Unleash the Coby. I’m expecting this kid to give zero focks, and just ball out, but I mean in a fundamental way. I’m expecting better defense, and him being able to make the right play, while still dropping buckets.

The backcourt should be explosive again this year, so all eyes will be on the front court. What will Carter do? What will Lauri do? Double-doubles should be the focus.

Expectations:

Zack: 20 + points a game
White: 17 + points a game
Otto: 12-15 points a game
Lauri: at least 15/10
Carter: 10-14 / 8-10 boards

Bench: 40 points

if my boy don't average 20 i'll be shocked fr. pure bucket

We looked very very slow. Houston was so much faster. I know it was the first preseason game, but it didn’t look good at all.

Patrick Williams was active, and he might have a scorer’s touch. Lauri had some nice movements and made some buckets.

The defense was terrible all the way around. Coby White couldn’t keep up with John Wall, a guy playing in his first game since tearing his Achilles. Not a good sign.

Hopefully, things are a lot better in the next preseason game.

- 1st game since March
- New coaching staff
- New offense and defensive systems
- Minimal training camp to prepare for new systems
- Donovan said at post game that he purposely didn't make any adjustments against Houston

Looked like a preseason game to me.
But there were a few things that looked encouraging.

1. Patrick Williams looked confident on both sides of the ball
2. Sato ran that 2nd unit well and even made Hutchison look decent
3. The new offense has Carter Jr. taking 3s

Wendell Carter went 0/5. Although, it was a preseason game, it still presented a red flag. I’m simply judging what I see.

I just don’t see our team doing anything strong on the defensive end. Two 30 year old guys coming off huge Achilles injuries were a lot faster and more active than our talented young players.

Hopefully, tomorrow’s game will be a lot better to give me a different perception.

The penetration and facilitating were a lot better. Coby getting into the paint and setting up teammates with his penetration was nice to see, and his scoring was on point as well.

Zach ,being the scorer that he is , didn’t have any issues getting baskets. However, there were possessions where he would break away from the offensive flow, and put up a bad shot.

Patrick Williams is already making his presence known. Plays defense and can knock down the three. And the bulls are better defensively when he is on the court. Donovan’s biggest decision is going to be who to start at SF, Otto or Patrick? Otto is more offensive, and started the game being very productive on offense, but he is not good on defense, and the bulls were down big at one point with him on the floor.

I’m still not seeing a difference with Lauri and Wendell. That front court is our weakest link. Lauri is still slow, Wendell is just a hustle player who has the green light to shoot threes now . Why? I don’t know. He was 1/4. He should not be allowed to take more than 2-3 threes a game.

The offense came from mostly Lavine, White, Otto, and Williams.

Pros: offense had a flow to it, scoring and passing was better, perimeter defense was better, and players showcased some chemistry. Billy Donovan is smooth, calm and collective.

Cons: Front Court is still soft , defensively and offensively. Perimeter defense was better, but the speed of Wall was still killing our backcourt.

That ALONE is reason to celebrate.
To be able to bounce back from an embarrassing loss?
I don't think we had that last year.

- Coby bounced back. And the dude can still score. Still had trouble w/ Wall.
- LaVine put in a quiet 23.
- Pat Williams plays almost like a veteran. Moves well w/o the ball.
- Before Lauri went out w/ that knee injury, he wasn't having a good game. I think there's still time for him to get better.
It will say a lot if the Bulls don't extend him by 12/21.

The defense was intense and dialed in. Kobe and Zach set the tone with the scoring. Patrick Williams continues to showcase his talents on both sides of the ball. He plays like a veteran.

Even though it was a preseason game against the rebuilding Thunder, that shouldn’t take away the effort, chemistry and basketball IQ that the bulls displayed.

I just hope it carries over into the regular season against competitive teams.

I said it before and I will said it again, where will defense come from on the perimeter?

Where will it come from?

Lavine isn’t interested in playing defense, neither is Coby. And as s PG he was awful.

The only bright spot was that Lauri looked good.


But you can’t get stomped out like that on opening night. This team might not even be good enough to compete for a play in game.

We were only down by 30 points!

Perimeter defense is still non-existent. Guards are able to get penetration at will.
The interior defense is a joke, and this team still has a quitter mentality.

Billy Donovan has a lot of work to do, and he may have to clean out the entire roster.

I know it’s early early into the season, but this team looks like the worst team in the league.

This is not a good start.

Only positive is that Lauri looks good.

They definitely played better after two horrible losses.
It's only the 3rd game. Players are playing out of position in a new system.

But more than that, I don't care what the Bulls do this season.
It's almost a throw away season honestly.
Most of this "core" is going to be gone next summer.
We're going to have lottery pick(s).
Rebuid #3...#4...what is it now?
I'm actually more excited about that than this year.

AK didn't extend Lauri, so you know what the organization thinks of him.
LaVine, while young, wouldn't fit with any lottery picks.
I say keep White, Carter Jr and Pat Williams...draft a PG (Cade?) and
see if you can get another wing and have Donovan work with them.

That's kinda where I'm at.

EDIT

I will say the veteran experience of Temple and Porter
is why that 2nd unit plays so well together.
Donovan found something that works there and it's a big
reason the Bulls played better against the Warriors.
We're gonna get killed by any playoff teams, but we'll
be competitive against the rest.

new coach, new system, minimal preseason, haven't played competitive basketball since March, etc.

positive signs the last two games though.

as long as we're competitive and everyone looks a lot better than they did last year i'm good.

I'm hoping we land the #1 pick and build around those kids.

This wasn’t a win vs the wiz. But this was a real win. This game showed signs of development and maturity.

THE BULLS NEVER BEAT PORTLAND IN PORTLAND.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

This team actually looks like it's coached. Wild stuff.

looked like a lost game after the first, little hope at half then uhm what? bulls really doing this?

still so early but its nice when the team wins.

They haven't sniffed winning a game like that since Derrick in his prime.

I was stunned.

i did tune in at the end of that one. a bit of inexperience and tiredness cost them that one. if theyre in the playoff conversation midway through the season that will be quite the jump.

He was scoring well in the PNR with LaVine.
Confident with his jumper.
17 boards.

Looking forward to see what he does against the Clippers tomorrow.

...I don't know what to tell you.

1. I LOVED that Donovan put Williams on LeBron.
2. and I LOVED that even though LeBron's fadeaway got him most of the first half,
rarely was he out of position guarding him. And then in the 2nd half,
he was right with LeBron...AS A ROOKIE!

hope he keeps improving. he kind of has that jimmy and kawhi quiet confidence.

But offense is not the issue. We have the offense, clearly.
However, the defense is non-existent. We can’t stop anyone.

It’s like I stated in the past opening this thread. Where is the defense going to come from, especially along the perimeter? Our guards and forwards can’t stop anything.

And Lavine still doing too much hot dogging and taking ill advised shots at times. He gets the numbers, but we still get the L. This has been him every year. We have too many offensive weapons for Lavine to feel he needs to put the team on his back.

Coby had 13 dimes and really worked to get players involved, and Temple looked good as a starter on both sides of the ball.

Defense has to get better. That should be the number 1 priority right now.

Period. We were up by 20 on a junior varsity NBA team whose goal
is to tank, and we let them comeback to get the win.

Lavine with 6 costly turnovers! He just had to have the ball in his
hand toward the end of the game. He can score, but his selfishness and
his constant breaking of the offense is killing this team.

And Shai torched his ass down the stretch.

We should have offered him for Levert...but we let Indiana snag him.

I’m so freaking heated, bro. No excuse for this L.

Bulls were up by 8 with 50 seconds left....and blew it. How sway?

We just beat Minnesota but the point still stands. They have a new coach and the new coach bounce is a real thing. So yeah, good win. We lose this game last year in regulation.

And shit, we all knew Boylen was a horrible coach but my goodness. Every player on the court looks like they have a clue now. It's wild.

Also, Zach is top-15 player. He's 25. He's scoring at historically efficient levels. Pay the man and build around the man.

For the haters: https://www.blogabull.com/2021/2/18/22283077/zach-lavine-has-arrived-and-nobody-is-happy#:~:text=Zach\'s%20Historic%20Season&text=As%20of%20this%20writing%2C%20he,eFG%25%20and%2064.9%20TS%25.

This game had no business going to OT after having a solid lead
against a bum ass Minnesota team.

Zach can score. We know that, but he doesn’t do anything else.
And he had 7 TOs ,2 rebs and 2 assists. Again TY had more assists than him.
He gives you nothing defensively which is why Beasley dropped damn near 30.

He is the Dominique Wilkins of SG. He is for highlights only. And he is not
a long term piece. Only way he stays if he improves on facilitating and defense.
You know the other side of the basketball. And that has yet to happen. I like
complete players. And Lavine is not close to a complete player. Fun to watch, though.

Don’t mean to be a dick, but a few months ago when we’re talking about the Bulls,
you said you had no interest in watching them, because they were losing. Provide
Support regardless.

pandemic.

only so much shitty stuff one can deal with, ya know?

i think that's a fair reason.

>Don’t mean to be a dick, but a few months ago when we’re
>talking about the Bulls,
>you said you had no interest in watching them, because they
>were losing. Provide
>Support regardless.

That’s cool. I get it. Just was wondering.

I replied in the general NBA post my thoughts but...

- Bulls are 5-1 since Carter returned from injury.
- LaVine has career numbers in almost everything.
- Donovan is making adjustments, the best one is giving Thad Young one of his best seasons.

I'm genuinely asking, are you watching games?

Yes. I’m watching the Bulls. Yes. This team is better.
But this team is also playin in the east, where there is a log jam
from 6th to 14th place. They could lose 2 games and be in 14th place.
This team has no damn business being in an OT game with the Wolves
after having a solid lead.

I’m just taking everything with a grain of salt.

My post was mainly about Lavine and what he doesn’t do, which
has cost us games and almost lost the game last night. Him having
Offense has never been a problem. His defense hasn’t improved,
and he is still a TO machine. He also breaks the offense with that hero ball
crap and doesn’t facilitate. It is Thaddeus who makes all the important
plays to keep the Bulls in games. He is the true MVP of this team.
( are you watching games?)

The backcourt registered 14 TOs alone! And that isn’t the first time.
14 TOs against the worst team in BB. They weren’t playing the Suns or
the Clippers. That is a problem and is inexcusable. You don’t gloss that
over.

The offense has improved but the defense has gotten worse.

I like the direction that we are going in, but that’s not going to stop
me from critiquing this team.

And I don’t see Lavine as a long term piece if he continues to ignore
playing defense and getting others involved.

And I’m not the only one saying this. Kendall Gill and Will Perdue often
talk about Lavine needing to add other qualities to his game.

There is a reason why Lavine’s name is in trade rumors.

I didn’t like the way we closed the first half of the season. The last three
games we went 1-2 and gave up 124 points against the pelicans in the
last game.

We have to do better with protecting the ball, especially in the backcourt.
That is the main problem, costly turnovers down the stretch have killed
us.

And we have to get better on defense. Scoring is just one aspect of basketball.
There must be a focus on defense as much as there is a focus on offense.

There is a log jam of losing teams in the east, and we sit within that jam in
9th place. So we have a shot at making the POs.

I’m still not sure as to who are the long term pieces on this team. Zach is
offensively gifted, but the defensive and turnover woes are alarming.
Let’s see if he can get better in those areas to bring a completeness to
his game.

And Lauri and Otto need to stay healthy.

The Bulls acquired center Nikola Vucevic in a trade with the Magic on Thursday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Chicago will send forwards Otto Porter and Wendell Carter Jr. to Orlando along with first-round picks in 2021 and 2023, per Wojnarowski. Forward Al Farouq Aminu will also go to Chicago in Thursday's deal.

Not sure if the Bulls are still pursuing Ball or not, but the PG situation
definitely needs to be addressed.

Porter for Aminu was basically like for like, and we get a center who can
score and facilitate but is a poor defender. I’m not sure what to make of it.
Gotta see him on the court.