Gasol is not good at defense at all. He blocks shots and rebounds well, but whenever he's charged with guarding a quality athletic big, he gets posterized. Taj stopped Vucevic just fine, man on man. Why Thibs took him out makes no sense. Rose never was a good defender and he hasn't really looked good on D all season. Kirk is old and it shows. He can't keep guys 30 years old and younger in front of him. Snell was basically our only guy who was getting to loose balls. He looked VERY good to me. Either Noah's knee is turning him from DPOY to meh, or it's guarding the better of the two PF/C. He had to chase Channing Frye around most of the night. Pau certainly wasn't the guy to do that. Mirotic got few minutes, then he got more and performed really well. Then he got yanked for Noah/Gasol back in the game. Another questionable move.
I agree with almost all of this. Gasol is not a good man defender, and is really only good at rebounding in his area for that matter, but I also think part of his struggles today was due to Vucevic playing out of his mind. Something happens, I think, when these Euros battle other Euros. There seems to be a lot of pride and history involved. Vucevic is an exciting young big man, right, but that's probably the best game of his career. I agree though -- both Taj and Mirotic were playing Vucevic well, and I'm not sure why Thibs insisted on covering him with Gasol. For that matter, I thought Thibs got thoroughly out coached. If the execution was somewhat lazy -- and I really don't care about the loss to be honest -- then his coaching seemed even lazier. Stacey King was getting angry at the players for not doubling and trapping but that almost certainly looked like the game plan. Interesting stuff. Mirotic seems to struggle to get into the flow of games. His first stint was absolutely terrible. And he looked like he is ready to take over when he was yanked in the fourth. Noah is half the player when you ask him to chase stretch fours at the three point line. I know a lot of people are pointing to the injury but I think a lot of it is that he's just always playing out of position. I still don't like the starting lineup as constituted, switching in Dunleavy or not, and I'm not sure ow to fix it.
So... Snell starting... that was a thing, yes? http://stats.nba.com/game/#!/0021400566/playbyplay/ So, this was a key play on D down the stretch. http://on.nba.com/1xWJwdO Is Snell supposed to stay in front of his guy better than that? Thibs seems to want his players to "guide" guys to the bigs oftentimes. Does a healthier, fresher Noah contest that shot without fouling? Is that just a good play by Olidepo? One play later, Oladipo again. http://on.nba.com/1IGsoKW Rose gets caught on the screen and Mirotic just does a lousy job of helping, yes? That's why he was pulled from the game at the end, IMO. Next defensive play. http://on.nba.com/1xWKjeJ Rose looks lazy on this one fighting through the screen and what was Mirotic thinking was going to happen there? Rose was clearly not going to be able to stay with his guy and Mirotic goes to cover the 3 point shooter, leaving Olidepo an unencumbered saunter down the lane. Rose has something to say to Mirotic after that one. Next defensive sequence. http://on.nba.com/1IGsQsR This just looks a nice play by the Magic and Pau not being able to stop Vucevic from doing what he wants. Pau is going to have a hard time staying in front of younger, more athletic, stronger guys. We'd like to see Rose fighting to stop the penetration more than that though, yes? Just bad D down the stretch. That being said, there is a drop off having Gasol in there vs Gibson when it comes to defense. Rose also looks pretty much like a sieve. Mirotic looks like he's not a strong defender and makes mistakes. Next sequence. http://on.nba.com/1xWKNBJ Gasol just loses this individual battle. Does Noah or Gibson? Next sequence. http://on.nba.com/1xWKQ0q Crafty vet move by Gasol on the younger player. Still though, you can't do that kind of thing every play. You can't really bank on that. A stop is a stop though. The next possession the Bulls get a stop. http://on.nba.com/1IGtKW3 Rose got a hand up at least and that's Ben Gordon being Ben Gordon. Perhaps the 7 years ago Ben hits that. Next defense sequence. http://on.nba.com/1u1r8eK Just blows by Butler. Now, Oladipo is pretty good, but that's pretty surprising to see. Is Gasol supposed to challenge that more then he did? Does Gibson or Noah at least contest the shot or get a foul? Next sequence. http://on.nba.com/1xWLlaM Pau just losing an individual matchup here. Does Gibson do a better job? Next sequence. http://on.nba.com/1xWLv1O Get a hand up at least Pau. (he does this a lot) http://on.nba.com/1IGuH0P Overplay by Butler and arm waving "defense" by Gasol and Rose. ---- Tough to see the Bulls not being able to get stops. Is the personal geared for this though? The Thibs scheme relies strong defenders at the 4 and 5. That's why Thibs liked to close with Noah and Gibson the last few years. Now we have have Gasol and Mirotic, who are weaker defenders. Rose isn't exactly a strong point of the spear either. The Magic were attacking Mirotic and Pau down the stretch and it worked great. Also, Butler not making much of an impact on D down the stretch. Frustrating game. NBA.com stats though is the coolest thing maybe ever.
Oladipo was driving at will and scoring with Jimmy guarding him. Maybe Oladipo deserves some credit for just being really good?
Are any of you concerned about whether the Bulls will be better on defense in the playoffs? I can't seem to get myself worked up. Washington looks like it might be the toughest team in the conference, and if the Bulls can score, I think they'll be fine. Oh, and this: http://on.nba.com/1u5jIqW
