Holy crap a Tony Snell sighting. Niko - 2 points. McDermott - hurt again. Snell - 22 points, 7 rebounds and of course competent NBA defense. None of these three guys are lighting the NBA on fire by any stretch. This has been Snell's worst year as a pro though so its nice to see some production from him, even if it just increases his trade value. (wait, the Bulls don't make trades other than salary dumps) Nice win against a tougher East team. Good to see Rose with a productive game.
Snell, Gasol spark Bulls to 104-97 win over the Raptors Tony Snell has no idea when he might play these days, so he prepares as if he's still a part of the Chicago Bulls' rotation. Snell and Pau Gasol each had 22 points, Derrick Rose added 20 and the Bulls pulled away late for a 104-97 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. read more http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400828350
If you check the numbers, looking at season averages, Tony is just about where he's been in the past. I think that preaches caution. Tony started last year horifically, came on strong mid season with a number of 20 point games and then collapsed toward the end of the season. I worry that we're seeing the same type of season progression again. I'm going to need to see Tony play well consistently for a long stretch before I think it's more than fool's gold.
I don't think anyone expects that kind of output on a regular basis. Would be nice. The numbers I look at show him as down a fair amount from last season. For example, his TS% has gone down from 55.0 to 49.7. He's not the only one on the team though with a lower TS% under Hoiball. The low TS% team wide is one of the main reasons Hoiball has created one of the worst offenses in the NBA. And we know its not the roster, because this same roster for the mostpart was the 11th best offense in the NBA last season. Anyway, one thing Tony brings on a regular basis is solid NBA defense. He's a confounding NBA player, that's for sure. Let's hope they can get the most out of him. I think everyone sees that he can be a solid D and 3 rotation player.
This was my takeaway as well. It's tempting to get on the Snell bandwagon since a lot of this team's issues would go away if he could play slightly above replacement level. And the titillating thing about his good games is that they always involve things he looks like he could do all the time if he really wanted to, but given his production to date I think it's best to demand overcompensation on his part in order to get the starting job back.
Meanwhile..........did Derrick Rose just have 3 good games in a row? When's the last time that happened?
I think he's an 8th man or perhaps a Danny Green style starter on a team with several other alphas. Quintessential D and 3 guy. You're right, it always seems like he could do this if he wanted to. One thing he certainly can bring every night is defense, even if the shot isn't falling. And yes, its nice to see Derrick playing some good ball again.
