KC wrote a nice overview of the first preseason game that made its way to the ticker. I thought it was worth of some discussion. I think this is right. I can't believe how good Deng played last season considering how poorly fit he was for the team's offense (or how poorly fit the team's offense was for him.) I just hope he doesn't succumb to injury from all the minutes he logged playing international ball this summer. I made the same comment about Ben Gordon in the game thread, so I can't really argue with it. I will say though that I looked at Korver's numbers when he first joined the Jazz and he had a couple of transcendent games and then leveled off into an inconsistent 10 points a game. He's a strange player in that he shoots very well as a percentage but didn't offer a consistent scoring presence. I'm really hoping that the Bulls start him in a way that I usually don't care what happens to players. I want to see what he can do if he's put on the spot and relied upon so there's little chance he fades into a supportive role. I think this is right. The Bulls are short on shooters and power forwards and Scalabrine seems to fit both of those roles, even if he isn't a very good player. This is a really interesting point and one that I hadn't given its just due. We've had two good ball handlers on this team all of the time since the Bulls drafted Duhon god knows how long ago. I hope they go out and try to acquire a handler off the waiver wire. You have to imagine that the intensity will fade. I hope it will so Thibodeau doesn't burn people out. But I did see more looks in one game, a first game, than I ever saw from VDN.
To paraphrase a MikeDC post from last night - the only "upgrade" in the starting lineup was Bogans over Hinrich. When Brewer can play, I think we'll see a serious upgrade. For real. If Korver can be consistent, it might be worth starting him at SF and finding ways to get Deng PT from the bench or the PF position. To paraphrase one of my own posts from last night - we lost to the Bucks, missing Boozer, hurt. But they were playing without Salmons, Bogut, Redd, and Maggette.
I guess. I don't really care who won -- it's preseason. I'm more concerned how the fit together on the court. There was a lot of promise. I think things are going to be pretty tough on the whole for the first two months while things come together, especially with Boozer out and the circus trip. But there's definitely more"there" there than in past seasons.
We shot .425, and 3-12 from 3pt. and only 73 FGA for the game. A very slow paced game, but we didn't get the makes when we got the looks.
Yeah, it was pretty obvious they don't have a handle on the offense (or really the defense) yet. That will come. The also don't know their teammates. It's going to be a process, but in terms of promise, color me impressed.
