Chicago Bulls Season Thread 35-33 -- vs kings 3.21/3.23 vs knicks/3.24 knicks

Rack up another W!

Pretty solid performances all around, nice to see everyone getting involved.
I'm really looking forward to these next two games.
ATL at the plate, and the Wiz on deck.
 
rose was solid last night, good decisions and didn't settle for early shot clock jumpers. attacked the paint.

its a joke that he did not attempt a single free throw. refs show him no respect. i also hope he stops taking charges, save your body.
 
so were back to pre mvp season rose not getting calls & getting mauled all ******* game :smh:

good W

no dribble break
 
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Jimmy Butler's hostile takeover was exactly what the Bulls needed

This all could have went south for Jimmy Butler so quickly.

For a minute there, it looked like Butler's hostile takeover of the leadership role the Bulls so badly needed to fill might have tangible fallout. Zach Lowe wrote that "his rise has engendered some minor hard feelings within the team" and that "there is a sense that Butler relishes the trappings of stardom a bit too much."

Nick Friedell went even further on a podcast appearance:

He's really rubbed some people the wrong way with how he's going about things. So, it's something to watch for, and it's something that I know is on the minds of the front office in that, "Can we trust this guy to go out and to be who we need him to be every night, and can he lead us the way that a championship-caliber team needs to be led?" And early on, the returns have been no.

I saw trade proposals that were shipping Jimmy out to Phoenix for Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, or to the Lakers for D'Angelo Russell. I listened to a podcast pushing the idea of trading him for the No. 2 pick in this year's draft to select Duke's Brandon Ingram. This was all from Bulls fans, mind you, even if both instances were guilty only of having fun on the Internet -- a crime punishable by death in certain countries.

20 days later, somehow, everything is good again. The Bulls have won six in a row to get up to second in the East standings, Butler is playing out of mind and the only thing in my head is the Biggie lyric about Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.

Tell 'em, Walhberg.


Congratulations @JimmyButler!
— Mark Wahlberg (@mark_wahlberg) January 4, 2016


It's good to be Jimmy Butler right now.

It started against the Pacers, when Butler went off in the fourth quarter to save the Bulls in a game it seemed like they were destined to blow, then won it with this ludicrous tip on a play he and Pau Gasol connected on for at least 10 straight games:



Four days later, in Toronto, Butler authored the game of his career. After scoring only two points in the first two quarters and catching an elbow in his face from DeMarre Carroll that resulted in stitches, Jimmy had himself a decent second half.

Just 40 points on 19 shots, while smothering DeMar DeRozan on the other end. Watch it again because this type of effort requires multiple viewings. The Bulls -- the same team with real chemistry issues just a couple weeks prior -- celebrated with an impromptu group hug. I'm not crying, I swear.


JIMMY G. LEADERSHIP. pic.twitter.com/3cQGOnR1UI
— Nillz (@TheBullsShow) January 3, 2016


Two days later, against the Bucks, Butler went for 32 points and 10 assists. By the time he put up 19 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in a win over the Celtics on Thursday, it almost felt like an off night.

All of this is happening while Butler is second in the league in minutes per game a year after leading the NBA in that category. Tom Thibodeau died for these sins, but nothing you can do will kill Jimmy Butler.

He's just playing with so much confidence right now -- like a man who knows he's one of only 245 people Taylor Swift follows on Twitter. Like a dude who gets to go home every night, look at his boombox aquarium and think that's mine, I bought that ****.

Butler's game could always best be described as rugged. He's never been the most skilled offensive player, but he has a way of willing himself into 20 points almost every night, even while guarding the opposing team's best wing. There's no complaining about needing offensive touches or whining about his workload. The dude just goes out and does it every night. And this -- this! -- was the guy the franchise was purportedly so worried about less than a month ago.

Sure, there's times when Jimmy Buckets turns into Jimmy Ballstopper, when he's waving off screens at the top of the key and breaking Fred Hoiberg's offense. His outside stroke has been a bit off all season -- he's shooting just 33 percent from deep. It all only makes it more remarkable the guy is somehow better this season than he was last year.

Personally, I never had a problem with Butler's comments. Was it weird they came after the second half of a back-to-back where the Bulls just finished a four overtime game? Was it strange that the Bulls very obviously had the exact same issues giving consistent effort and energy last season even with a taskmaster like Tom Thibodeau at the controls?

Sure, but whatever. The Bulls were winning some games, but anyone who watched them knew they weren't good. Imagine how Jimmy felt playing next to these dudes, with Pau never boxing out then crying when someone else didn't do it, with Derrick's effort varying wildly from game to game, with some odd coaching decisions by Hoiberg popping up too frequently.

Someone needed to say something, and Jimmy took matters into his own hands. There were real changes, too: John Paxson met with the team, Hoiberg scheduled practices on off-days and everyone finally seemed to take notice that the lethargic play wasn't acceptable.

Jimmy did that ****. He changed everything. It sounds ridiculous that one man's words could have so much impact, but we're talking about professional sports here: the entire concept of this is pretty stupid. Sometimes you need a Tomball cowboy to ride in on his hypothetical horse and stir things up. The Bulls are better for it.

So: are the Bulls truly fixed? Probably not. They still need to trade a front court player Pau, still need to pray Mike Dunleavy can get healthy, still need hope the more aggressive Derrick Rose we've seen lately is here to stay. I don't think the Bulls will continue winning every game. Call me crazy.

There's no question that things are better now, though. So much of it is because Jimmy Butler wouldn't let it get worse.

Taj approves
 
ColdCity said:
I saw trade proposals that were shipping Jimmy out to Phoenix for Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, or to the Lakers for D'Angelo Russell. I listened to a podcast pushing the idea of trading him for the No. 2 pick in this year's draft to select Duke's Brandon Ingram. This was all from Bulls fans, mind you, even if both instances were guilty only of having fun on the Internet -- a crime punishable by death in certain countries.
Click to expand...

Whoever came up with these trade proposals was smoking sheet rocks!
I made my hate and disdain for Bledsoe known in the NBA thread long, long ago.

As happy and jolly as we all are with the current team and streak, I still want to see moves being made.
 
SLP Product said:
As happy and jolly as we all are with the current team and streak, I still want to see moves being made.
Click to expand...

I think noah may be gone as soon as hes healthy

the game is completely different since hes been on the pine & im positive im not the only person to notice that
 
3 reasons the Bulls are finally becoming the Cavaliers' greatest threat in the East

View media item 1861009
The Bulls' offense has caught up to their great defense and has powered their surge up the standings.

At the end of the 2015 calendar year, the Chicago Bulls were in disarray. After Jimmy Butler asked Fred Hoiberg to coach harder, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson made a rare appearance on a radio show on Dec. 25 and challenged the Bulls to play tougher or moves might be made. The Bulls had the East's sixth best record at the time, sitting at 15-11.

Since then, they have gone 7-1 and have climbed all the way to second in the East, behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. They've won the last six straight by over nine points per 100 possessions, the third-best net rating during that span. It's all because of their improved offense. So what changed?


1. The stars are all playing better

Earlier in the season, the only Bulls star who was playing at the level expected of him was Butler. Both Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose were struggling to provide the secondary scoring the team desperately needed.

That has changed dramatically during the past eight games. Butler has reached yet another level, averaging 26 points, four rebounds and six assists while breaking Michael Jordan's franchise record for most points scored in a half. Gasol, meanwhile, is scoring almost four points more than he was before Christmas. He's getting to the line more often as well, some of his three-pointers have fallen and he's even assisting more.

Yet the biggest turnaround has been Rose's. During the first 24 games of the season, Rose was averaging 13 points on 37 percent shooting. Since then, he's averaging over 19 points on 49 percent shooting. He's been sharing playmaking duties with Butler, which has allowed him to focus more on his scoring. His ability to finish at the rim has been steadily climbing since dropping the face mask he had to wear earlier in the year. He is now an asset.


View media item 1861010
With those three players leading the way, the Bulls has the star power it needs.

2. The Bulls' new rotation improved both their interior and perimeter offense

Hoiberg struggled to find a rotation that worked earlier in the year. In an effort to soup up the offense by injecting some shooting, he started Nikola Mirotic at power forward next to Gasol. Unfortunately, the streaky forward wasn't connecting on enough of his attempts to offset the loss of a second inside presence. Hoiberg tried out a few other lineups, never finding the right balance until he made the adjustment to go big and play Mirotic almost exclusively at small forward next to two big men.

The move has paid off greatly. Gasol, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson are making a killing on the offensive glass by overwhelming teams who only expect one rebounder to crash the boards. The Bulls are leading the league in second-chance points with a bullet since Christmas.

AfraidDearHedgehog.mp4


As for the perimeter offense, the streaky Mirotic is connecting more often, while everyone outside of Kirk Hinrich has improved their percentages as well. The Bulls are taking fewer threes but averaging almost 40 percent on the ones they do launch. They can now bring both Tony Snell and Doug McDermott off the bench to provide additional shooting, and they've found rotation minutes for the productive Portis. The lineup change has worked perfectly.

3. No Joakim Noah means better offense

Joakim Noah has been the heart and soul of the Bulls for years, but his decline has been noticeable, especially on the offensive end. Noah takes mostly point-blank shots, but is connecting at a ridiculously low 41 percent rate. He still does a good job getting offensive rebounds, but is shooting under 30 percent on putbacks. His passing continues to be an asset, but opponents are taking their chances with leaving him open to help elsewhere and it works more often than not.


UnlinedBelovedAnemonecrab.mp4


Noah has the lowest on-court offensive rating on the Bulls. With him sidelined due to injury, Gasol, Gibson, Portis and Mirotic are getting more minutes, and all four seem to affect the offense more positively than Noah while not killing the team on defense. It's not a coincidence that the Bulls' surge has come around when Noah is out. He simply hurts the Bulls more than he helps them at this point.

Is the offensive surge sustainable?

It's hard to say because a lot of different factors have contributed to it. If Mirotic stops hitting shots and allows opponents to pack the paint, both the three-point shooting and offensive rebounding could suffer. Rose has been nothing if not inconsistent the past few years and Butler might not be able to continue to perform at a superlative level. There's also the question of what will happen to the rotation once Noah returns.

The good news is that even if the Bulls can't continue to score at this high a level, they have figured out some things that work. Portis is getting minutes, they are leveraging their height on the offensive glass and Rose is attacking the rim more. When the injured Mike Dunleavy returns, they will have another shooter available, which means Mirotic could become a sub, further boosting the bench.

There is enough talent around for the Bulls to not only be a good defensive team but a solid offensive one as well. They are finally living up to that potential, which could turn them into a serious threat for the Cavaliers.
 
Portis and Taj were better suited to play those minutes. Hoiberg gotta recognize it. Pau gone after the year. Use him as needed. Yesterday wasn't the day. I just knew they would win and finally reach that 10+ game streak. At this point, I just hope they will avoid losing games in a row.

Thibs has to be sick watching this team. It's as though they forgot what defense is
 
The Bulls need to steal some plays from the Hawks. They drove hard to the basket and always had someone cutting. Whereas Chicago had rose or butler attempting a jump pass from behind the basket on the baseline.

Overall I don't think our defense is a huge concern. Some of our young guys are finally getting burn and should be better come playoffs.
 
the pick and roll defense was awful yesterday. Horford ate Gasol for lunch.

Portis is going to have to adjust to teams noticing him and knowing that he can play now. Hes a guy on the scouting report.

Time to start a new streak
 
illmatic34 said:
There's no way I don't see Cleveland in ECF. The second team is a toss up, but we have a good chance
Click to expand...
Atlanta is gonna give us the most trouble out of the eastern conference. They play ball movement and they have stretched F/C. Cleveland doesn't have that so we can play them straight up. But of it comes to Atlanta, we gotta play match up. Gasol would be left out with Noah advantage. Atlanta score in too many ways that it hurts the Bulls offense. I've seen this ever since last year. Well, since their coach came into play. They give the Bulls work.
 
Beyond frustrated to see Derrick leaving his feet to throw wild erratic passes that become turnovers.
Fred's gotta sit him down. Same with Pau when he's not producing offensively cause he's just taking up space defensively.
 
Bad turnovers from rose tonight but offensively he been finding his game and you can see it looks really good and becoming consistent..... thats about the only positive tonight.


Please stop believing we still play great defense, even during the winning streak we were giving up too many points, its hard to watch, and you cant convince me Hoiberg is head coach material, he like a robot with his predictability
 
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