vs CHICAGO BULLS (3-4) @ INDIANA PACERS (0-6) PRESEASON – GAME 08 Game Notes Chicago Bulls (3-4) Home 2-2 Road 1-2 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 101.1 (Opp: 105.3) RPG: 51.9 (Opp: 42.0) APG: 20.3 (Opp: 20.0) SPG: 7.00 (Opp: 9.29) BPG: 3.29 (Opp: 3.57) FG%: .410 (Opp: .451) FT%: .738 (Opp: .744) 3p%: .356 (Opp: .365) Probable Bulls starters Kirk Hinrich - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Tony Snell - SF - Nikola Mirotic - PF - Pau Gasol - C - Bulls Playoffs Stats Leaders Points: Mirotic 12.7, McDermott 12.6 Rebounds: Portis 10.0, Noah 8.0 Assists: Butler 4.00, Brooks 2.9 Steals: Hinrich 1.40, Butler 1.29 Blocks: Gibson 1.00, Portis 0.83 FG%: Gibson .800, Felicio .545 FT%: Mirotic .840, Bairstow .833 3FG%: Hinrich .500, Portis .444 Injury report Derrick Rose is probable. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Dallas Mavericks (0-6) Home 0-3 Road 0-3 Probable Mavericks starters ??? - PG ??? - SG ??? - SF ??? - PF ???- C Injury report ??? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Bobby Portis is such a badass. Does anyone else think he might be an allstar this season if he was given minutes? I legitimately expect him to be our best big before the playoffs roll around. 2) Derrick Rose looked a lot better tonight than where he ended last season. I can't tell if it was because he was quicker than he was last season or if the Mavs defense was just that bad. I think there's a possibility it took him two seasons to come back from his injury, like we all knew was a possibility. That's actually kind of huge when you think about it. 3) Snell is frustrating but if you look at his game log he's had three very decent games in his last four. He was my pick to play well this season before I gave up on after three games before I got back on the bandwagon all of which is to say . . . there's still a chance it really clicks for him. 4) The offense looks terrible when Taj is paired with Noah, especially when you add Kirk to the mix. You really need at least one big who can hit from deep with this offense. 5) Taj is looking rather sprightly this season. 6) I think this team is way more talented one through fifteen than any Bulls team in recent memory.
7) Forgot this one: I remain totally and completely unconcerned about the Derrick Rose/Jimmy Butler drama. I think there's been enough said in the press to suggest that there's definitely something going on off the court; but on the court, they sure seem to call each other's number an awful lot of the time. It's like the inverse of the James/Wade situation, where they seemed to be friends but fight for the ball at times on the court.
8) One last one: I feel like Niko Mirotic has had an inconsistent preseason in terms of his shooting. But when you look at his game logs, he's scored more points than shots he's taken in every single game. Not only has he been efficient, he's also been remarkably consistent. I think it shows how flawed your (really my) gut assessment of his efficiency is. I don't seem to intuitively register the effect of free throws on an NBA game.
Wow, SST, you're swingin' hard here. With regard to Portis, I feel the need to ask a question to your question. If you actually think that, given the minutes, Portis is an all star, what makes you think Hoiberg won't give him the minutes? IMO, Snell's strictly a role player and like Hinrich, his offense is secondary. Agree that Taj looks great. I also think Noah looks much more athletic than he did at any time last season. Agree that these Bulls are kinda crazy deep. If completely healthy, this team has more talent than minutes. The Butler-Rose thing came from that last playoff game last season and for sure, the Rose-Butler tandem looked several shades of dysfunctional. Several members of the media couldn't help themselves from running with it...hard. As is often the case, under closer examination, there's not much "there" there. Color me mostly unconcerned, but somewhere short of oblivious. Yeah, Mirotic has had a mixed sort of preseason. You're not concerned. I'm not concerned. Much more important is that it appears that Hoiberg ain't in the least concerned. Lots of fans and media types don't like the Gasol-Mirotic front line. Fred appears not to give a damn what those fans and media types think. Good on Fred. Mirotic is not a role player. Mirotic is one of the core players on this team.
I remember people were complaining about him in Eurobasket this summer, but by the end of the tournament his per 36 numbers were 18/9/2 with 57% TS. In the preseason he had a 22.3 PER with 62% TS and a Net rating of +5. I mean, there's basically no way to say he didn't have a good preseason, despite what seemed like underperformance in some games. I think a big guy who's prodiguous at volume shooting and getting to the line is going to be efficient almost by default, the but the 1-5 3Pt games seem to disproportionately affect your perception of how he's playing.
Rosenthal, I like your phrase "despite what seemed like underperformance in some games." When I went back and saw that Mirotic had scored more points than shots put up in every game it made me distrust all of my instincts. On offense, at least, Mirotic was on a tear the entire preseason and it never felt that way to me . . . I guess I'm still learning how much the 3 pointer and free throw line impact efficiency. Now Mirotic's defense? Still suspect, but probably not near suspect enough to ever not start a guy shooting 62% TS on high volume while stretching the floor and putting the other team into the penalty. He's a weird player to follow, isn't he? Transplant, in terms of things keeping Portis on the bench, I think most of all, it's just easier. I don't think a Noah/Gasol front line works well enough for either starting or finishing. I think at some point in time Hoiberg is going to ditch it -- might even be on opening day -- and when he does, he's going to use up a lot of capital that he has with the veterans. When he makes that move, it's going to be harder to sell if Portis is getting minutes. I think it's one thing to say "go to the bench," and another thing to say "go to the bench and share minutes with a rookie." I think Portis isn't going to get minutes until somebody gets injured, which -- let's face it -- is probably going to happen pretty soon.
And on Snell, I'm not saying I expect him to become a better than replacement-level player. My take is that, he's the type of player we usually make mistakes on. I think we have a tendency to write off players in their third/early fourth years who haven't quite put things together yet, when sometimes they're just figuring things out. Snell strikes me as a slow learner, which is fine. He seems to fit the profile of a guy who we write off and then really starts to come on.
I agree that Snell seems to have longer than usual periods of gestation, which make it appear that nothing's going on, even though he's allowing himself to piece things together in his own way. It remains to be seen whether or not he'll get the runway necessary to go through his growth process. His saving grace is that his game really doesn't need a whole lot to be NBA level. His frame and skill set makes it very easy for him to be a decent role player even if he's still putting things together. I like him in the starting lineup. I think it'll be good for his confidence and allow him to pick his spots.
If you think about it Mirotic is the only big that allows Hoiberg to credibly commit to his preferred style of offense. All the other big combinations just don't facilitate the pace-and-space thing he wants to run because it does weird things for spacing. In this light it make sense for Mirotic to be the highest played big man on our roster.
I think Gasol and Portis are also great for Hoiberg. Basically, I think in this offense the most important thing is players who can shoot along the front line. I think shooting along the front line is even more important than shooting along the back line, because smalls can only bring so much help defense. I'll say this for GarPax -- put aside all of the weirdness, they did a decent job retooling the roster for Hoiberg just as they did for Thibodeau.
The thing I worry about with Gasol is that I wonder if he genuinely wants to play Hoiball. He seems like he's happiest doing pins in the low post and plodding along. I think it might take him time to find his place in the offense. I'm not sure how much Portis will see the court, thus making it a moot point, although I agree in principle.
