vs CHICAGO BULLS (2-0) @ WASHINGTON WIZARDS (0-1) Preseason Game 3, Road Game 2 Saturday, October 12, 2013 – 4:00 PM CT HSBC Arena Comcast SportsNet Chicago Game Notes Chicago Bulls (2-0) Home 1-0 Road 1-0 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 94.00 (Opp: 81.50) RPG: 49.50 (Opp: 34.50) APG: 18.50 (Opp: 18.00) SPG: 7.00 (Opp: 9.50) BPG: 9.00 (Opp: 5.50) TO: 20.00 (Opp: 17.00) FG%: .426 (Opp: .377) FT%: .740 (Opp: .712) 3p%: .421 (Opp: .322) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Luol Deng - SF - Carlos Boozer - PF - Nazr Mohammed - C - Bulls Stats Leaders Points: Gibson 16.5, Deng 14.0 Rebounds: Gibson 9.0, Mohammed 6.0 Assists: Dunleavy, Hinrich & Deng 2.0 Steals: Butler 3.0 Blocks: Mohammed 3.0, Gibson 2.0 FG%: Gibson .667 FT%: Butler & Deng .750 3FG%: Hinrich .660, Deng .500 Injury report Joakim Noah (right groin strain) is day-to-day. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Washington Wizards (0-1) Home 0-1 Road 0-0 Probable Wizards starters John Wall - PG Bradley Beal - SG Martell Webster - SF Jan Vesely - PF Nene - C Injury report EMEKA OKAFOR-HERNIATED DISC NECK (OUT) CHRIS SINGLETON-JONES FRACTURE LEFT FOOT (OUT) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of 1, 23-18 Bulls It was 21-8, then Thibs put in all 5 of the second unit. Gibson is still playing very well offensively! Beal 7, Webster, Gibson 6 Bulls 44% Washington 32%
44-35 Bulls at halftime Bulls 47% Wizards 28% Gibson 12, Wizards 11 Bulls 24-20 Rebounding edge Nene 5 Bulls PF spot, 1-8.
End of 3 73-62 Bulls Bulls 50% Washington 36% Beal 16, Gibson 15, Deng 14, Webster 12, Butler 11 Bulls 36-30 rebounding edge
Some thoughts: 1). Taj looks like he's on a higher plateau. At least in the preseason, the numbers aren't a fluke. Much more confident and decisive on offense. And he looks huge. Like.....maybe PED kinda huge. 2). Dunleavy looks like he's been on the team for years. He seems to fit into his role on offense and defense seamlessly. He'll be a valuable contributor. 3). Teague looks much better than last year, but he's still undecisive on offense and it's a drag on the rest of the team. He doesn't look for his shot and is afraid to shoot, and it makes it harder for everyone else to function. His defense is good and he generally runs the team pretty well. 4). Murphy will be a reliable contributor this year. He looks pretty physical and in control when he's out there, and his jumper will be a huge boon to the offense at times. He'll be in the thick of things sooner than Snell, who looks like he'll need this season to get acclimated to NBA basketball. 5). We'll be statistically balanced. No one's going to have a remarkable year statistically, but our offense will be as good as it's ever been. 6). Jimmy's going to have a good season. He looks like a legit starting NBA 2 guard. Hallelujiah!
Absolutely PED huge. Gibson worked out with Rose's and Love's trainer in LA this summer. I'd bet anything that the guy has a science program as well as an on court program for them. What do you folks think are the chances that Thibodeau shifts Boozer to the bench? The second unit may still be a little scoring deficient. I could see him playing an instant offense kind of role. I like the way he rebounds. He's a good fit to play alongside Murphy who is a little undersized. I'm waiting for Teague to flip the switch and just start dominating and I'm not sure how far away he is from that. Might happen this season and it might never happen. The posters at RealGM seem to want to trade Teague for a bag of chips and a second rounder. What do you guys think his trade value is? I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulls could get quite a bit -- perhaps an unprotected first rounder from a lottery team -- and wouldn't hate a move. It seems like Teague was drafted because he was the best available player and that the franchise never really had any long-term plans for him. I think both are decent rookies but wish that Thibodeau wasn't forced to play them. There's probably going to be games this season when they both are outclassed or make rookie mistakes. Snell might have been taken as a project. I like his size and athleticism but he looks awful raw skill wise. My prediction that Jimmy will average 15+ this season already looks ridiculous. There's just not enough shots for him to do that. I think he could lead the league in steals though and shoot a ton of free throws. The other day, I was looking at how the NBA's shooting guards and swingmen ranked in terms of free throw attempts per shot attempt -- who shot the most free throws relative to their shot attempts. Durant and Harden were tops, as they are in basically every other offensive category. Butler was third. I could see him leading that stat this season.
Rose sits but Bulls defeat Wizards 83-81 Derrick Rose missed the first NBA game played in South America on Saturday, sitting out the Chicago Bulls' 83-81 victory over the Washington Wizards with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. The NBA star's absence disappointed a sellout crowd of 13,635 at the HSBC Arena in Rio -- the gymnastics venue at the 2016 Olympics -- where the top ticket price for the preseason game was 2,000 Brazilian reals ($915). Taj Gibson led the Bulls with 18 points and Luol Deng added 14. Bradley Beal paced Washington with 16.
I'd give it a 30% chance. If Gibson clearly outshines Boozer I think it's more likely that Boozer will be pushed into a Bogans role than relegated to the bench. I do think the two will play about the same minutes this year. Partly because of Taj's emergence and partly because Thibs seems to be more comfortable playing both Booz and Taj at the same time than in the past. I don't ever see Teague dominating. He still has a long way to go on offense, and he still doesn't seem that instinctive...which isn't the sort of thing that seems to improve a lot over the years. He does look a lot better than last year though. He just needs to figure out ONE thing he can really bring to the table on offense. Probably a mid-to-late first round pick. Maybe something more if it was heavily protected (a la Tyrus Thomas). I think the Bulls will hang on to him in case Kirk leaves at the end of the season, unless he's part of some consolidation deal. I see Snell's problem being assertiveness and figuring out his place in the offense. His skills seem fine to me. He's not a fast twitch athlete or above the rim player, but his length, shot, ball handling and defense should all translate pretty well. He also does extremely well without the ball on both sides of the floor. I really see his time here being a mishmash between Jimmy and Thabo. I think he's clearly an instinctive player who plays the game well, but it'll take him some time to find his niche on the team and trust his skills. Most of this season will be quiet with occasional flashes and he'll be a rotation player next year. The Bulls look like they're going to have a very pluralistic approach to scoring the ball. I expect Derrick to be around 20ppg and Taj, Lu, Jimmy, Boozer, and Noah being somewhere between 12 and 17. Again, no one will stand out statistically but we'll be very effective this year. It'll be a Gestalt thing.
