Bulls vs Heat 7pm CT Feb. 4 2025

[HoopsterJones]

Monster game by Matas!

[cocktailswith_2short]

9 pages ! Has to be high game page count for the year right. ?edit I know strat was stuffing the box score lol

[nekorajo]

Matas not being coddled appears to be paying off. Patrick Williams playing well off the bench. Zach traded. This team still has a lot of hurdles, but we might have just seen a glimmer of hope.

[samwana]

Matas has genuine star potential.

It would be great if we could kick off our rebuild with a star already on the roster.

We should kick off our rebuild with kicking BD, god awful coach

[HearshotKDS]

Didnt get a chance to watch the game (spent all of the last 2 days on the road coming back from the old country for Chinese New Year) but those highlights were fun. I wish the Bulls had been giving Buz 25-30 minutes every game in the name of development and living with the nights he goes 2-11.

[WesPeace]

Donovan the only coach who finishes the game without 10-10 / 100% shooting player lol

He was resting on the bench while the trade fodder showcased themselves in the clutch.

I also think its extremely stupid to play guys 15min in a row... I rather see more logical approach with playing time and rest, more like 4x 8min than that huge chunks of PT. Get him some rest, breather, then put him back..

Also 4 guards with center starting the games??! Just idiotic.. Heat with Bam and Ware, we with Vuc and 4 guards lol..

[Indomitable]

trading Zach was addition by subtraction.

Yeah they are a lot better without him. And when Buz plays 31 minutes instead of 8. And they let Ayo run the offense. And they don't force PnR with Vuc. And when they shoot 46%from 3.

you can't deny the team looked better it's one game but it's still in the books .

Where were you when Detroit kicked our butt on Sunday?

Matas and Smith both played well. This has nothing to do with Zach. Billy is the biggest issue.

[BullChit]

Yeah they are a lot better without him. And when Buz plays 31 minutes instead of 8. And they let Ayo run the offense. And they don't force PnR with Vuc. And when they shoot 46%from 3.

you can't deny the team looked better it's one game but it's still in the books .

Where were you when Detroit kicked our butt on Sunday?

Matas and Smith both played well. This has nothing to do with Zach. Billy is the biggest issue.

Not a Zach thing at all, particularly with the way he was playing this year BUT it simply feels really good to see our young guys combine for a good team win.

[Indomitable]

Lol. The Bulls aren't going to be worse for trading Zach. That's why it was important they got their pick back. The guys replacing him aren't better, but they are 2 way players and the ball movement is still there. Team is very dependent on Coby but when he scores they'll be about as competitive as they were before.

Decided to look up Coby and Zach's on/off combinations for the last 3 seasons. You may be right although we'll have to see what happens.

When Minnesota blows us out by 20 you will realize it was a post trade high.

The Kings won their first game without Fox is he trash to.
Most people here act like they have never watch a bump. They were emotional and most of the teams that made big trades actually won their next game.

[Indomitable]

you can't deny the team looked better it's one game but it's still in the books .

Where were you when Detroit kicked our butt on Sunday?

Matas and Smith both played well. This has nothing to do with Zach. Billy is the biggest issue.

Not a Zach thing at all, particularly with the way he was playing this year BUT it simply feels really good to see our young guys combine for a good team win.

No but people are looking at the wrong person. Billy seems to be the issue. He is the one who loves this small ball nonsense.

[SfBull]

The 2 teams ahead of the Bulls in the standings are 1-9 and 2-8 in their last 10 haha and clearly descending. Bulls get a little post-deadline bump... 8 seed here we come. It would be hilarious.

If Matas can be moved for the starting lineup after the deadline there would be no need of tanking.He can become our best player in the future.

If that happens, in the offseason we will be saying "if only we had a highly efficient #2 scorer to pair with Matas" oops. Guess Billy should have found that out earlier.

Obviously another good reason for not trading Zach.I'd be happy with the same trade involving Vuc , our defense would improve immediately, addition by subtraction.

[Indomitable]

If Matas can be moved for the starting lineup after the deadline there would be no need of tanking.He can become our best player in the future.

If that happens, in the offseason we will be saying "if only we had a highly efficient #2 scorer to pair with Matas" oops. Guess Billy should have found that out earlier.

Obviously another good reason for not trading Zach.I'd be happy with the same trade involving Vuc , our defense would improve immediately, addition by subtraction.

Vuc is here to the end.

[ShouldaPaidBG]

Vuc is here to the end.

https://images.app.goo.gl/m1PUg2cEfXM9zPA18

[Chi town]

Most impressive thing about Buz’s perfect night was that he didn’t try to force anything and also didn’t leave any shots on the table.

His IQ is really good on both ends.

Billy needs to add usage of him in PNR and get him on ball more. Let his game expand and grow.

[sco]

Would have loved to trade Vuc for Jovic if that were ever a possibility.

[drosestruts]

What a showing!

35 assists as a team is incredible the ball was moving.

Matas is obviously the headline, but Ayo and Giddey were great as well. Williams with a team high +18

I wish Smith had played more - not sure if his limited minutes were due to his illness or Billy rotations.


Gonna be real annoying if guys finally break out and we look around thinking - all we need is a high volume high efficiency scorer.


To throw more love on the Matas party:
- The drive on Jokic
- The post up and Rozier with Bam coming over to help and spinning away from the help
- the drive on jaquez
- the halftime buzzer beater
- the top of the key 3 in the 4th

Matas got some easy buckets and open looks on the night - but all of the above were hard shots or self created and that's a bigger story to me than going 10/10.

[Stratmaster]

If Matas can be moved for the starting lineup after the deadline there would be no need of tanking.He can become our best player in the future.

If that happens, in the offseason we will be saying "if only we had a highly efficient #2 scorer to pair with Matas" oops. Guess Billy should have found that out earlier.

Obviously another good reason for not trading Zach.I'd be happy with the same trade involving Vuc , our defense would improve immediately, addition by subtraction.

What bugs me is, we don't know if we needed to give Zach away for nothing or if he could have been the "old man" mentor on a competitive young team featuring Buz, Ayo, Smith. Because Billy never TRIED it. Buz may struggle like hell the rest of the season. Probably will being a rook. But had we seen a couple performances like last night it might change the perspective. I don't mean making every shot. I mean had we seen the moves he made last night, even if he missed a couple of them. He was DYNAMIC.

But it's water under the bridge. The chance of that dynamic pairing is gone. If Buz can really play at a level near this consistently we will be scrambling at next season's trade deadline trying to figure out who we can pair with him to take the first step; and likely have a very difficult time putting together a deal that brings that guy here.

[Stratmaster]

9 pages ! Has to be high game page count for the year right. ?edit I know strat was stuffing the box score lol

Yep. I was going to keep the board going with my snarky, sarcastic, comedic talents. Then Matas got put in the game and the team actually looked ...dare I say it? Good?

[meekrab]

Donovan the only coach who finishes the game without 10-10 / 100% shooting player lol

He was resting on the bench while the trade fodder showcased themselves in the clutch.

I also think its extremely stupid to play guys 15min in a row... I rather see more logical approach with playing time and rest, more like 4x 8min than that huge chunks of PT. Get him some rest, breather, then put him back..

Also 4 guards with center starting the games??! Just idiotic.. Heat with Bam and Ware, we with Vuc and 4 guards lol..

He did get breathers during the quarter breaks and fouls and tv timeouts, basketball's not like hockey where you can play five minutes straight if the puck gets trapped in one end of the rink, but yes it's unusual for a player to be on the floor for such long increments of game time.

And yeah I already roasted Coach for his starting lineup, it's stupid but if Pat is going to be a permanent bench player then either Smith or Matas *has* to start just so the team isn't completely outsized every first quarter.

[Stratmaster]

If that happens, in the offseason we will be saying "if only we had a highly efficient #2 scorer to pair with Matas" oops. Guess Billy should have found that out earlier.

Obviously another good reason for not trading Zach.I'd be happy with the same trade involving Vuc , our defense would improve immediately, addition by subtraction.

Vuc is here to the end.

Focus on that PnR baby! Interior play! Run the offense through Vuc!