@ CHICAGO BULLS (27-22) @ MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (15-36) Game 50, Road Game 25 Saturday, Feb. 06, 2016 – 7:00 PM CT Target Center ComCast SportsNet / ESPN 1000 AM Game Notes Chicago Bulls (27-22) Home 16-9 Road 11-13 Bulls Preseason Averages: PPG: 101.6 (Opp: 101.3) RPG: 48.5 (Opp: 46.7) APG: 21.7 (Opp: 22.3) SPG: 6.08 (Opp: 7.94) BPG: 5.98 (Opp: 5.57) FG%: .435 (Opp: .429) FT%: .780 (Opp: .708) 3p%: .357 (Opp: .336) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - E'Tauwn Moore - SG - Doug McDermott - SF - Taj Gibson - PF - Cameron Bairstow - C - Bulls Regular Season Stats Leaders Points: Butler 22.4, Gasol 16.7 Rebounds: Gasol 11.0, Noah 8.8 Assists: Rose 4.7, Butler 4.3 Steals: Butler 1.69, Mirotic 0.86 Blocks: Gasol 2.00, Gibson 1.08 FG%: Gibson .505, Moore .478 FT%: Hinrich .938, Snell .917 3FG%: McDermott .435, Moore .426 Regular Season Player Highs 2015/2016 Points: Butler 53 Field Goals Made: Butler 15 Field Goals Attempts: Rose 34 Free Throws Made: Butler 21 Free Throws Attempts: Butler 25 3-Point FGM: Mirotic & McDermott 5 3-Point FGA: Mirotic 9 Rebounds: Gasol 19 Off. Rebounds: Noah & Gasol 7 Def. Rebounds: Gasol 17 Assists: Rose 9 Blocks: Gasol 6 Steals: Butler 4 Minutes: Butler 56 Double-Double: Gasol 28 Triple-Double: None Injury report Nikola Mirotić (appendicitis) is NOT WITH THE TEAM. Joakim Noah (left shoulder) is NOT WITH THE TEAM. Jimmy Butler (left knee sprain) is OUT. Mike Dunleavy (back) is QUESTIONABLE. Pau Gasol (left hand sprain) is QUESTIONABLE. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-36) Home 7-18 Road 8-18 Probable Timberwolves starters Ricky Rubio - PG Andrew Wiggins - SG Tayshaun Prince - SF Gorgui Dieng - PF Karl-Anthony Towns - C Injury report Kevin Garnett - DOUBTFUL Kevin Martin - QUESTIONABLE Nikola Pekovic - DOUBTFUL --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoiball is upon us. Thibs is done. McDermott and Mirotic can play unencumbered. The players won't be "abused" anymore. Noah is out for the year and Butler was the highest MPG player in the league before getting hurt. Nobody considers the Bulls contenders anymore. Back to being a .500ish miserable Paxson NBA middle team again. Thanks Paxson.
Last year there was a perception that the team was underachieving. I think what may have actually been happening is that the team was performing at its talent level, but many people, including the front office, we're tricked into thinking we had more talent than we actually did because Thibs managed to squeeze an extra 4-6 wins out of the team the previous 3 years. Last year his magic wore off and now we're seeing what this roster does with a replacement level coach.
Thibs was really good at getting the most out of the talent he was given. I don't think it was magic, I think it was skilled coaching. He made this front office look better than it actually it by maximizing the talent. And they repaid him with a smear job. (and millions of dollars too I guess in pay) In the Thibs firing press conference Paxson said that he was dissapointed that Thibs could not get this roster to the Finals. That means he thought it was a reasonable expectation that this roster is good enough to be a true title contender. We're seeing what this roster really is under a normal NBA coach. And another example of the decade of flawed Paxson judgement. Gar will be the scapegoat now.
I think you're right on this point. If we infer from the hints given by management, and their decisions with the roster, you always got the impression that they really thought they were a Finals calibre team. Now that really doesn't look like the case. In my opinion it's mostly because the bottom of the roster is very flawed. The middle of our roster has no solid 2-way players except for Taj, who looks like he's on the decline.
