Play In, Playoffs, Success

[Jcool0]

I think you're placing waaaay too much weight in the +14.5. that would make him the best player on our team this year by far, which no one even remotely believes. His scoring and shooting numbers are sub par. He's definitely been the least of the 3 guys we got for Zach. He has been solid, but he's not driving any wins.

No where did i say future MVP Huerter. Not sure why you think that. But if you dont think he is contributing to wins. Then you are just wrong. There is a reason he was playing in crunch time in the 4th and Matas wasn't.

Umm, where did I say that you said he's a future MVP?

I mean, he's been playing, and we've been winning. Is Billy infallible in terms of always playing the guys giving us the best chance to win? Of course he isn't. He's been playing Vuc big minutes over multiple better centers the past two seasons.

What's relevant is whether he's helping us more or less than the alternatives were. That was supposed to be Ball, Ayo, and Patrick, and I suppose Terry. Kevin has had to play a lot due to injuries to 3 of those guys. It's not at all clear that he's helping more than they would have.

You seem to be acting like im calling Huerter the most important Bulls right now or some great NBA player. He is playing good basketball for the Bulls and he is contributing to success. For some reason you dont like Huerter. But all i know is last night in a close win he played 36 minutes and was in most of the 4th quarter over Matas despite going 1-7 from 3 which is far as i can tell is his best skill. So if he isn't shooting well why play him? He did have 6 assists. Billy must see something in him. I also know he was +8 in the game which was 3rd for starters behind Coby and Giddey. So while you can dismiss the +14.5 because you just want to. It tracks with what has been going on for this team. Clearly over 82 games i wouldn't be that high but just like Coby doing things he hasn't before and Giddey playing his best all season, so can Huerter.

[sco]

No where did i say future MVP Huerter. Not sure why you think that. But if you dont think he is contributing to wins. Then you are just wrong. There is a reason he was playing in crunch time in the 4th and Matas wasn't.

Umm, where did I say that you said he's a future MVP?

I mean, he's been playing, and we've been winning. Is Billy infallible in terms of always playing the guys giving us the best chance to win? Of course he isn't. He's been playing Vuc big minutes over multiple better centers the past two seasons.

What's relevant is whether he's helping us more or less than the alternatives were. That was supposed to be Ball, Ayo, and Patrick, and I suppose Terry. Kevin has had to play a lot due to injuries to 3 of those guys. It's not at all clear that he's helping more than they would have.

You seem to be acting like im calling Huerter the most important Bulls right now or some great NBA player. He is playing good basketball for the Bulls and he is contributing to success. For some reason you dont like Huerter. But all i know is last night in a close win he played 36 minutes and was in most of the 4th quarter over Matas despite going 1-7 from 3 which is far as i can tell is his best skill. So if he isn't shooting well why play him? He did have 6 assists. Billy must see something in him. I also know he was +8 in the game which was 3rd for starters behind Coby and Giddey. So while you can dismiss the +14.5 because you just want to. It tracks with what has been going on for this team. Clearly over 82 games i wouldn't be that high but just like Coby doing things he hasn't before and Giddey playing his best all season, so can Huerter.

Huerter has been relatively great for us, as his minutes have kept Pat, Terry, THT etc. off the floor (at least until Jones went down). He really is a solid 2-way guy. If/When his 3 ball is working, he's starter-level.

In general, if we make it to the playoffs, I'd be happy. I really want to see us with Ball and Jones healthy!

[drosestruts]

I want to play the Celtics. It’s good for the NBA. I think a strong series, on that stage would put us in the line sight of young stars around the NBA.

Bulls vs Celtics is already the best first round matchup in the history of the NBA.

Let's do it again

[jnrjr79]

No where did i say future MVP Huerter. Not sure why you think that. But if you dont think he is contributing to wins. Then you are just wrong. There is a reason he was playing in crunch time in the 4th and Matas wasn't.

I mean, contributing, sure. But the guy averaging 30.6 and 4.5 over his last 10 is the biggest reason and the guy averaging 21.8/9.9/9.6 over his last 10 is the other.

Kevin Huerter is not the reason the Bulls aren’t tanking. It’s the young guys coming into their own and a relatively weak schedule of late. This is why I’m not as mad as I’d otherwise be about their failure to engineer a better position in the draft.

Oh i get it you think this is some kind of slight on Coby and Giddey... Its not. Ive been cheer-leading Giddey since he got here.

No, I don’t think that. I just think it’s silly to ascribe the Bulls’ failure to tank to Kevin Huerter.

[cocktailswith_2short]

Zach and Vuc to a lesser extent we're holding everyone back . Once their roles disappeared and the team broke free from their stranglehold the tank was dead .

[Chi town]

This team fully healthy with Giddey and Coby coming into their own is probably 5-6 seed next season. Pistons will get better. I see the Knicks aging and losing some.

If Buz comes back and takes a jump like Coby and Giddey next season then we are right there in the mix for the 3rd seed. Cents could take a step back if they have to lose some talent t due to the 2nd apron.

With Giddey and Coby playing this well it really is Buz taking a step next season and I fully believe he will after an offseason of work and adding muscle.

[Jcool0]

I mean, contributing, sure. But the guy averaging 30.6 and 4.5 over his last 10 is the biggest reason and the guy averaging 21.8/9.9/9.6 over his last 10 is the other.

Kevin Huerter is not the reason the Bulls aren’t tanking. It’s the young guys coming into their own and a relatively weak schedule of late. This is why I’m not as mad as I’d otherwise be about their failure to engineer a better position in the draft.

Oh i get it you think this is some kind of slight on Coby and Giddey... Its not. Ive been cheer-leading Giddey since he got here.

No, I don’t think that. I just think it’s silly to ascribe the Bulls’ failure to tank to Kevin Huerter.

Huerter was a guy that was scoring around 7 points and shooting 30% from 3 for the Kings. AK looked to trade him after acquiring him but i guess found no takers. I dont think the plan was for him to be the missing piece. He is going to play solid D, not make mistakes & in theory hit 3s. Bulls have mostly gotten 2 of 3. That may seem like nothing. But the Bulls weren't flush with those kind of players. Is he the new favorite to win the NBA Hustle Award? probably not.

If we had Mata and Williams closing games for Chicago are they still 8-2? Last night Matas was a team worst -8 and didnt play in the 4th. Williams was -4 & 0-5 from 3 with 6 points & 4 rebounds.

[jnrjr79]

Oh i get it you think this is some kind of slight on Coby and Giddey... Its not. Ive been cheer-leading Giddey since he got here.

No, I don’t think that. I just think it’s silly to ascribe the Bulls’ failure to tank to Kevin Huerter.

Huerter was a guy that was scoring around 7 points and shooting 30% from 3 for the Kings. AK looked to trade him after acquiring him but i guess found no takers. I dont think the plan was for him to be the missing piece. He is going to play solid D, not make mistakes & in theory hit 3s. Bulls have mostly gotten 2 of 3. That may seem like nothing. But the Bulls weren't flush with those kind of players. Is he the new favorite to win the NBA Hustle Award? probably not.

If we had Mata and Williams closing games for Chicago are they still 8-2? Last night Matas was a team worst -8 and didnt play in the 4th. Williams was -4 & 0-5 from 3 with 6 points & 4 rebounds.

I definitely agree Huerter has had a resurgence and is better than he was playing in Sac. I don’t know if the Bulls are 8-2 without him, but they would still be winning enough to screw up the tank, IMO. 6-4 to whatever would still suffice for those purposes.

[Jcool0]

No, I don’t think that. I just think it’s silly to ascribe the Bulls’ failure to tank to Kevin Huerter.

Huerter was a guy that was scoring around 7 points and shooting 30% from 3 for the Kings. AK looked to trade him after acquiring him but i guess found no takers. I dont think the plan was for him to be the missing piece. He is going to play solid D, not make mistakes & in theory hit 3s. Bulls have mostly gotten 2 of 3. That may seem like nothing. But the Bulls weren't flush with those kind of players. Is he the new favorite to win the NBA Hustle Award? probably not.

If we had Mata and Williams closing games for Chicago are they still 8-2? Last night Matas was a team worst -8 and didnt play in the 4th. Williams was -4 & 0-5 from 3 with 6 points & 4 rebounds.

I definitely agree Huerter has had a resurgence and is better than he was playing in Sac. I don’t know if the Bulls are 8-2 without him, but they would still be winning enough to screw up the tank, IMO. 6-4 to whatever would still suffice for those purposes.

That was probably always going to happen. While it seemed like AK was more resigned to getting a top 8 pick after the deadline, he wasn't going to tank the last part of the season. So we were always going to win games against teams looking to actually tank. We had already won enough that the margin for error was slim. I personally would still love an 8th pick in that scenario since it still might get us a nice player but that shipped seemed to have sailed. Now we hope a tweener like Collin Murray-Boyles falls during the process or a high upside play like Noa Essengue.

[SirKaiser]

In hindsight, the games that we lost post-Lavine trade were against good/playoff teams: Warriors, Detroit twice, Knicks, Cavs, Clippers, Suns.

Even when you consider those games and the time it might have taken the current roster to "gel", I'm pretty happy about the way this team has been playing. Especially after my disappointment of losing Lavine for so little.

[The Force.]

This team, on paper, SHOULD be tanking. The fact that both Giddey and Coby—two mediocre starters—have seemingly made a jump to all-star level play in the span of four weeks is almost unheard of. Like I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen anything quite like this. If that weren’t enough, the team appears to be gelling and miraculously buying into Billy’s defensive strategy. The stars have somehow aligned to cause all of these things to occur at once.

If this level of play does in fact carry over into next season, I honestly can’t be mad at not tanking because this team is playing much more like a 4 seed than a 9 seed.

I don’t have any delusions that the Bulls could win a playoff series against Boston or Cleveland but I guarantee you neither one of those teams wants to play the Bulls in the first round.

[NZB2323]

I prefer the tank, but I’ll take the playoffs. It’s been a while since we were in the playoffs and losing in the play in is depressing.

I prefer the Celtics. Even when we lose they’re exciting series. 1986, 2009…even in 2017 we were up 2-0.

[DuckIII]

1. I’d prefer losses. I would.

2. But there is nothing you can or should do when it’s young talented players driving the bus. Really, when given the chance to show what they can do, all of Giddey, Coby and Buzelis have shown ceilings beyond what many may have been thinking. And in Giddey’s case almost shockingly so. It is what it is, and it’s been a lot of fun as well. Gotta just ride that out. There are different types of winning which have different meanings.

Put it this way, these might not be ideal wins from a long term team building standpoint. But the alternative is having Giddey, White and Matas NOT break out. Who prefers that?

3. Despite this, I see no value in postseason success yet. I value the pick odds more. So whatever happens, I hope we lose immediately to stay in the lottery.

[sco]

I don't see a single post-season win if Vuc is starting.

[Jcool0]

76% said no.

Read on Twitter

[sco]

76% said no.

Read on Twitter

What do Toyota owners know...f*ng morons!

Wait, I'm one.

[Michael Jackson]

I want to play the Celtics. It’s good for the NBA. I think a strong series, on that stage would put us in the line sight of young stars around the NBA.

Bulls vs Celtics is already the best first round matchup in the history of the NBA.

Let's do it again

Celtics were defending champs that year right?

[Flopper]

The only silver lining is that they potentially have a chance to evaluate Giddey in a playoff setting against an elite defensive team in the Cavs or Celtics before committing to him long term. He's been playing great, but most of these games have been against teams with inferior talent or ones that have otherwise coasting until the end of the regular season.

Bob Myers sums it up nicely here:

Watch on YouTube

[TheGOATRises007]

I want to play the Celtics. It’s good for the NBA. I think a strong series, on that stage would put us in the line sight of young stars around the NBA.

Bulls vs Celtics is already the best first round matchup in the history of the NBA.

Let's do it again

Celtics were defending champs that year right?

Yes they were. They were missing KG, but it was a classic.

Shame game 7 was a bit of a dud.

[evilboy]

Bulls vs Celtics is already the best first round matchup in the history of the NBA.

Let's do it again

Celtics were defending champs that year right?

Yes they were. They were missing KG, but it was a classic.

Shame game 7 was a bit of a dud.

Remember when Butler, Wade, and Rondo were about to sweep the #1 seed Celtics until Rondo broke his thumb?