2022-2023 Bulls IGT Megathread

[Enasic]

If they manage his minutes and keep him healthy all 82, he can come in and impact games in 5-7 min spurts

He’s just so fundamental and has such a high basketball IQ, and he’s another good 3 point shooter

In 6 games, Drummond and Dragic are looking to be two of the most savvy signings of the off season

 

[knoxville7]

In 6 games, Drummond and Dragic are looking to be two of the most savvy signings of the off season

Definitely made them a lot deeper of a team

Don’t like how they’ve played since those two went to the bench this 4th quarter

 

[Enasic]

Definitely made them a lot deeper of a team

Don’t like how they’ve played since those two went to the bench this 4th quarter

Don’t like how they play with dragic off the court and PWill on it, tbh. PWill played pretty well tonight…but there was something off with the lineup/rotations. Not sure what.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Bench unit always seems to bring the energy when it's needed most. I'll give Dragic a lot of credit for that. Drummond is doing his job on the glass as well as advertised.

The real test will be when they play Philly. If they can buck that trend of losing to Embiid that'll be a tremendous improvement compared to last year

 

[Raskolnikov]

If they manage his minutes and keep him healthy all 82, he can come in and impact games in 5-7 min spurts

He’s just so fundamental and has such a high basketball IQ, and he’s another good 3 point shooter

I saw a figure saying Dragic and Drummond were +35 with 30+points?, 16 rebounds, 6 assists…

We beat the Celtics when Donovan subbed in 5 players after the starters fell down 19.

The depth of this team is fairly phenomenal…

I personally think we have at least 12 top 7-8 rotation level players.

Seeing Kornett on Celtics reminded me how poor the rotation was recently. That guy doesn’t belong, like Felicia.

When Ball returns we can basically bring in a full compliment of has been starters mixed with future starters.

Low pressure low minutes seems great for Dragic and Drummond.

Can we not trade several of these guys for a starting PF?

White, Caruso, PW plus a pick can’t get something good from the Lakers? Future first?

 

[Raskolnikov]

Can’t play 12 guys at once we need to consolidate but it’s all unappealing.

PG (Ball), Ayo, Caruso, ?
SG Lavine, Dragic, White
SF DeRozan, Green, Terry
PF PW
C Vuc, Drummond

That’s 12 right there and we have more guys that can play or are developing.

I think it’s too many.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

I see the trend of awful starts in the third quarter is going to keep going.

 

[knoxville7]

Don’t like how they play with dragic off the court and PWill on it, tbh. PWill played pretty well tonight…but there was something off with the lineup/rotations. Not sure what.

I know I’ve said it before, but I truly believe Lavine and derozan should be split up as much as realistically possible.

Every game it seems the other teams jump out to hot shooting starts from 3, and at least part of that blame is Lavine and derozan are both horrible at rotations defensively. Too many times I see them lose the guy they are supposed to rotate to and the guy ends up shooting an open 3

It’s why the bulls seem to struggle at the start of games and at the start of the 2nd half IMO

PWill making or not making his couple shots to start the game isn’t making or breaking the bulls

 

[Enasic]

I know I’ve said it before, but I truly believe Lavine and derozan should be split up as much as realistically possible.

Every game it seems the other teams jump out to hot shooting starts from 3, and at least part of that blame is Lavine and derozan are both horrible at rotations defensively. Too many times I see them lose the guy they are supposed to rotate to and the guy ends up shooting an open 3

It’s why the bulls seem to struggle at the start of games and at the start of the 2nd half IMO

PWill making or not making his couple shots to start the game isn’t making or breaking the bulls

I agree about LaVine and DeRozan’s defense. It’s disappointing and I agree, they prob should be staggered as much as possible. That said, Zach is making max money and Demar wants to be viewed as a top dog. They need to get it together defensively. They’re both vets, there’s no excuse for not being able to rotate and let shooters loose.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Easy to nitpick this team given we all know that there's plenty of flaws but a few positive things we've seen of late

-Aggressive Vucevic. The numbers won't wow you, but I like seeing less of an emphasis on him shooting 3s and more of him inside. Last few games, that has been the case. A few 3s here and there is fine, but using him in PnR action and post ups more makes use of his full skill set. Even if he's not scoring himself, Vuc inside has generated a good look for the team more often than not.

-The bench. These guys come in and make an impact every game. We're running like 11 deep which is pretty nuts, but puts less pressure on the starters to have to backpack every game in the regular season. Last few games BD has been able to keep Zach/Demar/Vuc minutes in the low 30s. Should that trend continue that's less wear and tear that will hopefully lead to better health, especially postseason time if they have one. Shout out to Derrick Jones Jr who despite rarely doing much in the box score still manages to make a positive impact.

-Props to Drummond for doing his job and grabbing boards. He's everything Tristan Thompson was not. Still a heavily flawed player, but he does what is needed, primarily rebound.

 

[Enasic]

Easy to nitpick this team given we all know that there's plenty of flaws but a few positive things we've seen of late

-Aggressive Vucevic. The numbers won't wow you, but I like seeing less of an emphasis on him shooting 3s and more of him inside. Last few games, that has been the case. A few 3s here and there is fine, but using him in PnR action and post ups more makes use of his full skill set. Even if he's not scoring himself, Vuc inside has generated a good look for the team more often than not.

-The bench. These guys come in and make an impact every game. We're running like 11 deep which is pretty nuts, but puts less pressure on the starters to have to backpack every game in the regular season. Last few games BD has been able to keep Zach/Demar/Vuc minutes in the low 30s. Should that trend continue that's less wear and tear that will hopefully lead to better health, especially postseason time if they have one. Shout out to Derrick Jones Jr who despite rarely doing much in the box score still manages to make a positive impact.

-Props to Drummond for doing his job and grabbing boards. He's everything Tristan Thompson was not. Still a heavily flawed player, but he does what is needed, primarily rebound.

Agree with all of this. Still amazes me that it took BD this long to figure out how to use Vuc. Unless Vuc was purposefully going against the game plan last year which I doubt

 

[clonetrooper264]

Agree with all of this. Still amazes me that it took BD this long to figure out how to use Vuc. Unless Vuc was purposefully going against the game plan last year which I doubt

Nah Vuc does what he's told. It was schemed last year to have him take a bunch of 3s. A reasonable thought, if he was still shooting at 38%. Dang shame it took BD this long to adjust the offense to let him play inside more. His FG% will correct itself over time I imagine, but the results are showing in his FTA numbers already (though very boosted by that 12 FTA game).

 

[Enasic]

Nah Vuc does what he's told. It was schemed last year to have him take a bunch of 3s. A reasonable thought, if he was still shooting at 38%. Dang shame it took BD this long to adjust the offense to let him play inside more. His FG% will correct itself over time I imagine, but the results are showing in his FTA numbers already (though very boosted by that 12 FTA game).

BD does not seem very flexible in general or shown the ability to adjust in game or even in season seemingly. But I digress

 

[clonetrooper264]

Chicago Bulls (3-2) vs San Antonio Spurs (3-2)

Projected Starters

Chicago Bulls
PG - Ayo Dosunmu
SG - Zach Lavine
SF - DeMar DeRozan
PF - Patrick Williams
C - Nikola Vucevic

San Antonio Spurs
PG - Tre Jones
SG - Josh Richardson
SF - Keldon Johnson
PF - Jeremy Sochan
C - Jakob Poeltl

Injury Report

Chicago Bulls
Zach Lavine - Questionable (Knee management)
Lonzo Ball - Out (Knee)

San Antonio Spurs
Devin Vassell - Out (Knee)
Joshua Primo - Out (Glute)​

 

[Scoot26]

 

[clonetrooper264]

It is entirely possible Lavine gets the knee management rest day tonight, but the real question is, will the Bulls find a way to lose to a team that is supposed to be tanking (and currently not doing a great job of it)?

 

[Scoot26]

It is entirely possible Lavine gets the knee management rest day tonight, but the real question is, will the Bulls find a way to lose to a team that is supposed to be tanking (and currently not doing a great job of it)?

DeMar needs 7 points.. so he's gonna at least get that.. but also feel he'll just go off tonight. ...Whether or not the rest of the team stands up is another matter.

 

[PeterG]

So LaVine in or out?

 

[clonetrooper264]

So LaVine in or out?

As of now, we don't know one way or the other. If I had to guess, they're gonna sit him tonight and play him vs Philly tomorrow.

 

[Enasic]

If this so called “knee management” is going to be a long term thing, I’d look to trade LaVine sooner than later. Will only get worse over time