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My favorite teams
We're at about the halfway mark of the season now, shockingly. The Bulls currently sit at 19-23 and 9th in the East before tonight's game vs the now Siakam-less Raptors. Not great, but perhaps better than one might have thought coming out of November when the team was absolute garbage.
These will be my thoughts on each individual player, you can disagree if you want, it's just opinion anyway.
Anyway, in no particular order...
Zach Lavine
Grade: D+
Zach's season numbers are weighed down by his awful start to the year, but he has managed to still average a "respectable" 20/5/4 with 45/35/85 splits. Solid numbers...unless you're supposed to be the 1a, which is what Zach is paid to be. Combine that with his under the table trade request (ie reports that both sides are open to a trade) and the fact that Bulls actually played quite well after he went out with injury, I should probably give him a lower grade. But since he's been playing more "team friendly" ball mostly since coming back I'll cut him some slack and give him a D+.
Demar Derozan
Grade: B-
Demar has been pretty consistent for the most part this year. He leads the team at 22ppg and for the most part has kept his peripheral stats the same as his last two years. His scoring itself is down, though you can say that is due to the ascension of Coby and Demar's willingness to give up shots on his behalf. His FG% is down which is mainly attributed to his reduced efficiency at the rim and from midrange, which is supposed to be his strong suit. After shooting about 46% the last 2 seasons from the 16-3P range, he's down to just 36% this season. He's also getting to the line less, though still above average at 6.6 attempts per game. Overall Demar hasn't been that bad, but he's likely also finally showing signs of slowing down with age. He kind of is what he is, but I respect what he's still be able to do in this roller coaster of a season and he's been a good vet for the young guys, even if they themselves aren't that great either.
Nikola Vucevic
Grade: C
Frankly, when I think of Vuc's season so far the word that comes to mind is meh. Like the other players of the "mid 3" as it were, his scoring numbers are down, though only slightly. His percentages though are way worse and he's shooting only 27% from 3 so far. Despite that, he's still generally pretty consistent as a double double threat every night and when given the chance he will rack of a few assists too. Despite his crap 3pt percentage, he always seems to make a clutch 3 in tight games so I'll give him that. He is what he is, and all things considered, he's ok (meaning not that good, but also not that bad).
Coby White
Grade: A+
Averaging career highs in basically every category, balling out for most of December (even including the slump at the end), Coby has vaulted himself into the MIP conversation. Despite his absolute garbage start to the year, the fact that he's still shooting at 45/41/81 splits speaks to just how hot he's been of late. Besides that, Coby just overall looks like a much better player on both sides of the ball. He may not win MIP of the league, but he's definitely been a bright spot for this team amidst another up and down year. We'll see if he can keep up the improved play.
Alex Caruso
Grade: A
The one guy on the team you can count on to give 110% effort every night. In addition to his normal all defensive team level play, he's improved his offensive game to also shoot a career high 42% (also highest on the team) on 4 attempts per game as well as a career high 49% overall. A regular team leader in plus minus, as well as deflections, hustle plays, and all kinds of other things, there's not much you can complain about with Caruso except that his playstyle is a risk to his own health. Any team would love to have AC, so I'm glad we have him, at least for now.
Patrick Williams
Grade: C+
After what seemed like the worst shooting start in the history of the league, PWill has quietly brought his numbers right back in line with his career averages. His 3pt percentage is right back to just under 41% and he's averaging 9.8ppg. Perhaps lost amid Coby's red hot December was the fact that PWill also had himself a pretty solid December shooting 52% from the field and 50% from 3 and averaging 14ppg. He has regressed a bit in January, but has also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury. Pat continues to be a bit of a frustrating player in that he's often much more deferential than we'd like and hasn't been able to consistently perform well when Demar/Zach/Vuc are playing as well, but he shows flashes still of maybe being able to do more if given more of a spotlight. Time will continue to tell with Pat, but for now I'll just give him credit for bouncing back from his atrocious start.
Ayo Dosunmu
Grade: B
After what felt like a sophomore slump, Ayo has regained confidence on his shot and generally seems to have returned to form compared to his rookie year. He's been great at attacking downhill and using his speed to get layups, and has been pretty reliable in the midrange and from 3 as well. His actual percentage at the basket is down, but the whole team's seems to be down as well, perhaps speaking to taking more contested shots at the rim as a whole. That said, Ayo has been a fairly reliable bench contributor this year and has outplayed FA signing Jevon Carter pretty handily I'd say.
Torrey Craig
Grade: A
This grade may seem high to some of you, but I give him this grade because he's come in and done pretty much exactly what you needed/expected from him. He's been a solid two way player and the Bulls are currently missing his size and effort while he's injured. Craig won't blow anyone's mind, but he does the little things that help the team win and that's why I'm giving him an A.
Andre Drummond
Grade: A
Another player who is what he is, what he does he does well. While he will still have some lapses of lack of effort, questionable decision making, and high foul rates, he's generally been exactly what we expect of him which is an elite rebounder. Of course he had a throwback stretch starting in place of the injured Vucevic which put some rose colored glasses on for some fans, but even without that he's always been a guy who you think BD should just give a few more minutes to because of what he can bring to the table with his rebounding. He also provides a different look defensively with is ability to get steals, he's actually leading the team in total steals and just behind Caruso in steals per game. On the whole, given his role and what he's been able to do with his minutes, he's again doing exactly what you need/want from him.
Jevon Carter
Grade: D
This guy was supposed to be the "big" free agent signing (idk how big you can make a MLE signing sound, but here we are) and for the most part he's been...eh at best. Shooting has been a disappointment so far and I haven't really seen the high intensity defense that he supposedly brings to the table. He hasn't been able to outplay Ayo so far and has even earned himself a couple DNP-CDs. Let's just say, he's got a lot of room to improve.
Dalen Terry
Grade: C-
Given Terry can barely crack the rotation maybe I should rate him a bit lower, but his play in December impressed me enough to give him a C- because you could see that he can do pretty much everything except shoot the ball. Pretty solid passer if given the chance, can handle a little, definitely gives maximum effort, can rebound and push the ball in transition, has defensive potential...you can see at least there's something there. But his shooting is just so so so bad. If he could do anything to get even remotely close to being an average shooter, he could make the case for actually deserving minutes regularly. He's stopped playing like a Tazmanian devil at least so perhaps there's hope for him in his career.
Julian Phillips
Grade: Incomplete
The Bulls lone rookie this year, as expected the 20 year old has spent most of his time with the GLeague team. He's only played meaningful minutes twice this year, so not much to go off of besides that and garbage time. You can tell he's got that freak athleticism and raw talent, but needs a lot of work. You can see something like a Derrick Jones Jr type of role for him in the future perhaps, if he's able to put it together. His GLeague stats are pretty good though.
Terry Taylor
Grade: C+
An undersized PF, Taylor has been asked mostly to play even more undersized at C when Vuc was injured. Given his limitations, Taylor played admirably in that role and for a minimum contract end of bench type player, I don't know if you can really ask much more from him, except maybe learn to shoot 3s. If he could shoot, maybe he could find his way into a PJ Tucker type role (though I don't think he's anywhere close defensively). Good job, good effort.
Adama Sanogo
Grade: Incomplete
Sanogo has only played in 3 garbage time games so far, but you wonder if he couldn't have taken some Terry Taylor minutes while Vuc was out, just to give a little more size. He is averaging a double double for the GLeague team though, so there's that.
Onuralp Bitim
Grade: Very Incomplete
Bitim has only managed to get garbage time once so far. His GLeague stats are decent, though he struggled in the showcase cup games. He seems like an irrational confidence type player so it'd be fun to see him chuck up some shots in garbage time, but we might never see it.
Lonzo Ball
Grade: RIP
Get well soon Zo, I hope you can play basketball again one day.
Overall team grade: C+
On the whole, given how bad and dysfunctional this team was to start the year, things could be much worse right now. They're at least watchable, though their flaws are well known to all at this point. Weirdly (though perhaps maybe not as much as this point) despite the roster construction, offense is where this team struggles most. Defensively, they're about average. However just hearing these rankings hurts:
Pace - 30th
2pt FG% - 28th
3PM - 26th
3PA - 20th
FTA - 28th
Assist - 29th
Points - 27th
Still, the team sits at 4 games below .500 despite all that so, I guess compared to my own expectations, they're doing a little better than I expected. They're not constructed well, but at least they're watchable again.
These will be my thoughts on each individual player, you can disagree if you want, it's just opinion anyway.
Anyway, in no particular order...
Zach Lavine
Grade: D+
Zach's season numbers are weighed down by his awful start to the year, but he has managed to still average a "respectable" 20/5/4 with 45/35/85 splits. Solid numbers...unless you're supposed to be the 1a, which is what Zach is paid to be. Combine that with his under the table trade request (ie reports that both sides are open to a trade) and the fact that Bulls actually played quite well after he went out with injury, I should probably give him a lower grade. But since he's been playing more "team friendly" ball mostly since coming back I'll cut him some slack and give him a D+.
Demar Derozan
Grade: B-
Demar has been pretty consistent for the most part this year. He leads the team at 22ppg and for the most part has kept his peripheral stats the same as his last two years. His scoring itself is down, though you can say that is due to the ascension of Coby and Demar's willingness to give up shots on his behalf. His FG% is down which is mainly attributed to his reduced efficiency at the rim and from midrange, which is supposed to be his strong suit. After shooting about 46% the last 2 seasons from the 16-3P range, he's down to just 36% this season. He's also getting to the line less, though still above average at 6.6 attempts per game. Overall Demar hasn't been that bad, but he's likely also finally showing signs of slowing down with age. He kind of is what he is, but I respect what he's still be able to do in this roller coaster of a season and he's been a good vet for the young guys, even if they themselves aren't that great either.
Nikola Vucevic
Grade: C
Frankly, when I think of Vuc's season so far the word that comes to mind is meh. Like the other players of the "mid 3" as it were, his scoring numbers are down, though only slightly. His percentages though are way worse and he's shooting only 27% from 3 so far. Despite that, he's still generally pretty consistent as a double double threat every night and when given the chance he will rack of a few assists too. Despite his crap 3pt percentage, he always seems to make a clutch 3 in tight games so I'll give him that. He is what he is, and all things considered, he's ok (meaning not that good, but also not that bad).
Coby White
Grade: A+
Averaging career highs in basically every category, balling out for most of December (even including the slump at the end), Coby has vaulted himself into the MIP conversation. Despite his absolute garbage start to the year, the fact that he's still shooting at 45/41/81 splits speaks to just how hot he's been of late. Besides that, Coby just overall looks like a much better player on both sides of the ball. He may not win MIP of the league, but he's definitely been a bright spot for this team amidst another up and down year. We'll see if he can keep up the improved play.
Alex Caruso
Grade: A
The one guy on the team you can count on to give 110% effort every night. In addition to his normal all defensive team level play, he's improved his offensive game to also shoot a career high 42% (also highest on the team) on 4 attempts per game as well as a career high 49% overall. A regular team leader in plus minus, as well as deflections, hustle plays, and all kinds of other things, there's not much you can complain about with Caruso except that his playstyle is a risk to his own health. Any team would love to have AC, so I'm glad we have him, at least for now.
Patrick Williams
Grade: C+
After what seemed like the worst shooting start in the history of the league, PWill has quietly brought his numbers right back in line with his career averages. His 3pt percentage is right back to just under 41% and he's averaging 9.8ppg. Perhaps lost amid Coby's red hot December was the fact that PWill also had himself a pretty solid December shooting 52% from the field and 50% from 3 and averaging 14ppg. He has regressed a bit in January, but has also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury. Pat continues to be a bit of a frustrating player in that he's often much more deferential than we'd like and hasn't been able to consistently perform well when Demar/Zach/Vuc are playing as well, but he shows flashes still of maybe being able to do more if given more of a spotlight. Time will continue to tell with Pat, but for now I'll just give him credit for bouncing back from his atrocious start.
Ayo Dosunmu
Grade: B
After what felt like a sophomore slump, Ayo has regained confidence on his shot and generally seems to have returned to form compared to his rookie year. He's been great at attacking downhill and using his speed to get layups, and has been pretty reliable in the midrange and from 3 as well. His actual percentage at the basket is down, but the whole team's seems to be down as well, perhaps speaking to taking more contested shots at the rim as a whole. That said, Ayo has been a fairly reliable bench contributor this year and has outplayed FA signing Jevon Carter pretty handily I'd say.
Torrey Craig
Grade: A
This grade may seem high to some of you, but I give him this grade because he's come in and done pretty much exactly what you needed/expected from him. He's been a solid two way player and the Bulls are currently missing his size and effort while he's injured. Craig won't blow anyone's mind, but he does the little things that help the team win and that's why I'm giving him an A.
Andre Drummond
Grade: A
Another player who is what he is, what he does he does well. While he will still have some lapses of lack of effort, questionable decision making, and high foul rates, he's generally been exactly what we expect of him which is an elite rebounder. Of course he had a throwback stretch starting in place of the injured Vucevic which put some rose colored glasses on for some fans, but even without that he's always been a guy who you think BD should just give a few more minutes to because of what he can bring to the table with his rebounding. He also provides a different look defensively with is ability to get steals, he's actually leading the team in total steals and just behind Caruso in steals per game. On the whole, given his role and what he's been able to do with his minutes, he's again doing exactly what you need/want from him.
Jevon Carter
Grade: D
This guy was supposed to be the "big" free agent signing (idk how big you can make a MLE signing sound, but here we are) and for the most part he's been...eh at best. Shooting has been a disappointment so far and I haven't really seen the high intensity defense that he supposedly brings to the table. He hasn't been able to outplay Ayo so far and has even earned himself a couple DNP-CDs. Let's just say, he's got a lot of room to improve.
Dalen Terry
Grade: C-
Given Terry can barely crack the rotation maybe I should rate him a bit lower, but his play in December impressed me enough to give him a C- because you could see that he can do pretty much everything except shoot the ball. Pretty solid passer if given the chance, can handle a little, definitely gives maximum effort, can rebound and push the ball in transition, has defensive potential...you can see at least there's something there. But his shooting is just so so so bad. If he could do anything to get even remotely close to being an average shooter, he could make the case for actually deserving minutes regularly. He's stopped playing like a Tazmanian devil at least so perhaps there's hope for him in his career.
Julian Phillips
Grade: Incomplete
The Bulls lone rookie this year, as expected the 20 year old has spent most of his time with the GLeague team. He's only played meaningful minutes twice this year, so not much to go off of besides that and garbage time. You can tell he's got that freak athleticism and raw talent, but needs a lot of work. You can see something like a Derrick Jones Jr type of role for him in the future perhaps, if he's able to put it together. His GLeague stats are pretty good though.
Terry Taylor
Grade: C+
An undersized PF, Taylor has been asked mostly to play even more undersized at C when Vuc was injured. Given his limitations, Taylor played admirably in that role and for a minimum contract end of bench type player, I don't know if you can really ask much more from him, except maybe learn to shoot 3s. If he could shoot, maybe he could find his way into a PJ Tucker type role (though I don't think he's anywhere close defensively). Good job, good effort.
Adama Sanogo
Grade: Incomplete
Sanogo has only played in 3 garbage time games so far, but you wonder if he couldn't have taken some Terry Taylor minutes while Vuc was out, just to give a little more size. He is averaging a double double for the GLeague team though, so there's that.
Onuralp Bitim
Grade: Very Incomplete
Bitim has only managed to get garbage time once so far. His GLeague stats are decent, though he struggled in the showcase cup games. He seems like an irrational confidence type player so it'd be fun to see him chuck up some shots in garbage time, but we might never see it.
Lonzo Ball
Grade: RIP
Get well soon Zo, I hope you can play basketball again one day.
Overall team grade: C+
On the whole, given how bad and dysfunctional this team was to start the year, things could be much worse right now. They're at least watchable, though their flaws are well known to all at this point. Weirdly (though perhaps maybe not as much as this point) despite the roster construction, offense is where this team struggles most. Defensively, they're about average. However just hearing these rankings hurts:
Pace - 30th
2pt FG% - 28th
3PM - 26th
3PA - 20th
FTA - 28th
Assist - 29th
Points - 27th
Still, the team sits at 4 games below .500 despite all that so, I guess compared to my own expectations, they're doing a little better than I expected. They're not constructed well, but at least they're watchable again.
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