KC Deng's quotes were sort of nonsensical. Is he saying his only game is posting guys up? Was he really pulled because he posted up freaking OJ Mayo and wanted the ball? What's with the "little stuff" appelation to cutting to the basket? VDN's quotes weren't quite non-answers either. Maybe he didn't exactly frown on it, but saying he thinks it slows the Bulls down and isn't a strength isn't exactly a glowing endorsement. I recognize the need to get everyone on board, but from what I can tell of the Bulls offense, it's not VDN that needs to be re-thinking everything (as his "feel some things through ourselves" response to Deng seems to concede). As best I can tell, the offense he's running seeks to 1. Put the ball in Rose's hands 2. Have everyone else start at the corners but then move continuously. On the rare occasions we've played that way (really only Milwaukee) we've played pretty well. What I do see is some push back from the players. I see Deng playing how he wants to play. I see Gordon playing how he wants to play. I see Hinrich playing how he wants to play. In short, I see reluctance from these guys to accept their roles and execute the offense. It's like the old guard that doesn't want to change the way they've done things. This is a crucial test for VDN. I suppose they need to be respectful of the players. Especially Deng because he should be able to succeed in this offense and because we've made a big commitment to him. But they absolutely, positively cannot start changing things in major ways to suit anyone else (I'm looking at you Ben and Kirk). If they refuse to execute the offense, if they refuse to accept the ball in Rose's hands, if they're not happy having to run around without the ball now that they've got big contracts (in the case of Kirk and Lou) then fuck them. That's the problem I see with this article and with the "progress" of the Bulls over the past four games. They started ot well and have a fine plan. But the guys that have been here aren't buying in and there's the temptation to try and accomodate them. Take the ball out of Rose's hands and let the vets do there thing. They'll even win a couple more games and not ruffle as many feathers. We can all see it starting to happen. The coaches need to see it and figure out how to nip it in the bud, and quickly, before it forms habits and expectations about how things are going to be.
I agree, but I think there is more to it. I think Rose is feeling things out still and hasn't been aggressive enough trying to take charge. And I think he will be as he gets more comfortable. But until then it's going to be rough, because BG is going to take his shots and Kirk doesn't exactly thrive as a SF in the small ball lineup.
Heh, he held Lebron to 41 last night! From what I can tell he actually did almost as well as Deng did. Which is sort of bad, but for different reasons.
Hmmm. I've only gotten to watch part of the games so far, so my opinion is fairly uninformed, but Deng's struggles in the offense so far have been surprising, and perhaps a little more disturbing than those of Kirk and Ben. I figured Deng would be the most immediate beneficiary of playing with Rose, given his skill at playing off the ball and 'finding spots' to get easy shots off, which would seem to work well with a penetrating guard like Rose.
Actually, when the bulls went small, LeBron moved to PF, which meant that it was Deng and Noc trying to guard him. All of his shots were in the paint in the first half (haven't watched the second half yet.) Kirk did his part again though by getting LeBron to land on his foot and twist an ankle. Seems like every game LeBron gets injured in some freak mishap involving Kirk...
I think what Deng was saying is that his game has been to stand in the corner (under Skiles) and get kick outs on drives, then shoot or drive on his own to the hoop. This isn't working this season because his defender isn't collapsing on Rose (or whoever) when he drives. He needs to adjust his game by doing more post ups or shaking his defender by cutting off screens.
I agree, he's also become the fourth option when they go small. Unfortunately, the chances of the ball making it to him before BG, Rose or Hinrich shoot it are slim. And he's rebounding against bigger guys so fewer offensive rebound chances. It sounds, and certainly looks like there is no offensive discipline in terms of working it around to the open guy. And it gets worse when they fall behind by 15.
