Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread

[Dominator83]

An important issue that's not being discussed is WHY Lauri wants out? Is it because of Boylen? Is he tired of losing? Hates the city of Chicago?

First of all, he (still) likes the city of Chicago. Weather is like back home, he and his family has a nice home, the people are nice to him and his family.

What he doesn't like is that Bulls want to make him a meaty center who on offense stands in a corner shooting threes, and on defense runs blitzes on the perimeter. Last summer he spent time with coach Boylen, and he got a different impression of what his role would be.

He doesn't like he was reprimanded in front of the team after the season opener for not sticking to the team plan, taking shots that were agreed to be "forbidden", told that he was glory-hunting instead of playing for the team.

He feels uncomfortable with a couple of his team-mates who seems to dislike him. Apparently being european, not drinking alcohol and not spending time with hookers is bad in their opinion, and Lauri fits all of that. Apologies have been presented and accepted, but it doesn't take away the uncomfortable feeling.

Most importantly, he is extremely disappointed at himself that during his time with the Bulls he has not been able to fulfill the expectations of himself, the coach and management, and the fans. He feels he needs a fresh start.

LOL Boylen can gtfo and Paxson can be on the same express bus for supporting this clown.

As a hard critic of Lauri, I feel bad for him now especially putting up 30+ pts and 15+ boards in the season opener.

That is effed up beyond belief. He plays like a superstar that 1st game, and Boylen reprimands him? I would've demanded a trade on the spot.

[Jvaughn]

First of all, he (still) likes the city of Chicago. Weather is like back home, he and his family has a nice home, the people are nice to him and his family.

What he doesn't like is that Bulls want to make him a meaty center who on offense stands in a corner shooting threes, and on defense runs blitzes on the perimeter. Last summer he spent time with coach Boylen, and he got a different impression of what his role would be.

He doesn't like he was reprimanded in front of the team after the season opener for not sticking to the team plan, taking shots that were agreed to be "forbidden", told that he was glory-hunting instead of playing for the team.

He feels uncomfortable with a couple of his team-mates who seems to dislike him. Apparently being european, not drinking alcohol and not spending time with hookers is bad in their opinion, and Lauri fits all of that. Apologies have been presented and accepted, but it doesn't take away the uncomfortable feeling.

Most importantly, he is extremely disappointed at himself that during his time with the Bulls he has not been able to fulfill the expectations of himself, the coach and management, and the fans. He feels he needs a fresh start.

LOL Boylen can gtfo and Paxson can be on the same express bus for supporting this clown.

As a hard critic of Lauri, I feel bad for him now especially putting up 30+ pts and 15+ boards in the season opener.

That is effed up beyond belief. He plays like a superstar that 1st game, and Boylen reprimands him? I would've demanded a trade on the spot.

Having a good game doesn't mean he's above reproach. I'm definitely not a Boylen fan but if the gameplan and strategy was clear and Lauri disregarded it, he deserves to be reprimanded. And if that one game and situation caused him to be horrible for the rest of the season he's even more weak minded than I originally thought. Ship his ass out for whatever positive value you can get.

[DuckIII]

First of all, he (still) likes the city of Chicago. Weather is like back home, he and his family has a nice home, the people are nice to him and his family.

What he doesn't like is that Bulls want to make him a meaty center who on offense stands in a corner shooting threes, and on defense runs blitzes on the perimeter. Last summer he spent time with coach Boylen, and he got a different impression of what his role would be.

He doesn't like he was reprimanded in front of the team after the season opener for not sticking to the team plan, taking shots that were agreed to be "forbidden", told that he was glory-hunting instead of playing for the team.

He feels uncomfortable with a couple of his team-mates who seems to dislike him. Apparently being european, not drinking alcohol and not spending time with hookers is bad in their opinion, and Lauri fits all of that. Apologies have been presented and accepted, but it doesn't take away the uncomfortable feeling.

Most importantly, he is extremely disappointed at himself that during his time with the Bulls he has not been able to fulfill the expectations of himself, the coach and management, and the fans. He feels he needs a fresh start.

LOL Boylen can gtfo and Paxson can be on the same express bus for supporting this clown.

As a hard critic of Lauri, I feel bad for him now especially putting up 30+ pts and 15+ boards in the season opener.

That is effed up beyond belief. He plays like a superstar that 1st game, and Boylen reprimands him? I would've demanded a trade on the spot.

As foolish as Boylen can be, and as perplexing as I find Paxson’s support of him to be, I basically don’t believe it. Or at least not the way it’s described.

It’s unfathomable that a coach would go in on a player in those terms after he goes for 35/17 on 25 fga in a high paced game.

If you told me he received constructive criticism in the film room for isolated instances of shot selection, stuff like that, sure I’d believe that. That’s what post game film sessions are for - reinforce the positive, discuss areas of improvement.

But not even Coach Pushups would do what is described. It’s either not believable to me at all, or hyperbole, or Lauri is outrageously soft and copped a “how dare he” attitude. Those three are far more likely.

[FriedRise]

Boylen has to be the reason. In his NBA career, Lauri has never played for a winning team so I don't think it's all the losing getting him down. But Boylen with his schemes which don't utilize his strengths and expose his weaknesses ALL season long has to wear him down. It's the same thing night in / night out. A good coach would do the opposite; maximize strengths, hide weaknesses.

We see Lauri looking passive because Boylen wants him to stand in the corner as a floor spacer and shoot 3s, and then he gets asked why he's doing so little while the team continues to lose and he has to answer diplomatically (which he has). Lauri is a good kid so he's not gonna make waves and go against his coach's wishes. It's not like anything is gonna change anyway. He talks to his coach, Boylen refuses to change his schemes. He goes to Pax, and he backs Boylen too. He knows it's a dead-end as long as these guys are in charge.

It's one thing if the schemes actually produce Ws - you can deal with that because the team is winning and having fun (learning how to win is part of player development) - but all we're getting is more frustration and losses. You now even see players visibly looking frustrated at the end of games. Everyone looks miserable out there. Yes some of it is on the players, but in this case bad coaching counts for a lot too. It's holding a lot of players back. Then you play all these teams and you see them playing together and having fun, and you start wondering why you're even staying in Chicago especially if you believe you're a better player than that. This is your career after all and your future contracts depend on it. You stay in Chicago, your next contract might be rated for a role-player level because the coaching is putting a hard ceiling on your on-court production.

All of us would start looking for a new job too if our current situation is this toxic.

[Axolotl]

Why would someone not want out of this?

[drosereturn]

First of all, he (still) likes the city of Chicago. Weather is like back home, he and his family has a nice home, the people are nice to him and his family.

What he doesn't like is that Bulls want to make him a meaty center who on offense stands in a corner shooting threes, and on defense runs blitzes on the perimeter. Last summer he spent time with coach Boylen, and he got a different impression of what his role would be.

He doesn't like he was reprimanded in front of the team after the season opener for not sticking to the team plan, taking shots that were agreed to be "forbidden", told that he was glory-hunting instead of playing for the team.

He feels uncomfortable with a couple of his team-mates who seems to dislike him. Apparently being european, not drinking alcohol and not spending time with hookers is bad in their opinion, and Lauri fits all of that. Apologies have been presented and accepted, but it doesn't take away the uncomfortable feeling.

Most importantly, he is extremely disappointed at himself that during his time with the Bulls he has not been able to fulfill the expectations of himself, the coach and management, and the fans. He feels he needs a fresh start.

LOL Boylen can gtfo and Paxson can be on the same express bus for supporting this clown.

As a hard critic of Lauri, I feel bad for him now especially putting up 30+ pts and 15+ boards in the season opener.

That is effed up beyond belief. He plays like a superstar that 1st game, and Boylen reprimands him? I would've demanded a trade on the spot.

Yep this is the correct reason and is the only logical explanation why Lauri played like ass after his 1st game.
No player plays this bad after putting 35,17 game and I dont buy fatigue since the season has just begun.
Boylen's entire scheme is built on Lavine which is why if he is having a good game, Lauri is bound to fail.
When the entire team wants you to fail and potentially force you out of the league, MJ crap doesnt matter anymore.

[Andi Obst]

Why would someone not want out of this?

That's the real question.

[sco]

Yeah, this is one of those combination items: The team stinks combined with the media (and social media) blaming some of that on him. We'd all want out of that situation.

I'm expecting the Bulls to put a fair extension offer on the table...I'm thinking it will be something like 5/$75M, and I doubt he takes it. That said, I think most of the time when guys have rejected those offers from the Bulls, they have regretted it. Given his inconsistency and injury history, I think Lauri will regret it as well.

[Red8911]

Is Greenberg just speculating that Lauri may not like it here? This doesn’t seem like Lauri himself said anything or that there’s anything more to this. I don’t get why the thread title says “ Lauri wants out”.

[MrSparkle]

Lauri is better than the Boylen system has you believe. Frankly he’s a stupid Head coach, and we have made Zach the face of the franchise. As such, we’re a scrappy iso team that can’t get more than two guys sharing the floor to generate high point games together.

Ever notice how the rare 20 pt games from Coby or Sato are generally when Zach is staggered off court when those guys play?

He’s improved to average defense and better efficiency, but this team’s coach and “star” stil play the ugliest most stupid form of offense in the NBA.

I don’t blame anybody for wanting to ditch the BoyZach train. I don’t care if we’d lose 10 more games, at this point I’d rather have Arci and Sato run the backcourt and tank another 2y instead of continuing “this” build.

Like i’ve said, Lauri isn’t the type of guy i’d draft to build around (especially when you have Niko and Portis), but he is going to be a good player if he goes somewhere else. Takes 5 to tango in the NBA, maybe even 7 or 8. He’s not a cornerstone, but nor is Zach.

[sco]

Lauri is better than the Boylen system has you believe. Frankly he’s a stupid Head coach, and we have made Zach the face of the franchise. As such, we’re a scrappy iso team that can’t get more than two guys sharing the floor to generate high point games together.

Ever notice how the rare 20 pt games from Coby or Sato are generally when Zach is staggered off court when those guys play?

He’s improved to average defense and better efficiency, but this team’s coach and “star” stil play the ugliest most stupid form of offense in the NBA.

I don’t blame anybody for wanting to ditch the BoyZach train. I don’t care if we’d lose 10 more games, at this point I’d rather have Arci and Sato run the backcourt and tank another 2y instead of continuing “this” build.

Like i’ve said, Lauri isn’t the type of guy i’d draft to build around (especially when you have Niko and Portis), but he is going to be a good player if he goes somewhere else. Takes 5 to tango in the NBA, maybe even 7 or 8. He’s not a cornerstone, but nor is Zach.

Here's the thing I believe. The guys who have had that high draft pick mystique, but been mediocre on the Bulls, have almost always gone on to be mediocre on their next team.

[Peelboy]

Gotta love when people continue to stick up for this franchise after they continue to show they don't know what they are doing.

All the young players on this roster have short comings, there's no doubt about that. I'll also will notb be 1 bit surprised if I see guys like Lauri, Zach, WCJ etc thrive if they ever get to a team thats run competently, knows how to develop their players, and hasn't created a toxic losing culture.

It’s hard to pass the buck on Lauri when he played much better for the exact same franchise and coach, and given how other young players are improving or doing just fine ( Hutch, WCJ and obviously Lavine).

Multiple things can be true at once. The franchise and coach can be a mess and Lauri can be on Lauri.

The thing IMO that goes against this is that the guys you note are basically Zach and then guys who are playing good D and not core offensive players. Meanwhile, we have seen obvious instances of misuse - odd minutes distributions, sitting Lauri for 15-20min stretches, coach failing to notice that he isn't getting as many shots as Luke Kornet, etc. And Lauri has said this system isn't working well for him. That doesn't mean there aren't things Lauri can/should do better, but when the coach is somewhere between negligent and actively making things uncomfortable (on the court) for a young player, that's on the coach.

I'll say it again - it's not the only problem, but Boylen is the difference between this team being in the 8 seed hunt and being where they are now. Boylen has cost them by my estimate somewhere in the 6-8 win range, which is the difference between 19-34 and 25-28, i.e. where many predicted this team to be. And on top of it he's not costing them games by developing core players but rather by stunting them. Not like it would be puppies and rainbows with him gone, but it would be a damn sight better and with some sense of hope to have a young team in the playoffs.

[Peelboy]

Is Greenberg just speculating that Lauri may not like it here? This doesn’t seem like Lauri himself said anything or that there’s anything more to this. I don’t get why the thread title says “ Lauri wants out”.

It's Joe Cowley saying it. Which means Lauri might easily have said "I need to get out of here to pick up my kid from daycare" and Joe goes on radio to say "Bulls are such a ****, Lauri is desperate to get out." Because well, Cowley.

[MrSparkle]

Lauri is better than the Boylen system has you believe. Frankly he’s a stupid Head coach, and we have made Zach the face of the franchise. As such, we’re a scrappy iso team that can’t get more than two guys sharing the floor to generate high point games together.

Ever notice how the rare 20 pt games from Coby or Sato are generally when Zach is staggered off court when those guys play?

He’s improved to average defense and better efficiency, but this team’s coach and “star” stil play the ugliest most stupid form of offense in the NBA.

I don’t blame anybody for wanting to ditch the BoyZach train. I don’t care if we’d lose 10 more games, at this point I’d rather have Arci and Sato run the backcourt and tank another 2y instead of continuing “this” build.

Like i’ve said, Lauri isn’t the type of guy i’d draft to build around (especially when you have Niko and Portis), but he is going to be a good player if he goes somewhere else. Takes 5 to tango in the NBA, maybe even 7 or 8. He’s not a cornerstone, but nor is Zach.

Here's the thing I believe. The guys who have had that high draft pick mystique, but been mediocre on the Bulls, have almost always gone on to be mediocre on their next team.

Sure, but there’s a good 15 ppg and a bad 15 ppg. I think Lauri’s efficiency and shooting confidence are hurt due to schemes. If those improved, his general perception and performance would be better, and Paxson would be getting many GM inquiries for Lauri.

I never thought it was about building a chip around Kirk and Deng, but rather working their value into trades. That’s why I banged my head every trade deadline as we watched Kirk go from Team USA golden boy to essentially an MLE caliber player by 07, right as his extension kicked in.

How about Jimmy? He’s surrounded by like-minded players, coaching, and his numbers are actually down from the Bulls days, but he’s winning more.

Like i’ve said before, Pax can’t build a team. His formula is drafting low-ceiling college stars and working them hard, and he doesn’t consider player fit beyond conventional positional names. “Oh he’s 6’3, Coby will be Zach’s PG!” This last crop of guys, not one of them have a two-man game happening. Part of it is that Lauri is probably the only guy who looks to pass first, but yeah. Paxson seems to have some personal hatred for nice passers. Rondo was here for barely a year, and clearly that didn’t go well.

But I digress. Yes- mediocre Bulls picks went onto mediocre careers elsewhere. No doubt. I think Khryapa and Niko were personally mishandled to the point where they left for Europe, but those guys were either gonna be Euro MVPs or NBA role-players.

Hard to call Lauri a mediocre pick though. In his highest usage, he averaged 19/9. Now his usage is lower than his rookie season, and his numbers are down.

But a PF who gives you 19/9 with good IQ is a notch better than James Johnson, volatile Portis (talented but ridiculously bad IQ) or Niko, who just plain averaged less ppg and shots made in his NBA career besides the ultra hot post-punch stretch. And i think Niko would’ve had a fine NBA career, better than we had to compete with 2 other PFs in Chicago, but that punch and NBA culture made him push away.

[sco]

Lauri is better than the Boylen system has you believe. Frankly he’s a stupid Head coach, and we have made Zach the face of the franchise. As such, we’re a scrappy iso team that can’t get more than two guys sharing the floor to generate high point games together.

Ever notice how the rare 20 pt games from Coby or Sato are generally when Zach is staggered off court when those guys play?

He’s improved to average defense and better efficiency, but this team’s coach and “star” stil play the ugliest most stupid form of offense in the NBA.

I don’t blame anybody for wanting to ditch the BoyZach train. I don’t care if we’d lose 10 more games, at this point I’d rather have Arci and Sato run the backcourt and tank another 2y instead of continuing “this” build.

Like i’ve said, Lauri isn’t the type of guy i’d draft to build around (especially when you have Niko and Portis), but he is going to be a good player if he goes somewhere else. Takes 5 to tango in the NBA, maybe even 7 or 8. He’s not a cornerstone, but nor is Zach.

Here's the thing I believe. The guys who have had that high draft pick mystique, but been mediocre on the Bulls, have almost always gone on to be mediocre on their next team.

Sure, but there’s a good 15 ppg and a bad 15 ppg. I think Lauri’s efficiency and shooting confidence are hurt due to schemes. If those improved, his general perception and performance would be better, and Paxson would be getting many GM inquiries for Lauri.

I never thought it was about building a chip around Kirk and Deng, but rather working their value into trades. That’s why I banged my head every trade deadline as we watched Kirk go from Team USA golden boy to essentially an MLE caliber player by 07, right as his extension kicked in.

How about Jimmy? He’s surrounded by like-minded players, coaching, and his numbers are actually down from the Bulls days, but he’s winning more.

Like i’ve said before, Pax can’t build a team. His formula is drafting low-ceiling college stars and working them hard, and he doesn’t consider player fit beyond conventional positional names. “Oh he’s 6’3, Coby will be Zach’s PG!” This last crop of guys, not one of them have a two-man game happening. Part of it is that Lauri is probably the only guy who looks to pass first, but yeah. Paxson seems to have some personal hatred for nice passers. Rondo was here for barely a year, and clearly that didn’t go well.

But I digress. Yes- mediocre Bulls picks went onto mediocre careers elsewhere. No doubt. I think Khryapa and Niko were personally mishandled to the point where they left for Europe, but those guys were either gonna be Euro MVPs or NBA role-players.

Hard to call Lauri a mediocre pick though. In his highest usage, he averaged 19/9. Now his usage is lower than his rookie season, and his numbers are down.

But a PF who gives you 19/9 with good IQ is a notch better than James Johnson, volatile Portis (talented but ridiculously bad IQ) or Niko, who just plain averaged less ppg and shots made in his NBA career besides the ultra hot post-punch stretch. And i think Niko would’ve had a fine NBA career, better than we had to compete with 2 other PFs in Chicago, but that punch and NBA culture made him push away.

I don't think Lauri will ever average 9 rb's for a season, and he won't be an elite 3pt shooter (sub 38%). I also don't think Lauri will ever be considered a 2-way player in his career. Combine those and I see him topping out as a sub-Allstar 2nd scorer (say top 11-20 PF). Those guys don't grow on trees, but they're not worth $20M+ per year.

[PaKii94]

How much will the pendulum swing back next year?

[PaKii94]

Here's the thing I believe. The guys who have had that high draft pick mystique, but been mediocre on the Bulls, have almost always gone on to be mediocre on their next team.

Sure, but there’s a good 15 ppg and a bad 15 ppg. I think Lauri’s efficiency and shooting confidence are hurt due to schemes. If those improved, his general perception and performance would be better, and Paxson would be getting many GM inquiries for Lauri.

I never thought it was about building a chip around Kirk and Deng, but rather working their value into trades. That’s why I banged my head every trade deadline as we watched Kirk go from Team USA golden boy to essentially an MLE caliber player by 07, right as his extension kicked in.

How about Jimmy? He’s surrounded by like-minded players, coaching, and his numbers are actually down from the Bulls days, but he’s winning more.

Like i’ve said before, Pax can’t build a team. His formula is drafting low-ceiling college stars and working them hard, and he doesn’t consider player fit beyond conventional positional names. “Oh he’s 6’3, Coby will be Zach’s PG!” This last crop of guys, not one of them have a two-man game happening. Part of it is that Lauri is probably the only guy who looks to pass first, but yeah. Paxson seems to have some personal hatred for nice passers. Rondo was here for barely a year, and clearly that didn’t go well.

But I digress. Yes- mediocre Bulls picks went onto mediocre careers elsewhere. No doubt. I think Khryapa and Niko were personally mishandled to the point where they left for Europe, but those guys were either gonna be Euro MVPs or NBA role-players.

Hard to call Lauri a mediocre pick though. In his highest usage, he averaged 19/9. Now his usage is lower than his rookie season, and his numbers are down.

But a PF who gives you 19/9 with good IQ is a notch better than James Johnson, volatile Portis (talented but ridiculously bad IQ) or Niko, who just plain averaged less ppg and shots made in his NBA career besides the ultra hot post-punch stretch. And i think Niko would’ve had a fine NBA career, better than we had to compete with 2 other PFs in Chicago, but that punch and NBA culture made him push away.

I don't think Lauri will ever average 9 rb's for a season, and he won't be an elite 3pt shooter (sub 38%). I also don't think Lauri will ever be considered a 2-way player in his career. Combine those and I see him topping out as a sub-Allstar 2nd scorer (say top 11-20 PF). Those guys don't grow on trees, but they're not worth $20M+ per year.

...but he did last year. Also, I think he will be an elite 3 point shooter. He almost already is.

[dougthonus]

Yeah, this is one of those combination items: The team stinks combined with the media (and social media) blaming some of that on him. We'd all want out of that situation.

I'm expecting the Bulls to put a fair extension offer on the table...I'm thinking it will be something like 5/$75M, and I doubt he takes it. That said, I think most of the time when guys have rejected those offers from the Bulls, they have regretted it. Given his inconsistency and injury history, I think Lauri will regret it as well.

Agree with everything you just said there.

[dougthonus]

...but he did last year. Also, I think he will be an elite 3 point shooter. He almost already is.

I don't know how he's almost already an elite 3 point shooter. He's 35.6% from his career and has not improved (ever so slightly worse each year in the league. Beyond that he doesn't take a lot of high difficulty threes that would lower his percentages.

He absolutely could become an elite shooter, but there's not a lot of reason to think he will at this point relative to anyone else who shoots 35% from there.

If he doesn't become an elite three point shooter then he's not really bringing much else to the table, a bit of versatility as a dribble/drive scorer, especially if he could play center, but not a lot of defense, passing or ball handling really.

[chefo]

It looks like the leaks from Lauri's circle are starting to come more often and more directly.

People seem to forget he is a pretty young guy and probably very impressionable... at least for a while. If Mottola and the guys he trusts tell him the Bulls coaches and FO are a bunch of idiots who are wasting his talent--> and all available evidence (the losing, his usage, the schemes) points to that--> yeah, things are only about to get worse, if nothing changes.

Lauri, as soft spoken and self-deprecating as he is, has said two or three times this year, that he has been told to go sit in the corner for most of the game. As soon as they got him moving in one of the last games before he got hurt he said something to the effect of how much he enjoyed getting to move around and NOT just sit in the corner waiting for a kick-out. He had a pretty good game too.

Not to repeat myself, but the O, as designed, was put together for 4 smalls/wings and a pick-setter. Euro offense or whatever you want to call it. As simple as simple gets. That's it. On O it didn't make one of lick of difference schematically if it was Lauri in the corner/elbow 3 or Archi/Val/Sato/Thad/Scrub. In that system, you either handle the ball (which he doesn't any longer), you set the pick (which the Bulls don't do with him because WCJ's guy cheats as is, and would cheat even more if WCJ was to space), or you space and wait for a kick-out where you either pull the trigger immediately for a semi-contested 3 (which Lauri started doing a lot because he can shoot on top of pretty much anybody) or drive (which he has sucked at because he's freakin' 7 feet tall and outside of Giannis, I can't remember any other player that size that has made a living off of driving from 3 with consistency).

There is no place in that offense for him where he can get in rhythm with ANY consistency because as we all know, there are times where he doesn't touch the ball in a place to do something with it apart from handing it off to a guard for an entire quarter. You can see it from low orbit that this O was not designed with him in mind one bit, because an O that relies on your 20/10 7 footer to either quick-trigger it from 3 or go ISO from the 3 point line as his only viable options is idiotic beyond reason. Or how about Jimbo taking him out at the 6 minute mark every game, regardless if he has it going or not and keeping him glued to the bench for 15-20 minutes of time, until the middle of the 2nd quarter. Way to ice a 'shooter', coach!

That system is most definitely not the same as last year, and furthermore, the 3s and layups only rule was just the cherry on the stupid cake because it could only work until an assistant on ANY opposing team points it out and then EVERYBODY with a bit of discipline would play you for that tendency... which is EXACTLY what happened and the Bulls coaches, took 40 games to react to that, ever so slightly.

So yeah, if I were him, I'd also be 'Get your cow manure together, or I'm out'.

P.S. It makes a huge difference if you're a big and pump fake at the elbow, then one dribble and go to the hoop versus the same exercise from the 3 point line. In the former case, the D has little time to react to the drive and if you beat your guy, it's either a foul or a layup/dunk. In the latter case, the extra two dribbles mean that there are probably 3-4 guys waiting for you in the paint unless everybody else on the team is a legit 3 point threat. That's why old offenses treated the elbow as their optimal place for a scorer to get the ball. Anyhow, just musing on how 'new-age Bulls ball' seems to have thrown out 60 years of accumulated basketball knowledge.