I feel like we missed out on the out-of-control-rookie-hype period of Jimmy Butler's career. Is it too late for some good ole' fashioned irrational exuberance in here? Butler has no limitations on his game. He's a hell of an athlete, can handle, shoot, defend in the post and on the perimeter, distribute, and has solid basketball smarts. His game is this weird hodge-podge of unrefined burgeoning skills. I want to move him into the Tyrus Thomas category of guys who have the potential to be dominant NBA pros if they can continue to refine all aspects of their games, because they are transcendent athletes and have the framework to be good at everything. No glass ceiling. Butler would be the ultimate feather in the cap for GarPaxson. If they are able to find an allstar in a four year college player selecting at the end of the first round . . . well . . . it's a sign of what we've all suspected over the past couple of years: that the Bulls' front office is able to read talent better than any other franchise.
You are talking about the same overall 4 pick TT who Chicago got and gave back for expired bus passes and a couple ham sandwiches and is a career underachiever? Not much of a compliment in my opinion.
I've been away and haven't been following, but surprised at the bad news of injuries and the good news of so many wins against quality teams. I completely missed any indication that I should now be excited about Jimmy Butler. You've got the irrational part down, man. But tell me why I should be exuberant!
I took his post as a joke. Poking fun of management who hyped up guys like TT, but there's no hype around Butler. The thing is, we may end up seeing more of him than we like. Deng is playing with some pain that is clearly affecting his game. He's played 39+ minutes in 6 of the last 8 games, but his shooting overall has taken a nose dive. He still makes some 3pt shots... Playoffs is 19 games from now. I hope he can pick it up. Being outscored by Lebron, 35-5 doesn't help us win games. Being outscored 35-20 is 15 less points we have to make up elsewhere. Elsewhere may be Butler.
I was actually serious. Look, I think we can all agree that franchises sell rookie potential as a way to pacify fans, when you can usually tell if a rookie has "it" very early in his career. But there are also a small but substantive pool of players who don't develop into later in their careers -- and still go on to be very good pros. Butler could be one of those guys. Before the past week I viewed Butler as a strange selection, a power forward wrapped in a shooting guards body who had a lot to learn before being a regular contributor. What I didn't realize is that he's a special athlete. He's really damn quick; and when you combine that with his well-rounded skill set he has the makings of a player who could, but most likely won't, be special. I think he resembles Ty Thomas in that regard. Only Thomas was drafted with the 4th pick and Butler was drafted with the 29th, which makes all the difference in the world. Over the past couple of games I've seen Butler defend Wade, Lebron, Carmelo, Lin and Bosh very successfully on the whole. The only way that's possible if you have length, speed and strength, all of which Butler has in spades. Butler is still a power forward and can body those guys, but then has better quickness than 90% of guards. He's a hell of an athlete. Defense only gets you so far, ask Keith Bogans, but Butler also looks like he has a pretty good shot. And Butler just blew by his defender (I think Matthews) in the Blazers game before he was whistled for an offensive foul at the hoop. So what we have is a player who is a very good defender, an amazing athlete, can shoot and dribble, but just has no idea how to put it all together. We usually get excited about those types of player who have no limitations, and occasionally they turn out to be really good. I feel like we're missing a chance to hype this moment and enjoy it as fans.
I agree that Jimmy Butler looks very promising. I don't think I'm as high on his potential as you are, but he looks like a Rick Fox type player at worst, and maybe a Ron Artest/Doug Christie hybrid at best. After he settled down after his first few games his poise has been excellent as well. I actually wouldn't mind seeing more of him because I'm worried about Deng for the playoffs. It seems like he's held together by duct tape these days.
Are you allowed to criticize my irrational exuberance thread for being irrationally exuberant? I think that's one step too meta.
It's amazing how Butler impacted the game last night and carried us to victory in only 2 MINUTES OF PLAY, without scoring any points or getting any rebounds!!!
In his 2 minutes, he helped prevent a 40 point Magic comeback! And if we're up by 40, he should have played big garbage time minutes.
What I've learned from you, SST, is that if you look at things in just the right way, it all begins to make sense. Denny started that thread on how the bulls are better this year. But did he mention Butler even once? NO! Now, it's perfectly obvious how it is that we are surviving all of these injuries. What's the major difference? It's been Butler. He's been healthy all year, and what a difference he's made!
Did you guys see some of what I was taking about in the Nugz game? Jimmy Butler is good at everything a basketball players needs to be successful, except apparently playing basketball.
Jeez! How did I miss this thread? My apologies. Some pretty funny stuff here, but I'll be semi-serious. When the Bulls drafted Butler, I completely expected an extra-effort kind of player who'd be a little short on talent. He's better than I thought he'd be...more athletic, better BBIQ and a tough SOB. Did you know that he's 2nd on the team in FT attempts per-36 behind Rose? I find that pretty impressive for an unheralded rookie who's gonna get zero calls. Kid ain't shy out there. Loved how he didn't back down an inch from Lebron in the last Miami game. Butler will have to develop his 3-pt shot (22% sucks for a wing). No doubt that he'll work on this in the upcoming offseason. He's Ronnie Brewer's replacement-in-waiting and I think that he'll have a chance at Brewer's role next season. I'm not quite exuberant enough to see him as the long-term solution at SG, but for the last pick in the first round, Butler's looking very, very good.
Wet blanket! As with every player comparison (at least for SST), it comes down to whether JB is better than Thabo. Hope we get a chance to see them head to head today. A black hole just might be created if and when they clash!
