How many minutes per game does he get? Whose minutes suffer? Seems like the main choices are Jimmy and Lu.
Suffer seems like a loaded word. Where is your tongue? Anyway, to play the straight guy. Dunleavy plays a bit more than Korver did in the years of the three headed monster at 2g (which was 22, as i recall), so I'd say 26 minutes, with 15 at SF, 2 at PF and 9 at SG. No one suffers. Lu slides over to 4 from time to time, Jimmy over to the 3.
Interesting question, though these never work out for some reason. As we know, Butler and Deng are both big-minute guys. Butler can backup Deng, but not vice-versa. I can't see Deng playing less than 33mpg and to keep things simple, let's keep them all at SF. Butler should also play at least 33mpg. We'll need to see how Thibodeau feels about Dunleavy's ability to play SG. Obviously, if Dunleavy backed up both positions, he'd average 30mpg, but I expect Hinrich to get a decent number of SG minutes early and maybe Snell will get some as the season progresses. Of course, injuries may also play a role in this. Not that this is any Nostradamus-like thing, but Dunleavy's minutes figure to be in the high teens or low 20s per game and Deng's, Butler's and Hinrich's minutes will all benefit (not suffer) from Dunleavy's presence on the team.
When exactly do you need 3pt shooting? Thibs has harped on the need for it throughout the offseason. I would suggest that you need 3pt shooting to: 1) Beat the zone defense. Teams played zone against the Bulls a lot last season to great effect. 2) Come from behind (trade 3pt baskets for 2pt baskets) when your defensive minded guys can't build leads. 3) Keep defenses honest. Stay at home on the 3pt shooter or he'll burn you. Less double teams possible. Korver played 20 and 22.6 MPG his two seasons for us. Quite a bit in Q4 of games because of 2). Remarkable because he really sucked on defense - too slow to guard either SG or SF.
Yes, only accomplished 3-point shooters need apply. Wait, no. That's stupid. What I'm saying is that 3-point shooting is no longer a situational thing. 3-point shooting is part of every offensive set. It's not a specialty thing anymore. Dunleavy may be the most accomplished 3-point shooter the Bulls have, but Rose, Hinrich, Butler and Dunleavy all can make the 3 with some regularity.
Again, Thibs repeatedly harped on the need for 3pt shooting during the offseason. If Rose, Hinrich, and Butler are good enough, why did he talk up the need so much? FWIW, I obviously think we needed a scorer, not a shooter.
More is better. Thibodeau talked in the offseason about the Bulls needing more shooting. Forman has given him several additional shooters. I assume that he's happy with the additions. All in all, we all probably ought to be in the midst of some wild paganistic dance of joyfulness. As for me, I think I'll hold off and see how things look in November.
If the team is at full health I expect Dunleavy to get high teens or low 20's. If Kirk or Derrick go down he'll get 5-10 more minutes. If Jimmy or Lu go down he'll get about 30-35 minutes.
This. Does anyone know why Thibs has made a couple of different comments about obtaining shooting? It seems to me that a guy who could create off the dribble would be more of an asset. Korver gave the Bulls very little on the offensive end against the Heat in the playoffs when he was here. What am I missing?
I think we sucked against the zone defense last season. I saw a lot of it. I saw the Bulls played it a lot, too.
Quite a bit in both our series. We played a lot of zone ourselves. You almost have to with Boozer, Nate, and Belinelli on the floor together.
