Bulls @ Pacers: Preseason Game #3

[Ice Man]

Except Gafford is a lot more athletic

How could he be more athletic than Taj? Back in the day, Gibson could jump to the moon, while having the lateral quickness to guard smalls on the perimeter. He was, what?, second in the 6th man voting while doing that basically on athleticism and defensive BBIQ, because he wasn't much on offense.

[johnnyvann840]

Except Gafford is a lot more athletic

How could he be more athletic than Taj? Back in the day, Gibson could jump to the moon, while having the lateral quickness to guard smalls on the perimeter. He was, what?, second in the 6th man voting while doing that basically on athleticism and defensive BBIQ, because he wasn't much on offense.

Taj really never had much of a vertical. Taj, as you say, got it done on defense with superior IQ, freaky length (which made his vert seem greater than it was), excellent lateral quickness, super high motor and attitude, great anticipation. He wasn't much on offense but he didn't hurt you because he knew his limits and he was one of the best garbage men around. What made him such a great garbage/clean up man was much of the same things that made him a great defender- anticipation, timing, length and motor. Later on he developed a decent 12 footer which really helped him offensively. He was also one of the best offensive rebounders I've ever seen.

I have to agree that Gafford definitely has superior raw athletic gifts over prime/young Taj. Whether he'll ever be the player that Taj was remains to be seen. It would be great for Bulls fans if he does become anything close to what we had in Taj. As a player and teammate and leader.

[johnnyvann840]

I know it's popular to say that preseason is meaningless (I've said it too), but it'd be nice to see us win some games as well. For a young team with no history of winning, I think it's sort of important from a mental standpoint to get some wins under our belt.

Totally agree. Winning is a habit... so is losing.

[dougthonus]

In one stint so far, Carter looked pretty awful. Rest of the Bulls look ok, but it's our starters against the Raptors deep bench so...