Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[MisterRoy]

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.

It's the same way this board can be with our own players. Example, PWill had a good game last night and suddenly he is untouchable by some. He has a bad game or mediocre/average stretch of games and he was a bad draft pick.

I think a we need to be more reasonable with our expectations and our players. So much has changed in this past off-season and there is a lot of baggage to work through.

Shoot, we as fans have PTSD from the previous regime. Imagine how the players feel. Sure, they are professionals but their are still just human. It's gotta be harder on them than it is on us.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

[cjbulls]

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.

It's the same way this board can be with our own players. Example, PWill had a good game last night and suddenly he is untouchable by some. He has a bad game or mediocre/average stretch of games and he was a bad draft pick.

I think a we need to be more reasonable with our expectations and our players. So much has changed in this past off-season and there is a lot of baggage to work through.

Shoot, we as fans have PTSD from the previous regime. Imagine how the players feel. Sure, they are professionals but their are still just human. It's gotta be harder on them than it is on us.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

I keep telling myself to stay away from the post game threads but I just can’t help myself. Every time, the first 3 pages are people saying to trade or bench the guy who didn’t play well or how we should max out the guy that did play well that night.

Not that I’ve ever been guilty of it

[Dresden]

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.

PWill has quite a lot of defensive upside. We thought Carter did (and still may). Zach can play decently when he's tuned in. It's Lauri and Coby that are weak links, esp. Lauri because he's just not that quick. Coby ought to be able to defend with his quickness, even with his short arms. I can't really blame GarPax- you can't draft only for defense or else you turn into a team that has to win games 95-90 all the time. And we were so bad offensively for awhile that I can't blame them for taking an offense talent like Coby, either.

[MisterRoy]

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.

It's the same way this board can be with our own players. Example, PWill had a good game last night and suddenly he is untouchable by some. He has a bad game or mediocre/average stretch of games and he was a bad draft pick.

I think a we need to be more reasonable with our expectations and our players. So much has changed in this past off-season and there is a lot of baggage to work through.

Shoot, we as fans have PTSD from the previous regime. Imagine how the players feel. Sure, they are professionals but their are still just human. It's gotta be harder on them than it is on us.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

I keep telling myself to stay away from the post game threads but I just can’t help myself. Every time, the first 3 pages are people saying to trade or bench the guy who didn’t play well or how we should max out the guy that did play well that night.

Not that I’ve ever been guilty of it

As a die-hard Bulls fan, this board is a drug. I can't stay away, no matter how hard I try.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

[VolumePoster]

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.

PWill has quite a lot of defensive upside. We thought Carter did (and still may). Zach can play decently when he's tuned in. It's Lauri and Coby that are weak links, esp. Lauri because he's just not that quick. Coby ought to be able to defend with his quickness, even with his short arms. I can't really blame GarPax- you can't draft only for defense or else you turn into a team that has to win games 95-90 all the time. And we were so bad offensively for awhile that I can't blame them for taking an offense talent like Coby, either.

Lauri just played the best defense on Vuc and Randle on the team. He has very good feet for a 7 footer and plays hard in the post. He doesn’t rim protect due to length and doesn’t have the sand in his pants to be a great defensive rebounder. But he’s not a bad defensive player. More of a functional cog.

On the other hand...

Coby has been disastrously bad at the most critical defensive position. There are scheme issues too, but we really need to improve at the point of attack.

[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.

PWill has quite a lot of defensive upside. We thought Carter did (and still may). Zach can play decently when he's tuned in. It's Lauri and Coby that are weak links, esp. Lauri because he's just not that quick. Coby ought to be able to defend with his quickness, even with his short arms. I can't really blame GarPax- you can't draft only for defense or else you turn into a team that has to win games 95-90 all the time. And we were so bad offensively for awhile that I can't blame them for taking an offense talent like Coby, either.

I think therein lies the problem because together, our core is just terrible defensively with only 1.5 (Williams and maybe Carter) of our core 5 are positive contributors on the defensive side. LaVine has improved defensively and can play solid man defense when engaged but he' still bad on team defense. Lauri can be a passable defender against some matchups but can't play his (imo) best position because he can't protect the rim plus he's also a subpar rebounder. White is just terrible all around. You can probably get away having 2 negative defenders on your lineup but 3-4 is just too much.

[Chi town]

Intriguing prospect. Great instincts and playmaking. Two way potential.

Watch on YouTube

[Chi town]

Hali is so dang good. His IQ is sky high on both sides. I’m confident saying if we had him right now we’d be above .500.

[Jcool0]

Read on Twitter

[d boy gentleman]

Read on Twitter

Let the Rose to Chicago campaign begin????

[Andi Obst]

This is my worst case scenario for this season. Trading for aging players who might make you a tiny bit better but don't raise your ceiling at all. Only way this isn't completely terrible for the Knicks is if Payton is involved and they send some top-55-protected pick back. If Rose comes to take Quickley's playing time...man, that would be such a Knicks move.

[Andi Obst]

Really sucks that Klay is injured again. He seems like one of coolest dudes in the league and it would be so fun to see him balling with Curry and Dray like in the pre-/early-dynasty years. Curry and Dray are so fun together. It basically doesn't matter who else is on the court, they will make your offense good. Hope they at least make the play-in.

[FriedRise]

Read on Twitter

Heh, Thibs isn't much of an outside the box thinker, is he? He just always has his guys.

[frothbrain]

Knicks signed Taj and still paying Noah too xD

Maybe they will waive Knox to make room for Deng next

[TSS]

Why would Knicks do this? Quickley needs minutes. So very Knicks move again.

On another note. Whatever happened to Ntilikina? Wasn't he a high draft pick coming in with a reputation of a superb defensive PG. Now he cannot get to court on a team starting Elfrid Payton and he is 22 years old. Is that someone Bulls should take a look at?

[sco]

Why would Knicks do this? Quickley needs minutes. So very Knicks move again.

On another note. Whatever happened to Ntilikina? Wasn't he a high draft pick coming in with a reputation of a superb defensive PG. Now he cannot get to court on a team starting Elfrid Payton and he is 22 years old. Is that someone Bulls should take a look at?

Knicks have playoff potential, but they need scoring. Payton is bad. Thibs hates starting rooks. Smith Jr. is hot garbage. Rose is good and knows Thibs' system. Not a bad move. Rose isn't a 30mpg guy anymore, so plenty of minutes for Quickley.

[ThreeMileAllan]

Can we like have Rose back soon wtf. He would have been a good fit.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[Clocian]

Watching this wiz game. All I know is zach better be an all star if a player from the worst team in the nba (wizards) is able to get in. I don't care if he's the leading top scorer in the league lol.

[DuckIII]

Read on Twitter

Let the Rose to Chicago campaign begin????

Hell no. How about let the Knicks trade for him and then offer them Lauri for Quickley?

[TheSuzerain]

Why would Knicks do this? Quickley needs minutes. So very Knicks move again.

On another note. Whatever happened to Ntilikina? Wasn't he a high draft pick coming in with a reputation of a superb defensive PG. Now he cannot get to court on a team starting Elfrid Payton and he is 22 years old. Is that someone Bulls should take a look at?

Ntilikina is a FA this offseason. I think we should consider trying to sign him to a long and cheap deal.