I'm glad the Bulls got the win last nite, but jeez, that was an ugly basketball game. Easy waltzes to the lane. Jacking shots. Lack of ball movement. Lack of D. Inept execution. This is on both sides. Last night and last week @ Milwuakee I was sitting there thinking "this is professional basketball?" I've sat through dozens of lethargic NBA contests over the years. But these seem to be coming earlier in the season this year and more frequent. I dunno. The Bulls, while winning some games, look so bad out there at times, especially in the basics of transition D and cleaning the boards. And yet we have a playoff spot right now. Just wondering if anyone was thinking the same thing.
There does seem to be a real lack of parity this season. Boston, Cleveland, and the Lakers are in a league of their own.
I think Denny's on to something. The Milwaukee game made my eyes bleed. If you go back and look, at the end of that game I called for the league to contract down to sixteen teams. There's way too many sucky players per team. Except those couple. As far as the Bulls, I think they're simultaneously exceeding and missing my expectations. Rose is way better, much earlier, than I expected, and has had a big positive impact that makes the whole look slightly better than I expected. Pretty much everything else has been worse.
I had low-ish expectations for the Bulls and Rose, too. In all, they've exceeded my expectations, and I'm happier with VDN/Harris as coach than anyone since Cartwright. Deng got the big bucks and we've seen he's a better player than he's shown until the past few games. Not sure you can pin that on Vinnie. But he does seem back, which means the Bulls could really exceed all our expectations. Bulls 49 win season, they were 11-10 after 21 games, we're now 10-11. We were 3-9 that season, but have been no worse than 2 games under .500 all this season. We're minus Wallace, PJ Brown, and Duhon but plus Rose and Hughes and Gooden (and Thomas and Noah and Gray). We may be a better team this year than we anticipated. Thanks especially to Rose. Thanks to VDN for putting Gordon in as starter and never looking back, too - all that was a huge distraction in past seasons, IMO. I'm not saying we're contenders by any means. In a couple of years, Rose is going to be a top tier player in this league, but we're still going to need another 2-3 guys at his level to be thinking championship.
As far as the Bulls as a whole, yes, the expectations are exceeded. Rose is way better than I could have hoped for this year. But last night, there were just long stretches of players standing around on D, wide WIDE WIDE open 3s for the other team, blown defensive rebounds, shot jacking and wide open trips through the paint. Perhaps that’s just how a VDN vs Pringles guy game is going to go, but there were a few times I was like "what am i watching here?" OTOH, Rose had a smooth game and his crossover on Duhon was staggering. He can just take control of a game at the end and lead a team. And Hughes is playing pretty well as of late. I can't complain at all. In fact, I'd play this Hughes over Hinrich any day. Gooden had monster numbers but he's a really screwy player with all the fade a ways and hook shots. But he's pretty effective. But last night's game, while exciting towards the end, was an ugly affair, IMO.
I pretty much agree with everything. Rose is the real deal and when the ball is in his hands the bulls look like a legit playoff team. Unfortunately, there are a few other players on the team who want the ball in their hands and the team almost always suffers a loss of flow and continuity when that happens. It makes the bulls look schizophrenic.
Considering I expected the Bulls to be a 30 or so win team this year, they're exceeding my expectations. However, aside from the Cavs, Lakers and Celtics, there doesn't seem to be a lot of great teams this year. I think the Spurs will end up there and the Rockets, if they ever get healthy and learn what the word chemistry is, have a chance as well. Speaking of the Cavs though, I personally think they're overachieving. I didn't think they'd be this good by any means, and I think at some point, they could hit a wall.
Keep in mind that I'm not really asking about are the Bulls exceeding expectations, its just that the quality of play in the games I'm watching seems lower, from both sides. The Bulls have a better record than they usually do, but they don't seem like a better team to me. Lots of bone headedness and lethargy.
Well, keep in mind that we are relying heavily on a rookie PG too. Plus, our team is relatively young and haven't been playing together for a long time either. Oh yea, plus adjusting to a new coach....a rookie coach for that matter...doesn't help either.
I agree. But the strange thing is that the rookie PG is the best player on the team and that w-l wise, the Bulls are doing way better than usual so close to post-circus trip time of the season. So we look bad out there, IMO, but the rookie PG is the best player and w-l wise we're better off than usual. Strange.
Another observation I have is that the league leaders in scoring look weaker than in previous seasons. Kobe, Melo, and Iverson have been at the top of the list in recent seasons and ~30 PPG (or pushing it) was common. This season, Wade's up there at 29.5 but there's a drop off to LeBron at 26.5 and Nowitzki is the only other player averaging 25+. Jalen Rose's 22.5 PPG season for the Bulls would make him a top 10 scorer in this year's NBA.
I think that's a very astute point. I think we're in an era where the best teams are the best based on the fact that they subjugate their individual talents and play as a team, with the exception of Cleveland. I think we've also reached the point where all the straight-from-high-school players are reaching their prime, and because they didn't have as much time to refine their game, they just aren't as good, and their teams aren't as good.
This is a possibility. I think part of it is also that the Bulls are playing junk ball. It's been somewhat effective, but it's still trash. Our sets suck. Our movement sucks. Our defense sucks. Teams are playing us sloppy, because we're playing sloppy. If anything, this season should show what a difference a star makes. I don't watch enough non-Bulls ball anymore to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if teams are playing down to our level.
I don't think teams are playing down to the bulls level. I think the bulls and probably 20 other teams are at a very similar level: mediocre. The bulls are still getting blown out by the good teams. Like you alluded to, having a star in Rose with the ability to win games on his own is the difference between this years team and last years. The bulls aren't coming up short at the end anymore.
It's just that the NBA doesn't have enough dominant players spread through the league. You have players like Kobe and Pau exclusive on the Lakers. You have players like Tony Parker, Manu Ginoboli and Tim Duncan on the Spurs. You have players like Kevin Garnett. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce on the Celtics...Dominant players aren't spread out...they get clumped together and it makes those teams that have them MUCH better. It makes teams like the Bulls look mediocre...We have a dominant point guard, but we need a dominant and versatile big man...we have no dominant post players who can play offense AND defense....we need that and a more dominant shooting guard too who is more consistent. It could be Gordon one day, but he will have to learn to dribble out of double teams, be a better passer, hit more of his created shots, play consistent defense and play more consistent offense.
One thing to note about Kobe and LeBron is that they're minutes are way down this year. They also have more help than in previous years. Kobe doesn't have to be main man because Gasol and Bynum are playing well, plus their bench has been money MOST of the year. With LeBron, Mo Williams has been solid, plus Z and others also have solid contributions. The other thing to point out is that the league is more team-oriented than ever. Most realize that you can't win a title by yourself anymore, so getting others involved is a key to winning on a nightly basis. That's why the Lakers, Celtics and Cavs are at the top of the NBA right now. They get contributions all over the place instead of relying on one player.
