Bulls @ Pistons 2pm CT Feb. 2 2025

[Chi town]

Matas continues the trend of playing well with 20+ mins. I'm sure he'll be back to the bench once Zach is back.

Hopefully Zach ain’t back. Same for Vuc.

[Chi town]

Billy is becoming a strong tank coach.

He needs to go with AKME. Don’t trust any of these guys with the rebuild.

[Dominator83]

I know this franchise has no forward thinking so it won't happen but....

Vuc just showcased his skills with a TD. Sit his ass down with an illness or something Tuesday and Wednesday

[jordanwilliams6]

Billy is becoming a strong tank coach.

He needs to go with AKME. Don’t trust any of these guys with the rebuild.

Billy is the perfect coach to match the mediocrity of this franchise.

He's not entirely awful but a competent 20th best coach in the league.

[aguifs]

76ers looking good

[LikeMike23]

Billy is becoming a strong tank coach.

He needs to go with AKME. Don’t trust any of these guys with the rebuild.

The Bulls aren't rebuilding. They're just bad.

[MrSparkle]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Me... and Stacey King?

[kodo]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Mostly the same team too, they didn't really add any big names. Just some NBA roleplayers.
Biggest change was the coach, which challenges the idea that coaches don't matter.
Cade is a year older too which helps, but he put up very similar #s last season.

[Dan Z]

I know this franchise has no forward thinking so it won't happen but....

Vuc just showcased his skills with a TD. Sit his ass down with an illness or something Tuesday and Wednesday

I agree, but also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get traded.

AK: "Vucevic gives us the best chance to win right now. He's having a career year".

[Dan Z]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Mostly the same team too, they didn't really add any big names. Just some NBA roleplayers.
Biggest change was the coach, which challenges the idea that coaches don't matter.
Cade is a year older too which helps, but he put up very similar #s last season.

They added some shooting, which made a big difference. Tobias, Beasley, and THJ.

Plus, Cade is healthier this year (more than he has been in the past).

[Muzbar]

76ers looking good

Not anymore.

[dougthonus]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Mostly the same team too, they didn't really add any big names. Just some NBA roleplayers.
Biggest change was the coach, which challenges the idea that coaches don't matter.
Cade is a year older too which helps, but he put up very similar #s last season.

I think this is a really interesting point about head coaches as an example:

Monty Williams is probably viewed (prior to 2 years ago) as a much better coach than Bickerstaff, yet Bickerstaff seems to connect better with this group than Williams did (clearly they have had a lot of internal growth too, 5 of the top 8 rotation guys are 23, 23, 22, 22, and 21 and were top 10 or better lottery picks, so a roster primed for growth).

At the same time Bickerstaff coached last year with Cleveland, and they changed coaches and are now doing way better than they were under him there and look like a super elite team without really adding anyone.

I think it's not that once you get over "this guy is a moron" level like Boylen/VDN, that the roster fit with the coach's preferred philosophies, the individual relationships, the way they run the team etc can be much more successful in one set of circumstances than another, and even can work with the same group of players for awhile but not long term.

In this sense, I think the view of coach is often over simplified when talking about good or bad.

[Dan Z]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Mostly the same team too, they didn't really add any big names. Just some NBA roleplayers.
Biggest change was the coach, which challenges the idea that coaches don't matter.
Cade is a year older too which helps, but he put up very similar #s last season.

I think this is a really interesting point about head coaches as an example:

Monty Williams is probably viewed (prior to 2 years ago) as a much better coach than Bickerstaff, yet Bickerstaff seems to connect better with this group than Williams did (clearly they have had a lot of internal growth too, 5 of the top 8 rotation guys are 23, 23, 22, 22, and 21 and were top 10 or better lottery picks, so a roster primed for growth).

At the same time Bickerstaff coached last year with Cleveland, and they changed coaches and are now doing way better than they were under him there and look like a super elite team without really adding anyone.

I think it's not that once you get over "this guy is a moron" level like Boylen/VDN, that the roster fit with the coach's preferred philosophies, the individual relationships, the way they run the team etc can be much more successful in one set of circumstances than another, and even can work with the same group of players for awhile but not long term.

In this sense, I think the view of coach is often over simplified when talking about good or bad.

I said this in a previous post but one of the big things they added is shooting. Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and THJ.

Plus, Cade has been healthy this year (more than previous seasons).

[kodo]

Before the season started who thought the Pistons would have a better record than the Bulls...?

Mostly the same team too, they didn't really add any big names. Just some NBA roleplayers.
Biggest change was the coach, which challenges the idea that coaches don't matter.
Cade is a year older too which helps, but he put up very similar #s last season.

I think this is a really interesting point about head coaches as an example:

Monty Williams is probably viewed (prior to 2 years ago) as a much better coach than Bickerstaff, yet Bickerstaff seems to connect better with this group than Williams did (clearly they have had a lot of internal growth too, 5 of the top 8 rotation guys are 23, 23, 22, 22, and 21 and were top 10 or better lottery picks, so a roster primed for growth).

At the same time Bickerstaff coached last year with Cleveland, and they changed coaches and are now doing way better than they were under him there and look like a super elite team without really adding anyone.

I think it's not that once you get over "this guy is a moron" level like Boylen/VDN, that the roster fit with the coach's preferred philosophies, the individual relationships, the way they run the team etc can be much more successful in one set of circumstances than another, and even can work with the same group of players for awhile but not long term.

In this sense, I think the view of coach is often over simplified when talking about good or bad.

Agreed 110%. As you say once you get past people who are simply unqualified, it becomes a relationship and some personalities connect with a group and some don't. And a coach who didn't connect with one group (Mike Brown with the Lakers) gets a reputation as a joke & fraud, then connects with another group (Sacramento) and wins COY.

The number of COY who get fired is astounding for a profession. Is there any other high level profession where reaching the highest award gets you fired so often?

[kodo]

I said this in a previous post but one of the big things they added is shooting. Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and THJ.

Plus, Cade has been healthy this year (more than previous seasons).

For sure, but I don't think that turns a team called without sarcasm the worst team in history last season, to the 6th seed this season. That's like saying if you add a couple of vet shooters to Washington, they will be better than Miami. And it's really just Hardaway, Tobias Harris is shooting 33% from 3 and scoring at 54% TS overall, which is terrible.

If that's all it takes, the Bulls should go all-in.

[Chi town]

Billy is becoming a strong tank coach.

He needs to go with AKME. Don’t trust any of these guys with the rebuild.

The Bulls aren't rebuilding. They're just bad.

That didn’t age well with Zach shipped.

[Dan Z]

I said this in a previous post but one of the big things they added is shooting. Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and THJ.

Plus, Cade has been healthy this year (more than previous seasons).

For sure, but I don't think that turns a team called without sarcasm the worst team in history last season, to the 6th seed this season. That's like saying if you add a couple of vet shooters to Washington, they will be better than Miami. And it's really just Hardaway, Tobias Harris is shooting 33% from 3 and scoring at 54% TS overall, which is terrible.

If that's all it takes, the Bulls should go all-in.

Don't forget Beasley who is shooting .408 from three (9.2 attempts per game) and averaging 16 points per game.

Cade's improvement is a big part of this too.

[LikeMike23]

Billy is becoming a strong tank coach.

He needs to go with AKME. Don’t trust any of these guys with the rebuild.

The Bulls aren't rebuilding. They're just bad.

That didn’t age well with Zach shipped.

I'll believe the Bulls are in a rebuilding phase if they trade Vucevic. If not, they're just offloading a player they didn't want.

[Chi town]

The Bulls aren't rebuilding. They're just bad.

That didn’t age well with Zach shipped.

I'll believe the Bulls are in a rebuilding phase if they trade Vucevic. If not, they're just offloading a player they didn't want.

Ok.

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1886256798916915203%7Ctwgr%5Ece1afde8a116e0daa324599f92a3fa6dd9137b46%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2417953start%3D1340

[LikeMike23]

That didn’t age well with Zach shipped.

I'll believe the Bulls are in a rebuilding phase if they trade Vucevic. If not, they're just offloading a player they didn't want.

Ok.

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1886256798916915203%7Ctwgr%5Ece1afde8a116e0daa324599f92a3fa6dd9137b46%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2417953start%3D1340

Coby is the last remaining Bulls player from the GarPax era. If Vucevic isn't traded, it's not really a rebuild. It's just AKME getting rid of the old regime.