For me, the relevant statistic is minutes played, not the productivity. On a per minute basis, Tyrus was always a productive player, it's just that he was always too much of a knucklehead to keep himself on the court. Tyrus has always been capable of being a useful player in short spurts. Its always been a question of 'putting it all together.' The similarities between him and Stromile Swift are becoming eerily similar.
To me it says he's a high energy player who can contribute a lot in a few minutes. Certainly of some value. The outrageous thing was picking LeMarcus Aldridge and trading him for Tyrus. Tyrus would have been a good mid/late 1st round pick.
Agreed. Tyrus is unique, but he does not seem like the player you'll be able to rely on for heavy minutes. I remember around draft time lots of people were criticizing the picks of Brandon Roy and LA because they were deemed as 'safe', and picking them would have represented a flaw in the PaxSkiles methodology. I guess we were wrong about that one.
I would say the other, more relevant difference is that Tyrus has more natural ability than JJ. Tyrus was consistently being an inconsistent game changer. In two years with JJ we have his second half against Detroit and.......what exactly? At the end of the day, JJ to me just looks like a middle of the road talent. He seems like a nice guy, and I root for him, but I just don't see too many starting SF's who are worse than him.
If I were in the Bulls' position, and knowing that Lu would play the way he played, I would still give him the contract that he has. Fans tend to gush over players until they are paid what they are worth, at which point they resent having the guy around since their contract represents a trade off that did not exist on their rookie contract (where their pay is arbitrarily held below market value). He's not perfect, but Lu has always been a good player that helps you win, and well, you need to pay those guys to keep them around. His game has limitations and he's been with the team for a while, so familiarity has bred contempt. Really, when factions are created about a players worth to the team, it usually signals 2 things to me: 1). He's good enough to give a damn about. Bulls message boards aren't populated with 'Brian Scalabrine must go' type threads because he's not worth anyone's time. 2). He's probably paid what he's worth. Rookies, scrubs, and superstars never generate conflict over their contract because their value is easily defined (scrubs) or they are forced to be underpaid due to price ceilings on contracts. The fact that Lu fits both these criteria means he's a useful player who's neither a bargain or overpaid.
I don't think familiarity breeds contempt in this case. It makes it so we all see his good and weak points. It's rather obvious we don't want him really handling the ball much, particularly on fast breaks. Familiarity also lets us contrast his game with other guys. Jerry's guy, Howard, has been a terrific ballhandler. A SF/SG type of guy. Deng can't compete with other SFs for playing that kind of game. Give Melo the ball at 3pt line and he'll score in ways Lu cannot. It's plain as day.
You use the example that Deng is not good at ball handling or creating his own shot compared to other small forwards. When has Luol ever been good at those things? He was not good in those areas when he first came into the league, and was a darling of the Bulls faithful in the bbb.net glory days, and that didn't stop a whole bunch of people getting all over his jock. No one needed 6 years to make those observations, they were apparent from when he first entered the league. Why is it that now those qualities are used to crucify him? Mostly because he stopped being a young guy with potential and became a 'got paid' guy who has basically plateau'd, even though his game, and his approach to it has not changed all that much since he first came into the league. I don't think Luol's basic set of good and bad has changed all that much. His relative strengths have largely stayed the same. If that's true, what other reasons are there to explain the shift in public opinion towards him?
I think many of us on this site were saying he should have been traded to free up cap space, and that he's never really been one of the top SFs in the league. When he was hurt and Salmons took his place, Salmons outplayed him! Don't get me wrong, I've actually liked him as a player, and his 3pt shooting this year is a godsend.
In fact, I suggested if we kept him he should be playing a lot of 4 in a small ball lineup. Thibs is actually doing that.
Thibs is playing Deng at the four, but when he's doing that it seems to be usually because Gibson is making bad decisions. I don't expect much of him at the four when Boozer comes back.
I think he'll play PF when the match ups are right. Or when there's foul trouble, injury, blow out/garbage time, etc.
Good posts Rosenthal - I dig where you are coming from re : tyeh bipolar part of our fan base. But when Booze is back and with a year of Omer getting acclimated to NBA play.... why can't Boozer Insurance take the form of Deng in small ball , Omer in Tall ball and say Nick Collison for the MLE in the summer ? We get Tajasams because of what he makes for what he produces We'll all be singing Baby Baby where did our love go when he gets paid his $8M plus the year after next Anyway ... sell high when you have a luxury asset and you never .. and I mean never lose Markets turn. In all things
Touche. Yep, I agree with you. Deng makes a good contrast to Hinrich... who's PER dropped 2.5 points from his rookie contract performance. Lu's production fell off a bit 16.7 to 15.6, but only 1.1 points. And that period included playing through a major injury and a coach who implemented a system that was about as opposite as you possibly could to highlight his strengths and cover his weaknesses. I wish Lu was a more dynamic player but I don't think there are a lot of clear upgrades out there. He's paid well because he's a well above average player. Hasn't a couple months with Kirk straightened him out?
Interesting stats for today. Bulls have 3x guys over 20 PER. Rose, Noah, Taj. Deng is pretty much having a career year, at least on the offensive end, and his PER is a whopping 16.1. Over 20 PPG tho. His rebounds and FG% are down from previous seasons, otherwise I bet he'd be up there, too.
I would argue he's having the best season of his career. His defense has been stellar in stretches. I hate the idea of glue players, because I think it's usually used an excuse to explain why bad players get playing time. Deng may be the exception. He's a glue player because he boards when the team needs boards, usually takes the opposing team's most explosive scorer, and contributes within the flow of the offense. I still would like more big plays from him though. It is what it is. I think you're underestimating Taj now. We like him because he has, in stretches, provided a strong, mobile defensive presence, grabbed timely rebounds, passed well, and scored both in the paint and using his jumper. That's like everything you want from your power forward. If he can get more consistent, I don't see why he's not an above-average to good starter in this league on a good team for many, many years.
My esteemed Thunder, I am not underestimating Tajaliscious at all. I am simply advocating sell high on a luxury asset Like I said ... the realgm twats that bang on about Boozer Insurance are not acknowledging there are more than 1 form of Insurance . Deng - Small Balls , Omer - Tall Balls , Collison - Gritty Balls I'm just glad that we dodged a No Balls bullet with Christina Bosh
Tyrus with a 20/10 game against the Pups tonight for the W . 4 blocks too in 31 minutes . But 7 turovers . Still with a plus / minus of 12+ Love and Beasley have been playing off their tits too.
