How The Bulls Offense Will Get The Most Out Of The Zach And Lauri Pairing

[CoreyVillains]

Since were in the dog days of the off-season I thought I’d put together some clips showing how to get the most out of Zach and Lauri as a pairing next year.

For starters, I really want to see Zach and Lauri in P&R/P&P situations. Too often did we use RoLo as the main screener. Now that we should theoretically have proper spacing and an offensive philosophy that should maximize the talent of our guys, allowing Zach and Lauri to run P&R with spacing could be really tough to cover and cause major mismatches. Go under the screen and Zach has an open three. Go over and Zach is going down hill to the hoop. Jump the screen and Lauri slips it for an open shot behind the arc or towards the rim. Switch the screen and both guys gain the advantage, either Lauri can easily shoot over the smaller defender or Zach can take the big off the dribble. With shooters we can finally make defenses pay when help over commits.

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Here are a few clips of defenders showing hard on Zach and Lauri slipping to the hoop for easy short range buckets. Zach’s height allows him to see over the defense and make some nice passes to Lauri.

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Lets get the team out in transition more too. Obviously we played too slow last year. This year we should constantly be pushing. Here we see Zach push the ball on the break and Lauri run the pipe for a couple of easy dump passes at the rim. Lauri at the 5 with shooters everywhere leads to easy buckets at the rim.

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Here we see a Zach/Lauri two man game with an overloaded weakside and Lauri as the ball handler. These two guys operating with space is gonna be a tough cover. Whether it’s dumping the ball into Lauri and letting him kick back out or Lauri initiating a DHO, there are good ways to get Zach lightly/uncontested looks.

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I really expect both of these guys to have big years with Fleming designing the offense. I love the Bulls supporting pieces, but they are just that, supporting pieces. We really need to make the hierarchy clear that these two dudes are the first two options. We’ll go as they go. Let them continue to build the chemistry and continuity that will lead to sustainable success.

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[Chi town]

Great posts.

It’s Lavine and Lauri or bust for us.

[coldfish]

If you were defending the Lauri/Lavigne pick and roll, what would you do?

Switch and help. I would have the two primary defenders just switch so that none of the primary options are there. Then I would drop someone into the lane to make sure Lavine doesn’t blow by Lauri’s man.

That’s frequently what teams did and why many of us bitch about Lauris lack of a post game. The proper bulls reaction to that scheme should be a lauri post up after the switch. Unfortunately, a small guy can stop lauri in the post and bother his outside shot. As a result, the Lopez screen was a good option because a switch meant Lopez got a freebie in the post.

It’s also why Dunn hurt so much because his defender is always available to drop into the lane and clog up roll action or drives.

[WindyCityBorn]

If you were defending the Lauri/Lavigne pick and roll, what would you do?

Switch and help. I would have the two primary defenders just switch so that none of the primary options are there. Then I would drop someone into the lane to make sure Lavine doesn’t blow by Lauri’s man.

That’s frequently what teams did and why many of us bitch about Lauris lack of a post game. The proper bulls reaction to that scheme should be a lauri post up after the switch. Unfortunately, a small guy can stop lauri in the post and bother his outside shot. As a result, the Lopez screen was a good option because a switch meant Lopez got a freebie in the post.

It’s also why Dunn hurt so much because his defender is always available to drop into the lane and clog up roll action or drives.

Yeah Lauri must be able to take advantage of mismatches in the paint to take that next step.

[PaKii94]

Baby Kobe and Baby Dirk in the house

[bearadonisdna]

Wanted to talk about zach and lauri pairing. This is what has worried me about the pelicans matchup. For example:

Their top 2 guys are just better than ours. Holiday and Zion. Holiday is better than anyone on our team and then Zion is better than the 2nd best guy.

Don't know how much mental gymnastics it would take to manipulate that result but in a perfect world and best hope would be Zach could outmatch holiday somehow and 30 and 10 lauri comes out vs an inexperienced zion. This would go a long way to beating teams with legit 1a 1b archetypes. Neutralizing at least 1 could help the bulls because they have a toolsy roster.

A team like the Pels would still be deep , Ingram, Hayes, Reddick vs a supporting cast of Otto,Wcj, 7th pick or better. (Dunn ,Sato, whoever.) Gotta say the pels 'help looks a little stronger. In these comps I give the opposing team the benefit of the doubt, but sure it could be wishful thinking that Ingram reverts, or Hayes is underdeveloped, or Reddick is too long in the tooth to start over and becomes more ineffective. That is all conjecture at this point but hoping for the best obviously.

[Indomitable]

If you were defending the Lauri/Lavigne pick and roll, what would you do?

Switch and help. I would have the two primary defenders just switch so that none of the primary options are there. Then I would drop someone into the lane to make sure Lavine doesn’t blow by Lauri’s man.

That’s frequently what teams did and why many of us bitch about Lauris lack of a post game. The proper bulls reaction to that scheme should be a lauri post up after the switch. Unfortunately, a small guy can stop lauri in the post and bother his outside shot. As a result, the Lopez screen was a good option because a switch meant Lopez got a freebie in the post.

It’s also why Dunn hurt so much because his defender is always available to drop into the lane and clog up roll action or drives.

This happened in February. Lauri was bad in the post. He was getting shutdown by 6'4 guards.

[Indomitable]

Wanted to talk about zach and lauri pairing. This is what has worried me about the pelicans matchup. For example:

Their top 2 guys are just better than ours. Holiday and Zion. Holiday is better than anyone on our team and then Zion is better than the 2nd best guy.

Don't know how much mental gymnastics it would take to manipulate that result but in a perfect world and best hope would be Zach could outmatch holiday somehow and 30 and 10 lauri comes out vs an inexperienced zion. This would go a long way to beating teams with legit 1a 1b archetypes. Neutralizing at least 1 could help the bulls because they have a toolsy roster.

A team like the Pels would still be deep , Ingram, Hayes, Reddick vs a supporting cast of Otto,Wcj, 7th pick or better. (Dunn ,Sato, whoever.) Gotta say the pels 'help looks a little stronger. In these comps I give the opposing team the benefit of the doubt, but sure it could be wishful thinking that Ingram reverts, or Hayes is underdeveloped, or Reddick is too long in the tooth to start over and becomes more ineffective. That is all conjecture at this point but hoping for the best obviously.

Why in the hell are you worried about a preseason game?

Zion, Hayes will have struggles. Stop putting people in the Hall.

[bearadonisdna]

Wanted to talk about zach and lauri pairing. This is what has worried me about the pelicans matchup. For example:

Their top 2 guys are just better than ours. Holiday and Zion. Holiday is better than anyone on our team and then Zion is better than the 2nd best guy.

Don't know how much mental gymnastics it would take to manipulate that result but in a perfect world and best hope would be Zach could outmatch holiday somehow and 30 and 10 lauri comes out vs an inexperienced zion. This would go a long way to beating teams with legit 1a 1b archetypes. Neutralizing at least 1 could help the bulls because they have a toolsy roster.

A team like the Pels would still be deep , Ingram, Hayes, Reddick vs a supporting cast of Otto,Wcj, 7th pick or better. (Dunn ,Sato, whoever.) Gotta say the pels 'help looks a little stronger. In these comps I give the opposing team the benefit of the doubt, but sure it could be wishful thinking that Ingram reverts, or Hayes is underdeveloped, or Reddick is too long in the tooth to start over and becomes more ineffective. That is all conjecture at this point but hoping for the best obviously.

Why in the hell are you worried about a preseason game?

Zion, Hayes will have struggles. Stop putting people in the Hall.

It's not the game itself that bothers me, it's more about matching up against these type of teams and possibly not having enough.
Zach and Lauri going for 30 and 30 can solve a lot problems. Possibly Give them the top 2 guys on the court almost any given night.

Right now the talent around them only looks, ok. There's hope that Otto can be a difference maker, the 7th pick can develop , and Wcj becomes a number 1 option in his own right. Right now they are all question marks.

[Hugi Mancura]

If you were defending the Lauri/Lavigne pick and roll, what would you do?

Switch and help. I would have the two primary defenders just switch so that none of the primary options are there. Then I would drop someone into the lane to make sure Lavine doesn’t blow by Lauri’s man.

That’s frequently what teams did and why many of us bitch about Lauris lack of a post game. The proper bulls reaction to that scheme should be a lauri post up after the switch. Unfortunately, a small guy can stop lauri in the post and bother his outside shot. As a result, the Lopez screen was a good option because a switch meant Lopez got a freebie in the post.

It’s also why Dunn hurt so much because his defender is always available to drop into the lane and clog up roll action or drives.

Yeah Lauri must be able to take advantage of mismatches in the paint to take that next step.

There are couple reason's why Lopez or WCJ was used in pick&roll. First reason you mentioned. He was better taking advantage of switches. Second: Lopez/WCJ were not a 3 point thread last year. Meaning Lopez/WCJ man could hang in the painted area and thus killing any drives or Lauri's possible post plays. But you can't leave Lauri open behind 3 point line, so using Lopez/WCJ in P&R and Lauri as a stretch would leave driving lines open. So if team want's to play P&R right now (unless WCJ shows his 3 point shot) it is better to use WCJ than Lauri.

Other option would be using pick&pop with Lauri and Lavine. Lauri doesn't need that much time to shoot, so if defense even for a one second goes to double Lavine then Lauri is open. If they switch then it's up to Lavine to play iso ball. Playing pick&pop means that having the non shooting big in the court with Lauri doesn't mean that much. He comes to play if and when Lavine starts driving. And in those situations if Lavine have beaten his guy he can always throw the lob on the big guy. Playing pick&pop doesn't work with other players as well as it does with Lauri in Bulls team, so this would give Lauri a better change to actually participate in the game. If people doubt pick&pop you can always check how well Rubio&Love played it. Minnesota's main offense was pick&pop. Or if you say they never reached playoffs you can check Rondo&Garnett pick&pop, which was again main offense of Boston's championship team.

Or Bulls could mix, meaning with Lauri you can play both compared to WCJ/Lopez where you pretty much got the roll every time, so it was predictable.

Post play is really dying breed in NBA. But also you can say NBA as a league is trying to kill post play because you can foul there as much as you wish. Pushing small players do against bigger players would be fouls every time if those happen in perimeter. But Lauri should learn some moves or at least learn Dirk style of lean back shot.

[Indomitable]

Wanted to talk about zach and lauri pairing. This is what has worried me about the pelicans matchup. For example:

Their top 2 guys are just better than ours. Holiday and Zion. Holiday is better than anyone on our team and then Zion is better than the 2nd best guy.

Don't know how much mental gymnastics it would take to manipulate that result but in a perfect world and best hope would be Zach could outmatch holiday somehow and 30 and 10 lauri comes out vs an inexperienced zion. This would go a long way to beating teams with legit 1a 1b archetypes. Neutralizing at least 1 could help the bulls because they have a toolsy roster.

A team like the Pels would still be deep , Ingram, Hayes, Reddick vs a supporting cast of Otto,Wcj, 7th pick or better. (Dunn ,Sato, whoever.) Gotta say the pels 'help looks a little stronger. In these comps I give the opposing team the benefit of the doubt, but sure it could be wishful thinking that Ingram reverts, or Hayes is underdeveloped, or Reddick is too long in the tooth to start over and becomes more ineffective. That is all conjecture at this point but hoping for the best obviously.

Why in the hell are you worried about a preseason game?

Zion, Hayes will have struggles. Stop putting people in the Hall.

It's not the game itself that bothers me, it's more about matching up against these type of teams and possibly not having enough.
Zach and Lauri going for 30 and 30 can solve a lot problems. Possibly Give them the top 2 guys on the court almost any given night.

Right now the talent around them only looks, ok. There's hope that Otto can be a difference maker, the 7th pick can develop , and Wcj becomes a number 1 option in his own right. Right now they are all question marks.

WTH are you posting about.

The Bulls need Lauri and Zach to become alphas but the surrounding cast is better

Otto career 40.5percent from 3
Tomas career 40 percent from 3
Valentine 37.5
Lauri 36.1
Zach 37.4
Ryan has shot 36 career from 3
Kris Dunn last year shot 35.1 from 3
Luke Kornett shot 36 career from 3

Hutch, Wendell, and white are the question marks from distance. I feel like Wendell and White have a good chance of figuring it out.
Hutch is the big question mark.
Zach and Lauri will need to lead for them to succeed. The shooting will allow for them to succeed if they possess the ability to be more. This the best shooting Bulls team of my life.

I would have killed to see prime Rose and Butler to have this type of shooting.
This team goes as far as Lauri and Zach can take them.


For Coldfish
The Pacers used Thad in that position for that same reason instead of Turner. Thad is capable of punishing undersized players. Hopefully he gets Wendell, La7ri, and even Gafford to do the same.

[sco]

Taking the flip-side of this OP, how can our defense overcome this pairing? I am of the firm belief that we can be a top 10 defense if we replace either guy with a good defender - i.e. Sato, Shaq, Otto, Lauri, WCj or Sato, Zach, Otto, Thad, WCj are both formidable defensively, IMO. But having 2 below average defenders in the line-up can take you from top 10 to bottom 10.

The thing is, I don't get the sense that either guy is a lazy defender, just poor at recognition. So I it might just be system and teammate consistency that drives improvement.

[NecessaryEvil]

Baby Kobe and Baby Dirk in the house

[johnnyvann840]

Wanted to talk about zach and lauri pairing. This is what has worried me about the pelicans matchup. For example:

Their top 2 guys are just better than ours. Holiday and Zion. Holiday is better than anyone on our team and then Zion is better than the 2nd best guy.

Don't know how much mental gymnastics it would take to manipulate that result but in a perfect world and best hope would be Zach could outmatch holiday somehow and 30 and 10 lauri comes out vs an inexperienced zion. This would go a long way to beating teams with legit 1a 1b archetypes. Neutralizing at least 1 could help the bulls because they have a toolsy roster.

A team like the Pels would still be deep , Ingram, Hayes, Reddick vs a supporting cast of Otto,Wcj, 7th pick or better. (Dunn ,Sato, whoever.) Gotta say the pels 'help looks a little stronger. In these comps I give the opposing team the benefit of the doubt, but sure it could be wishful thinking that Ingram reverts, or Hayes is underdeveloped, or Reddick is too long in the tooth to start over and becomes more ineffective. That is all conjecture at this point but hoping for the best obviously.

Why in the hell are you worried about a preseason game?

Zion, Hayes will have struggles. Stop putting people in the Hall.

It's not the game itself that bothers me, it's more about matching up against these type of teams and possibly not having enough.
Zach and Lauri going for 30 and 30 can solve a lot problems. Possibly Give them the top 2 guys on the court almost any given night.

Right now the talent around them only looks, ok. There's hope that Otto can be a difference maker, the 7th pick can develop , and Wcj becomes a number 1 option in his own right. Right now they are all question marks.

7th pick? It's safe to use his name now. Coby White. Also, Otto is already a difference maker. Easily the biggest on the team.

[TeamMan]

Taking the flip-side of this OP, how can our defense overcome this pairing? I am of the firm belief that we can be a top 10 defense if we replace either guy with a good defender - i.e. Sato, Shaq, Otto, Lauri, WCj or Sato, Zach, Otto, Thad, WCj are both formidable defensively, IMO. But having 2 below average defenders in the line-up can take you from top 10 to bottom 10.

The thing is, I don't get the sense that either guy is a lazy defender, just poor at recognition. So I it might just be system and teammate consistency that drives improvement.

WCJ was taken last year a rim-protector, this year Gafford and Kornett were added to back him up.

Meanwhile, after dragging it out, Shaq Harrison was brought back for defense at the guard positions.

Tomáš Satoranský also gives us height and length at the guard position.

IMO our defense will be the best that we have had for several years.

[contestedlayups]

Excellent post OP. The key as has been mentioned by a few responders to your post is Lauri learning how to roll and seal his man on a switch. If he can do that against smaller guards, it is freaking over. I truly hope he's been working on his roll game and beefing up this summer, as that would be one of the most unstoppable combos in the NBA.

Personally, a wrinkle I would love to see is a Lavine/Lauri PnR with Lavine setting the screen. That would be awesome.

[Indomitable]

Excellent post OP. The key as has been mentioned by a few responders to your post is Lauri learning how to roll and seal his man on a switch. If he can do that against smaller guards, it is freaking over. I truly hope he's been working on his roll game and beefing up this summer, as that would be one of the most unstoppable combos in the NBA.

Personally, a wrinkle I would love to see is a Lavine/Lauri PnR with Lavine setting the screen. That would be awesome.

He needs to get stronger,and tougher. Do more core work. He needs to work with pro's who will help him get better.

[contestedlayups]

Excellent post OP. The key as has been mentioned by a few responders to your post is Lauri learning how to roll and seal his man on a switch. If he can do that against smaller guards, it is freaking over. I truly hope he's been working on his roll game and beefing up this summer, as that would be one of the most unstoppable combos in the NBA.

Personally, a wrinkle I would love to see is a Lavine/Lauri PnR with Lavine setting the screen. That would be awesome.

He needs to get stronger,and tougher. Do more core work. He needs to work with pro's who will help him get better.

I'm assuming you're referencing Lauri in your post. I think it's more lower body related, as if he can get his behind into the defender on the roll, and Lauri can stay low on his roll, it'll be tough for a guard to front him. But yes, core work will help Lauri as well. I'm assuming that he is working with the best that Finland has had to offer this summer.

[Indomitable]

Excellent post OP. The key as has been mentioned by a few responders to your post is Lauri learning how to roll and seal his man on a switch. If he can do that against smaller guards, it is freaking over. I truly hope he's been working on his roll game and beefing up this summer, as that would be one of the most unstoppable combos in the NBA.

Personally, a wrinkle I would love to see is a Lavine/Lauri PnR with Lavine setting the screen. That would be awesome.

He needs to get stronger,and tougher. Do more core work. He needs to work with pro's who will help him get better.

I'm assuming you're referencing Lauri in your post. I think it's more lower body related, as if he can get his behind into the defender on the roll, and Lauri can stay low on his roll, it'll be tough for a guard to front him. But yes, core work will help Lauri as well. I'm assuming that he is working with the best that Finland has had to offer this summer.

I post conversationally. I am sorry if it was unclear. Yes, I was referring to Lauri. He needs to also work on his quickness and toughness.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

Nice post - thanks.

Not mentioned enough in my opinion is what WCJ and his nice passing could do for our offense.

Some of that Lauri/Zach PnR is at the top of the key we could also run similar action on one side of the court with WCJ acting as a passing fulcrum in the high post or creeping baseline for a post up/kick out to the corners.
Over load their defense and pick teams apart on the kickout or backdoor cut. Or even have a ton of weakside screens for that cut.

Otto is also going to crush in that he’s another guy that can play make and make reads based on what the defense is doing.

Our spacing could be ridiculous at times spread everyone wide even extra wide on offense and guys like Zach and Coby are going to kill teams off dribble penetration.

We’re going to be able run PnR/PnP action with all 5 guys being multiple threats in multiple scenarios.