeRozen is playing like a Top 10 Player as well. It helps both because teams can't double team both of them, and they score in different ways. Teams used to key on Zach in crunch time in prior seasons and there was nobody around to share the scoring burden. So Zach tried to play too much hero ball. Now he can pick his spots, and he has teammates than can help with the scoring especially if he's being double teamed.

while the team's defense has been very surprising thus far, zach hasn't made much of a contribution to that. he's clearly given back any gains he made on that end over the past couple of years. or delegated the heavy lifting to much better defenders, if one wants to look at it charitably. any claim that he's a top 10 player would have to be based very strongly on his scoring prowess, which itself is understandably down a tick from last season

Are you sure you’ve been watching? Zach’s defense, especially on ball, has been exponentially better this year.

[dice]

Zach is enjoying his prime years now, and with the surrounding cast now he doesn't feel the burden to carry the team almost alone on his shoulders. He's been free to utilize his passing skills now that he he has real players to pass to. With his elite athleticism he always had the potential to be a good to great defender. I think the desire to improve in that area started at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Then came his utilization on the Olympic Team as more of a defensive player on a team of superstars. Players are at their peak, in general, between 24 and 30. That's when their experience starts to catch up to their physical tools. Zach is right there. In my view he is a Top 10 player in the league. And DeRozen is playing like a Top 10 Player as well. It helps both because teams can't double team both of them, and they score in different ways. Teams used to key on Zach in crunch time in prior seasons and there was nobody around to share the scoring burden. So Zach tried to play too much hero ball. Now he can pick his spots, and he has teammates than can help with the scoring especially if he's being double teamed.

while the team's defense has been very surprising thus far, zach hasn't made much of a contribution to that. he's clearly given back any gains he made on that end over the past couple of years. or delegated the heavy lifting to much better defenders, if one wants to look at it charitably. any claim that he's a top 10 player would have to be based very strongly on his scoring prowess, which itself is understandably down a tick from last season

Are you sure you’ve been watching? Zach’s defense, especially on ball, has been exponentially better this year.

how often has he been on ball? who has he been tasked with defending? it stands to reason that lonzo and caruso would be getting the tough assignments. and zach's steal numbers are easily at career lows, so he's not exactly looking for opportunities to play passing lanes either. the ability has always been there. the consistent effort has not

fortunately for the bulls, the apparent strategy of having a few guys who play strong defense and a few guys who are really good offensively (with little overlap) has worked surprisingly well thus far. will it continue through the regular season? will opponents be able to exploit it due to prep time and familiarity over the course of a two week long playoff series? time will tell

[League Circles]

I realize this issue matters to me more than a lot of you, but it’s going to be really interesting to see what the Bulls do with White when he comes back (especially assuming Caruso is back as projected and then Green return right after White).

How long will they hang on to this pump and dump playing time strategy when even assuming he returns to form and plays like “normal” Coby, on merit he’d be the 9th or 10th man in the rotation (depending on how BD ends up using Bradley)?

I Feel LiKe as long as they can get him like 15 mpg without losing games because of it, it's well worth it either to pump and dump or possibly trade someone else. I think we all think more highly of Bakl, Caruso and Ayo, who are nicely all on 4 year deals, but it's asset management 101 IMO. The only way this team has a chance to improve all that much is either with a bargain MLE signing (maybe we'll only be able to sign an MMLE? - I'm not clear on how far over the cap we'll be) next summer, or development and/or trade of Coby, Patrick, and/or Troy Brown. The more interesting question to me is whether Ball, Caruso and Ayo can remain surprisingly non-redundant and benefit, rather than hurt chemistry (or shall I say roles/spacing/functioning). Definitely working well so far. Never thought I'd see 3 PGs on the floor for a team working well.