The "Debate How Vuc's Thread Should be Titled" Thread

[sco]

Good to see Vuc is focused on "building" a future

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/bulls-nikola-vu-evi-lego-143921480.html

[Jcool0]

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[NZB2323]

So that’s now 4 good games he’s had in a row, hopefully he continues to build on it.

[Jcool0]

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[Ctownbulls]

The aggressiveness on the offensive glass and general assertiveness is what stood out most in this game when compared to the rest of his season.

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[WindyCityBorn]

Vuc is out of his extended funk and we are so much better because of it.

[jordanwilliams6]

I’ve said all along that Vuc was actually playing fine in terms of an overall floor game. The amount and type of shots he was taking was completely acceptable, they just weren’t going in. That seems to have turned a slight corner and it’s catching up with the rest of his game. Rebounding, passing, acceptable defense and even a bit of rim protection.

[CaPiTanAK]

Covid has evolved #9 from Ron Mercer to Vooch, a winning player on a championship contending team. It’s about to have the same effect on Coby White. Meanwhile, it has turned both Lavine and Derozen into league MVP candidates. I’m surprised that NBA players don’t get Covid more often.

[umfan83]

Confirmed: head out of rear end

[dougthonus]

Confirmed: head out of rear end

I need a bit more than four games for confirmation, but it's been a great sign that he's been really good for the past four games and my level of concern has dropped considerably.

[kodo]

I always thought this shot was going to eventually go down, Vuc said himself he's a slow starter to seasons and covid basically restarted the season for him. But the defense has been much better as well, wasn't expecting that. Most of Capela's points came off Vuc having to cut Trae off from the basket. Capela has the 12th best FG% in the league and Vuc stuffed him twice under the basket on one possession.

Came at the right time because Atlanta just shredded our perimeter defense (45%/44%/88%). Not great when after a game you say Vuc was your best defender, but it won the game.

[superdave]

Favorite recent Vooch moment. He blocked Reddish''s three pt attempt during garbage time last night and mumbled something in a super nice Vooch type of way. Loved to see that. He seems to be settling in to the Bosh type of role quote nicely.

[NZB2323]

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I don't agree that he should be an all-star, but he had a great game last night, even if it was against one of the worst defenses in the NBA. The last 4 games Vuc has played well, but it's been against the 28th, 25th, 18th, and 12th best defenses in the NBA.

Our next 6 games are against poor defensive teams, so maybe Vuc can continue to build on his good games. Brooklyn and Golden State January 12th and 14th will be a good test, as will Cleveland and Milwaukee January 19th and 21st.

[chefo]

If Vuc can keep it up (I don't see why not), the Bulls will be an incredible pain in the posterior for virtually anybody in the league come the playoffs. The thing about Vuc has always been that he gets his pretty no matter how you guard him--if he has it going, you can't really do much to stop him because he's so big and skilled. You hope he has an off day or an off series, but when he's rolling, you pretty much have to live with it as a D. A big that can post your big C up, pass out of a double AND pop from 3 is an incredibly difficult player to guard.

[madvillian]

I've been impressed with his defense for most of the year, he's not athletic but like Pau he's big and can often be in the right spot at the right time. He sucks in PnR but that's mitigated nicely with a healthy Ball and AC.

[NZB2323]

If Vuc can keep it up (I don't see why not), the Bulls will be an incredible pain in the posterior for virtually anybody in the league come the playoffs. The thing about Vuc has always been that he gets his pretty no matter how you guard him--if he has it going, you can't really do much to stop him because he's so big and skilled. You hope he has an off day or an off series, but when he's rolling, you pretty much have to live with it as a D. A big that can post your big C up, pass out of a double AND pop from 3 is an incredibly difficult player to guard.

I'm not sure where I fall on playoff Vuc.

Last year against the Bucks he averaged 28, 11, and 4 with a 60 TS% and the year before against the Raptors he averaged 11, 8, and 3 with a 44 TS%. Both are small sample sizes of 5 games, and you can say he figured things out and improved, but then what explains his poor start this year? How do we know he'll be on for the playoff this year? I don't know who we'll play in the playoffs this year, but this is what Vuc is averaging agianst EC playoff teams this year:

Brooklyn: 11, 9, and 4, 37/33 shooting splits without getting to the free throw line
Milwaukee: haven't played yet
Miami: 9, 11, and 3, 25/14/67 shooting splits
Cleveland: 18, 12, and 0, 35/14/50 shooting splits
Philadelphia: 8, 11, and 4, 30/11 shooting splits without getting to the free throw line

Washington: haven't played yet
Charlotte: 30, 14, and 5, 63/100 shooting splits without getting to the free throw line
Boston: 11, 10, and 9, 45/20 shooting splits without getting to the free throw line
Toronto: 17, 8, and 2, 53/0/50 shooting splits
New York: 25, 8, and 5, 58/57/83 shooting splits
Atlanta: 24, 17, and 6, 47/50/67 shooting splits
Indiana: 16, 15, and 3, 70/67 shooting splits without getting to the free throw line

As you can see, Vuc isn't shooting above 40% against the top 6 teams in the East this year, but against teams 7-13, the only team Vuc shot worse than 50% is one that he almost had a triple double against. Nothing about that leads me to believe that he'll be a problem for anyone in the playoffs, but his strong performance against the Bucks last year does give me hope. However, players don't always build on that playoff success.

Bam in the 2020 playoffs: 20.8 PER, 63 TS%, 4.1 BPM, 1.0 VORP
Bam in 2021 playoffs: 14.9 PER, 49 TS%, 0.9 BPM, 0.1 VORP

Just because you play well against Milwaukee in the playoffs one year doesn't mean you're going to do well in the playoffs the next year.

[FriedRise]

NBA fans / All Star voters have extremely short memory. If Vooch keeps doing what he’s been doing at a sustained level, nobody will remember or care what he looked like earlier in the season.

[NZB2323]

NBA fans / All Star voters have extremely short memory. If Vooch keeps doing what he’s been doing at a sustained level, nobody will remember or care what he looked like earlier in the season.

The fans vote for the starters, but the coaches vote for the reserves, and coaches not only remember games in real time but rewatch games during film study.

[ChettheJet]

I hope those who were so worried about the location of Vuc's head can be satisfied with where their own currently resides.

[Jstock12]

He sucks in PnR but that's mitigated nicely with a healthy Ball and AC.

To be fair, 90% of centers suck at PnR defense. That's just the nature of the position. Vuc is good enough to compensate for that weakness with his other qualities.