I really think the Bulls need another wing defender. If Jimmy is out with foul trouble, the drop off in wing defenders is significant. Any ideas on who we could get and for what? We have those 2 additional 2nd round picks from the Deng trade last year.
The ineptness of McSnell is the only gap in our rotation right now. It's possible one of them might step up to the plate sometime this season, but it's hard to say. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulls make a play for a stopgap SG/SF backup around the trade deadline.
We probably will. I feel the same way. SF is our weakness. Both guys, Doug, and MDJ are more catch and shoot than a SF that can do more than that. Doug, is a little better in bringing the ball to the basket than Michael is. And yes, we need the wing player able to defend.
Ronnie Brewer ain't great, but assuming he's staying in shape, he can be had for a phone call and the vet minimum.
Snell needs more burn so we can see if he can be a useful player. He's 11th on the team in minutes played. He looked great in summer league and it seemed like he was ready to take a big step forward. But he's not really getting much of a chance to show what he can do. The limited minutes suggest Thibs doesn't like what he sees in practice, or simply isn't willing to give him development minutes. His limited minutes also suggest that his stats aren't indicative of what he might really be capable of, though his stats aren't horrible.
Yeah, we may need that. Thibodeau, of course, couldn't care less what we need to see. Heck, maybe we have Thibodeau all wrong about how he views Snell. He may be just fine with playing Snell significant minutes at either SG or SF if injury dictates this. He may just not see how having Snell in the regular rotation makes the team better. I mentioned Ronnie Brewer above, but it wouldn't surprise me if Thibodeau would prefer Snell to any swingman the team could get at the vet minimum.
It's hard for me to be optimistic about Snell right now. His demeanor has not changed since he's come into the league, and he still looks lost when he's on the court. What's more discouraging is that the team could really use what he provides. We sorta need a competent 2/3 to spell Dunleavy and Jimmy. So I doubt his lack of playing time is due to him being held back by the roster. If he could merit 10-15 minutes a game he'd probably get it. But a lineup with Tony Snell in it needs some compensating factors to make up for his presence, so it's hard to fit him in.
Snell's played 13 of 16 games, averaging 11 minutes per game. The problems for him, as I see it, are: 1) Thibs plays Kirk and Brooks with Jimmy at SF. Too many minutes, frankly, but Jimmy's got to get his 42 minutes somehow. 2) In 2-3 minutes of sporadic playing times, it's possible a player might only get a couple of touches. 3) It's one thing to run through the defense in practices, but another to have Thibs scream at you from the sideline until you do the right thing in games. Not enough of this. 4) A lot of his time is garbage time, where opponents aren't taking things as serious as Thibs (who does take things as serious as Thibs?). 5) If he's the SF on the 2nd unit in practice, he's guarding a big slow old white guy - Dunleavy. Jimmy played only 8.5 minutes a game as a rookie, and was behind Brewer, Korver, and Watson on the 2nd unit. My take is Snell is in the same position on a team with a better chance to go deep in the playoffs.
Same position maybe; but I don't think Snell is the same caliber of player. This is going to be harsh but I'm not convinced Snell isn't basketball stupid. The guy doesn't seem to understand time, possession and what a good shot is on offense. I think Snell could be a defensive, rebounding, transition specialist who would give you a play here or there on offense. But he doesn't seem to want to be that guy. Instead, you get the feeling he's jacking up shots to try to get attention from the next team he'll play for. Maybe he just needs a change of scenery.
Snell's played about 1400 minutes in the NBA so far. That should be enough of a sample size to see some signs of improvement. I just don't see any indication that he "gets it" when he's on the floor. He's struggling with the same stuff as when he first came into the league. He looks like he has no clear intuition of what he wants to do when he plays and looks to pass the buck to someone else as soon as he gets the ball in his hands. The combination of him and McDermott makes for an unplayable lineup between their passiveness and inability to make plays on the ball.
This might be going out on a limb... Thibs is all about defining roles. Maybe he defined Snell's role to him in the offseason as, instant offense off the bench. Thibs always demands defense but with Brooks, Nate Robinson & DJ Augustine, their roles was obviously scorer off the bench. I think with Jimmy's offensive emergence, now Snell is trying to readjust back to being a defensive guy in the mold of E'twaun Moore (getting limited end of quarter defense minutes). Honestly, I feel that it's important for these guys to really understand and embrace their roles. If you see Thibs track record of developing players, they have to buy in because they see the type of deals some of these guys after they left the Bulls. At the end of the day Snell has to realize that he has the tools to be a good defender. Might as well embrace the opportunity and try and get the next pay day. Just like in the normal corporate world, at least get a good reco from the Bulls front office. The guys who are consummate pros always get jobs, unlike the JR Smith's and other problem kids who, once their useful life is over, are just out of the league.
I doubt this is the case. Snell doesn't play very well on either side of the ball. The best part of his NBA game is his man defense but he still gets lost in rotations a lot. The second unit lineups we trotted out at the beginning of the season were terrible at scoring the ball. Teams play off of Tony big time to the point that I can't imagine Thibs would actually want Tony to be as passive as he plays on offense. His inability/unwillingness to make plays with the ball has a negative effect on the rest of the team. I really think Snell's just not that good. He has some tools to be good, but he's never used them well since coming into the league. If we're in a tight game Thibs can't afford to play Jimmy less than 40 minutes, and we have a 34 year old Mike Dunleavy starting and playing heavy minutes. If Snell we're a + on the floor we'd have plenty of reasons to give him 10-15 minutes a night to spell those two guys, but we don't.
Instant offense? Nope. The stat for instant offense would be usage%. Snell's is the lowest on the team. He's the opposite of instant offense.
McDermott's not going to let him stay there without a fight. I was just looking at his game logs for the last 4: 27 minutes, 1 point, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 stls, 0 blocks.
