When this thread was generated, I kinda rolled my eyes. "Amazing?" I'm not the typical "glass-half-empty" cynic, but I still thought the "Amazing" thing was silly oversell. Since then, I have to dmit that Mirotic has been sort of, well, amazing. Mirotic looks like the real deal, and make no mistake, I couldn't be more pleased.
I love it when he just takes his defender on and attacks the basket. He is so quick for a 4 it's amazing to watch. He also has shown no fear of closing big games. He will take the shot with confidence. Certainly not your usual NBA rookie.
Interesting question: If Mirotic was a UFA this offseason, what kind of deal do you think he'd get? If I were a GM I think I'd be willing to give him one of those deals that looked stupid based on his current production because I think it's clear he has the talent to be an all-star calibre player.
He's good enough that he kinda forces the hands of the GM to trade Gibson to free up some room for him. It hasn't happened yet but it's most likely going to happen. So I would say he would get a near max deal from somebody.
He's had a handful of good games and many not so good ones. I'm not ready to believe what we've seen the past two games is his average or floor. Yet. I have been convinced since early in the season that he's plenty good enough to replace Taj and that trading Taj for a quality combo guard or G-F would have helped us survive injuries better and one more gun at a position that's not manned by even average players. I'm of the same opinion of Snell. His emergence seems too good to be true.
You mean like a Gordon Hayward-type deal? He might not get quite that, but some team would certainly offer 8-figures per year. For me, Mirotic has been an acquired taste that I've now pretty much completely acquired. While he's unlike anything we've seen here before, he's clearly the real deal. Some edges need polishing, but "all star calibre" is hardly out of line. Importantly, Mirotic ain't afraid...at all. Kid's special.
Niko's stats for 6 games in March: 30.6 minutes 20.8 points 8.0 rebounds .564 TS% In the 4th quarter in March, his averages are MVP-worthy: 12:00 Min 10.8 Pts (65) 3.2 Reb (19) 57.5% FG (19/33) 50% 3pt (5/10) 84.6 FT (22/26) .731 TS% .652 eFG% It's going to be quite interesting to see if Thibs plays Taj ahead of Niko, especially in the 4th quarter, once Gibson comes back from injury.
From January 1 through February 27, or 27 games, Niko shot 50-147 for a .340 FG%, hitting on .266 of his 3pt attempts. He averaged 3.1 rebounds per game and 6.1 points per game.
Haven't updated for a few games, but Niko's 9 games with Taj sitting out: 32.3 Minutes 20.3 Points 8.1 Rebounds .556 True Shooting Percentage His 4th quarters sans Taj have still been enough to make an All-Star proud: 12.3 min 10.0 Pts 2.3 reb 47.2% FG (25/53) 36.4% 3pt (8/22) .650 TS% .547 eFG%
He's having a close to ROY season under Thibs. Once again, getting the most out of his players. Thibs oftentimes choosing Niko over Noah down the stretch. The complaints are shifting to Thibs playing him too much!
Thibs? No, we have Taj to thank for Niko finally getting minutes. If Taj didn't get hurt, Niko is still lucky to get 15 minutes a night, and that's with half of those minutes at SF. Niko has been putting up better numbers than Taj literally all across the board since opening night, even his rebounding and defensive rating were better. Just like Butler and Snell, once Thibs is literally forced by injuries to play someone, he finds out that they actually have talent. This is the same Thibs who started Hinrich at SG ahead of Moore when Butler missed the first two games. The same Thibs who started Hinrich at PG ahead of Brooks when Rose missed the 3rd and 4th games. Hell, as late as January 10th when Rose sat a game, Hinrich started ahead of Brooks. FINALLY, in late February when Rose had surgery, Thibs figured out that "hey, maybe I ought to play the guy who is obviously better more minutes". Of course, Thibs made up for it by starting Kirk at shooting guard when Butler missed games, until (thank God) finally the last game before the All-Star break Hinrich missed a game that Jimmy was out, and Thibs was forced to start Snell at SG. As it turns out, of course, Snell actually CAN shoot 3's, and he actually CAN play a little defense, and he actually CAN handle the ball just a bit... once he gets consistent minutes without having to look over his shoulder every second he's on the floor because he knows Thibs is going to bench him after one turnover or one bad shot or one blown defensive assignment. Finally, Rose and Butler got hurt at the same time, which left Thibs without much of a choice to actually give E-Twaun some minutes, and - as usual - once Thibs' hand is forced by injuries, we found out that the guy GarPax signed actually does have some actual NBA skill. Now if Dunleavy can just twist his ankle again and have to sit out two weeks, we'd most likely find out that McDermott can play a little bit of basketball. All of these examples are why I pointed out a week or so ago that every other playoff team (except Toronto) has seen their 11th and 12th men play 500 minutes or so, as opposed to the 200 minutes (of almost exclusively garbage time) that the end of our roster has played.
There is likely a good reason camp "thidiot" only has one lonely old soul in it. ------- All spin and nonsense aside, both Snell and Mirotic are blossoming under Thibs this season. He pretty consistently gets the most out of the talent he's given to work with. They are getting more minutes as of late than guys like Hinrich since they are playing better and have earned them. Rose won a MVP under Thibs. Deng had a couple of all-star appearances under THibs. Noah had a couple all-star appearances, a all-NBA 1st team appearance and a DPOY under Thibs. Not many predicted Noah for a all-NBA 1st team award. Jimmy Butler went from being an average at best player to an All-Star under Thibs. Not many would have predicted that. Pau Gasol went from being a non-all-star for the last few years on the Lakers to the starter in this years all-star game under Thibs. Not many predicted that. Even the suddenly and strangely hated Taj Gibson finished 2nd just last season in the 6MOY award under Thibs. Granted, Taj was going up against JAMAL CRAWFORD for that one. He's not a miracle worker. One of the many reasons Thibs is considered one of the best coaches in the business. Let's hope Snell and Mirotic both continue to blossom like all the other players Thibs has helped over the years.
