- Mar 19, 2013
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I rather he sit out and work on his game.
Bulls offseason Thread
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by coldcity,
- Start date
everysingletime
formerly amel223
- Apr 4, 2006
- 42,963
- 15,346
Yea, I mean he could get cut. But I would still rather him try out anyway. If you don't try out, the chances you don't make the team is 100 percent.
- May 24, 2014
- 2,900
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Holberg went out to Spain to meet Gasol and Mirotic.
Last edited:
- Mar 19, 2013
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He said he would do that.. He also visited Joakim before the trip over seas.
- Feb 6, 2011
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Changes for Bulls & Raptors
Mike Gallagher takes a look at some changes coming to the Bulls and Raptors
Rap it Up-Tempo
Coach Dwane Casey had some interesting comments regarding his rotation last week. He said he expects DeMarre Carroll to play some four, Cory Joseph to play next to Kyle Lowry, and he would like to see DeMar DeRozan and Lowry not have so much pressure on them. What does this all mean?
Let’s start with DeMarre at the four. The Raptors look a little different this year with Amir Johnson now in Boston and Tyler Hansbrough in Charlotte while basically swapping in Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo. Hansbrough is in a similar class as Scola and Biz — assuming Biz doesn’t continue to grow, which could happen — while Amir is a much more capable player. That means there should be a few more minutes available for the Raptors to go small. Plus, it does seem the Raptors are less bullish on playing Jonas Valanciunas bigger minutes and James Johnson is likely being viewed more as a three and not a four — Johnson also basically fell out of the rotation in the playoffs.
Can DeMarre play the four, though? Well, that’s tough to tell. Last season, only 17 of Carroll’s 2,747 minutes in the regular season and playoffs came at power forward. The Hawks had two All-Star talents in Al Horford and Paul Millsap, who both are capable of playing big minutes. The NBA is clearly shifting the paradigm to more of a small-ball approach, so that is good news for any player capable of playing more than one position in an up-tempo style. Also, the Raptors were 20th in pace last season, so this news helps them there, too. Carroll should see career highs in usage rate, assists and minutes with the Raptors this season. He’s a strong target in the middle rounds and hopefully his efficiency doesn’t suffer.
Cory Joseph playing next to Kyle Lowry is interesting. It further accentuates the uptempo pace, especially since Casey said he can see Lowry, Joseph and DeRozan all being in the same lineup. It is worth mentioning a two-PG lineup with DeMar didn’t work for them last year, though. For Raptors lineups with at least 100 minutes last year, the worst one was a lineup of Lowry, Greivis Vasquez (now with the Bucks), DeMar, Amir and Valanciunas. Interestingly, that lineup was also the slowest, so the added pace should help them out. The point here is I’m not sure that this lineup works, but again it speaks to the versatility of Casey’s rotation this year. Obviously, you should not be drafting Joseph as anything more than a handcuff to Lowry in deep leagues. It is worth mentioning Co-Jo did have a solid run in 14 starts last year, averaging 13.2 points, 4.5 boards, 3.6 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.3 treys on 56.2 percent from the field. Of course, Spurs.
DeMar DeRozan has been one of the most inefficient, high-usage players in the NBA. In fact, he was the only qualifier for minutes last season to have a true shooting percentage below 52 with a usage rate of at least 28. Even the “analytics are dumb” crowd will attest that high usage and low efficiency is a bad formula. The Raptors likely know this and will look to cut down on his mid-range shooting. DD took a whopping 508 mid-range shots last season and only made 35.8 percent of them. He’s also not fouled as much on those, so his favorable 83.2 percent at the line from last year is less useful, too.
Usually, a player getting a pass results in higher efficiency. However, on DeRozan’s 916 shots off a pass, he made just 40.9 percent from the field, which is lower than his total of 41.3 percent. That does not compute. The passing was much better than his multi-dribbling attempts because his efficiency is way down on shots with three-plus dribbles. On those 420 shots last year, he had an effective field goal percentage of 38.3. That’s unbelievably bad, especially considering those types of shots accounted for 42.5 percent of his total.
The bottom line here is no high-usage player needs to take better shots than DeRozan. Subsequently, this potential change would mean he has a lower usage and hopefully more efficiency. For fantasy, I haven’t drafted DeMar DeRozan in nine-category leagues in my entire life and that won’t change this season.
Lowry, on the other hand, is a solid player off the ball. On his shots without a dribble, he had an effective field goal percentage of 53.3. Lowry’s fantasy value gets a slight uptick in the possible new system and it may even help his 3-pointers rise. He is a little injury prone and was just outside of the top 30 for per-game value last year, so I’d probably pounce in the 25-35 range, depending what’s out there.
The Mayor's Offense
The Bulls are going to have a lot of changes this upcoming season. Year after year, coach Tom Thibodeau had his team in the bottom third for pace, but that will change with Fred Hoiberg taking over. He’s already said the team will push the ball more, which means there will be more stats to go around. The Bulls were also in the bottom two for 3-point attempts per game in two of the last three seasons. That should also change and they may be able to climb into the top 15. Still, the Bulls had two top-15 players per game in standard leagues in Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol. They could be one of the most fantasy relevant teams in the 2015-16 season.
The most interesting item from last week is NBA.com’s Sam Smith saying Gasol and Joakim Noah are unlikely to start together. One quick reminder is “starting” is the most overrated aspect of a player for fantasy. If a player produces, he produces. Fantasy owners shouldn’t get too caught up in who has his name announced in the starting lineup. Johnny O’Bryant started 15 games last year and Kyle Singler started in 58 games. When the Bulls announce the starters, do not overreact. Let’s go through this big by big for who could start.
Hearing this info should automatically favor one guy: Nikola Mirotic. The Bulls were at their best with Mirotic on the court with his team-high net rating of 6.1. Of the two-man lineups with at least 200 minutes together, Mirotic was in each of the top three. He was paired with Mike Dunleavy, Butler and Aaron Brooks in those.
The Bulls basically played at the same tempo with Mirotic on or off the court, so there’s really no clear indicator of the new system favoring him in that regard. Per Synergy, he came in at 40.9 percentile for transition scoring, so again it’s kind of inconclusive. For what it’s worth, he didn’t really look bad/tired and the Bulls as a team were 24.1 percentile in transition scoring. Obviously a faster tempo should be a good thing for him, though. The Bulls taking more treys for him also bodes well.
The upside is just so high on Mirotic. He improved as the year went on even though is per-minute stats fell off a tad. The upside is just so nice for a second-year player with international experience. I’ve always been a fan of being semi-safe in the first half of fantasy drafts and shooting for upside in the second half — it’s all I draft in the last four picks. Don’t sleep on him and you can target him aggressively.
Pau Gasol may be the best offensive option for the Bulls, but it does make some sense to put him in the second unit to a degree. He led the team in PIE (player impact estimate), had a 24.4 usage rate and a 55.0 true shooting percentage. Gasol also only had 61.9 percent of his buckets assisted, which is the lowest among the PF/C starting candidates. He can get his own shot and his low-post presence should help space the floor for some shooters in the unit. Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose can get their own shot and don’t need the spacing quite as much.
Whatever happens, Gasol should see his 34.4 minutes per game take a hit. At worst, he’ll be looking at around 31. He’s still a solid target in the second round with a very high floor. The coaching change shouldn’t affect him negatively.
Noah is certainly a strange case. When we was off the court, the Bulls had a net rating of 4.3 compared to just 2.3 when he was on the court. In other words, they were better without him based on that stat alone. He is also really running into a number of injuries, so there is little doubt we see his minutes slide from his 30.6 per game from last season.
Just because he gets less minutes, it doesn’t mean he should be moved out of the starting lineup. We all know Noah is not the offensive weapon he used to be, but his presence in the first unit offense is superfluous with the Butler offensive breakout. It’s all about defense for Noah and he still has it. While defending shots from within 10 feet, Noah’s man made just 46.5 percent, which is 8.2 percent below the league average.
Starter or not, his fantasy value doesn’t look good. Last season, he was just 111th on per-game value with all that playing time. He had a 13.7 usage rate last season and his non-scoring numbers took a tumble as well. Let someone else draft him.
Doug McDermott’s rookie season was one to forget. When he was on the court, he only had a net rating of -12.2 — the lowest among Bulls with at least 65 minutes last season. Thibodeau put him in the dog house more than Snoopy last year, so the coaching change helps him regardless. Yeah, he’ll likely be getting some minutes at small forward, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bobby Portis move ahead of him on the depth chart at the four. If you’re looking for more info on these two guys, check out the Central Summer League recap here. I really like Portis.
As for Taj Gibson, it’s pretty obvious he’s not going to be starting. He is a nice fill-in guy when the Bulls have an injury, but he just doesn’t seem like a guy who would thrive in an uptempo, floor-spacing system.
So of all the possible starting combos, which had the best effect on net rating?
Note: These numbers do include some minutes with Mirotic at the three and include the postseason.
Gasol, Mirotic
On: 3.5
Off: -8.4
Gasol, Noah
On: 4.2
Off: 8.4
Gasol, Gibson
On: 3.4
Off: 10.1
Noah, Mirotic
On: 1.6
Off: 1.0
Noah, Gibson
On: -8.6
Off: 6.2
This is fascinating. While the Bulls were solid with Mirotic-Gasol, they were awful without them with a negative rating while they were both off the court. On the other hand, the other four lineup combos all had a positive net rating while they were off. To take it a step further, the Bulls had a net rating of 4.6 with Mirotic playing the four next to Pau. When Mirotic was playing the four with Noah, the Bulls had a net rating of 8.1 Again, Mirotic was really good at power forward last year and there is so much to like about him this year.
Right now I’d probably say Noah gets bumped to the bench. He isn’t really capable of playing big minutes anymore. Mirotic and Gasol have the highest ceiling on offense and coach Hoiberg strikes me as a guy who wants to score as much as possible. As far as fantasy value goes for this group, I’d rank them: Gasol, Mirotic, Noah, Gibson, McDermott.
Mike Gallagher takes a look at some changes coming to the Bulls and Raptors
Rap it Up-Tempo
Coach Dwane Casey had some interesting comments regarding his rotation last week. He said he expects DeMarre Carroll to play some four, Cory Joseph to play next to Kyle Lowry, and he would like to see DeMar DeRozan and Lowry not have so much pressure on them. What does this all mean?
Let’s start with DeMarre at the four. The Raptors look a little different this year with Amir Johnson now in Boston and Tyler Hansbrough in Charlotte while basically swapping in Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo. Hansbrough is in a similar class as Scola and Biz — assuming Biz doesn’t continue to grow, which could happen — while Amir is a much more capable player. That means there should be a few more minutes available for the Raptors to go small. Plus, it does seem the Raptors are less bullish on playing Jonas Valanciunas bigger minutes and James Johnson is likely being viewed more as a three and not a four — Johnson also basically fell out of the rotation in the playoffs.
Can DeMarre play the four, though? Well, that’s tough to tell. Last season, only 17 of Carroll’s 2,747 minutes in the regular season and playoffs came at power forward. The Hawks had two All-Star talents in Al Horford and Paul Millsap, who both are capable of playing big minutes. The NBA is clearly shifting the paradigm to more of a small-ball approach, so that is good news for any player capable of playing more than one position in an up-tempo style. Also, the Raptors were 20th in pace last season, so this news helps them there, too. Carroll should see career highs in usage rate, assists and minutes with the Raptors this season. He’s a strong target in the middle rounds and hopefully his efficiency doesn’t suffer.
Cory Joseph playing next to Kyle Lowry is interesting. It further accentuates the uptempo pace, especially since Casey said he can see Lowry, Joseph and DeRozan all being in the same lineup. It is worth mentioning a two-PG lineup with DeMar didn’t work for them last year, though. For Raptors lineups with at least 100 minutes last year, the worst one was a lineup of Lowry, Greivis Vasquez (now with the Bucks), DeMar, Amir and Valanciunas. Interestingly, that lineup was also the slowest, so the added pace should help them out. The point here is I’m not sure that this lineup works, but again it speaks to the versatility of Casey’s rotation this year. Obviously, you should not be drafting Joseph as anything more than a handcuff to Lowry in deep leagues. It is worth mentioning Co-Jo did have a solid run in 14 starts last year, averaging 13.2 points, 4.5 boards, 3.6 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.3 treys on 56.2 percent from the field. Of course, Spurs.
DeMar DeRozan has been one of the most inefficient, high-usage players in the NBA. In fact, he was the only qualifier for minutes last season to have a true shooting percentage below 52 with a usage rate of at least 28. Even the “analytics are dumb” crowd will attest that high usage and low efficiency is a bad formula. The Raptors likely know this and will look to cut down on his mid-range shooting. DD took a whopping 508 mid-range shots last season and only made 35.8 percent of them. He’s also not fouled as much on those, so his favorable 83.2 percent at the line from last year is less useful, too.
Usually, a player getting a pass results in higher efficiency. However, on DeRozan’s 916 shots off a pass, he made just 40.9 percent from the field, which is lower than his total of 41.3 percent. That does not compute. The passing was much better than his multi-dribbling attempts because his efficiency is way down on shots with three-plus dribbles. On those 420 shots last year, he had an effective field goal percentage of 38.3. That’s unbelievably bad, especially considering those types of shots accounted for 42.5 percent of his total.
The bottom line here is no high-usage player needs to take better shots than DeRozan. Subsequently, this potential change would mean he has a lower usage and hopefully more efficiency. For fantasy, I haven’t drafted DeMar DeRozan in nine-category leagues in my entire life and that won’t change this season.
Lowry, on the other hand, is a solid player off the ball. On his shots without a dribble, he had an effective field goal percentage of 53.3. Lowry’s fantasy value gets a slight uptick in the possible new system and it may even help his 3-pointers rise. He is a little injury prone and was just outside of the top 30 for per-game value last year, so I’d probably pounce in the 25-35 range, depending what’s out there.
The Mayor's Offense
The Bulls are going to have a lot of changes this upcoming season. Year after year, coach Tom Thibodeau had his team in the bottom third for pace, but that will change with Fred Hoiberg taking over. He’s already said the team will push the ball more, which means there will be more stats to go around. The Bulls were also in the bottom two for 3-point attempts per game in two of the last three seasons. That should also change and they may be able to climb into the top 15. Still, the Bulls had two top-15 players per game in standard leagues in Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol. They could be one of the most fantasy relevant teams in the 2015-16 season.
The most interesting item from last week is NBA.com’s Sam Smith saying Gasol and Joakim Noah are unlikely to start together. One quick reminder is “starting” is the most overrated aspect of a player for fantasy. If a player produces, he produces. Fantasy owners shouldn’t get too caught up in who has his name announced in the starting lineup. Johnny O’Bryant started 15 games last year and Kyle Singler started in 58 games. When the Bulls announce the starters, do not overreact. Let’s go through this big by big for who could start.
Hearing this info should automatically favor one guy: Nikola Mirotic. The Bulls were at their best with Mirotic on the court with his team-high net rating of 6.1. Of the two-man lineups with at least 200 minutes together, Mirotic was in each of the top three. He was paired with Mike Dunleavy, Butler and Aaron Brooks in those.
The Bulls basically played at the same tempo with Mirotic on or off the court, so there’s really no clear indicator of the new system favoring him in that regard. Per Synergy, he came in at 40.9 percentile for transition scoring, so again it’s kind of inconclusive. For what it’s worth, he didn’t really look bad/tired and the Bulls as a team were 24.1 percentile in transition scoring. Obviously a faster tempo should be a good thing for him, though. The Bulls taking more treys for him also bodes well.
The upside is just so high on Mirotic. He improved as the year went on even though is per-minute stats fell off a tad. The upside is just so nice for a second-year player with international experience. I’ve always been a fan of being semi-safe in the first half of fantasy drafts and shooting for upside in the second half — it’s all I draft in the last four picks. Don’t sleep on him and you can target him aggressively.
Pau Gasol may be the best offensive option for the Bulls, but it does make some sense to put him in the second unit to a degree. He led the team in PIE (player impact estimate), had a 24.4 usage rate and a 55.0 true shooting percentage. Gasol also only had 61.9 percent of his buckets assisted, which is the lowest among the PF/C starting candidates. He can get his own shot and his low-post presence should help space the floor for some shooters in the unit. Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose can get their own shot and don’t need the spacing quite as much.
Whatever happens, Gasol should see his 34.4 minutes per game take a hit. At worst, he’ll be looking at around 31. He’s still a solid target in the second round with a very high floor. The coaching change shouldn’t affect him negatively.
Noah is certainly a strange case. When we was off the court, the Bulls had a net rating of 4.3 compared to just 2.3 when he was on the court. In other words, they were better without him based on that stat alone. He is also really running into a number of injuries, so there is little doubt we see his minutes slide from his 30.6 per game from last season.
Just because he gets less minutes, it doesn’t mean he should be moved out of the starting lineup. We all know Noah is not the offensive weapon he used to be, but his presence in the first unit offense is superfluous with the Butler offensive breakout. It’s all about defense for Noah and he still has it. While defending shots from within 10 feet, Noah’s man made just 46.5 percent, which is 8.2 percent below the league average.
Starter or not, his fantasy value doesn’t look good. Last season, he was just 111th on per-game value with all that playing time. He had a 13.7 usage rate last season and his non-scoring numbers took a tumble as well. Let someone else draft him.
Doug McDermott’s rookie season was one to forget. When he was on the court, he only had a net rating of -12.2 — the lowest among Bulls with at least 65 minutes last season. Thibodeau put him in the dog house more than Snoopy last year, so the coaching change helps him regardless. Yeah, he’ll likely be getting some minutes at small forward, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bobby Portis move ahead of him on the depth chart at the four. If you’re looking for more info on these two guys, check out the Central Summer League recap here. I really like Portis.
As for Taj Gibson, it’s pretty obvious he’s not going to be starting. He is a nice fill-in guy when the Bulls have an injury, but he just doesn’t seem like a guy who would thrive in an uptempo, floor-spacing system.
So of all the possible starting combos, which had the best effect on net rating?
Note: These numbers do include some minutes with Mirotic at the three and include the postseason.
Gasol, Mirotic
On: 3.5
Off: -8.4
Gasol, Noah
On: 4.2
Off: 8.4
Gasol, Gibson
On: 3.4
Off: 10.1
Noah, Mirotic
On: 1.6
Off: 1.0
Noah, Gibson
On: -8.6
Off: 6.2
This is fascinating. While the Bulls were solid with Mirotic-Gasol, they were awful without them with a negative rating while they were both off the court. On the other hand, the other four lineup combos all had a positive net rating while they were off. To take it a step further, the Bulls had a net rating of 4.6 with Mirotic playing the four next to Pau. When Mirotic was playing the four with Noah, the Bulls had a net rating of 8.1 Again, Mirotic was really good at power forward last year and there is so much to like about him this year.
Right now I’d probably say Noah gets bumped to the bench. He isn’t really capable of playing big minutes anymore. Mirotic and Gasol have the highest ceiling on offense and coach Hoiberg strikes me as a guy who wants to score as much as possible. As far as fantasy value goes for this group, I’d rank them: Gasol, Mirotic, Noah, Gibson, McDermott.
everysingletime
formerly amel223
- Apr 4, 2006
- 42,963
- 15,346
Wow at the net rating with Noah off the court smh
I've been crapping on Noah the whole summer guys. See, I haven't been doing it for no reason
I've been crapping on Noah the whole summer guys. See, I haven't been doing it for no reason
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- May 24, 2014
- 2,900
- 599
I know
- Mar 19, 2013
- 5,285
- 1,351
Oh yeah, fosho!! [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]128077[/emoji]I know
Just adding on to yours.
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- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
Stacey being Stacey
If Derrick Rose's playoff performance is any indication, the Bulls point guard could be in for a giant 2015-16 season.
That's according to CSN's Bulls color commentator Stacey King, who spoke at the Bulls/Sox Academy Tuesday and believes the league's youngest MVP is getting back to that old form.
"I expect him to have a big year this year, I expect him to make the All-Star team, I expect him to be back to the elite player that we are used to seeing," King said of the three-time All-Star (2010-2012). "I can't wait to see him."
King's comments come on the heels of a report last week that Rose, 26, is still undecided about participating in Team USA's minicamp in Las Vegas next week. Rose was a part of last year's USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, a decision that came with some scrutiny as he had just missed all but 10 games of the 2013-14 season with a torn meniscus.
Rose suffered a second meniscus tear in February that cost him 20 games, but a surgery that removed the meniscus rather than repair it allowed for a quicker recovery time. Rose returned for the Bulls' final five regular season games, helping Chicago earn the No. 3 seed in the East.
In the playoffs Rose averaged 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists in nearly 38 minutes per game, giving the Chicago native some momentum heading into the beginning of the Fred Hoiberg era.
But King would rather Rose take time before training camp begins in September to rest his knees.
"Derrick knows his body. And me personally, I'd like to see him not play because this is an opportunity that the Bulls have a championship run in them and they need Derrick Rose healthy," he said. "If Derrick Rose is healthy and he can play in Team USA, I would say go. But over the last couple of years he's had those major injuries that have cost him some time."
When Rose does begin his seventh season with the Bulls - with his third head coach - King believes Hoiberg's free-flowing, up-tempo offensive system will fit Rose perfectly.
"Fred's going to give them a breath of fresh air and bring fun back to basketball," He said. "Derrick and Jimmy are going to enjoy playing for him."
-----
King: Doug McDermott could be NBA's most improved player
The only direction for Doug McDermott to go is up. Stacey King believes he could be trending that way in a hurry this season.
Speaking at the Bulls/Sox Academy in Lisle on Tuesday, the Bulls' color commentator said McDermott could earn some hardware All-Star Jimmy Butler took home a year ago.
"I totally would not be surprised if Doug McDermott is the most improved player in the NBA this year," King said. "I know his minutes are going to go up. This is a kid who was a lottery pick, the Bulls gave up a lot to get him."
The No. 11 pick in last June's NBA Draft, McDermott had a largely forgettable rookie campaign. He appeared in just 36 games after needing knee surgery in November, and averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.9 minutes per game. Part of McDermott's quiet campaign stemmed from former coach Tom Thibodeau's apathy toward playing rookies, something King also noted.
"Tom Thibodeau is one of those old-school coaches; he doesn't play younger players. Jimmy Butler didn't play his first year and the only reason he played his second year is because Rip Hamilton and Marco Belinelli got hurt, and we may not have seen Jimmy prosper into the player he is now," he said. "So I expect the same kind of improvement from Doug McDermott under Fred Hoiberg. He's going to play."
McDermott got his first taste of life under Hoiberg in the Las Vegas Summer League; McDermott averaged 18.8 points on 49 percent shooting in five games, and should see a larger role in Hoiberg's up-tempo offensive system.
King also touted Tony Snell, and surmised that the front office's faith in both McDermott and Snell were reasons they felt comfortable not adding another wing or shooter this offseason. The team selected power forward Bobby Portis with the No. 22 pick and re-signed Mike Dunleavy to a three-year, $14 million contract.
"A lot of people say, 'you need to go out and get a swing player.' Well, you've got two quality young players that can help you right now that if given the time can really do some special things," King said. "I'm excited to see these younger players play. It's going to be a fun year."
If Derrick Rose's playoff performance is any indication, the Bulls point guard could be in for a giant 2015-16 season.
That's according to CSN's Bulls color commentator Stacey King, who spoke at the Bulls/Sox Academy Tuesday and believes the league's youngest MVP is getting back to that old form.
"I expect him to have a big year this year, I expect him to make the All-Star team, I expect him to be back to the elite player that we are used to seeing," King said of the three-time All-Star (2010-2012). "I can't wait to see him."
King's comments come on the heels of a report last week that Rose, 26, is still undecided about participating in Team USA's minicamp in Las Vegas next week. Rose was a part of last year's USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, a decision that came with some scrutiny as he had just missed all but 10 games of the 2013-14 season with a torn meniscus.
Rose suffered a second meniscus tear in February that cost him 20 games, but a surgery that removed the meniscus rather than repair it allowed for a quicker recovery time. Rose returned for the Bulls' final five regular season games, helping Chicago earn the No. 3 seed in the East.
In the playoffs Rose averaged 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists in nearly 38 minutes per game, giving the Chicago native some momentum heading into the beginning of the Fred Hoiberg era.
But King would rather Rose take time before training camp begins in September to rest his knees.
"Derrick knows his body. And me personally, I'd like to see him not play because this is an opportunity that the Bulls have a championship run in them and they need Derrick Rose healthy," he said. "If Derrick Rose is healthy and he can play in Team USA, I would say go. But over the last couple of years he's had those major injuries that have cost him some time."
When Rose does begin his seventh season with the Bulls - with his third head coach - King believes Hoiberg's free-flowing, up-tempo offensive system will fit Rose perfectly.
"Fred's going to give them a breath of fresh air and bring fun back to basketball," He said. "Derrick and Jimmy are going to enjoy playing for him."
-----
King: Doug McDermott could be NBA's most improved player
The only direction for Doug McDermott to go is up. Stacey King believes he could be trending that way in a hurry this season.
Speaking at the Bulls/Sox Academy in Lisle on Tuesday, the Bulls' color commentator said McDermott could earn some hardware All-Star Jimmy Butler took home a year ago.
"I totally would not be surprised if Doug McDermott is the most improved player in the NBA this year," King said. "I know his minutes are going to go up. This is a kid who was a lottery pick, the Bulls gave up a lot to get him."
The No. 11 pick in last June's NBA Draft, McDermott had a largely forgettable rookie campaign. He appeared in just 36 games after needing knee surgery in November, and averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.9 minutes per game. Part of McDermott's quiet campaign stemmed from former coach Tom Thibodeau's apathy toward playing rookies, something King also noted.
"Tom Thibodeau is one of those old-school coaches; he doesn't play younger players. Jimmy Butler didn't play his first year and the only reason he played his second year is because Rip Hamilton and Marco Belinelli got hurt, and we may not have seen Jimmy prosper into the player he is now," he said. "So I expect the same kind of improvement from Doug McDermott under Fred Hoiberg. He's going to play."
McDermott got his first taste of life under Hoiberg in the Las Vegas Summer League; McDermott averaged 18.8 points on 49 percent shooting in five games, and should see a larger role in Hoiberg's up-tempo offensive system.
King also touted Tony Snell, and surmised that the front office's faith in both McDermott and Snell were reasons they felt comfortable not adding another wing or shooter this offseason. The team selected power forward Bobby Portis with the No. 22 pick and re-signed Mike Dunleavy to a three-year, $14 million contract.
"A lot of people say, 'you need to go out and get a swing player.' Well, you've got two quality young players that can help you right now that if given the time can really do some special things," King said. "I'm excited to see these younger players play. It's going to be a fun year."
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
also I was gonna post Jordan v Butler at the Jordan camp...Jimmys form looks better/smoother even if it wasn't a serious game
- Mar 19, 2013
- 5,285
- 1,351
I don't care what anyone say but Derrick Rose in the playoff, he was ballin'.
There were times, most, that the Cavs couldn't stop him.. Playoff Rose is always great to watch and I have nothing but optimism in him for this coming season and especially under and more free-flowing coach, the skies the limit my ninjas.
Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose will become the best back court in the league. No bias.
There were times, most, that the Cavs couldn't stop him.. Playoff Rose is always great to watch and I have nothing but optimism in him for this coming season and especially under and more free-flowing coach, the skies the limit my ninjas.
Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose will become the best back court in the league. No bias.
everysingletime
formerly amel223
- Apr 4, 2006
- 42,963
- 15,346
I would've liked to have seen Jimmy play Jordan to a quick game to 5 lol
- Mar 19, 2013
- 5,285
- 1,351
Good read... Jim Boylen, Bulls Assistant Coach.
http://www.blogabull.com/2015/8/5/9...got-their-man-associate-head-coach-jim-boylen
Very good resume.
http://www.blogabull.com/2015/8/5/9...got-their-man-associate-head-coach-jim-boylen
Very good resume.
- May 24, 2014
- 2,900
- 599
Tell'em! 2Chainz voice
everysingletime
formerly amel223
- Apr 4, 2006
- 42,963
- 15,346
On 2k, I always play Jimmy and Derrick in 2 on 2 blacktop. I always choose from my opponents Steph and Klay. They always work me, smh.
- Sep 17, 2008
- 4,996
- 91
Does anyone think NIko should start instead of Noah?
everysingletime
formerly amel223
- Apr 4, 2006
- 42,963
- 15,346
Yes.
- Mar 19, 2013
- 5,285
- 1,351
Rose butler Dunleavy Mirotic pau
- Mar 19, 2013
- 5,285
- 1,351
He and westbrook practicing together like the old times, the repetition will be there. Derrick's drive will be unleash again, like the pit bull he is.
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
How did the Bulls find Jim Boylen, and who is he?
The wheels of destiny began to turn in the 2013 offseason after the Atlanta Hawks finally gave 18 year assistant Mike Budenholzer a chance as a head coach. His departure created a ripple effect in the coaching hierarchy among the remaining assistants in San Antonio.
Upon Budenholzer's departure, Boylen and the remaining Spurs coaching staff collectively moved up a rung on the ladder. The promotion was good news for Boylen, but lasted for only a season. Last year's hiring of legendary European coach Ettore Messina to replace Budenholzer as Pop's top assistant returned Boylen and crew back down a rung.
There is talk that Messina is being groomed to be Popovich's successor, as the Spurs transition into a LMA/Kawhi Leonard/Danny Green era. What the hire meant for Boylen was the head assistant coach job in San Antonio would be filled for the foreseeable future.
Adding to the logjam of promising assistant coaches in San Antonio was the emergence of Becky Hammon, who was on that staff last season and this year was chosen to coach the Spurs' summer league team.
Despite owning a reputation as a future NBA coach, Boylen was moving backwards with the Spurs. Falling behind Messina and potentially Hammon was probably a blow to Boylen, who as recently as last season was considered the leading head coach candidate for the Utah Jazz's vacancy. Along came the Chicago Bulls, dangling an Associate Head Coaching title and the opportunity to spearhead the Bulls' defense. It was an offer Boylen couldn't refuse.
Was hiring Boylen picking up the Spurs' crumbs, or taking advantage of an abundance of riches?
As the Bulls searched for assistant coach candidates, they explained that the right man for the job would be someone with ample experience and defensive acumen. Boylen seems like he could be that guy.
Boylan began coaching in the NBA in 1992, and has been an assistant coach on three championship teams (Rockets '94, Rockets '95, Spurs '14). After finding success with Frank Vogel in Indiana, Boylen surprised the organization by jumping ship and joining San Antonio to work under Popovich.
It's unclear how much a good team defense can be attributed to a particular assistant. However, as the collegiate head coach of the Utah Utes, Boylen's teams were known for their defense. Upon his first season, the Utes raised their defensive FG% from last to 2nd in the Pac 12, and were first in defensive 3pt%. Boylen has also been credited for helping the 2012 Pacers climb to first in defensive efficiency.
Rather than hire retread head coaches as the Bulls tried under Vinny Del Negro (Del Harris, Bernie Bickerstaff), the Bulls made a sensible choice to surround Hoiberg with a leading candidate for a future head coaching position. However, the risk with this decision is that it leaves the Bulls coaching staff with zero years of cumulative NBA head coaching experience. Additionally, it puts the Bulls in even worse shape next year should Boylen decide to pursue a head coaching vacancy elsewhere.
The Bulls certainly deserve credit for taking advantage of good timing, monitoring the league, and poaching Boylen away from the Spurs. Here's hoping that the Hoiberg/Boylen tandem is a relationship that will blossom for years to come.
The wheels of destiny began to turn in the 2013 offseason after the Atlanta Hawks finally gave 18 year assistant Mike Budenholzer a chance as a head coach. His departure created a ripple effect in the coaching hierarchy among the remaining assistants in San Antonio.
Upon Budenholzer's departure, Boylen and the remaining Spurs coaching staff collectively moved up a rung on the ladder. The promotion was good news for Boylen, but lasted for only a season. Last year's hiring of legendary European coach Ettore Messina to replace Budenholzer as Pop's top assistant returned Boylen and crew back down a rung.
There is talk that Messina is being groomed to be Popovich's successor, as the Spurs transition into a LMA/Kawhi Leonard/Danny Green era. What the hire meant for Boylen was the head assistant coach job in San Antonio would be filled for the foreseeable future.
Adding to the logjam of promising assistant coaches in San Antonio was the emergence of Becky Hammon, who was on that staff last season and this year was chosen to coach the Spurs' summer league team.
Despite owning a reputation as a future NBA coach, Boylen was moving backwards with the Spurs. Falling behind Messina and potentially Hammon was probably a blow to Boylen, who as recently as last season was considered the leading head coach candidate for the Utah Jazz's vacancy. Along came the Chicago Bulls, dangling an Associate Head Coaching title and the opportunity to spearhead the Bulls' defense. It was an offer Boylen couldn't refuse.
Was hiring Boylen picking up the Spurs' crumbs, or taking advantage of an abundance of riches?
As the Bulls searched for assistant coach candidates, they explained that the right man for the job would be someone with ample experience and defensive acumen. Boylen seems like he could be that guy.
Boylan began coaching in the NBA in 1992, and has been an assistant coach on three championship teams (Rockets '94, Rockets '95, Spurs '14). After finding success with Frank Vogel in Indiana, Boylen surprised the organization by jumping ship and joining San Antonio to work under Popovich.
It's unclear how much a good team defense can be attributed to a particular assistant. However, as the collegiate head coach of the Utah Utes, Boylen's teams were known for their defense. Upon his first season, the Utes raised their defensive FG% from last to 2nd in the Pac 12, and were first in defensive 3pt%. Boylen has also been credited for helping the 2012 Pacers climb to first in defensive efficiency.
Rather than hire retread head coaches as the Bulls tried under Vinny Del Negro (Del Harris, Bernie Bickerstaff), the Bulls made a sensible choice to surround Hoiberg with a leading candidate for a future head coaching position. However, the risk with this decision is that it leaves the Bulls coaching staff with zero years of cumulative NBA head coaching experience. Additionally, it puts the Bulls in even worse shape next year should Boylen decide to pursue a head coaching vacancy elsewhere.
The Bulls certainly deserve credit for taking advantage of good timing, monitoring the league, and poaching Boylen away from the Spurs. Here's hoping that the Hoiberg/Boylen tandem is a relationship that will blossom for years to come.
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
Were Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose actually feuding in the Bulls elimination game?
the Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler "Beef" Is ********
The way in which the Chicago Bulls' season ended was, well, frustrating. It was the culmination of a season-long game of chicken. And to top it all off, losing at the hands of their arch-rival -- LeBron James -- couldn't have been more appropriate. That 94-73 Game 6 loss stunk. It was miserable and hopeless and a disaster. Anyone who watched the 2014-15 Bulls closely knew they were about as bipolar as a basketball team could possibly be, but the season couldn't have ended on uglier terms.
But what took place during that Game 6 loss at the United Center was so bad it became objectively strange. Especially the apparent passiveness of Derrick Rose with the simultaneous over-aggression of Jimmy Butler. That game inherently needed an answer, an explanation, something, so conclusions were jumped to. Chief among them being a burgeoning 'feud' amongst the Bulls star backcourt, first posited by fringe media but perpetuated by more established sources and now effectively part of the conversation surrounding the team this offseason.
Nevermind, for now, that there hadn't been even the slightest indication of a "beef" between Rose and Butler prior to that Game 6 defeat, and that they were sharing the floor for extending periods for essentially the first time. To further contextualize the alleged tension between Rose and Butler, perhaps we should let the tape of that final game do the talking, yes?
Because from my point of view, what I see here is Derrick Rose making a smart basketball play -- Butler's man had fallen out of the play, thus creating a wide-open three-pointer -- not indifference on Rose's behalf:
And while it would be fair to say Rose, on various occasions, appeared disinterested in attacking off the dribble during the latter portion of that game, what I see here is Rose applying pressure into the teeth of Cleveland's defense, which leads to an open layup (note the time and score):
While it's true Rose only had four second half shot attempts, what we also know to be true is that 12 of Rose's 16 shots came at the rim or around the paint, thus rendering any assertion of passive play rather unconvincing. To be clear, Rose is not faultless here, but to pin the totality of the fault on Rose, for supposed passive-aggressive behavior, is misguided.
Perhaps Cleveland's defense deserves far more credit than anyone (myself included) was willing to concede. And the Bulls chronic issues with spacing on offense was a more systemic problem than what can be individually pinned on Rose or Butler.
I watched clips of every shot Derrick and Jimmy took in that game (multiple times), and I didn't notice anything egregiously bad on Jimmy's part in terms of drifting over and demanding the ball. I readily admit that the second half of that game, at times, had the look and feel of some 'my turn, your turn' hijinks between them, and I don't doubt for a second that those two were fed up with the entirety of the situation. They got their ***** kicked by a severely undermanned opponent, I'd imagine there was some displeasure expressed by them and the rest of the team. Hell, I'd hope there was.
The subsequent talk of a Rose and Butler "beef" reeks of unambitious reporting, if not the straight up disregarding of relevant facts. I find it weird that a report citing tension between two players would completely ignore the fact that no one on the Bulls seems to benefit more from passes made by Derrick Rose than Jimmy Butler. Seriously, Butler shot 48.3 percent on all field goals and 48.7 percent from 3-point range on passes received from Rose, according to NBA.com's SportVU player tracking data.
What's even weirder is that it's not even disputable that Rose and Butler were far-and-away the team's best players during the playoffs. Everything hinged on those two performing at a high level, and if they didn't, well, you get results like Game 6. Sometimes, these things aren't as complicated as we'd like them to be, and one half of a playoff game isn't enough of a sample size for me to jump to a sweeping, decidedly rhetorical conclusion.
Yes, as I've stated, one could impartially critique Rose or Butler's play in the second half of that Game 6. For example, Butler putting his head down attacking the basket, which in turn misses a streaking Rose, is obviously a bad basketball play:
[If you couldn't tell by that one vine I have, my video capability is super ******, so intentionally I am trying to limit the use of video in this post.]
But after compiling a season's worth of data, there's little evidence which would support the idea Rose and Butler are uncomfortable sharing the ball with one another. On the court, I just don't see a problem. It's possible Rose and Butler aren't the closest of personal friends off the court and have superstar egos, but like Butler himself said: losing persists rumors.
Hey, if the mission of a 'beef' report was to generate some chatter through a melodramatic offseason storyline, mission accomplished! Like, Butler has actually had to speak on the alleged rift, multiple times. Rose, for his part, hasn't been anywhere near the media, which is probably for the best. But of course, once Rose is back for training camp, he'll be fielding those obnoxiously simplistic questions which await him. This thing isn't going away any time soon, unfortunately.
As when the basketball part of the equation is removed from the formula, rumors like this run rampant. But instead of speculation serving as clickbait, one can break out empirical evidence like this:
Color me a skeptic, that's fine. Color me apologetic towards two very good basketball players who, given more time together, have a real chance at accomplishing some great things -- that's fine, too. But as it stands, there's no other way to phrase it, my friends: any on-court "beef" between Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler is ******** at its finest.
the Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler "Beef" Is ********
The way in which the Chicago Bulls' season ended was, well, frustrating. It was the culmination of a season-long game of chicken. And to top it all off, losing at the hands of their arch-rival -- LeBron James -- couldn't have been more appropriate. That 94-73 Game 6 loss stunk. It was miserable and hopeless and a disaster. Anyone who watched the 2014-15 Bulls closely knew they were about as bipolar as a basketball team could possibly be, but the season couldn't have ended on uglier terms.
But what took place during that Game 6 loss at the United Center was so bad it became objectively strange. Especially the apparent passiveness of Derrick Rose with the simultaneous over-aggression of Jimmy Butler. That game inherently needed an answer, an explanation, something, so conclusions were jumped to. Chief among them being a burgeoning 'feud' amongst the Bulls star backcourt, first posited by fringe media but perpetuated by more established sources and now effectively part of the conversation surrounding the team this offseason.
Nevermind, for now, that there hadn't been even the slightest indication of a "beef" between Rose and Butler prior to that Game 6 defeat, and that they were sharing the floor for extending periods for essentially the first time. To further contextualize the alleged tension between Rose and Butler, perhaps we should let the tape of that final game do the talking, yes?
Because from my point of view, what I see here is Derrick Rose making a smart basketball play -- Butler's man had fallen out of the play, thus creating a wide-open three-pointer -- not indifference on Rose's behalf:
And while it would be fair to say Rose, on various occasions, appeared disinterested in attacking off the dribble during the latter portion of that game, what I see here is Rose applying pressure into the teeth of Cleveland's defense, which leads to an open layup (note the time and score):
While it's true Rose only had four second half shot attempts, what we also know to be true is that 12 of Rose's 16 shots came at the rim or around the paint, thus rendering any assertion of passive play rather unconvincing. To be clear, Rose is not faultless here, but to pin the totality of the fault on Rose, for supposed passive-aggressive behavior, is misguided.
Perhaps Cleveland's defense deserves far more credit than anyone (myself included) was willing to concede. And the Bulls chronic issues with spacing on offense was a more systemic problem than what can be individually pinned on Rose or Butler.
I watched clips of every shot Derrick and Jimmy took in that game (multiple times), and I didn't notice anything egregiously bad on Jimmy's part in terms of drifting over and demanding the ball. I readily admit that the second half of that game, at times, had the look and feel of some 'my turn, your turn' hijinks between them, and I don't doubt for a second that those two were fed up with the entirety of the situation. They got their ***** kicked by a severely undermanned opponent, I'd imagine there was some displeasure expressed by them and the rest of the team. Hell, I'd hope there was.
The subsequent talk of a Rose and Butler "beef" reeks of unambitious reporting, if not the straight up disregarding of relevant facts. I find it weird that a report citing tension between two players would completely ignore the fact that no one on the Bulls seems to benefit more from passes made by Derrick Rose than Jimmy Butler. Seriously, Butler shot 48.3 percent on all field goals and 48.7 percent from 3-point range on passes received from Rose, according to NBA.com's SportVU player tracking data.
What's even weirder is that it's not even disputable that Rose and Butler were far-and-away the team's best players during the playoffs. Everything hinged on those two performing at a high level, and if they didn't, well, you get results like Game 6. Sometimes, these things aren't as complicated as we'd like them to be, and one half of a playoff game isn't enough of a sample size for me to jump to a sweeping, decidedly rhetorical conclusion.
Yes, as I've stated, one could impartially critique Rose or Butler's play in the second half of that Game 6. For example, Butler putting his head down attacking the basket, which in turn misses a streaking Rose, is obviously a bad basketball play:
[If you couldn't tell by that one vine I have, my video capability is super ******, so intentionally I am trying to limit the use of video in this post.]
But after compiling a season's worth of data, there's little evidence which would support the idea Rose and Butler are uncomfortable sharing the ball with one another. On the court, I just don't see a problem. It's possible Rose and Butler aren't the closest of personal friends off the court and have superstar egos, but like Butler himself said: losing persists rumors.
Hey, if the mission of a 'beef' report was to generate some chatter through a melodramatic offseason storyline, mission accomplished! Like, Butler has actually had to speak on the alleged rift, multiple times. Rose, for his part, hasn't been anywhere near the media, which is probably for the best. But of course, once Rose is back for training camp, he'll be fielding those obnoxiously simplistic questions which await him. This thing isn't going away any time soon, unfortunately.
As when the basketball part of the equation is removed from the formula, rumors like this run rampant. But instead of speculation serving as clickbait, one can break out empirical evidence like this:
Color me a skeptic, that's fine. Color me apologetic towards two very good basketball players who, given more time together, have a real chance at accomplishing some great things -- that's fine, too. But as it stands, there's no other way to phrase it, my friends: any on-court "beef" between Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler is ******** at its finest.
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
What Happened to the Bulls' Defense Last Year?
ne of the most puzzling aspects of the 2014-15 Bulls was that the team went from an elite defense to a mediocre one. Ex-Coach Tom Thibodeau always won games via a stout defense - his Bulls teams ranked 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 2nd in defensive rating before plummeting to 11th last year. So what happened?
The Good
Important parts of the Bulls defense were still great last year. Looking at Thibodeau's time creating defenses as an assistant or head coach, there were always certain bedrock principles that were ingrained in his teams:
1. Do not let teams shoot 3's at any cost
2. Don't foul
3. Secure rebounds to finish possessions
Although last year's Bulls struggled in defensive efficiency, they were still fantastic at defending against shots:
stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference
The Bulls remained a top 5 team in taking away 3's, making sure their opponents shot a low percentage on the 3's they did take, forcing opponents to shoot a low percentage on 2 pointers, and not fouling.
As in years past, teams did not take good shots against the Bulls and they also shot a very low percentage on the shots they did take. So why did the defense slip then?
The Bad
Although the Bulls were elite as usual at holding their opponents to low shooting percentages, they let their opponents have way too many second, third, and fourth chances in a given possession.
https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ga...orus_asset/file/3906710/bad_bulls_stats.0.png
Bulls opponents saw a 6.7% increase in their field goal attempts per game. The reason for this is threefold:
1. The Bulls' defensive rebounding suffered
For whatever reason, the Bulls really struggled to box out as a team last year. Teams saw almost a 10% increase in the amount of offensive rebounds they were able to grab from the previous season. This must have driven Thibodeau crazy. He was fond of telling the media that rebounding was a key part of defense and that a defensive possession didn't end until the rebound was secured.
2. The Bulls could not force turnovers
Thibodeau defenses have never focused on forcing a lot of turnovers, but good god were they bad last year. The Bulls were 29th out of 30 teams at forcing turnovers and had a 15% dropoff from the previous season in which they were also bad.
The Bulls rarely ended defensive possessions early with a steal. They rarely ended possessions early in the clock. Over a quarter of the time, they also didn't end possessions after the first shot attempt. Add in all of these factors, and the defense had to stay on that end for an awfully long time each and every game.
3. The Bulls played at a slightly faster pace.
The Bulls have always been a slow team, but they increased their pace by 2.6 possessions/gm last year. With extra possessions come extra shot attempts from opposing teams.
The Ugly:
Another area that the Bulls really struggled with last year was pick and roll defense. Thibodeau's system of icing pick and rolls was one of the team's strengths throughout his tenure, but last year was a different story.
(side note: to understand Thibs' defense's principles, Zach Lowe wrote up an excellent explanation for Grantland a few years ago)
The Bulls simply could not stop ballhandlers from penetrating and scoring. The team was dead last in defending the ballhandler in pick and roll situations. Opposing ballhandlers recognized this weakness and went at the Bulls the 4th most frequently out of all NBA teams. This combination of high efficiency and high volume from pick and roll ballhandlers was a problem that the Bulls simply could not fix all year.
One likely culprit is the heavy minutes played by Pau Gasol, star of this and many similar highlights. But an inexperienced Mirotic and injured Noah+Gibson meant, even after jettisoning Carlos Boozer, there was roster-wide issues in frontcourt secondary defense.
Looking at Bulls Defenders' Individual Stats:
For the first time last season, NBA.com's Stats page introduced information that tracked how well players defended shots. They also showed the shooting percentage a defensive player held an offensive player to, and what the difference was in percentage over that offensive player's average shooting percentage.
Here are the Bulls' tracked defensive numbers:
(Note: a negative number = good defender. Positive number = bad defender)
There are of course many flaws with NBA.com's tracking system, but it does give a baseline of how players are doing. The most shocking aspect of the Bulls' tracked defense is that Jimmy Butler nears the bottom of the list as one of the team's worst defenders last year.
Ironically, Butler was named to the All-Defensive Second Team last season despite being subpar on that end by his own admission. He told the media in a February press conference last year:
"I think [the defense] starts with me, to tell you the truth. I'm supposed to be this prime-time defender and I don't think I've been holding up my end of the bargain lately. So I think whenever I start kicking it up three, four notches on defense and not worry about offense as much, I think it'll all turn around.''
"You have to pick and choose your battles and save your energy for both ends of the floor now. I'm not going to lie, I thought it was going to be easier than it is. But to go on one end and produce and then go on the other end and have to stop the best player on the opposing team is not always an easy task."
He reiterated these same comments in April to ESPN's Nick Friedell:
"I'm supposed to be the prime-time defensive guy, and I haven't been guarding a soul. I've been worried about offense too much, and I need to change that quickly or it's going to be my fault."
There is reason to be optimistic about Butler's defense though. He returned to defensive greatness in the playoffs when the games really mattered, holding opponents to 10.4% below their average shooting percentages. Of rotation players, only Taj Gibson was better.
Joakim Noah also faced heavy criticism for his defensive efforts this year. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year looked like a shell of himself at times on both ends of the court. He came off of a summer knee surgery that required him to sit out parts of the season and was forced to play out of position as a PF when paired with Pau Gasol.
The individual decline of defensive anchors like Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah certainly played a role in the Bulls' defensive struggles as well, along with losing long-time defensive ace Luol Deng in a salary-cutting trade the previous season. Add in the team's collective struggles with rebounding and forcing turnovers, and you find a team that slipped from its perennial spot at top of the rankings into mediocrity.
ne of the most puzzling aspects of the 2014-15 Bulls was that the team went from an elite defense to a mediocre one. Ex-Coach Tom Thibodeau always won games via a stout defense - his Bulls teams ranked 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 2nd in defensive rating before plummeting to 11th last year. So what happened?
The Good
Important parts of the Bulls defense were still great last year. Looking at Thibodeau's time creating defenses as an assistant or head coach, there were always certain bedrock principles that were ingrained in his teams:
1. Do not let teams shoot 3's at any cost
2. Don't foul
3. Secure rebounds to finish possessions
Although last year's Bulls struggled in defensive efficiency, they were still fantastic at defending against shots:
stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference
The Bulls remained a top 5 team in taking away 3's, making sure their opponents shot a low percentage on the 3's they did take, forcing opponents to shoot a low percentage on 2 pointers, and not fouling.
As in years past, teams did not take good shots against the Bulls and they also shot a very low percentage on the shots they did take. So why did the defense slip then?
The Bad
Although the Bulls were elite as usual at holding their opponents to low shooting percentages, they let their opponents have way too many second, third, and fourth chances in a given possession.
https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ga...orus_asset/file/3906710/bad_bulls_stats.0.png
Bulls opponents saw a 6.7% increase in their field goal attempts per game. The reason for this is threefold:
1. The Bulls' defensive rebounding suffered
For whatever reason, the Bulls really struggled to box out as a team last year. Teams saw almost a 10% increase in the amount of offensive rebounds they were able to grab from the previous season. This must have driven Thibodeau crazy. He was fond of telling the media that rebounding was a key part of defense and that a defensive possession didn't end until the rebound was secured.
2. The Bulls could not force turnovers
Thibodeau defenses have never focused on forcing a lot of turnovers, but good god were they bad last year. The Bulls were 29th out of 30 teams at forcing turnovers and had a 15% dropoff from the previous season in which they were also bad.
The Bulls rarely ended defensive possessions early with a steal. They rarely ended possessions early in the clock. Over a quarter of the time, they also didn't end possessions after the first shot attempt. Add in all of these factors, and the defense had to stay on that end for an awfully long time each and every game.
3. The Bulls played at a slightly faster pace.
The Bulls have always been a slow team, but they increased their pace by 2.6 possessions/gm last year. With extra possessions come extra shot attempts from opposing teams.
The Ugly:
Another area that the Bulls really struggled with last year was pick and roll defense. Thibodeau's system of icing pick and rolls was one of the team's strengths throughout his tenure, but last year was a different story.
(side note: to understand Thibs' defense's principles, Zach Lowe wrote up an excellent explanation for Grantland a few years ago)
The Bulls simply could not stop ballhandlers from penetrating and scoring. The team was dead last in defending the ballhandler in pick and roll situations. Opposing ballhandlers recognized this weakness and went at the Bulls the 4th most frequently out of all NBA teams. This combination of high efficiency and high volume from pick and roll ballhandlers was a problem that the Bulls simply could not fix all year.
One likely culprit is the heavy minutes played by Pau Gasol, star of this and many similar highlights. But an inexperienced Mirotic and injured Noah+Gibson meant, even after jettisoning Carlos Boozer, there was roster-wide issues in frontcourt secondary defense.
Looking at Bulls Defenders' Individual Stats:
For the first time last season, NBA.com's Stats page introduced information that tracked how well players defended shots. They also showed the shooting percentage a defensive player held an offensive player to, and what the difference was in percentage over that offensive player's average shooting percentage.
Here are the Bulls' tracked defensive numbers:
(Note: a negative number = good defender. Positive number = bad defender)
There are of course many flaws with NBA.com's tracking system, but it does give a baseline of how players are doing. The most shocking aspect of the Bulls' tracked defense is that Jimmy Butler nears the bottom of the list as one of the team's worst defenders last year.
Ironically, Butler was named to the All-Defensive Second Team last season despite being subpar on that end by his own admission. He told the media in a February press conference last year:
"I think [the defense] starts with me, to tell you the truth. I'm supposed to be this prime-time defender and I don't think I've been holding up my end of the bargain lately. So I think whenever I start kicking it up three, four notches on defense and not worry about offense as much, I think it'll all turn around.''
"You have to pick and choose your battles and save your energy for both ends of the floor now. I'm not going to lie, I thought it was going to be easier than it is. But to go on one end and produce and then go on the other end and have to stop the best player on the opposing team is not always an easy task."
He reiterated these same comments in April to ESPN's Nick Friedell:
"I'm supposed to be the prime-time defensive guy, and I haven't been guarding a soul. I've been worried about offense too much, and I need to change that quickly or it's going to be my fault."
There is reason to be optimistic about Butler's defense though. He returned to defensive greatness in the playoffs when the games really mattered, holding opponents to 10.4% below their average shooting percentages. Of rotation players, only Taj Gibson was better.
Joakim Noah also faced heavy criticism for his defensive efforts this year. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year looked like a shell of himself at times on both ends of the court. He came off of a summer knee surgery that required him to sit out parts of the season and was forced to play out of position as a PF when paired with Pau Gasol.
The individual decline of defensive anchors like Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah certainly played a role in the Bulls' defensive struggles as well, along with losing long-time defensive ace Luol Deng in a salary-cutting trade the previous season. Add in the team's collective struggles with rebounding and forcing turnovers, and you find a team that slipped from its perennial spot at top of the rankings into mediocrity.
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
For Rose, USA decision indicates change in mindset
CHICAGO -- Thursday marked the end of another era for Derrick Rose.
With the news that Rose isn't one of the 34 players headed to Las Vegas next week for Team USA's minicamp, one that USA Basketball czar Jerry Colangelo has made clear would be mandatory for players if they wanted to be considered for the team that will represent the U.S. in next summer's Rio Olympics, the Bulls' point guard effectively ended his playing career with USA Basketball.
In the long term, Rose's decision to forgo any future Team USA commitments isn't a bad one. With all the injuries he's dealt with over the past three-plus years, it's always going to be a safer bet for Rose to continue training and working out away from the spotlight of international basketball. He can continue building up his confidence and trying to regain his All-Star form without the eyes of the basketball world watching his every move.
Rose's decision doesn't come as a complete surprise given that sources told ESPN recently that the former MVP was still undecided about his participation, but Rose's choice does represent a change in mindset.
Over the years, Rose has been very open about his desire to win an Olympic gold medal. It is something he looked forward to and always spoke highly about. He was on track to compete in the 2012 games -- before tearing the ACL in his left knee during the first game of the 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs.
"That would be an honor," Rose said in 2010, of becoming one of the faces of Team USA down the line. "It would be an honor even to be on the team. But to be a face of the USA team, it would mean a lot. A lot of hard work I've been putting in this game. A lot of sacrifice and dedication. It would let me know that I can put my goals up even higher."
Injuries happen and things can change in an instant in the NBA, but it's worth remembering that only a few short years ago, many within USA Basketball thought that Rose could be one of the faces of the team for years to come.
"Hopefully we can hand the torch to [Rose] in a couple years," Carmelo Anthony said during the 2010 All-Star Weekend.
Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski has sung Rose's praises for years -- Rose helped lead Team USA to a gold medal in the 2010 world championships in Turkey and the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain -- and the Hall of Fame coach was always quick to point out how well Rose was doing.
Colangelo has spoken glowingly of Rose over that time and continued the positive feelings even after Rose's injuries. Former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, an assistant on Krzyzewski's Team USA staff, was Rose's biggest public defender and fan over his five-year tenure as coach of the Bulls.
But the sad reality for Rose, and for his supporters within Team USA, is that at this point in his basketball life, nobody is quite sure what to expect from the 26-year-old anymore. He showed flashes of brilliance at times last season, especially at certain points during the playoffs. But he also showed the rust and inconsistency that he hadn't shown before the first knee injury. In short, Rose has that superstar quality on some nights, but he didn't on many others.
Five years after he was viewed as a Team USA linchpin, Rose and his confidants had to face the very real possibility that Rose may not even make the 2016 squad in Rio. With star guards Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and John Wall already committed to the minicamp, the competition to make the 12-man roster was going to be as fierce as ever.
Through the years, Rose has never been the type to shy away from competition, but his injuries have admittedly changed the way he thinks about the game, both in the short and long term.
His decision not to compete for a spot on Team USA's latest roster may turn out to be a good thing for him in the future, but it also only reinforces just how much the arc of his career has changed in the past few years.
CHICAGO -- Thursday marked the end of another era for Derrick Rose.
With the news that Rose isn't one of the 34 players headed to Las Vegas next week for Team USA's minicamp, one that USA Basketball czar Jerry Colangelo has made clear would be mandatory for players if they wanted to be considered for the team that will represent the U.S. in next summer's Rio Olympics, the Bulls' point guard effectively ended his playing career with USA Basketball.
In the long term, Rose's decision to forgo any future Team USA commitments isn't a bad one. With all the injuries he's dealt with over the past three-plus years, it's always going to be a safer bet for Rose to continue training and working out away from the spotlight of international basketball. He can continue building up his confidence and trying to regain his All-Star form without the eyes of the basketball world watching his every move.
Rose's decision doesn't come as a complete surprise given that sources told ESPN recently that the former MVP was still undecided about his participation, but Rose's choice does represent a change in mindset.
Over the years, Rose has been very open about his desire to win an Olympic gold medal. It is something he looked forward to and always spoke highly about. He was on track to compete in the 2012 games -- before tearing the ACL in his left knee during the first game of the 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs.
"That would be an honor," Rose said in 2010, of becoming one of the faces of Team USA down the line. "It would be an honor even to be on the team. But to be a face of the USA team, it would mean a lot. A lot of hard work I've been putting in this game. A lot of sacrifice and dedication. It would let me know that I can put my goals up even higher."
Injuries happen and things can change in an instant in the NBA, but it's worth remembering that only a few short years ago, many within USA Basketball thought that Rose could be one of the faces of the team for years to come.
"Hopefully we can hand the torch to [Rose] in a couple years," Carmelo Anthony said during the 2010 All-Star Weekend.
Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski has sung Rose's praises for years -- Rose helped lead Team USA to a gold medal in the 2010 world championships in Turkey and the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain -- and the Hall of Fame coach was always quick to point out how well Rose was doing.
Colangelo has spoken glowingly of Rose over that time and continued the positive feelings even after Rose's injuries. Former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, an assistant on Krzyzewski's Team USA staff, was Rose's biggest public defender and fan over his five-year tenure as coach of the Bulls.
But the sad reality for Rose, and for his supporters within Team USA, is that at this point in his basketball life, nobody is quite sure what to expect from the 26-year-old anymore. He showed flashes of brilliance at times last season, especially at certain points during the playoffs. But he also showed the rust and inconsistency that he hadn't shown before the first knee injury. In short, Rose has that superstar quality on some nights, but he didn't on many others.
Five years after he was viewed as a Team USA linchpin, Rose and his confidants had to face the very real possibility that Rose may not even make the 2016 squad in Rio. With star guards Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and John Wall already committed to the minicamp, the competition to make the 12-man roster was going to be as fierce as ever.
Through the years, Rose has never been the type to shy away from competition, but his injuries have admittedly changed the way he thinks about the game, both in the short and long term.
His decision not to compete for a spot on Team USA's latest roster may turn out to be a good thing for him in the future, but it also only reinforces just how much the arc of his career has changed in the past few years.
- Feb 6, 2011
- 40,141
- 11,080
So Jimmy's IN & Sounds like Rose didn't let Coach K cut him he just told them he wasn't coming...
On Thursday, USA Basketball announced the list of players expected to attend in its three-day summer minicamp, set to begin Tuesday in Las Vegas. As anticipated, the 34-participant list includes a who's who of NBA stars, including eight members of the U.S. men's national team that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 11 members of the 2014 FIBA World Cup-winning squad, which suggests that Team USA decision-makers Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski are going to have one heck of a time picking the final 12-man roster that will represent the red, white and blue at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
From USA Basketball's roster release:
Added to the 2014-16 USA National Team roster and participating in the Aug. 11-13 USA National Team training camp are eight NBA standouts, including Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors); Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls); Michael Carter-Williams (Milwaukee Bucks); Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies); Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors); Tobias Harris (Orlando Magic); DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers); and Victor Oladipo (Orlando Magic).
USA National Team members confirmed for the 2015 Las Vegas minicamp include: LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards); DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings); Paul George (Indiana Pacers); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs); Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Mason Plumlee (Portland Trail Blazers); Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors); John Wall (Washington Wizards); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).
“With this being a summer where we do not have an official competition that we need to prepare for, this year’s minicamp is an opportunity to continue and expand the brotherhood and camaraderie that has been built,” said Colangelo, who has served as managing director of the USA National Team since 2005. “It will be a celebration of all that we've accomplished with USA Basketball since the National Team program was formed in 2006 while also looking ahead to 2016. The minicamp is going to be low key with light workouts, no contact, and the USA Basketball Showcase on Aug. 13 will be a fun all-star type game."
I think we're all in agreement that we don't really care how fun this summer's showcase is, so long as everybody makes it out in one piece.
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The 34-player roster represents a seven-participant cutdown from the 41-name list released last month. Gone from the final list are Dallas Mavericks point guard Deron Williams, owner of two gold medals from Team USA's wins in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012; '12 medalists Tyson Chandler of the Phoenix Suns and Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors; and the Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose, who performed poorly on last summer's World Cup side, had an up-and-down 2014-15 NBA season marked by another knee surgery, and has likely worn his national team's colors for the last time.
Others left off the final list include Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who recently said he didn't see a reason to attend after being cut from last summer's World Cup squad; Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, still rehabilitating from his season-ending ankle surgery; his teammate, forward Paul Millsap, a late addition to the 2014 World Cup tryouts who didn't make the squad; and Boston Celtics forward David Lee.
One of the eight previously reported training-camp additions, Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke, didn't make it to the final invitee list, seemingly replaced in the process by the Bucks' Carter-Williams. The Jazz might not mind that too much, though, considering their recent run of misfortune related to their point guards playing for their national teams. The 6-foot-11 Jordan adds yet another elite big man to a group that already features World Cup standouts Davis and Cousins, 2008 gold medal center Howard, 2014 depth bigs Drummond and Plumlee, and five power forwards — Love, Griffin, Aldridge, Faried and the also-newly-added Green — who could play up a spot in the international game.
Managing director Colangelo "has made attendance in Vegas mandatory for any player who wishes to be considered for the 2016 Olympic team," according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, but that doesn't mean all 41 players will fully participate in the workouts.
LeBron, for example, will attend USA Basketball's Monday meeting before heading back to Akron, Ohio, for his foundation's annual charity event. Ditto for the Pacers' George, who still has his sights set on suiting up in Rio even after shattering his leg during last summer's USA Basketball Showcase. A handful of All-Star participants recovering from season-ending surgeries — Anthony, Durant, Irving, Love and Parsons — have reportedly already been excused from on-court work, as well.
“We recognize and understand that some of our players’ availability to participate is still up in the air," Colangelo said in a USA Basketball statement. "Some players are coming off of injuries and are not yet ready to actively participate, or they are getting ready for their NBA seasons. So, it’s a good thing that we don’t have a competition to get ready for this summer."
But even with no tournament this summer — the U.S. is exempt from this summer's FIBA Americas Tournament and earns an automatic bid to the 2016 Olympics by virtue of winning last summer's World Cup — there's still plenty of work to be done in chopping this 34-player pool down to the final 12 that will go to Brazil. Whittling down a wing pool that includes 12 of the 15 members of this past NBA season's All-NBA teams — a number that does not include the likes of KD, 'Melo, Love, Howard, Wall and the top two finishers in Defensive Player of the Year voting, by the way — seems like the sort of task that could justifiably take the next 11 months, even with some strong coffee and all-nighters sprinkled in.
My first pass at a 12-man roster, for example — the Brow, Love, Blake and Boogie up front; LeBron, KD, George and 'Melo on the wing; CP3, Steph, the Beard and Kyrie on the ball — left off Westbrook, Wall, Dwight and Kawhi, which makes me feel like I need to go to confession. Even if this is obviously one of those very, very, very good problems to have, I don't necessarily envy Colangelo and company as they begin the process of solving it next week.
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On Thursday, USA Basketball announced the list of players expected to attend in its three-day summer minicamp, set to begin Tuesday in Las Vegas. As anticipated, the 34-participant list includes a who's who of NBA stars, including eight members of the U.S. men's national team that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 11 members of the 2014 FIBA World Cup-winning squad, which suggests that Team USA decision-makers Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski are going to have one heck of a time picking the final 12-man roster that will represent the red, white and blue at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
From USA Basketball's roster release:
Added to the 2014-16 USA National Team roster and participating in the Aug. 11-13 USA National Team training camp are eight NBA standouts, including Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors); Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls); Michael Carter-Williams (Milwaukee Bucks); Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies); Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors); Tobias Harris (Orlando Magic); DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers); and Victor Oladipo (Orlando Magic).
USA National Team members confirmed for the 2015 Las Vegas minicamp include: LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards); DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings); Paul George (Indiana Pacers); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs); Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Mason Plumlee (Portland Trail Blazers); Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors); John Wall (Washington Wizards); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).
“With this being a summer where we do not have an official competition that we need to prepare for, this year’s minicamp is an opportunity to continue and expand the brotherhood and camaraderie that has been built,” said Colangelo, who has served as managing director of the USA National Team since 2005. “It will be a celebration of all that we've accomplished with USA Basketball since the National Team program was formed in 2006 while also looking ahead to 2016. The minicamp is going to be low key with light workouts, no contact, and the USA Basketball Showcase on Aug. 13 will be a fun all-star type game."
I think we're all in agreement that we don't really care how fun this summer's showcase is, so long as everybody makes it out in one piece.
[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]
The 34-player roster represents a seven-participant cutdown from the 41-name list released last month. Gone from the final list are Dallas Mavericks point guard Deron Williams, owner of two gold medals from Team USA's wins in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012; '12 medalists Tyson Chandler of the Phoenix Suns and Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors; and the Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose, who performed poorly on last summer's World Cup side, had an up-and-down 2014-15 NBA season marked by another knee surgery, and has likely worn his national team's colors for the last time.
Others left off the final list include Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who recently said he didn't see a reason to attend after being cut from last summer's World Cup squad; Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, still rehabilitating from his season-ending ankle surgery; his teammate, forward Paul Millsap, a late addition to the 2014 World Cup tryouts who didn't make the squad; and Boston Celtics forward David Lee.
One of the eight previously reported training-camp additions, Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke, didn't make it to the final invitee list, seemingly replaced in the process by the Bucks' Carter-Williams. The Jazz might not mind that too much, though, considering their recent run of misfortune related to their point guards playing for their national teams. The 6-foot-11 Jordan adds yet another elite big man to a group that already features World Cup standouts Davis and Cousins, 2008 gold medal center Howard, 2014 depth bigs Drummond and Plumlee, and five power forwards — Love, Griffin, Aldridge, Faried and the also-newly-added Green — who could play up a spot in the international game.
Managing director Colangelo "has made attendance in Vegas mandatory for any player who wishes to be considered for the 2016 Olympic team," according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, but that doesn't mean all 41 players will fully participate in the workouts.
LeBron, for example, will attend USA Basketball's Monday meeting before heading back to Akron, Ohio, for his foundation's annual charity event. Ditto for the Pacers' George, who still has his sights set on suiting up in Rio even after shattering his leg during last summer's USA Basketball Showcase. A handful of All-Star participants recovering from season-ending surgeries — Anthony, Durant, Irving, Love and Parsons — have reportedly already been excused from on-court work, as well.
“We recognize and understand that some of our players’ availability to participate is still up in the air," Colangelo said in a USA Basketball statement. "Some players are coming off of injuries and are not yet ready to actively participate, or they are getting ready for their NBA seasons. So, it’s a good thing that we don’t have a competition to get ready for this summer."
But even with no tournament this summer — the U.S. is exempt from this summer's FIBA Americas Tournament and earns an automatic bid to the 2016 Olympics by virtue of winning last summer's World Cup — there's still plenty of work to be done in chopping this 34-player pool down to the final 12 that will go to Brazil. Whittling down a wing pool that includes 12 of the 15 members of this past NBA season's All-NBA teams — a number that does not include the likes of KD, 'Melo, Love, Howard, Wall and the top two finishers in Defensive Player of the Year voting, by the way — seems like the sort of task that could justifiably take the next 11 months, even with some strong coffee and all-nighters sprinkled in.
My first pass at a 12-man roster, for example — the Brow, Love, Blake and Boogie up front; LeBron, KD, George and 'Melo on the wing; CP3, Steph, the Beard and Kyrie on the ball — left off Westbrook, Wall, Dwight and Kawhi, which makes me feel like I need to go to confession. Even if this is obviously one of those very, very, very good problems to have, I don't necessarily envy Colangelo and company as they begin the process of solving it next week.
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