SB Nation - Taj Gibson

Chicago Bulls 101, Atlanta Hawks 98 or Joe Johnson tries his hat at 06-07 Kobe Bryant

hawksdawgs — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:58:44 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

1 day ago: Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah, left, and James Johnson (16) try to stop the Atlanta Hawks' Joe Johnson (2) from scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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Oddly enough, Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson were the difference in this game. That and four horrible jump shots by Josh Smith.

Now I understand the desire to go crazy over the Joe Johnson show. There was way too much Joe Johnson. Especially when Al Horford was having a perfectly fine game and Joakim Noah had five fouls for what felt like the last 20 minutes of the game. I get that feeling. The Hawks probably could have used some more ball movement and diversity. And despite what Nique says, a fade away two point jump shot with a hand at your chin is not a good shot. I understand all this.

But with all that said, Joe really did have the advantage. Outside a few forced shots (and you are going to have a few when you shoot 32 of them), Joe could have made near every one of those looks. That last missed layup was so good my buddy and I were talking about how he went too soon in the game clock. Joe got his looks. He passed to open shooters. But Bibby missed open shots, Marvin missed open shots. And Josh took open shots.

On the other side of the ball, the Bulls did what we wanted them to do, only they succeeded. Rose, Taj, and Kirk hit jump shot after jump shot. Hats off to them. They deserved to win.

On a night when our defense forced them into jump shots, they hit them. VDN played one on one defense knowing Joe could get his shot and banking on the fact that he would not always hit it. Del Negro was right. And without any real help for Joe, every possession mattered for the Hawks and we wasted too many.

A lot of what ifs were left on the table, but I am going to answer the ones with blame toward the guys that did not score 40 points on 50% shooting.

The Hawks won't win them all. And that includes the ones they should. But anger tonight. Perspective tomorrow. Go Hawks!

Back-to-Back Preview: Bulls and Bucks

DexterFishmore — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:30:20 -0000

The United States has an unemployment rate of 10%, yet Vinny Del Negro still receives a paycheck for coaching the Chicago Bulls. This is called market failure. Anyone outraged over Goldman Sachs bonuses should reroute a little populist anger toward Coach Vinny, as no one in America gets paid more for so little achievement. He's turned Derrick Rose and a bunch of other guys you've actually heard of into one of the suckiest teams in the league.

He'll be fired soon if there's even a tincture of sanity in this world, but luckily for Lakers fans it won't be until after tonight's game. The Lake Show kicks off a back-to-back at the United Center against the woeful Bulls, followed tomorrow by a visit to the Milwaukee Bucks. With their loss on Sunday to Utah, the Lakers ceded the league's best record to the Boston Celtics, who've been masterful at taking care of business on the road. There's a little urgency here for the Lakers to keep up, lest they start falling behind in the race for playoff home-court advantage.

These games really do matter.

Tonight: Chicago

Let's start with a basic truth about the Bulls: they're awful. Their record of 8-14 belies the true depths of their badness. They're 28th in the league in net points per game, ahead of only New Jersey and Minnesota. Over their last five games they've been outscored by an incredible 0.18 points per possession. This stretch includes two separate home losses by more than 25 points, a 35-point road loss to Atlanta and a home loss to the Nets. The only win in the last five was an overtime home victory over Golden State.

Girlfriend, please.

Word around the league is the team has quit on Del Negro, and the numbers won't tell you otherwise. Despite having the prodigiously talented Rose at the controls, the offense ranks 28th. They run hardly anything resembling a planned system. Most of their "plays" are either half-assed pick-and-rolls, or flattened 1-4 sets that ask Rose to improvise off the dribble. They don't get to the line and they're some of the worst shooters in the league. Other than that they're awesome.

Rose, in his second season, is regressing under Del Negro's non-guidance. His turnovers are up over his rookie year, and every other of his offensive metrics are down. He's made only one three-pointer in eight attempts. As a defender he's just terrible, lacking the ability to stay in front of any half-decent point guard. Derek Fisher isn't going to blow by him, of course, but Jordan Farmar certainly could.

Rose, in his defense, is getting less than zero help from his teammates. Starting shooting guard John Salmons has a True Shooting Percentage of 48%; keep that up over the long haul, son, and you're out of the league. He's made 33% of his threes this year, which isn't at all good but actually makes him the Bulls' best perimeter threat. That role you'd think would fall to Kirk Hinrich, but he's having a nightmarish campaign in terms of both injuries and performance. Hinrich has missed his last 13 long-distance attempts.

Up front, there's a little more for the Lakers to worry about, but only a little. Luol Deng is back at small forward after missing the playoffs to injury last year. He's OK, but it's hard to look at his performance and remember why we all once considered him a lynchpin to a possible Kobe Bryant trade. Something tells me if that trade had gone through it would not be viewed fondly by either Lakers fans or Kobe Bryant.

During tonight's broadcast you'll hear at least a few times that Taj Gibson is having a "promising rookie year." This is a stretch, and even that's putting it generously. Gibby has certainly played a fair amount, about 25 minutes a night, but his output hasn't been anything special. He's been turnover happy, he's not a good passer and he hasn't scored efficiently. Also, he's two years older than Andrew Bynum, so please don't think he's bursting with Ridiculous Upside.

If there's a bright spot in Chicago's season so far, it's been Joakim Noah. He has a fun-to-watch all-around game and is rounding into one of the NBA's better centers. With his length and bounciness, you'd think he's one of the few opposing centers who could cause problems for Bynum. Recently, though, both Chris Bosh and Brook Lopez have had big offensive numbers against Noah, so I'm hopeful Drew will rock and roll as usual. When the Lakers beat the Bulls in November, 108 to 93, Drew and Pau Gasol combined for 35 points.

(I pause here to remind everyone that Joakim, whatever his quirks and limitations, did call LeBron a bitch to his face. That alone earns him some affection in these parts.)

Brad Miller and rook James Johnson provide "depth" in the frontcourt, but not really. Miller has fallen off steeply, and Johnson doesn't look ready for The Show yet. Also off the bench we'll see a little Jannero Pargo, who's always fun. He likes to shoot a lot, which shouldn't be confused with being any good at it.

On Saturday the Celtics visited the United Center and won by 26. With Kobe still hurting the Lakers aren't likely to run it up to the same extent, but a comfortable, 15-point W is a reasonable expectation. The goals tonight should be to get the three-point game working again (after shooting 3 for 21 in Utah) and make quick work of a demoralized, fractured opponent. That would give the starters plenty of rest for....

Tomorrow Night: Milwaukee

It's always heated when the Lakers and Bucks face off. That's to be expected when one city has stolen Penny Marshall from the other. There's also the Lew Alcindor thing, but it's mostly about Penny. Milwaukeeans have forgiven... but not forgotten.

The Bucks don't have an obvious talent edge on the Bulls, but they do have the advantage of a coach who's not grossly incompetent. Scott Skiles, true to his rep, has forged a strong D in Milwaukee where just a couple seasons ago was one of the worst in the league. The Bucks rank seventh in defensive efficiency thanks to an aggressive scheme that forces turnovers prolifically.

On Wednesday night Skiles will run waves of big and athletic wing defenders at Kobe. Starters Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova and reserve Luc Richard Mbah a Moute are all capable or better and are likely to alternate shifts on Mamba Duty. The Laker ballhandlers will need to pay close attention to securing the rock - I'm looking at you, Ron Artest - but fortunately that's been a team strength this year. The turnovers that Milwaukee generates, in any event, come at the cost of a wickedly high foul rate.

The Lake Show bigs will face some combination of Andrew Bogut, Ilyasova, Hakim Warrick and Mbah a Moute. No pushovers in that group, no Eddie Curries, but also nobody that should really bother either Bynum or Gasol. Bogut has the size but not the agility, the other three vice versa.

The Bucks' offense is more a work in progress. The big story this season, as you don't need me to tell you, has been Brandon Jennings, who's like Derrick Rose was last year but better. After his 55-point detonation back in November, Jennings cooled off for a bit. The last two games, though, he's looked rejuvenated as he led his teams to wins over Toronto and Portland. He has a rare ability to get his lefty shot off against anyone along with great range (even if his 45% percentage on threes is very unlikely to hold up). He's moreover an above-average rebounder for his posishe.

Backing up Jennings is veteran Luke Ridnour, who you might be surprised to learn is having a splendido year. His True Shooting is over 60%, which he combines with a low turnover rate to make him one of the best backup PGs around. I doubt that his current performance level is sustainable, but give the guy credit for showing renewed verve in the summer of his career.

For most of the season the Bucks' starting shooting guard has been Charlie Bell. In Saturday's game, however, Charlie got the DNP-CD despite seeming to be in good health. I was about to research why he got benched when I remembered my favorite Andrew Bogut Video:

After watching it three more times and laughing heartily, I forgot all about Charlie Bell. Is he going to play tomorrow? Let's watch and find out together!

The Lakers should have Milwaukee solidly outgunned, but between the Denver and Utah games they haven't really blown us away with their performance in back-to-backs. It's time to fix that. There are plenty of back-to-backs on the horizon, so the Lakers need to get in the habit of sustaining that Night One energy across two games.

The honor of Penny Marshall demands it.

	Lakers	Bulls	Bucks
*RECORD*	18-4	8-14	11-11
*NET POINTS PER GAME*	+8.5 (2nd)	-8.6 (28th)	+0.9 (14th)
*PACE*	94.9 (8th)	91.8 (21st)	93.4 (11th)
*OFFENSIVE RATING*	108.5 (11th)	98.0 (28th)	104.2 (24th)
Turnover Rate (Off.)	12.8% (4th)	13.9 (16th)	13.0 (7th)
FTA/FGA (Off.)	0.266 (26th)	0.274 (24th)	0.227 (30th)
Free-Throw %	75.4 (14th)	73.2 (22nd)	73.7 (1st)
Effective FG% (Off.)	50.1 (13th)	44.6 (29th)	48.9 (20th)
True Shooting% (Off.)	53.9 (16th)	48.8 (29th)	52.0 (26th)
Off Rebounding Rate	28.0% (10th)	28.7% (7th)	25.5% (22nd)
*DEFENSIVE RATING*	99.7 (2nd)	107.4 (19th)	103.3 (7th)
Turnover Rate (Def.)	14.6% (11th)	12.9% (24th)	15.9% (3rd)
FTA/FGA (Def.)	0.262 (2nd)	0.282 (8th)	0.328 (30th)
Effective FG% (Def.)	46.0 (1st)	49.3 (15th)	49.6 (17th)
True Shooting% (Def.)	50.3 (1st)	53.0 (9th)	54.9 (20th)
Def Rebounding Rate	72.4% (21st)	71.4% (26th)	76.2% (3rd)

All statistical terms defined here. Parentheses indicate league rankings. Numbers are courtesy of Basketball Prospectus and HoopData and, except for record and net points per game, are through Sunday night's action.

Nets 103, Bulls 101: Won't say rock bottom since there could be a ways to go

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:04:41 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose stands on the sidelines against the New Jersey Nets trying to figure out how many days until he's a free agent. It's a long process. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
New Jersey	96.0	107.3	47.0%	28.6	28.9	13.5
Chicago		105.2	48.9%	17.0	36.4	17.7

Bulls weren't embarrassed tonight, they're just continually embarrassing with this loss being another instance of it. Though of the 8 losses in 9 games, this certainly is the worst opponent.

And the Nets didn't disappoint in showing their ineptitude for long stretches of the game. But you could tell from the outset that the Nets smelled a win here, and they proved that they're just as good as the Bulls...or that the Bulls are just as bad as them.

I didn't see a team that quit on their coach, or played down to competition. This is who the current Bulls are, a team that's as good as the New Jersey Nets, having to put up a 31-point fourth quarter to lose by 2. I truly thought all 4th quarter that the Nets ran out of gas and the Bulls would narrowly get this one. And I was not rooting for them to lose as some kind of statement to show how bad they are. The fact that it was this close at the end, and they were down double-digits for a majority of the 3rd quarter, showed how comparable these current rosters are, win or lose.

(though the final possession was indeed a head-scratcher, with the Bulls having 14 seconds and John Salmons launching a 3 with a hand in his face with 7 left. I'm fine with not holding until the last shot in that situation, but the 'quick' shot has to be a better option than that, and Rose has to at least touch the ball. Also, Vinny ran out of timeouts, and he subbed out Taj (one of the team's best offensive re bounders) before Rose missed the final rebound, which I believe was on purpose? Anyway, credit Kiki Vandeweghe and his cool glasses for fouling Rose up three.)

A young duo of Harris-Lopez that's possibly better than Rose-Noah (Rose had a great second half when he realized a bit late that they needed him to score a lot, but Lopez dominated Noah). Middling wings in Lee and CDR that seemed interchangeable with Salmons-Deng at a fraction of the price. Crappy depth all-around.

Taj Gibson had a great night shooting the ball, but registered two defensive rebounds in over 35 minutes. He actually was benched in favor of Brad Miller to start tonight's game, a move I'm in favor of...but Miller looks one step over the hill and provided nothing tonight.

It's real bad right now. And while I don't see any changes overnight, when they get absolutely hammered in Atlanta tomorrow, the Org. may have no choice but to do something to salvage the season. A season they were not really interested in anyway, but they can't let it stay this bad.

Bulls blown out in 3rd straight game

your friendly BullsBlogger — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:57:19 -0000

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Chicago	85.0	115.3	50.0%	22.5	19.5	7.1
Portland		143.5	61.6%	43.8	42.4	11.8

In Denver, after the second of what is now three-straight blowout losses, Vinny Del Negro went off on the team's apparent lack of effort. I didn't watch much of that game, but it didn't appear this is ever a team that won't try hard, since they simply have to in order to be competitive. That's the way it's going to be all season.

And I suppose after a game (or three) where they're not even competitive you can still blame the effort, but I applaud VDN for not going to that well again after Monday night's game. He said it like it is, they were simply overpowered by the Blazers. Despite what your high school coach told you in between towel snaps, team rebounding isn't effort. Maybe individually it is (and if you made it to the NBA, you likely have that covered), but for a team it's having a team of good rebounders. The Bulls don't have them, and were massacred on the defensive glass tonight, with the Blazers getting an ungodly 42% of available offensive rebounds.

The defense looks ordinary and the offense still looks terrible now that the Bulls are on the road playing very good teams. But they won't be for long, and I expect them to win enough to stay near .500 all year. That was the prospect laid out for us on July 1st, and since I got most of my anger out then it's hard to stay that way when things are falling into place.

It is a problem that they're not just losing, but getting blown out (point differential matters). However, Brad Miller can't fade into the sunset this quickly, and Kurt will step up his production to where I'm told "well if you take out November..." by the end of the season, and Salmons won't be his career year again (thus why they call it those) but he won't be his worst. And Tyrus Thomas will come back.

Sure, Vinny will be there to stick him back on the bench and see Hustlin' Taj get completely overmatched. But at least he's grown enough as a coach not to blast his, or the team's, effort too much. Effort's all they have (and all our coach can teach, apparently), they're just not very good.

Bulls 86, Cavs 85: If winning ugly's the only way to win, I'll take it.

your friendly BullsBlogger — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:28:31 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Precious Orange Roundie. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Chicago	91.0	94.5	42.6%	12.5	13.0	6.6
Cleveland		93.4	45.1%	14.8	19.6	13.2

(more on the 4 factors box score)

The Cavs have been perennially one of the top defensive teams in the league since Mike Brown took over as coach. Tonight the Bulls looked like an even better unit out there.

Though it's not like the aforementioned Brown has ever had his teams looking very fluid on offense. The Bulls only had 6 TOs all night, forcing the Cavs into their ugly half-court 'sets'. And Shaq looked way too slow to be consistently effective, and playing him and Z together never made sense, and Mo Williams takes way too many rushed shots for someone who shares the floor with LeBron, and LeBron absolutely coasted all night to the point of embarrassment.

But it was Noah making life miserable for Shaq. And Deng staying in front of LeBron so well that Mike Fratello actually claimed that Deng had the size/speed combo to do so (he doesn't). Kirk Hinrich was everywhere defensively tonight, and I loved the play where LeBron was stuck in the paint with the defense collapsed on him, and Hinrich literally ripped the ball from his hands.

LeBron spent so much time looking like he couldn't care less hoisting jumpers that I think the referees forgot who he was on his final drive, and didn't give him the call as he flailed into Noah. I think LeBron lost the ball on the way up before even making contact, so while it shouldn't be praise to make the correct call, it was indeed unexpected given the circumstances.

While the Bulls defense held together all night (they shot 30% in the 3rd quarter and stayed within 5), I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and James to pull out the win with no comparable Bulls player existing to respond. It actually looked like it was going that way, with a James three-pointer followed by a block on Salmons. But Mo Williams hesitated a bit on a kick-out 3, then took an inexplicable running layup that wasn't even close. The Bulls own late-game ineptitude (didn't score with 3 possessions in the final 1:44) allowed James to still be able to be the hero down one with the ball, but Deng and Noah did the job. In fact, lets not say James didn't get the superstar call, but Noah did get one.

The Bulls offense still, more or less, blows. They weren't even able to hit the offensive glass tonight (a Cavs strength, denying that). Deng/Salmons/Hinrich shot a good percentage, but while Deng had a corner three-pointer (huge if he can do that) Hinrich and Salmons only chipped in 2 between them.

Is this the way it's going to be all year? The Bulls incapable of being even an average offensive team and having to hustle and defend their way to mediocrity? If so, even the wins will be ugly. But they have a long time to get better, and in April nobody will care how the Bulls beat the Cavs on the road, but that it was a win.

To the bullets...

I hope you 'Rise of Taj'-ers are happy. Now he's not only taking away Tyrus's playing time, but Noah wasn't in for the final stretch of minutes either (he was subbed in late for that final stand against James). With the announcing crew pumping up the rookie ('the coaching staff tells us...' said before each laudatory remark) it sure seemed like Gibson played better than a 5-12 shooting night and a pedestrian 7 rebounds (I think his OREBs are inflated due to catching his own misses) in 33 minutes. And while you can see how he helps in other areas, he's playing way way too much.
I do thank Taj Gibson for stepping up and being the new Chris Duhon of BlogABull. I heard there was a tearful passing of the torch ceremony and everything, though Duhon ruined the after party getting too drunk.
You just knew VDN would try throwin Pargo out there early to see if he was still hot from the Bucks game. Nope, the good-games streak ended at one, Pargo was 0-4 in 11 minutes.
Yet more on VDN: that 'inside trax' feature on TNT does not serve him well. I realize that it's good to keep things simple in the huddle, but 'shoot with confidence' (huh?) and 'RUN!' don't make me think he's the next great hardwood tactician. And I don't think I ever heard a single mention of defense, which isn't as much an indictment as it is just funny given the preseason hype. All that said, what does matter is that they're playing better defense, and as much as I roll my eyes at VDN's motivational ploys, they play hard. I'd think this group would play hard regardless and deep down know he's still in over his head, but still.
Tyrus Thomas wound up playing sick tonight after flying in late to meet up with the team. Wasn't quite the Jordan flu game, he hit a couple jumpers and didn't do anything else. Sure, it stinks that Taj has now risen to take his job and he'll be dealt for nothing or left to walk at the end of the season since Vinny's tired of him, but I'll enjoy the guy while we have him, and glad he gutted out this game to maybe possibly win back some of the coaching staff's trust.
Kudos to TBJ's Tas Melas for capturing the ridiculous way LeBron addressed the refs post-game, calling one over just to give a fake-confused 'let me get this straight' face while ultimately saying nothing. It's a dick move in an argument, and I know because I've pulled that move when I'm feeling dick-ish.
Luol didn't only hit a corner three tonight, but had a turnaround jumper over a Cavs guard after a defensive switch. If he can do both of those things more often, that's a new wrinkle, and it won't matter that he can't score in isolation off the dribble. Until the end of games when he's hoisting up shots barely hitting the rim, but that will be Rose time eventually (right?).
Speaking of Rose...that seemed like a quiet 14pt, 11ast night, though once again he contributed most in the 4th quarter (10 pts), which is fantastic. Only 2 TOs with those 11assists.
I don't get how the Bulls have beaten two top-tier teams while looking this bad either. Maybe the Spurs were tired and the Cavs aren't good right now. But it's so huge that they're getting these wins in the early toughest part of the schedule.

Bulls 92, Spurs 85: Improved defense, balanced scoring, dominating rebounding?

your friendly BullsBlogger — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:30:57 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

YEAH! (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
San Antonio	90.0	94.4	44.9%	19.2	17.8	14.4
Chicago		102.2	43.5%	22.6	29.4	10.0

(more on the 4 factors box score)

The Bulls said all summer that their new version of the team would be one that was improved defensively, and balanced on offense. And tonight it was exactly that.

The defense did look very good in tonight's game, no longer were the Bulls switching every screen, guys were fighting and recovering well instead. And they were spectacular on the defensive glass. The Bulls grabbed over 82% of available defensive rebounds tonight, a superlative number and far better than their mark last year. That was a key weakness to address coming into this season, and as much that was made about effectively 'replacing' Gordon with the Deng in the scoring department, there's no denying the added advantage of Luol back at the 3 when it comes to rebounds. Luol had 9 tonight, and after seeing the lack of lift in the preseason it was really good to see him absolutely fighting for boards. He had a huge one to end the first half that allowed Hinrich to hit an open 3 to put the Bulls up one.

Luol's offense was also good, but it wasn't with any added facets, just with layups and the 22-footer. There were a few possessions where Luol tried to isolate his man, but it's still not his game. That said, with 17 he was the team leader, and as mentioned, this truly was a balanced team scoring load: Hinrich 14, Tyrus 13, Rose 13, Noah 10, Salmons 10, Miller 9, Taj 6.

Derrick Rose had his first action off of injury, and there were times when would finish a play and start to gingerly walk around. But when he had the ball in his hands he was still showing explosiveness off that ankle. And when looking at how he'll improve this season, it's encouraging to see high marks in FTAs and rebounds. He also seemed to be fighting through screens a bit better defensively, and the potential matchup nightmare of Tony Parker only managed 8 points in 34 minutes. It's such a huge part of this early season that Rose isn't set back by this injury and lack of a preseason.

As a team, the Bulls didn't even shoot that well (3-16 from three, yuck), and I thought they'd nearly always have to do so to win games, especially against teams like teams of the Spurs caliber. But they not only completely dominated the rebounding battle, they seemingly got to every loose ball and were more aggressive and active on both ends. Tim Duncan dominated nearly every time he received the ball, but the rest of the Spurs couldn't take advantage, even of matchups I thought they would (Tyrus guarding Jefferson, Deng guarding Manu). They just looked older and less fresh than the Bulls all night.

Perhaps the Bulls won't look so good in those factors every game, but if it's a marked improvement overall from last season, they'll win a lot of games.

Some other observations...

Another less important matchup involved the DeJuan Blair envy tour, though this stop had his draft-mate Taj Gibson as the clear winner. Taj was a bit shot-happy and his hands stink, but he was killing it on the glass, and most impressively on the offensive end with Blair in the game.
I don't think I find myself rooting for anyone harder during games than Tyrus Thomas. It was rough being in that mindset early as he had a terrible opening stint to the game. With the Bulls red-hot running and sharing, Tyrus took a clear 'my turn' leaning jumper. He managed to do not much else for 6 minutes until Taj Gibson headed to the scorers table, and almost on cue Tyrus threw a pointless elbow after a rebound, as if he was trying to get out of the game. But he had a fantastic second half, playing the entire 3rd quarter, not only doing what he always should be doing (board, blocks, drawing fouls, etc.), but actually shooting jump shots in rhythm (his attempts not created equal). It's important to see him not stay down after a bad stint, and just as importantly not to see Vinny punish him for one. Tyrus didn't come back in the 4th, but the Spurs stayed small and it's hard to justify putting him in over Hinrich/Salmons/Deng in that situation.
Speaking of substitutions, my propers to VDN for a tight rotation. Only 8 guys with significant minutes, plus some Pargo suckage sprinkled in at the end of quarters (likely to give Rose an extra breather). I wasn't really down with the stints of going big with Tyrus as a 3, but even though I think Thomas disappears in that role, Jefferson wasn't able to take advantage on the other end and it kept their monster advantage on the glass. The Spurs sort of did the Bulls a favor as well staying small in the 2nd half, and the Bulls were able to keep in Rose/Hinrich/Salmons/Deng with either Noah or Miller as the sole big, and it was nice to see him not leaving Miller out for super-extended stretches.
Some notes from the in-game experience: The opening season video was underwhelming, and I always get a bit irked when they approach that Celtics series as a great victory...Noah nicely addressed the crowd, just another reason he should be considered as a captain...PA Announcer Tommy Edwards was in rare form today, not just missing substitutions but calling Popovich 'George' and Blair 'Dijon'...the halftime act was Michael Jackson themed, which was fine except they went for an uber-creepy MJ impersonator.

If not 'why bench Thomas?', then how about 'why start Taj'?

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:50:20 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas reacts after seeing Stacy King hand out 'Taj Gibson Fan Club' T-Shirts to the coaching staff. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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After reading about Tyrus Thomas not being given (oh no! entitlement!) his starting job back in the latest preseason game, I promised to you all that I wouldn't go too far into the macro-level implications of such a move. And I still won't, until it actually happens. And while it seems far-fetched, remember that this is the same team that started Thabo Sefolosha on opening night last year.

(and actually, it's tough to really care about anything besides Rose's bum ankle. As that, plus a tough early schedule, could have this whole thing off the rails by Thanksgiving. Is it too late to revise my projected win total down to 36?)

But since Doug Thonus at ChicagoNow is actually coming out and advocating the move by reasoning of 'team success', we can put that 'big picture' reasoning as to why benching Tyrus could be a disaster on the backburner (it's simmering, I assure you) and get to how it'd effect the team this year.

I think the Bulls should start [Taj] in a Chris Duhonesque way where he's the first one out of the starting lineup, but limiting the minutes where Noah and Tyrus are on the floor together is a good thing.

Firstly, I never thought I'd see Scott Skiles' self-sabotage as a positive example of strategy...

But I do get why one would (again, for purposes of winning games this season and being completely blind to the franchise tailspin) want to limit the Thomas+Noah lineups. All the best lineups last season included Brad Miller, and you can see how Noah and Thomas duplicate eachother in skillset a bit too much.

But to make sure Taj Gibson started and got at least 12 minutes a game? Thonus doesn't really expound on why Taj starting is a better idea...

Tyrus didn't do anything to make his case over Taj during the game as they had similar box scores on the night, and Taj looked like the more aggressive and assertive player from the half of basketball that I got to watch.

This is, of course, pure hot garbage. But I assume Thonus isn't just basing things on one game he sort of watched. Maybe he's crediting Taj with being the smarter player, as Taj's shown good defensive instincts and fundamentals (outside of the rampant fouling, though more than a few of those fouls is because he's the only one helping).

Maybe it's been Taj's surprising jumpshot that has Thonus thinking he's a better fit with Noah than Thomas, but it's not like Taj has much range on the shot, and as a 66% foul shooter in his last season in college it's very possible we've seen a bit of a fluke. Thomas has had longer stretches of good jumpshooting anyway, and in regular season games.

But the main problem with the Noah-Thomas frontcourt is a deficiency in defensive rebounding, helping make the Bulls 28th in that category last season.

And during Taj's rave-worthy (by me only relative to expectations) preseason, it includes a defensive rebound percentage of 14.3%. To put this in perspective, while one of the more worrisome trends in the career of Tyrus Thomas is his falling DREB%, and last season was his worst in that area...it was still nearly 19% that year.

(and as an interesting note on those preseason stats, basketball prospectus recently did a study and found that rebounding stats translated fairly well...though if anything that doesn't hurt Taj's case. If you want to hurt that case, one could add that the Bulls preseason is especially meaningless given their cruddy opposition.)

(and while I do think Taj has shown some solid team defense fundamentals, for all of Taj's smarts he's turned over the ball (his hands' fault more than his head's) at a way higher rate than Thomas did last season)

So even taking away the big-picture implications of sitting Thomas in his contract year and how it could effect the team and locker room all season, doing so to start Taj Gibson makes no sense to me. He's not nearly as good as Tyrus (amazing, and a bit detestable, that it's even become a discussion), and doesn't fit the team better either.

(Though when it comes to me and starting lineups, you can nearly always stop after deciding 'who's better?'.)

But of course we can't think in such simple terms anyway, everything's connected. And as Thonus concludes in his post with "I'll error to the side of Joakim and Gibson starting together simply because both players are likely to wear the uniform next year while Miller and Tyrus are both free agents.", it just reaffirms how bizzare this season is, with a franchise trying to make the playoffs while possibly stripping the whole thing down at the same time. Not to mention Vinny Del Negro eager to screw up an obvious 7-man rotation he barely needs to touch. It leads to situations where a surprisingly good preseason from a rookie leads to legitimate fear.

Bulls edge Bucks in preseason home opener: quick recap

your friendly BullsBlogger — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:22:21 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Milwaukee Bucks center Dan Gadzuric, right, walks off the court with Brandon Jennings thinking how much of an ass Neil Funk is for ripping on him the entire twelve minutes he played, while going 4-7 from the field with 10 rebounds (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Browse more photos »

No Rose, Thomas, or Brad Miller (flu-like symptoms, according to the TV broadcast). The Bucks were without Andrew Bogut, which helped make Joakim Noah look damned excellent tonight. Maybe with Bogut on the court Noah would've merely been 'really good', because 20 pts and 16 rebs in 34 minutes is impressive against anyone. Noah just looks bigger this season, and certainly doesn't have the look of last season's slow (and winded) starter. In a season full of reasons not to get excited, Noah having a stellar year will be reason enough to watch.

Unless the season-long campaign to push Tyrus Thomas out the door for 24-year old Taj Gibson excites you? Maybe it's just Stacy King leading the Taj fan club, but it's getting annoying already. King even uttered the dreaded line "Vinny going to have some real interesting lineups when he gets everybody back", though in his defense I think he meant that as a good thing. Can't we just be pleasantly surprised that Gibson isn't a stiff? If Taj has to play a lot, and James Johnson has to play at the 3, this team is in trouble.

And yes, I throw in that bit about Johnson realizing Deng was awful again in tonight's game, and after a decent start to the preseason it's now two games in a row where he looked out of shape to the point of looking still hurt. Even on what could be considered a good play, one which after a nice steal where he drew the foul, it still looked like Deng settled for the foul instead of being able to dunk on the run. But while I'm not worried until the real games start, I'll be really worried if this does continue through the regular season.

In other things to look for in meaningless scrimmage action, Hinrich was 2-4 from three, and I won't even care if he still misses layups like no other guard (of quality) in the league, as long as he hits open 3s and plays defense, which is his role when Rose comes back.

Though that defense wasn't really much to brag about when looking at how well Brandon Jennings played. Incredibly fast, and I was really impressed at how aggressive he passed on the fast break, effectively beating the Bulls back on defense with the pass instead of his own speed. Our own explosive young guard may not quite have that court vision (not that it's a big deal given his other advantages), but it'd sure be nice to see him back, and everyone in their real roles again. Like Pargo being on the bench, for one.

NBA Blog Previews - Chicago Bulls

your friendly BullsBlogger — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:34:22 -0000

Below is my entry in this year's NBA Blog Previews. If you're a frequent reader, a lot you may have read before...often. But even for those sick of my offseason whining analysis, there's at least a juicy prediction at the bottom to be mocked in April.

Team Name: Chicago Bulls

Last Year’s Record: 41-41

Key Losses: Ben Gordon, my faith in the franchise

Key Additions: Jannero Pargo, James Johnson (draft), Taj Gibson (draft), cap flexibility

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

Letting Ben Gordon walk. The significant move of the offseason was effectively made during the last season, in acquiring Brad Miller and John Salmons from the Kings at the trade deadline. Not only did it put the 2009 payroll already very close to the luxury tax, but in acquiring a scoring guard like Salmons they were hedging against a Gordon departure, which wound up happening on the first day of free agency.

The Bulls should be able to compensate for the loss of Gordon to maintain their ultimately average level, through the addition of Salmons, a healthy season from Luol Deng, and steps up in the careers of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas. Jannero Pargo is back for a second go-around with the franchise, attempting his best Gordon impression up until the point where the shots actually need to go in. With a couple of late first-round picks in a weak draft class, the Bulls went with two older bigs in James Johnson and Taj Gibson for added immediate frontcourt depth.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

The Bulls have a very talented, versatile, and cohesive top-7 rotation. Rose won the rookie of the year last season, but also has various areas of improvement (drawing fouls, 3-point shooting, and defense) that could get him quickly to all-star level. If he can get there (and perhaps beyond towards superstardom) it makes all the difference for this team making everyone else's job easier.

Noah has gone from draft-night punchline to a starting-caliber center in his two seasons, and while never becoming a force on offense he's already a significant contributor, extremely active on defense and perhaps the best ballhandling quick center in the league. Tyrus Thomas is slated for his 3rd straight 'no really, he'll make the leap this year' season, but even if he never 'gets it' he always was at least an average player. Salmons and Deng are a very solid two-way wing combination.

And possibly most underrated aspect of the Bulls roster is their top two reserves, Brad Miller and Kirk Hinrich. Miller really stabilized the Bulls frontcourt last season as a complement to the athletic but raw Noah and Thomas, and though he's getting older Miller has skills that will age well. And Hinrich is possibly the best combo backup guard in the league, with the ability to defend either position, serving as both a low-turnover PG or a 3-point shooting SG to fit a lineup need.

This is a team that when they're clicking will play very well together, and while they'll feel Gordon's loss when needing a bail-out in possessions or games, replacing his minutes with Hinrich/Salmons/Deng will lead to an improved defense.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

Coaching is certainly an issue, and while one can assume Vinny Del Negro will improve in his second year on the job, that may be because he only had upwards to go. Beyond the occasional timeout mismanagement, Del Negro's Bulls sometimes looked like a team that had no coach. A roster that was once a top-5 defense under Scott Skiles fell to the bottom 10 in the league, and while the Bulls were an improved offensive team after the trade deadline, it was never one that looked organized, instead being simply more talented than their softer end-of-season scheduled opponents.

This could be an even bigger problem with Gordon departing, a player who was able to create his own offense. While the Bulls will be hoping improved ball-movement and unselfishness will raise everyone's game, there are many times in a game where they'll need playmakers, and Gordon was the best they had beyond Rose.

As mentioned above, the top-7 are good enough to not need many rotation decisions from VDN, but a key injury could really throw the season off course. Quality depth is another weakness as the Bulls had to skimp in filling out their roster in their goal to avoid the tax this year and getting under the cap next summer.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Seeing how a first-round playoff loss to a team missing its best player was seemingly treated with such extreme excitement and praise, no doubt it will be important for the Bulls to at least look like a team on the rise, whether it's true or not. And to do that they have to make the playoffs again, entering 2010 free agency as an attractive destination for players looking for a competitive team with the cap space to pay up.

A season where the playoffs are missed could bring a repeat of Bulls free agency past, where Jerry Krause had a league-worst roster and whiffed on plan A through plan Ron Mercer.

5. No really, Gordon was pretty good, but what's the big deal?

The Bulls were average last year, they'll likely be so again this year. Through some internal improvement, they may even wind up slightly better this offseason. But they would have been a favorite for a 4th seed (as opposed to being lumped in with Miami, Atlanta, and several other teams) if they swallowed the tax for one season while holding all their assets, and able to put together the best trade packages together for the next star player to be sold off.

The loss of Gordon was truly significant in signalling a change of direction of the franchise. Where the winning of the 2008 draft lottery could've been seen as the most significant piece of an already talented team ready to contend soon, letting Gordon go meant that in the name of avoiding the luxury tax, the Bulls were instead going to try and get under the cap and re-build around Rose and a 2010 free agent.

And with a declining cap and some decisions to be made on several key players (Hinrich, Salmons, and Thomas) before getting far enough under in that summer, the Bulls may not be able to pull it off. A better plan would've been to use a decade of record profits as justification for a luxury tax bill (even for a non-elite team), and using their expiring contracts to obtain even more talent. The elite teams in the league stockpile good players and get even more, not let them walk in the name of flexibility. And Gordon was the best player ever to have played through his entire rookie deal only to let walk for nothing, a truly spectacular failure from the Bulls standpoint. Things could certainly work out ultimately, but it's a huge risk and the Bulls will need to perform this season as well as get lucky in free agency to make the gamble worthwhile.

Projected Finish: I see this team as fairly fragile, but also with potential for a surprisingly successful season. They really do have talent that could claw their way to a 50 win season, but an injury or some turmoil could have it spiral down in the mid-30s. I could see either scenario playing out, but it's likely that while nothing horrible goes wrong, not everything goes right either, and little bumps in the road keep the Bulls near .500 all year. 40-42.

Rose-less Bulls lose to Milwaukee

your friendly BullsBlogger — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:08:15 -0000

It's tough to evaluate the team minus Rose. Well it's not exactly 'tough': they're bad. But it's not exactly fair either. With Tyrus Thomas also out, bench players are forced into roles already jumbled by this being a scrimmage, and it's not how things will look in the regular season. Better not, anyway, since the game was marred with 27 turnovers (many of which on violations) and showed a team that could really struggle to score this season.

The Bulls were able to stay relatively close by getting to the foul line, but with Gordon gone I don't see many nights where the Bulls will have such an advantage. James Johnson seems to have a knack for it (as does Noah and Thomas) but he likely won't get the minutes to do such damage, especially if he's being called for traveling a half dozen times a game.

Hinrich played well (needs to shoot more than one three-pointer in a game, but he should when Rose is back), Salmons looked fine but didn't have a good shooting night, and I think after 3 games I can now stop being surprised that Taj Gibson can contribute. I'm not sure I'm enjoying the subtle campaign supporting him starting by Stacy King, however.

One top-7 player who didn't look good was Deng. While he did unleash another post move (on Charlie Bell, but still...) and was better in transition (who isn't?), there were some reasons to worry. One play stood out in particular, he was guarded by Ilyasova and first couldn't establish post position. Then he came out for the ball, and not being able to shoot over Ilyasova was able to drive by him...only to be cruelly blocked.

Team observers (including KC Johnson on the pre-game show) bend over backwards saying how it will be a group effort to shoulder the scoring load, but it will also take individuals making plays when the magical ball movement stops, and one of those guys needs to be Deng. It was also glaring when the end-of-quarter plays were handing the ball to Jannero Pargo and getting out of the way.

But again, this is with Rose out. He can be one of the guys who steps up, and he should be the guy getting the ball where Gordon used to (for some reason, the Bulls, like the rest of the NBA, stick to isolations instead of running an offense when it comes to these situations). It's not news that they're better with Rose, but he doesn't fix everything. Especially the defense, which looks better but still has problems with skilled bigs like Andrew Bogut.

And how much longer will Rose be out, anyway? Orginally thought to be of no concern, Rose's ankle injury now has him in a walking boot and may take 'a week or two' to heal, according to Mike McGraw.