Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[ZOMG]

So is Luka overrated or a worse player because the Mavs suck? Just checking how this rule applies again to other players.

Are you serious?

There are literally zero parallels you can draw from Zach LaVine to the very best players in this league. Don't even go there.

I've never been a huge fan of Luka, but not only has he shown that he can win in the NBA, he's shown that he can consistently carry a team to wins.

Both he and the Mavs are having a bad season, and of course Doncic, a superstar, has to be held accountable.

I wasn’t comparing Luka and Zach as talents. I’m comparing the best player taking the heat for their team sucking. Dallas and Washington are worse than Chicago. Doesn’t seem to apply to Beal(who is nowhere near nowhere Doncic either) or Doncic right now, but the Bulls must win for Zach to make the all-star game. I don’t like double standards.

Zach's taking the "heat" for the Bulls sucking??

All I hear from the established talking heads is excuses. Zach has NEVER faced any real accountability on this team.

I was ready to join Team Zach this season as he seemed to be playing a team-centric game (and, to be fair, still is trying to do that most of the time) but the approachig All Star selections have apparently brought out the "poor Zach" brigade. Gives me a headache.

[WindyCityBorn]

Are you serious?

There are literally zero parallels you can draw from Zach LaVine to the very best players in this league. Don't even go there.

I've never been a huge fan of Luka, but not only has he shown that he can win in the NBA, he's shown that he can consistently carry a team to wins.

Both he and the Mavs are having a bad season, and of course Doncic, a superstar, has to be held accountable.

I wasn’t comparing Luka and Zach as talents. I’m comparing the best player taking the heat for their team sucking. Dallas and Washington are worse than Chicago. Doesn’t seem to apply to Beal(who is nowhere near nowhere Doncic either) or Doncic right now, but the Bulls must win for Zach to make the all-star game. I don’t like double standards.

Zach's taking the "heat" for the Bulls sucking??

All I hear from the established talking heads is excuses. Zach has NEVER faced any real accountability on this team.

I was ready to join Team Zach this season as he seemed to be playing a team-centric game (and, to be fair, still is trying to do that most of the time) but the approachig All Star selections have apparently brought out the "poor Zach" brigade. Gives me a headache.

No accountability? There is like 50 page thread whether he should be traded because we aren’t winning enough. I don’t feel bad for him. Just pointing out double standards. Like people wanting to trade for Beal or Towns when they lead even worse teams.

*edit I do feel bad for him and everyone being dragged down by the worst starting PG in the league.

[StunnerKO]

Bulls have an above average PG right now they are sitting above .500 prob

[Ice Man]

Golden State suited 9 yesterday, without any player taller than 6' 7", and beat Dallas by 30. Portland suited 9 yesterday, without Dame and McCollum, and beat Philly by 15.

A reminder that there are no gimme games in the NBA. I don't care if the opposition has lost its five starters and is playing its 4th game in 5 days, it might win. And there are no excuses when the Bulls lose, either.

[kodo]

Bulls have an above average PG right now they are sitting above .500 prob

As bad as the PG play has been, I'd cite our defense as the main problem not the more offense. We have the 4th highest team TS% in the league. We're not really talented enough to be a top 3 offense, I would say Donovan has squeezed all the offensive water out of this rock.

I still don't understand our defensive scheme, why are we so happy with Donovan's archaic drop coverage when we hated it with Hoiberg & Boylen? It directly led to to the NY loss as we let Randle shoot uncontested 3s, him going 5-7. Billy isn't taking enough criticism on this end of the floor, we could be better even without adding a star player.

[ZOMG]

Bulls have an above average PG right now they are sitting above .500 prob

As bad as the PG play has been, I'd cite our defense as the main problem not the more offense. We have the 4th highest team TS% in the league. We're not really talented enough to be a top 3 offense, I would say Donovan has squeezed all the offensive water out of this rock.

I still don't understand our defensive scheme, why are we so happy with Donovan's archaic drop coverage when we hated it with Hoiberg & Boylen? It directly led to to the NY loss as we let Randle shoot uncontested 3s, him going 5-7. Billy isn't taking enough criticism on this end of the floor, we could be better even without adding a star player.

Agree. Relying 100% on the drop seems insane. Every team knows it's coming at this point and can exploit it.

It's really weird.

[MrSparkle]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

[BullChit]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

This will probably go down as one of the more criminally underrated comments in Bulls RealGM history...

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk

[DASMACKDOWN]

Man...does KD wear as mask or anything once he leaves the arena? He has already had covid and this will be like his 3rd instance pf health and safety protocol.

[Repeat 3-peat]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

Good post.

[Andi Obst]

LaMelo with 34 points and 8 assists (0 turnovers) in his second start. Still incredible to me that he didn’t go first.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Beal with 7 points on 1-14 FG. 1-7 3pt. YIKES!!!

[cjbulls]

LaMelo with 34 points and 8 assists (0 turnovers) in his second start. Still incredible to me that he didn’t go first.

Incredible how many “never LaMelo” folks there were, even in nba circles. Givony and Schmitz must be laughing it up.

[Southpaw]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

+100

Our current core has very little defensive upside. GarPax really dropped the ball on their last rebuild.

[ZOMG]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

The drop coverage is not a vacation for guards.

It's just a matter of fighting through screens and staying connected to the play. If you won't even do that, you shouldn't be playing.

The scheme in itself isn't - or at least shouldn't be - especially easy on the legs or less energy-consuming. If we wanted that, we'd be switching everything and shrugging at the constant mismatches.

It's just that our perimeter defenders are f**king it up in a major way and have been all season. And Donovan is making zero adjustments.

[Andi Obst]

Incredible how many “never LaMelo” folks there were, even in nba circles. Givony and Schmitz must be laughing it up.

So many people couldn't keep their emotions out of their evaluation. It's crazy how many times I've read that Melo isn't an elite passing prospect. Yeah there were serious doubt in other areas, although I thought they were exaggerated, but the passing was very clearly there. In the 2020 draft class, that alone should've been enough to go first IMO.

[Andi Obst]

When a guy like Joe Harris, who can only dream of ever making an All Star game, says that he feels bad for the guys who have to go there, you should probably not have a game. LeBron and Giannis have made it very clear that they don't want to be there and I don't blame them. It's just a completely unnecessary risk to take.

[ZOMG]

When a guy like Joe Harris, who can only dream of ever making an All Star game, says that he feels bad for the guys who have to go there, you should probably not have a game. LeBron and Giannis have made it very clear that they don't want to be there and I don't blame them. It's just a completely unnecessary risk to take.

Yet the NBPA too approved the ASG. Maybe these high powered players should direct their anger at their own union representatives.

[MisterRoy]

I think the drop coverage is to save guys’ legs, energy and spare injuries. Why can’t people accept this core has one of the lowest defensive ceilings in the league? They are pathetically unathletic and short-armed, with the exception of you know who (3 vet bench amigos aside).

You make them guard the perimeter more aggressively and there’s no chance in hell Lauri and Zach have 65% TS with the minutes they’re playing.

The low-motor defense is enabling the offense, which is what we wanted. We weren’t gonna turn into the 14/15 Warriors, who had an entire roster of athletic/tall plus-defenders, including their ball-boy.

The drop coverage is not a vacation for guards.

It's just a matter of fighting through screens and staying connected to the play. If you won't even do that, you shouldn't be playing.

The scheme in itself isn't - or at least shouldn't be - especially easy on the legs or less energy-consuming. If we wanted that, we'd be switching everything and shrugging at the constant mismatches.

It's just that our perimeter defenders are f**king it up in a major way and have been all season. And Donovan is making zero adjustments.

There has to be a reason why Donovan is doing what he is doing. I don't think he simply isn't making adjustments. Maybe he is letting them learn through their mistakes. I think we need to trust Donovan right now.

To much PTSD from the GarPaxHoiLen eras.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

[Ice Man]

LaMelo with 34 points and 8 assists (0 turnovers) in his second start. Still incredible to me that he didn’t go first.

Not as incredible to me as how quickly several on this board dismissed him after our Charlotte game, because he had a bad 16 minutes.