Andi Obst wrote:He's not the reason this team isn't good, but he very clearly isn't a starter in this league anymore and AKME are never going to admit it. The Bulls defense requires every player to make quick reads and switch a lot just to allow Vuc to stay as close to the rim as possible...and he still can't protect the rim even a little bit. And the offense is somehow even worse now?! For the love of god, please dump this man in the offseason.
We're not going anywhere with him as our anchor in the P&R defense. Him + our scheme is why we're giving up the most 3Ps in the league for 2 seasons now.
This is such a standard Bulls defense of the P&R leading to a wide open corner 3:
https://thehighlow.io/video/ids?ids=24d5bP- Our ball defender gets screened by Vuc's man
- Vuc can't defend the ball from going straight to the rim, even against a not very fast player (Bogey)
- Demar has to abandon his man completely to defend the rim
- Caruso has to defend 2 players, one is open for a corner 3...the best possible half-court jump shot the opponent can get
While it doesn't make obvious sense why a center affects 3P defense since he's not the one waving his hands at the 3P shooter, centers do stop the action that leads to open corner 3s. And why metrics show centers affect a team's defense more than any other position.
I question if Vuc can physically play in the league. Joakim was far more athletic than Vuc at any point their careers, played in a much slower paced less spread era, and Jo had to retire at this age. OR...do the Milwaukee thing and pair Vuc with a very long athletic PF. We're obviously not getting a Giannis, but Jonathan Isaac also played w/ Vuc in ORL as a 6' 10, 6' 11" PF. It's certainly a different look than Derozan being that weakside help.
This was from the DET game, apparently we're the worst P&R defense in the league along w/ DET.
The Pistons and Bulls came into the night the two worst teams in the league at defending pick-and-rolls. That’s why opposing teams have been giving the Bulls a steady diet of it the last few weeks, even more than usual.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2024/03/13/bulls-getting-picked-rolled-lately-isnt-about-to-slow-down