What Are You Guys Worried About?

Stop posting about other posters.

If you have an issue with the way I post, take it up with the higher ups in private.

Other wise, as you have been directed, stick to hoops. Thanks.

 

Offense will almost certainly not be a problem if you take a good look at what Fred does and how it translates to the roster.

I am, however, curious to see what he does on the defensive side of the ball.

 

edit: the top tweet is him responding to a question about whether the Bulls have a chance a winning the title this year.

 

One of the reasons that Thibs was dismissed, supposedly, what that the front office felt that they had a roster that could have won the Bulls-Cavs series. They were disappointed by that outcome.

The Bulls-Cavs series was played with Noah in a less than ideal state.

If the expectations are that the coaching change will improve the team, one would think the org would be quite hopeful of winning a NBA title this season and that those are the expectations.

 

What moves did they not make that they should have made?

 

Not really.

I mean, that's everyones ultimate goal, but you can't ignore improvement & growth in the teams around you. I don't think the FO has that expectation, at least not to the degree that San An, GS, and Cle have it.

Be reasonable K4E...how could they? What reasonable chance do you see on day 1 of the season, of the Bulls being able to win 7 against a healthy version of the Cle team we saw in the finals?

It's going to require a lot of good fortune and a lot of growth. There's a chance, like Friedell said, but it's relatively small.

 

Yes, Paxson has been unable to build a team that is favored to win or win a NBA title in 13+ years on the job.

The closest couple of times were when Thibs was coaching the team. This last season the Bulls were a whisper away from getting to the Finals. A seen Dave Blatt timeout attempt. Gasol's hamstring holding up a couple more games (why were there no minutes restrictions put on him from the Bulls org like there were for Rose and Noah?)

It seems like this trend will continue in the upcoming season.

Let's hope Freddy Del Hoiberg can figure out some way to get the most out of the hodge podge roster. Sad that the fan expectations for the team are slipping closer and closer to the miserable NBA middle. Bulls management seems to think that this roster is championship caliber and that Freddy is an upgrade over Thibs, so we'll see what happens.

 

I also agree that it seems that management felt that Thibs was the problem and Hoiberg is an upgrade.

 

Hey rosenthall, you're always able to write several cogent thoughts, what particular chemistry issues are you referring to? I'd be interested to know what you have to think on this.

Are you referring to the Rose - Butler freelancing that would happen from time to time, or even more often than that?

 

Butler hasn't been a very high usage guy, particularly when he's in there with DRose and while it's true that we think of both Rose and Butler as primarily "take it to the rack" guys, jumpshots make up most of their attempts.

I'm not concerned at all about their styles being incompatible. I'm concerned about Rose being a top-5 PG. If Rose can do that, the Rose-Butler tandem will be just fine.

 

Lol at those moving, shifting goalposts.

 

He needs to improve his threes a lot (doubtful, especially given that we're not hearing that he's working with a shooting coach this summer) or lay off those jumpshots as much, for that to happen.

There was actually a pretty compelling narrative going on over at Blogabull that says that Thibs was noted this, but hadn't yet managed to get through to Rose when the season ended.

 

What is really the LOL is how folks continually champion and defend mediocrity.

The goalpost should be the NBA Title. Especially with a "win now" roster, which a core of Gasol/Noah/Gibson/Dunleavy/Rose/Butler/Brooks/Hinrich is.

If that isn't a reasonable goalpost, then the team really should be blown up.

 

It is.

However, odds change and shift according to the seasons. Some seasons they're greater, some seasons they're less.

But they play the games because one never knows how things will turn out across the long NBA regular season.


You, my friend, despite all the belly-aching, well know these facts. In your more lucid moments, you've posted the same opinions on this very board.

 

That could be the coach. Jimmy had his best season ever though last year. Gasol had a great return to form season. Dunleavy seemingly played great for where he's at in life. Mirotic was 2nd in ROY.

The two guys who really took steps back were Noah and Rose. Noah seemed to be more health than anything. As for Rose, it could the coach not getting through to him. It could also be that's what Rose and Team Rose are going to give the Bulls. At least until the contract year, if they are gunning for another huge contract and Rose is willing to continuously put his body on the line again.

The team didn't have the same defensive intensity, that's for sure. But how much of that was the mere presence of Gasol logging heavy minutes at the 5? And Rose having a generally passive attitude about a whole host of issues on the basketball court.

You could be right though. If Hoiberg is better at this I guess we'll see a more aggressive Rose on both ends of the court. Of course, this could just be Team Rose gearing up for that new deal one year early as well.

Yes, we'll see how it all plays out. These generally seem to be good guys, but with a strong coach like Thibs, they were not left to their own devices much. I also don't like how the team meshes together much basketball-wise, especially with a low EFF guy in Rose at the 1 and the Gasol-Noah 5/4 pairing. But, this was the case last season as well.

The only issue I can see is that both want to be "the man." Rose wants the ball in iso or high screen roll situations. Butler stands passively off to the side. Butler wants the rock on the wing or posting up, Rose acts super-passive and just watches (this seemed to happen in the Bulls-Cavs series).

Rose *should* be an attack the rim guy, and when he's playing well he is, but I think we all know that the jump shooting / missing Rose just isn't that effective.

It will be interesting to see what a fresh take will bring.

 

I'm glad we agree.

 

Is there any large-sample evidence of this?

 

EXAMPLES

The one most often cited is the Bulls-Cavs series.

If you watch tape of the regular season from last year you'll see examples of both breaking the offense at times and going freelance.

It will become an issue if Rose wants to play hero ball to earn another MAX contract and Butler wants to establish himself as one of the best players in the NBA. All-NBA team level. If that's the case, its going to take some fancy coaching footwork to sooth egos and to devise schemes to keep both happy, while still maximizing wins, assuming of course winning the in the regular season matters anymore.