Cavs take round 1, Derrick Rose injures ankle

[Undisputed]

My thoughts on this game...I really like the Bulls chances with Jimmy Butler back and Derrick Rose once he can play 30+ minutes a game. This team is all kinds of nasty, it's just going to take some time and good luck with health. This game was fun to watch, but once it was overtime and Rose wasn't coming back I knew it wouldn't be likely to get that win. Loved the heart from the Bulls regardless. Pau Gasol was a killer signing. He fits this team like a glove.

Come play-offs, I love what's on the roster.

Great performance by LeBron though. Props are in order there. The guy is a freight train. It's annoying how he is always there to haunt the Bulls. But man, he really is the best in the sport, unfortunately.

As for the Derrick Rose injury, it's another annoying set back, but it clearly is not serious.

[Rose]

The problem is there's gonna need to be a huge adjustment. Pau really sucked at boxing out last night, that's a big reason why r2t2 had 12 offensive boards. That and when you shoot 39% you're gonna have more of a chance to get offensive rebounds. Taj kinda failed in that regard too until the 4th quarter. Noah has to follow Love around and he did a really good job on him, hell Pau did when they were inside as well. So it's definitely up to Pau and Taj to make sure they box out on the glass. And Pau has that "soft" reputation.

But what I'm really happy about is how good the offense looked. 45.6% from the field a blistering 41% from downtown oh me oh my. Almost won a (statistically) good LeBron game. Pau was pretty bad offensively with his misses but that's probably not gonna happen again with some of those wide open jumpers.

With some better refs that game turns the other way. But regardless I'm pretty excited about how great we're looking offensively even when Rose is out.

[tamaraw08]

The problem is there's gonna need to be a huge adjustment. Pau really sucked at boxing out last night, that's a big reason why r2t2 had 12 offensive boards. That and when you shoot 39% you're gonna have more of a chance to get offensive rebounds. Taj kinda failed in that regard too until the 4th quarter. Noah has to follow Love around and he did a really good job on him, hell Pau did when they were inside as well. So it's definitely up to Pau and Taj to make sure they box out on the glass. And Pau has that "soft" reputation.

But what I'm really happy about is how good the offense looked. 45.6% from the field a blistering 41% from downtown oh me oh my. Almost won a (statistically) good LeBron game. Pau was pretty bad offensively with his misses but that's probably not gonna happen again with some of those wide open jumpers.

With some better refs that game turns the other way. But regardless I'm pretty excited about how great we're looking offensively even when Rose is out.

Good points esp about Pau not having many off shooting nights.
I just like them to learn from this. Tony Snell, deciding to hound James from the backcourt was stupid. Those silly fouls.
Someone needs to get to Noah's face and tell him to NOT STOP taking those jumphooks over those shorter PFs of the Cavs. He tried 2 and made both and never tried again. They must pound and attack the shorter frontline of the Cavs. Pau knew he can't be blocked unfortunately it just wouldn't go in.

[Rose]

Good points esp about Pau not having many off shooting nights.
I just like them to learn from this. Tony Snell, deciding to hound James from the backcourt was stupid. Those silly fouls.
Someone needs to get to Noah's face and tell him to NOT STOP taking those jumphooks over those shorter PFs of the Cavs. He tried 2 and made both and never tried again. They must pound and attack the shorter frontline of the Cavs. Pau knew he can't be blocked unfortunately it just wouldn't go in.

I really liked Snell's defense. I even thought that James in the backcourt one wasn't horrible. I liked it because it showed he wasn't gonna take his shit, and I had a bit of a problem with the refs in the 4th. A few calls I thought were bad. Snell also impressed me a bit against the Knicks as well for that matter.


Agreed on Noah.

[poido123]

I liked Snells game against cavs and his defense on lebron was good at times, however got too close to him a few times and allowed lebron to simply bustle past him. He needs to learn to give him about 1 Metre separation at all times, give him just enough room to read which way he's going. Snell has the long arms to disrupt the ball and contest the jumpshot if lebron decides to shoot, why close the gap and take that advantage away from Yourself?

Anyways, Butler is going to give lebron hell over the next few matchups. Butler is the only guy I've seen make lebron consistently pass the ball off out of frustration or concession.

I think this squad is good enough. They now need to all come together and build chemistry. I wouldn't trade anybody. Brooks has improved out of sight, I was loathing him early on, thinking that he was too selfish and turned the ball over too much. Now, he's a totally different player. Plays some solid D, picks and chooses his shots better and is getting his teammates involved a lot more too.

[tamaraw08]

I liked Snells game against cavs and his defense on lebron was good at times, however got too close to him a few times and allowed lebron to simply bustle past him. He needs to learn to give him about 1 Metre separation at all times, give him just enough room to read which way he's going. Snell has the long arms to disrupt the ball and contest the jumpshot if lebron decides to shoot, why close the gap and take that advantage away from Yourself?

.

Its not just blowing past Snell but also inviting a pick where a much slower defender like Gibson had to switch. James cruise past Gibs for breakaway layup.

[Undisputed]

Personally, I really do not like Snell. I just want him to play well enough with his minutes to be decent trade bait.

[poido123]

Personally, I really do not like Snell. I just want him to play well enough with his minutes to be decent trade bait.

Green from sun's might be the go. His high flying dunks and speed would compliment rose well. He can also shoot the three and isn't a liability on defense either. The fast breaks would then feature more than just rose going hard at the basket and a guy he can lob for a alley if he has guys in front of him already.

[poido123]

Its not just blowing past Snell but also inviting a pick where a much slower defender like Gibson had to switch. James cruise past Gibs for breakaway layup.

That too.

The closer you are to the man, the easier it is to use a screen to get past your direct man.

[Crystallas]

Snell, for his contract, for his role, is turning out to be a good player.

I don't expect him to be this stud player that flirts with making all-nba teams. He's going to be a mid-bench guy, and a good one at that. No issues whatsoever.

Now if he demanded 5mil+ a year, then we have problems. His production is nowhere near that, nor do I expect it to be. For his role and salary, it's all icing on the cake. Not someone Bulls fans need to focus a lot of attention to. Plus, his defense has been improving a lot. For a guy who came into the NBA as a streak shooter, that is not bad value. Yes, I wish we took Tim Hardaway Jr, but that is neither here nor now.

[poido123]

Snell, for his contract, for his role, is turning out to be a good player.

I don't expect him to be this stud player that flirts with making all-nba teams. He's going to be a mid-bench guy, and a good one at that. No issues whatsoever.

Now if he demanded 5mil+ a year, then we have problems. His production is nowhere near that, nor do I expect it to be. For his role and salary, it's all icing on the cake. Not someone Bulls fans need to focus a lot of attention to. Plus, his defense has been improving a lot. For a guy who came into the NBA as a streak shooter, that is not bad value. Yes, I wish we took Tim Hardaway Jr, but that is neither here nor now.

I think many expected Snell to have the jump in improvement butler did in his second year. Because of that, I think Bulls fans don't want to accept that he might just turn out to be a solid role player and nothing more.

I think he will be a late bloomer. I've seen some things on defense that tell me he could be at least an above average defender in this league. If he can become a solid 3 and D guy? I'd take that from a late first rounder.

If some of us can remember, Pippen didn't start hitting his strides until around the 3rd season in the league. Not all players hit the ground running.

I was wrong on Brooks and didn't give him the time when he first got here, but now he looks to be a great bench threat that I envisioned him to be prior to his slow start.

[ljsbb27]

Love the way we're playing so far. Still have some things to clean up, but we could easily be undefeated right now and it's still early in the season so it's to be expected with some new additions, adjusted rotations and a few injuries.

I love our depth. Derrick missed some games with his ankes, Taj a game with his ankle and Noah with the flu and we still have a great record so far.

New additions of Gasol, Brooks, McDermott and Mirotic have really impressed me.

I like what Thibs has done with the rotations and the minutes he's playing guys. Hope this is him realizing it's important to keep guys fresh and not just management imposing minute restrictions and making sure he enforces them.

Our defense and rebounding which have been our biggest strengths are areas of opportunity but I feel that will come with time.

The offense can use a little more execution but I love the ball movement and love that were shooting more and being more efficient from three.

Here's to a productive and healthy season Bulls fans!

[poido123]

Love the way we're playing so far. Still have some things to clean up, but we could easily be undefeated right now and it's still early in the season so it's to be expected with some new additions, adjusted rotations and a few injuries.

I love our depth. Derrick missed some games with his ankes, Taj a game with his ankle and Noah with the flu and we still have a great record so far.

New additions of Gasol, Brooks, McDermott and Mirotic have really impressed me.

I like what Thibs has done with the rotations and the minutes he's playing guys. Hope this is him realizing it's important to keep guys fresh and not just management imposing minute restrictions and making sure he enforces them.

Our defense and rebounding which have been our biggest strengths are areas of opportunity but I feel that will come with time.

The offense can use a little more execution but I love the ball movement and love that were shooting more and being more efficient from three.

Here's to a productive and healthy season Bulls fans!

Good post. Deserves a rep

[tamaraw08]

Snell, for his contract, for his role, is turning out to be a good player.

I don't expect him to be this stud player that flirts with making all-nba teams. He's going to be a mid-bench guy, and a good one at that. No issues whatsoever.

Now if he demanded 5mil+ a year, then we have problems. His production is nowhere near that, nor do I expect it to be. For his role and salary, it's all icing on the cake. Not someone Bulls fans need to focus a lot of attention to. Plus, his defense has been improving a lot. For a guy who came into the NBA as a streak shooter, that is not bad value. Yes, I wish we took Tim Hardaway Jr, but that is neither here nor now.

I like Snell, been watching him since he was playing at New Mexico.He actually went to a HS 20 miles from where I live, a teammate of Kawhi Leonard. I just happened to mention a stupid move he made when he tried to hound Lebron from the backcourt resulting to a breakaway layup by James. I just can't believe that idea came from Thibs bec it's just a bad idea. Still remember James Johnson tried to do that too and he got embarrassed several straight posessions.
You mentioned 5 Mil, well, if he can prove that his defense has vastly improved, learning from mistakes and being consistently good from the 3pt line..maybe that price tag is not that bad.

[tamaraw08]

I think many expected Snell to have the jump in improvement butler did in his second year. Because of that, I think Bulls fans don't want to accept that he might just turn out to be a solid role player and nothing more.

I think he will be a late bloomer. I've seen some things on defense that tell me he could be at least an above average defender in this league. If he can become a solid 3 and D guy? I'd take that from a late first rounder.

If some of us can remember, Pippen didn't start hitting his strides until around the 3rd season in the league. Not all players hit the ground running.

I was wrong on Brooks and didn't give him the time when he first got here, but now he looks to be a great bench threat that I envisioned him to be prior to his slow start.

I think it's no longer a coincidence that a PG who can shoot can actually flourish under Thibs. Starting from CJ, then Nate, then DJ and now Brooks. The only one who didn't work out was Teague, all bec, the guy could not shoot IMO. Brooks on the other hand has been always prolific since college. But like Nate and CJ, they are not pure PGs so they will make bad decisions, deflected passes, missing an open guy etc.