OT: Other Sports 73

[Mrfenn92]

So I’ve been trying to get back into the Bulls during this quarantine. Can someone who follows the team
closely give a Cliff Notes version on the state of the team?

Who is a building block?
Who should be moved?
Are these young player good enough
to build a contender around, or are they just supporting pieces that still need a superstar to contend?

State of the team is just plain disappointing but the overall franchise is more so.

As of now they have 4 building blocks lavine, markkanen, Carter and white but as a group they really don't work out well together.
2 ball dominated guards while talented need isolation ball. A passive and somewhat brittle power forward who should be a focal point of the offense but finds himself way to much in a spot up shooter role.
Carter has talent on defense and offense but his injury troubles also hurt him.

Those 4 players the bulls could go either way in building around or trading them off. But decision time is coming financially wise. 2 more years of lavine and he's setting himself up as a max player. Markkanen eligible for extension. Immensely talented but gets taken out of his game way to much for my liking.

With the new president of basketball operations he comes from a system of ball moving players. Whether the current group fits I'm not sure.

Overall basketball wise superstars win in this league. Bulls have none.
Have some good players and one somewhat above good but not great one in lavine.

They need a superstar and a new coach who can develop the younger guys.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

State of the team is just plain disappointing but the overall franchise is more so.

As of now they have 4 building blocks lavine, markkanen, Carter and white but as a group they really don't work out well together.
2 ball dominated guards while talented need isolation ball. A passive and somewhat brittle power forward who should be a focal point of the offense but finds himself way to much in a spot up shooter role.
Carter has talent on defense and offense but his injury troubles also hurt him.

Those 4 players the bulls could go either way in building around or trading them off. But decision time is coming financially wise. 2 more years of lavine and he's setting himself up as a max player. Markkanen eligible for extension. Immensely talented but gets taken out of his game way to much for my liking.

With the new president of basketball operations he comes from a system of ball moving players. Whether the current group fits I'm not sure.

Overall basketball wise superstars win in this league. Bulls have none.
Have some good players and one somewhat above good but not great one in lavine.

They need a superstar and a new coach who can develop the younger guys.

So are they in a position where they should basically be willing to sacrifice all of Carter, Markkanen, and White for a true superstar to play with Lavine, then fill in the rest with whatever?

Would Lavine be a good second fiddle to a true superstar, or is he too much of ball dominant player to be a secondary star?

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

So are they in a position where they should basically be willing to sacrifice all of Carter, Markkanen, and White for a true superstar to play with Lavine, then fill in the rest with whatever?

Would Lavine be a good second fiddle to a true superstar, or is he too much of ball dominant player to be a secondary star?

Yes.

Lavine is a player that is destined to always be the best player on a shitty team.

If they traded him tomorrow, I wouldn't complain. The only guys that deserve a longer look on the team are Markkanen and White. If they traded anyone else I couldn't care less.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Yes.

Lavine is a player that is destined to always be the best player on a shitty team.

If they traded him tomorrow, I wouldn't complain. The only guys that deserve a longer look on the team are Markkanen and White. If they traded anyone else I couldn't care less.

Even Wendell Carter could go for you? He seems like a future stud defender/rebounder. Am I off on that?

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Even Wendell Carter could go for you? He seems like a future stud defender/rebounder. Am I off on that?

No, you're not off on that. He's on the bubble for me. It depends on what they're getting back.
The huge problem with the whole team is that they're always injured. Nobody has seen what they could do when healthy. Everyone missed significant time this year, except Lavine. It doesn't help that Boylen had no clue how to use Markkanen properly.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

No, you're not off on that. He's on the bubble for me. It depends on what they're getting back.
The huge problem with the whole team is that they're always injured. Nobody has seen what they could do when healthy. Everyone missed significant time this year, except Lavine. It doesn't help that Boylen had no clue how to use Markkanen properly.

So just based on some reading I’ve done, it seems like all of Lavine, Markkanen, and White have to be “the guy” in order to be effective and seems Carter is the only one who can play an impactful game as a supporting player.

Would this team be better off by choosing one of Lavine/Markkanen/White to build around as the prime scorer, then moving the others for guys who play a good distributing/defensive supporting role?

 

[plasmonresonance]

Not sure Boylen knows how to use anybody properly. He went so far as to call a timeout with about 10 sec remaining in an already decided game, simply to get a G-leaguer some playing time for an in-bound play. Boylen's a goof and has made evaluating the potential talent on this team very difficult.

 

[clydesdale line]

Sir Charles was just an animal. Glad alot of the youngsters are watching this documentary.

Draymond needs to go to a mental institution if he thinks he can even hold the same jock strap as Sir Charles.

 

[hawksrule]

Barkley was a sensational player. Karl Malone had a much longer career, but at peak value I would have taken Barkley. He was that good.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I didn't catch all of the 6th episode last night with Barkley but I just remember that series was great from a coverage stand point. Barkley was such a character and the series was very entertaining.

It was good they went into Michael's gambling, Jordan Rules and the dream team. Kukoc being surprised he was just blanketed anytime he had the ball. Jordan's retirement and move to baseball should be coming up next.

 

[Rick C137]

I don’t remember the last time I’ve watched an entire basketball game (or even a good portion of one) but I would love to find the full game tape of that Dream Team Monte Carlo scrimmage.

 

[idontusethisanymore]

 

[Mrfenn92]

I wont say that the basketball of the 90's was better then today's brand.
It's the game I grew up watching and loving the physicality.
But watching this game 7 of the eastern finals and the score is 72-69 with 8 minutes left in the game is just unbelievable. That's a regular season halftime score now a days.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I wont say that the basketball of the 90's was better then today's brand.
It's the game I grew up watching and loving the physicality.
But watching this game 7 of the eastern finals and the score is 72-69 with 8 minutes left in the game is just unbelievable. That's a regular season halftime score now a days.

Low scoring basketball is more interesting, IMO.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Low scoring basketball is more interesting, IMO.

Agreed. As long as it isn't just a complete brick fest by both teams.

 

[HawksBeerFan]

I don't watch much basketball these days but seeing the Jordan doc, is it me or was it such a better game to watch back then? Players seemed a lot more creative and the shot variety was insane.

Obviously the game was less efficient but seemed more fun to watch.

This is a great illustration...

https://a.espncdn.com/photo/2020/0416/harden.jpg

 

[Mrfenn92]

I don't watch much basketball these days but seeing the Jordan doc, is it me or was it such a better game to watch back then? Players seeme
d a lot more creative and the shot variety was insane.

Obviously the game was less
efficient but seemed more fun to watch.

Always seemed more structure in the team game both on offense and defense. Teams challenged you more. Personally for me I always hated isolation basketball.
Before the warriors got durant I loved watching them on offense.

 

[Rick C137]

Yeah I’ve never really been able to get into basketball and wasn’t old enough to appreciate 90s basketball but just watching the last dance I can’t tell if it’s just Jordan that’s that entertaining or the basketball looks way more entertaining. Probably a mix of both.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I enjoy basketball, but more so than any sport the NBA could benefit from a permanent and substantial reduction in the number of regular season games. Fat chance convincing the teams that always draw above 90% of that, though.

 

[Pez68]

Yeah I’ve never really been able to get into basketball and wasn’t old enough to appreciate 90s basketball but just watching the last dance I can’t tell if it’s just Jordan that’s that entertaining or the basketball looks way more entertaining. Probably a mix of both.

Basketball in general was great in the 90s. I didn't just watch the Bulls. I watched quite a few teams when they were on. Especially the playoffs. Modern NBA isn't even close.

 

[clydesdale line]

I see you KD.

 

[Illinihockey]

Low scoring basketball is more interesting, IMO.

love watching guys miss shots

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

love watching guys miss shots

There are more shots missed in a game today (48 on average this year) than in the 90s (43.8 in 97-98).
NBA League Averages - Per Game | Basketball-Reference.com

I'm not a NBA sucks now person, and either extreme (all offense with games with 3s just being hosted all the time with scores in the 130s or total rock fights with scores in the 70s) aren't that appealing to me. But I do think I prefer the NBA style of play when it was a bit harder to score (within reason) personally. I just find that possessions mattered more which made it more exciting as opposed to today's game.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

love watching guys miss shots

There are more shots missed in a game today (48 on average this year) than in the 90s (43.8 in 97-98).
NBA League Averages - Per Game | Basketball-Reference.com

Exactly. The whole game today is jacking up 3s, since 35% from 3 is better than 50% from 2.

 

[Pez68]

love watching guys miss shots

Lmao. How old are you?

What an absolutely terrible observation.