2020 NBA Regular Season Thread

[Chisoxfn]

Just now, Soxbadger said:

In the last few minutes the worst two plays (decisions) were by Coby White on the offensive charge and Lauri on the 3 he jacked up early in the possession. On the Coby play they defense crashed, there were at least 3 guys in the paint and he just forced it when he wasnt even that close to the basket. 

A lot of people have invested heavily in knocking Lavine. 

Yeah - he has been extremely efficient this year and while he isn’t a pg - he is doing best he ever has at making plays for other guys. 
 

This is where a real point guard would come in handy though. Enable Lavine to be a bit off the ball with another person with good handles - reduces so much pressure on the whole squad. 
 

This wouldn’t hurt so bad if it wasn’t coming off the last 3 well played heart breakers on the west coast. Now you got Dallas next. Schedule wise this was one the team needed. 
 

Thaddeus Young though had a stretch in the 3rd quarter collapse that was some of the worst ball I’ve ever seen. Between like 3 turnovers (with no pressure) and just stagnant offense it was ugly. 
 

Amazing the efficient scorer Lavine is becoming though. And I’m glad they have Donovan - confident he will teach be able to use this as a teaching moment. 

[SoxAce]

5 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

This is where a real point guard would come in handy though. Enable Lavine to be a bit off the ball with another person with good handles - reduces so much pressure on the whole squad. 

Now this, I will 1000% agree on and it shows down the stretch. 

[fathom]

9 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Yeah - he has been extremely efficient this year and while he isn’t a pg - he is doing best he ever has at making plays for other guys. 
 

This is where a real point guard would come in handy though. Enable Lavine to be a bit off the ball with another person with good handles - reduces so much pressure on the whole squad. 
 

This wouldn’t hurt so bad if it wasn’t coming off the last 3 well played heart breakers on the west coast. Now you got Dallas next. Schedule wise this was one the team needed. 
 

Thaddeus Young though had a stretch in the 3rd quarter collapse that was some of the worst ball I’ve ever seen. Between like 3 turnovers (with no pressure) and just stagnant offense it was ugly. 
 

Amazing the efficient scorer Lavine is becoming though. And I’m glad they have Donovan - confident he will teach be able to use this as a teaching moment. 

I’ve been watching Thad Young since he was a frosh at GT and it’s seriously amazing how bad of a ball handler he is.  

[Dick Allen]

11 hours ago, Soxbadger said:

You going to take your Lavine hateto the grave. Every player does some dumb shit, but for most of the game he was at 2 points per shot, which is insanely efficient.

He didnt lose that game. 

Lavine is really good, but closing out games is not a strength.  Of course, being on bad teams doesn't help, but he constantly misses shots at the end of games he was making all night. His defense is improving but still below average. But there are a lot of NBA greats that didn't play much defense.  I think Lavine would start getting his due if he was a #2 or #3 guy on a roster and not the man as he is on the Bulls. I also think the Nets would have been better off trading for Lavine than Harden. Assuming Kyrie can normalize, Lavine as the 3rd guy there and a lot less drama seems better to me. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Dick Allen

[Chisoxfn]

This seems to be a safe lead. Nice bounce back win. That said they had a couple useless turnovers again late. 

[SoxAce]

Delete. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by SoxAce

[SoxAce]

Great game for the Bulls. Doncic was his usual amazing self but he had to work for his points the second half. 

 

LaVine wasn't very good offensively BUT had 10 assists to only 2 turnovers. Wasn't doing dumb shit out there, took care of the basketball, was positive defensively.... I'll gladly take that. 

 

Markkanen was very good. Aggressive, lead the Bulls in most categories. He's playing for a contract and if he keeps this up, he'll probably get a nice contract for himself.

 

Garrett Temple was the unsung hero in this game. He was the best player on the Bulls. Calmed every thing down when the Bulls were starting to crack a bit early in the 4th.

 

Coby White on the other hand... not good at all. But I'm glad he was not forcing shots when he knew he wasn't feeling it tonight. 

[Stinky Stanky]

3 hours ago, SoxAce said:

Great game for the Bulls. Doncic was his usual amazing self but he had to work for his points the second half. 

 

LaVine wasn't very good offensively BUT had 10 assists to only 2 turnovers. Wasn't doing dumb shit out there, took care of the basketball, was positive defensively.... I'll gladly take that. 

 

Markkanen was very good. Aggressive, lead the Bulls in most categories. He's playing for a contract and if he keeps this up, he'll probably get a nice contract for himself.

 

Garrett Temple was the unsung hero in this game. He was the best player on the Bulls. Calmed every thing down when the Bulls were starting to crack a bit early in the 4th.

 

Coby White on the other hand... not good at all. But I'm glad he was not forcing shots when he knew he wasn't feeling it tonight. 

Coby plays in traffic and gets swatted too much.  He's got to figure out how to get a clean shot off.  Lauri does seem motivated.  He still needs to convince me.  I wouldn't mind seeing Gafford more.  He looks like a center.  Might turn out to be another Clifford Ray.  Wendell looks like a PF playing center.

[Balta1701]

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

Another stellar performance by Lavine - including some nice passes and key buckets in final few minutes. 
 

White on the other hand - another weak performance. Trying to be patient but have not liked what I have seen of him at pg. 
 

Forget trading Lavine- id dangle white and others to get a better player if one becomes available. 

[Jose Abreu]

30 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Another stellar performance by Lavine - including some nice passes and key buckets in final few minutes. 
 

White on the other hand - another weak performance. Trying to be patient but have not liked what I have seen of him at pg. 
 

Forget trading Lavine- id dangle white and others to get a better player if one becomes available. 

He was always an efficient scorer but he's taking it to a ridiculous level lately. I've looked into his shot selection and overall shot metrics compared to last season and it doesn't even appear as if it's a lucky streak

[bmags]

Watched the first 3 quarters, missed the last. Temple/Thad really has been good. 

Going to be an interesting trade deadline. They really have made all of their guys look at lot more functional.

I know some don't want to compromise the future too much with this group considering the draft. I'm not really that concerned. It's too early and you have to imagine teams like heat/raptors pull ahead. There's no team really tanking, but the pistons are probably by far the worst team but may end up with better record than the wolves in the west?

So I think bulls will be in lottery with top 6 or so chances and that's fine at this point of the way it is run. But it will be kinda weird if they don't trade anyone at deadline.

It's kinda funny with Donovan, are the thunder really that far different than the bulls at this point? I feel like SGA is as good a top player as bulls have, and they have a bunch of players and assets coming up. 

[scs787]

The Bulls have lost 5 of their 8 games by a total of 12 points. They are 12 points from being 11-3. 

[Chi Town Sox]

On 1/19/2021 at 5:28 AM, bmags said:

Watched the first 3 quarters, missed the last. Temple/Thad really has been good. 

Going to be an interesting trade deadline. They really have made all of their guys look at lot more functional.

I know some don't want to compromise the future too much with this group considering the draft. I'm not really that concerned. It's too early and you have to imagine teams like heat/raptors pull ahead. There's no team really tanking, but the pistons are probably by far the worst team but may end up with better record than the wolves in the west?

So I think bulls will be in lottery with top 6 or so chances and that's fine at this point of the way it is run. But it will be kinda weird if they don't trade anyone at deadline.

It's kinda funny with Donovan, are the thunder really that far different than the bulls at this point? I feel like SGA is as good a top player as bulls have, and they have a bunch of players and assets coming up. 

If the Bulls keep playing at this level all year, they won’t be picking in the lottery at all. They’ve had one of the most difficult schedules in the NBA so far. They’ve won AT Dallas and Portland and almost snuck out both games in LA.  In years past, we get blown out almost this entire road trip.  8 of their next 10 games are very winnable.

This team has the talent to be in the playoffs and they are finally playing like it even if it’s not a perfect mesh.  I do agree, there needs to be some movement to build the team they want and would be odd if they didn’t. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Chi Town Sox

[bmags]

19 minutes ago, Chi Town Sox said:

If the Bulls keep playing at this level all year, they won’t be picking in the lottery at all. They’ve had one of the most difficult schedules in the NBA so far. They’ve won AT Dallas and Portland and almost snuck out both games in LA.  In years past, we get blown out almost this entire road trip.  8 of their next 10 games are very winnable.

This team has the talent to be in the playoffs and they are finally playing like it even if it’s not a perfect mesh.  I do agree, there needs to be some movement to build the team they want and would be odd if they didn’t. 

otoh there's a number of teams that are behind bulls that by talent will likely start playing better. And I think teams undersell cleveland who now has a devastating defense.

glad we didn't go hayes in draft. He looked awful even before this injury.

[bmags]

I am excited to watch a bulls game.

[Chisoxfn]

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

I am excited to watch a bulls game.

I feel they have barely played last two weeks.   But I've been really enjoying this season. Helps that I freaking LOVE basketball. I am pretty worried about my ability to still play pick-up ball. 

I don't know how me and my regular pick-up crew's bodies are going to react from a 1YR hiatus.  We would rent an indoor court at one of those big gyms once a week (after all of our kids went to sleep).  Was always one of my favorite outlets - get some good exercise, healthy smack talk, and than shoot the sh*t on what is going on in the NBA / etc.  Than weekends we'd all bring our kids (all of us have kids somewhere in that 4-10 year old outlet) and they'd run around the park and we'd all shoot too (better yet - we were all giving our significant others a break too).  It was the ultimate win win

Sorry for the random sidebar - I just love basketball. Good thing is I've been teaching my kids during COVID and got my 5 year old hitting buckets on a 10 foot basket (not from far though). He's on the small side so show him highlights of Bogues and found a book on Steph Curry as a kid I've read a ton of times to him :).  Next step 40 foot jumpers and my own retirement.  I can be a less extreme Lavar Ball.  

[bmags]

clearly I thought there was a game tonight. What a bummer!

[Chisoxfn]

4 minutes ago, bmags said:

clearly I thought there was a game tonight. What a bummer!

I thought you were implying how anxious you were that there wasn't a game until tomorrow.  Feels like forever since they last played! 

[bmags]

15 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

I thought you were implying how anxious you were that there wasn't a game until tomorrow.  Feels like forever since they last played! 

Mainly this is a covid brain issue not knowing what day it is but I am just kinda pumped to watch Lamelo and get Williams back.

When did they play rockets? Monday? Did a game get canceled?

[Chisoxfn]

26 minutes ago, bmags said:

Mainly this is a covid brain issue not knowing what day it is but I am just kinda pumped to watch Lamelo and get Williams back.

When did they play rockets? Monday? Did a game get canceled?

yeah - Monday; No cancelled game; last week they had the game against Boston cancelled. 

[bmags]

Good for Zach man. All I can say. 

[Chisoxfn]

2 hours ago, bmags said:

Good for Zach man. All I can say. 

Yeah 

[SoxAce]

6 hours ago, bmags said:

Good for Zach man. All I can say. 

He was phenomenal. Was efficient, took what the defense gave him, showed some solid I.Q. out there for once, didn't force anything or play hero ball. Only 2 turnovers to 9 assists. That'll freakin work anyday. Even saw him D up Gordon Heyward and use his athleticism defensively. I'd argue one of the best games he's played in a Bulls uniform. 

[bmags]

5 hours ago, SoxAce said:

He was phenomenal. Was efficient, took what the defense gave him, showed some solid I.Q. out there for once, didn't force anything or play hero ball. Only 2 turnovers to 9 assists. That'll freakin work anyday. Even saw him D up Gordon Heyward and use his athleticism defensively. I'd argue one of the best games he's played in a Bulls uniform. 

I think we should open our mind up to the idea if Zach had been placed on competitive teams he’d have been much more accelerated with playmaking and off ball. But the last three years he’s been on dumb teams that just watched him anyway.