How are the Bulls a top 5 defense?

parsnips33 · Post #1 » by **parsnips33** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 6:58 pm

Just looking at stats for the season so far - looks like Chicago has a top 5 defensive rating that I was not expecting - what's going on here? Vucevic better than advertised defensively? Caruso a legit anchor?

They don't seem to have the rim protection of other top teams like Cleveland and Milwaukee

eminence · Post #2 » by **eminence** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:01 pm

All hail King Caruso.

Colbinii · Post #3 » by **Colbinii** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:05 pm

Alex Caruso. Last year he had a Defensive On/Off of 8.8 [108.0 On-Court vs 116.8 Off-Court].

This season is similar, with 109.1 On-Court vs 114.8 Off-Court.

MyUniBroDavis · Post #4 » by **MyUniBroDavis** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:31 pm

eminence wrote:All hail King Caruso.

Yeah imagine picking THT over him

capfan33 · Post #5 » by **capfan33** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:51 pm

MyUniBroDavis wrote:
eminence wrote:All hail King Caruso.

Yeah imagine picking THT over him

Throwback to when some dude on Reddit told me THT was better than Caruso after his 3 game hot streak lmao.

rk2023 · Post #6 » by **rk2023** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 11:21 pm

MyUniBroDavis wrote:
eminence wrote:All hail King Caruso.

Yeah imagine picking THT over him

I could think of 47 Million reasons why that decision (in bad logic too) had to be made.

parsnips33 · Post #7 » by **parsnips33** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:31 pm

Colbinii wrote:Alex Caruso. Last year he had a Defensive On/Off of 8.8 [108.0 On-Court vs 116.8 Off-Court].

This season is similar, with 109.1 On-Court vs 114.8 Off-Court.

Have people just been vastly underrating the impact of defensive guards? Or has the relative impact of POA defenders increased in recent years?

GPII, Jrue Holiday, Caruso on the last few champions - is this signaling some broader trend?

Ein Sof · Post #8 » by **Ein Sof** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:44 pm

They have Caruso, who was mentored by LeGOAT.

Jaivl · Post #9 » by **Jaivl** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:12 pm

Ein Sof wrote:They have Caruso, who was mentored by LeGOAT.

Please let's not Jordanify the great Carushow, thanks.

Ein Sof · Post #10 » by **Ein Sof** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:13 pm

Jaivl wrote:
Ein Sof wrote:They have Caruso, who was mentored by LeGOAT.

Please let's not Jordanify the great Carushow, thanks.

My bad

parsnips33 · Post #11 » by **parsnips33** » Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:14 pm

Any answers that don't reference LeBron or Rob Pelinka? :lol:

ronnymac2 · Post #12 » by **ronnymac2** » Wed Mar 1, 2023 8:57 am

They are elite at defensive rebounding (close to best in the league) while being above average at literally everything else defensively, including opponents' 3-point percentage (10th in the league). Vucevic and Drummond are monster defensive rebounders, and the gang rebounding from the wing is solid as well. I would assume lineups with Alex Caruso do a good job at lowering eFG% of teams.

How good is Patrick Williams defensively?

Post #13 » by **cupcakesnake** » Wed Mar 1, 2023 3:16 pm

I think Bill Donovan deserves some credit here as a floor-raising defensive coach. He's never had an amazing defensive personnel but always seems to get his teams in the top half of league, defensively.

I mean...a top 5 defense on a team that heavily features Demar Derozan (still SO BAD... did anyone watch repeatedly get dunked on and and1'd on in crunch time last night?), Zach Lavine, and Nic Vucevic...without a real standout defensive wing or secondary rim protector? Give this man a trophy of some kind.

Caruso is the best guard defender in the NBA. Patrick Williams and Javonte Green have been solid contributors. But it's still ludicrous that the Bulls are this good at defense. It defies reason.

rand · Post #14 » by **rand** » Wed Mar 1, 2023 4:12 pm

cupcakesnake wrote:I think Bill Donovan deserves some credit here as a floor-raising defensive coach. He's never had an amazing defensive personnel but always seems to get his teams in the top half of league, defensively.

I mean...a top 5 defense on a team that heavily features Demar Derozan (still SO BAD... did anyone watch repeatedly get dunked on and and1'd on in crunch time last night?), Zach Lavine, and Nic Vucevic...without a real standout defensive wing or secondary rim protector? Give this man a trophy of some kind.

Caruso is the best guard defender in the NBA. Patrick Williams and Javonte Green have been solid contributors. But it's still ludicrous that the Bulls are this good at defense. It defies reason.

Agree about Donovan, who I have always thought was unfairly scorned on the General Board. Caruso is rightfully getting a lot of credit in this thread but in Donovan's first Chicago season (2021) the Bulls were 11th in DRtg with Lavine, White, Vucevic and rookie Baldwin all playing heavy minutes along with Markkanen, Thad Young, Garrett Temple and Satoransky rounding out the rotation. That's a weak defensive roster. Combined with his OKC defensive results the only reasonable conclusion is that Billy Donovan is a good defensive coach.

Post #15 » by **cupcakesnake** » Wed Mar 1, 2023 4:15 pm

rand wrote:
cupcakesnake wrote:I think Bill Donovan deserves some credit here as a floor-raising defensive coach. He's never had an amazing defensive personnel but always seems to get his teams in the top half of league, defensively.

I mean...a top 5 defense on a team that heavily features Demar Derozan (still SO BAD... did anyone watch repeatedly get dunked on and and1'd on in crunch time last night?), Zach Lavine, and Nic Vucevic...without a real standout defensive wing or secondary rim protector? Give this man a trophy of some kind.

Caruso is the best guard defender in the NBA. Patrick Williams and Javonte Green have been solid contributors. But it's still ludicrous that the Bulls are this good at defense. It defies reason.

Agree about Donovan, who I have always thought was unfairly scorned on the General Board. Caruso is rightfully getting a lot of credit in this thread but in Donovan's first Chicago season (2021) the Bulls were 11th in DRtg with Lavine, White, Vucevic and rookie Baldwin all playing heavy minutes along with Markkanen, Thad Young, Garrett Temple and Satoransky rounding out the rotation. That's a weak defensive roster. Combined with his OKC defensive results the only reasonable conclusion is that Billy Donovan is a good defensive coach.

The offense is another matter. that's the source of the GB scorn, I imagine. There's a lot of 25ppg scorers on that roster for them to be 24th.