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This is a game we can't sleep on. Since the beginning of the year this was one that looked to be the "easy" part of the schedule. Can't get caught sleeping. Indiana is a tough matchup in the paint for sure.

Come back Vuc! We need you

Stay White hot Coby, let that 4th quarter carry over. You have always had irrational confidence shooting the ball, now just keep it in the confines of the offense and you can be a great help for this team.

Just don't take the foot off of the gas gentleman, we need to rack up these next 3 wins against teams we are supposed to beat, because it gets tough again after that. No legs up on your reprieve.

Keys for Bulls to win this one are:

1) Make our 3's at above 36%

2) Win the RB battle

3) Defend the Pacers 3's well

This is somewhat of a trap game IMO.

You just got back from a long road trip, it's a back to back after an emotional win, the Pacers are a team you might overlook.

dougthonus wrote:This is somewhat of a trap game IMO.

You just got back from a long road trip, it's a back to back after an emotional win, the Pacers are a team you might overlook.

that's my fear too. It really feels like a game they can have a letdown. Indiana also isn't trash like Orlando is, they are a viable team. At the start of the season I would have considered them a rival for a playoff spot and this would be viewed as a pivotal must win game for seeding.

The Pacers are as average of a team as you can find with offensive, defensive, and net ratings hovering ~15th in the league. Sabonis and Turner are the tough matchups especially on the offensive board. We had trouble containing Randle, Noel, and Toppin yesterday on the boards (3 OREB each) so I'd expect more of the same here unless Vooch is back.

They also lead the league in blocks per game - with Turner averaging 3 per - so that might be a problem if he's camping inside. They're also quite accurate especially inside with - again - Sabonis and Turner dominating the paint. Aside from that, they're very average in a lot of aspects of the game with no notable weaknesses that we can necessarily exploit.

They can be a scary team from deep, but they're also getting a career high of a 3PT shooting performance from Myles Turner (41% on 4.5 attempts per game). They're also getting solid contribution from their rookie Chris Duarte averaging 13/4 on 46/40/77 shooting. They've had a few impressive wins vs the Jazz, the Heat, and the Knicks, but they're also fresh coming off a 3-game slide - one of which was vs Detroit. They're 4-8 vs .500 teams and abysmal playing away (2-9).

The advantage is they don't really have anyone who can slow down either Zach or DeMar 1 on 1. If we can contain Brogdon (leads them in PPG tho have been inaccurate from 3), it'll be a game of our guards vs their bigs.

Meh, +10

Any word on Vuc yet? I don’t think he is likely as he didn’t go through cardiac testing as of yesterday. Even if back he will likely be out of shape.

dougthonus wrote:This is somewhat of a trap game IMO.

You just got back from a long road trip, it's a back to back after an emotional win, the Pacers are a team you might overlook.

+1. This game practically screams "frustrating loss". I would be pretty impressed if the players bring their full energy tonight.

What’s the strategy for guarding both Turner and Sabonis? Caruso has been impressive, but doesn’t Sabonis seem well out of the length Caruso is comfortable defending? Maybe start DJJ?

So the league gave us 3 in 4 nights coming off a long road trip? This schedule has been brutal.

dougthonus wrote:This is somewhat of a trap game IMO.

You just got back from a long road trip, it's a back to back after an emotional win, the Pacers are a team you might overlook.

Yep. I’m bracing myself for a loss. Hoping that’s just the GarPax residue still lingering.

Hope we see Vuc and Coby doing Coby things.

Chicago-Bull-E wrote:What’s the strategy for guarding both Turner and Sabonis? Caruso has been impressive, but doesn’t Sabonis seem well out of the length Caruso is comfortable defending? Maybe start DJJ?

Treat Sabonis like AD/Randle and ignore Turner and if he beats you, good for him.

This feels a lot like the Portland game- and we know how that turned out.

madvillian wrote:So the league gave us 3 in 4 nights coming off a long road trip? This schedule has been brutal.

I don't understand this either. The schedule is supposed to let up, but it really isn't. We're gonna be playing 5 games in 7 nights this week, one of which is a back to back traveling from Orlando to Chicago to face a rested Miami team. That's a schedule loss if I've ever seen one, unless we blow Orlando out early and get guys some rest.

It'll start getting easier in December though, with multiple 3 games in 7 days stretches and a lot of 2 days off. Since they skipped us on Christmas Day, we'll have 3 days off going into that, so that's something.

The good news is we supposedly have the second easiest remaining schedule in the league, and we obviously came out of this tough stretch way ahead. The only way is up!

These games are much more difficult to finish out than they should be because teams are finding continued success attacking the Bulls smallball. I doubt Indiana will be any different with Sabonis. It's probably just something we have to live with until Vuc gets back and the roster construction.

vs LAL Anthony Davis: 6-9 FG, 8-9 FTs; ejected, didn't play full game
vs POR Nurkic/Nance: 14-21 FG, 6-6 FTs; 9 offensive rebounds
vs DEN Aaron Gordon: 10-12 FG, 7-9 FTs
vs NYK Julius Randle: 13-19 FG, 7-8 FTs,

Rebounding is also a weakness, we're 28th in rebounding. We couldn't secure many key rebounds vs NY and let them back in the game.
It also gets our guards in foul troubling guarding the bigs, as we saw last game where both Lonzo & Caruso had to sit and Caruso was probably 1 bad charge call away from fouling out.

Overall defense is tip-toeing downwards. We've been as high as #3, then #6 as the schedule toughened, and now we sit at #9. If it slides a few more spots, our defense is the same as last year's. And it really shouldn't be, it should be much better given the additions of Lonzo & Caruso.

That pacers jumbo front court is definitely a matchup challenge for us missing our starting front court. Our best lineup is our "five 6'5" guys lineup right now. But Sabonis specifically will be a bear to defender/box out down low. Similar to how nurkic hurt us vs the blazers. DJJ has been so good this year, I assume he'll see a good amount of time against sabonis. Tough assignment for sure.

Should be a good game. Expecting a big game from sabonis. But we have some studs over here as well that can fire right back.

Sabonis and Turner will dominate the boards if Vuc is not back. The Bulls will need to make more threes or rely on mid range jumpers because it will be difficult to score in the paint.

Don’t know if this is a trap game, because wasn’t this included as part of the gauntlet of games? They were a play in team last year, just like every other team we’ve faced since our 5th game of the season. That said, this will be a tough game, mainly because of their bigs. Small ball isn’t going to work too well with Sabonis and Turner down there. Bradley is going to have to come to play today.

Easy win.

kodo wrote:These games are much more difficult to finish out than they should be because teams are finding continued success attacking the Bulls smallball. I doubt Indiana will be any different with Sabonis. It's probably just something we have to live with until Vuc gets back and the roster construction.

vs LAL Anthony Davis: 6-9 FG, 8-9 FTs; ejected, didn't play full game
vs POR Nurkic/Nance: 14-21 FG, 6-6 FTs; 9 offensive rebounds
vs DEN Aaron Gordon: 10-12 FG, 7-9 FTs
vs NYK Julius Randle: 13-19 FG, 7-8 FTs,

Rebounding is also a weakness, we're 28th in rebounding. We couldn't secure many key rebounds vs NY and let them back in the game.
It also gets our guards in foul troubling guarding the bigs, as we saw last game where both Lonzo & Caruso had to sit and Caruso was probably 1 bad charge call away from fouling out.

Overall defense is tip-toeing downwards. We've been as high as #3, then #6 as the schedule toughened, and now we sit at #9. If it slides a few more spots, our defense is the same as last year's. And it really shouldn't be, it should be much better given the additions of Lonzo & Caruso.

Good analysis.

IMO the X-Factor is still Coby.

I remember when BD accepted the Bulls job, he talked about Coby being one of the great young talents on the Bulls team. So, I expect that Coby will get a lot of PT during the rest of the season.