Niko's March (10 games) 32.2 minutes 20.8 points 8.2 rebounds 1.4 assists 1.0 steals 1.2 blocked shots 8.1 free throw attempts .566 TS%
And he keeps on just tearing it up in the 4th quarter in March: 12.3 minutes 10.0 points 2.4 rebounds 49.1 FG% 34.8% 3's (2.3 attempts) 87.8% (4.1 attempts) .666 TS% .561 eFG%
Niko is really thriving under Thibs. Great to see. The team in March though is 4-6. That's not so great to see. So, it looks like Niko won't be a bust. He looks like a legit NBA player, maybe even all-star caliber someday. But the wins and losses are what matter on a "win now" team and teams that have rookies lead them tend not to do so great in that department. Its nice to know that the Bulls have a piece to "build with" going forward. And at some point these gaudy statistical performances will result it lots of NBA wins one would hope.
I'm sure that 4-6 record has nothing to do with the fact that the Bulls are missing their starting backcourt, which includes their All-Star, All-Defense SG who is: 14th in the NBA in Scoring 5th in the NBA in Total FT 6th in the NBA in Total FTA 4th in the league in Steals Per Game 9th in the NBA in Offensive Rating 6th in the NBA in Offensive Win Shares 8th in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares 7th in the NBA in Total Win Shares 7th in the NBA in Win Shares Per 48 Minutes 19th in the NBA in PER And their starting PG, who leads the team in assists.
And Thibs playing his players more minutes has nothing to do with them missing their starting backcourt AND their 6th man of the year candidate. Just wow. You blow me away with this stupidity. It just gets worse and worse.
Butler sure has come a long way under Thibs. Thibs is really good at getting the most out of the talent he's given to work with.
Some coaches are known to be bad for players. Nate McMillan back in Portland was a point guard killer. Larry Brown, also was demoralizing to the point guards on his teams. Gasol's been taking the mid, when he's better at the post, in the high post or the low post. Backing his man down. He often now faces up. The thing is, he makes them, so you don't notice it as much. Butler's taking the reigns as the primary scorer because he's young and can take a lot of minutes. Thibs knows this. It won't last forever, hell he's out for injury now - but it's allowed Butler to progress at hyper speed. So that's the positive.
I wonder how many games we lost because the team went through one of it's patented scoring droughts in the 4th quarter while Niko could do nothing but sit and watch?
Since this is the new thing you'll be raging on the next couple months, should Niko be playing the 3 in the 4th? If no, who should be benched, Noah or Gasol? Out of Niko, Noah, Gasol and Gibson, are you saying that the only guy that should be playing for sure in the 4th quarters is Niko?
Based on this first quarter, I think a case could be made that Niko - Taj - Gasol would not be a bad trio.
I think Niko has said "fuck Rookie of the Month, I'm going for Player Of The Month in March". 11 games 32.0 Minutes 21.5 Points 8.5 Rebounds 43.2% Field Goals 26.0% 3-pointers (5.6 Attempts Per Game) 83.7% Free Throws (7.8 Attempts Per Game) 1.45 Blocked Shots 0.91 Steals 1.36 Assists .573 True Shooting Percentage
