I had a laugh at Thidiot running a clearly injured Taj Gibson around the court with the Bulls up by 28 with five minutes left. Thibs can't help himself. And the darkest part is, the team will probably be better off if Thibs has hurt Taj to the extent that he misses time in the playoffs. I give it like a 20% chance that Taj plays tomorrow night. Dumb ass.
Maybe we've been selling Thibs short, and he planned all along to run Kirky Poo and Tajy Woo into the ground until they are too injured to play in the postseason? PG - Rose 36, Brooks 12 SG - Butler 36, Snell 12 SF - MDJ 24, Snell 24 PF - Pau 16, Niko 32 C - Noah 32, Pau 16 That's an 8-man rotation that can play with any team in either conference. Plenty of offense, plenty of defense, plenty of rebounding, plenty of 3-point shooting, plenty of ball-handling... I was out tonight and just watched the game and didn't read this thread, but I'm assuming somebody already pointed out how coincidental it was that Niko finally gets 24 minutes at PF and zero at SF and has an unbelieveable game. 26 points and +21? The Nets' announcers certainly could see how special he is... of course, he's a PF/C, not a SF. At all. I wonder what Taj would look like at SF in a Pau/Noah/Taj lineup? Not nearly as good as he does playing PF or C, I'm pretty sure even the most contrarian Bulls fans would agree with that.
Interesting numbers on tonight's game: Pau/Taj..... 21:52, 48-42 Bulls win. That equals 105.4 - 92.2 over 48 minutes. +13.2 over 48 minutes Taj/Niko.... 9:12, 20-13 Bulls win. That equals 104.3 - 67.8 over 48 minutes. +36.5 over 48 minutes Pau/Niko... 13:11, 36-25 Bulls win. That equals 131.1 - 91.0 over 48 minutes. +40.1 over 48 minutes Some people still don't want to admit it, but this is an ongoing theme that has been going on all season. It's plain and simple: This team plays better when Nikola Mirotic is the PF. End. Of. Story. It doesn't matter if Gasol, Noah, or Gibson is the center next to Niko, but Niko should be the PF the majority of the time. Niko/Noah: 579 min, 104.7 - 99.9 (+4.8 per 48 min) Niko/Taj: 662 min, 104.1 - 99.3 (+4.8 per 48 min) Pau/Taj: 854 min, 106.9 - 102.4 (+4.5 per 48 min) Niko/Pau: 632 min, 103.6 - 100.1 (+3.5 per 48 min) Pau/Noah: 1258 min, 103.2 - 100.4 (+2.8 per 48 min) Taj/Noah: 421 min, 97.3 - 104.8 (-7.5 per 48 min) However, the team has been outscored when Niko plays SF. Niko/Pau/Noah: 59 min, 89.1 - 84.0 (+5.1 per 48 min) +6 overall Niko/Taj/Pau: 105 min, 105.0 - 102.4 (+2.6 per 48 min) +6 overall Niko/Taj/Noah: 174 min, 96.0 - 102.4 (-6.4 per 48 min) -23 overall
Niko has scored the 12th most 4th quarter points in the NBA this season. The players who have scored more points in the 4th quarter: Lillard LeBron Harden Isaiah Thomas Lou Williams DWade Westbrook Irving Jamal Anthony Davis Curry That is just downright fucking impressive for a rookie.
8,5 million to be paid to Taj next season. 9 million the season after that. For a guy that supposedly should not be playing. Add that to the player option next season for Hinrich given by the front office. Another guy that should not be playing. Why has the front office done this?
Niko gets 24 minutes and leads the Bulls in scoring. Bulls get a nice win. Result: crazed bitching. Gotta love it! ---- http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/3410602/
Some of Niko's other 4th quarter accomplishments during his rookie season: 17th in Free Throw Attempts 15th in Free Throws Made 13th in 3-pointers made 18th in Rebounds 6th in Defensive Rebounds (Noah is 3rd and Gasol 9th in 4th quarter Defensive Rebounds)
He has done well under Thibs, no doubt. A candidate for rookie of the year and should finish at least 2nd.
Uhh, no, that's not what I said, not even close. I said that the rotation I listed could compete with any team in either conference, under the condition that Taj is unavailable due to injury. Same thing with Hinrich. Nice try, though. But yeah, the $3 million or so that Hinrich is going to make next year is pretty sad. /sarcasm I'm sure that $3 million will cost the Bulls a championship. Nice try, though. The only one I see bitching is you. Well, and SST, but I guess you're in favor of having the all-important Taj in the game with 5 minutes left and a 28 point lead? (And no, I don't expect an answer, just more tap-dancing and twisting of words) I'm really looking forward to seeing what GarPax gets in a trade this summer for Taj, Noah or Pau. One of them is gone, Taj is the logical choice IMHO, but if Noah brings more in return I can see that. Or Pau. But again, nice try at deflection away from the obvious fact that Niko should be playing a lot of minutes at PF, I know how much it pisses you off to him do what he did tonight because you got so much joy at watching him struggle at SF. Just like Taj or Pau or Jo would struggle at SF.
Easily the best coach since Phil Jackson around here. And Thibs didn't have a MJ to work with. Great job Thibs! A true asset.
I like Niko and hope he continues to do well. Why is his 3 point shooting so low though? There are 4 good players for 2 slots and a locker room to manage. Not the best roster construction, but Thibs still is putting Niko is spots where he has a shot at winning rookie of the year and should finish at least 2nd. The front office is paying Taj Gibson 8 million this year, 8.5 million next year and 9 million the year after that and he is a good NBA basketball player in his prime. How much should he be playing in the world of Bullsville? I'm hoping the front office can make a good move in the off-season to clear up the logjam they created by signing Niko and Gasol to a roster where they were already investing serious money in Noah and Gibson. Niko played well tonight and the Bulls won. Why are you so angry?
Jamal's TEAM in the 4th quarter when he is playing: 113.1 off rtg, 105.3 def rtg, +7.8 per 48 minutes Niko's TEAM in the 4th quarter when he is playing: 109.2 off rtg, 101.0 def rtg, +8.2 per 48 minutes I really don't know how to explain that one, since Jamal plays for a MUCH better team (55 wins in the blatantly tougher West vs the Bulls 49 wins in the obviously weaker East)???
