OK, back to my beat the Bucks points. You got to go hard… every minute for 4 quarters. Maybe I’m just old school, maybe MJ just set the bar way too high on this one, maybe this is why I still miss Thibs, but if you’re not hustling every second you’re on that court, then I have a problem with you. Yeah, yeah, 82 game season, need to give guys rest; I don’t buy into that BS, but even if I did, that excuse is out the door. It’s now or never time; it’s the playoffs baby. Go hard or go home, point blank.
This leads me to my second biggest pet peeve about this team. I don’t see this hustle all the time, from everybody. Maybe the Bulls got tired; maybe all the injuries caught up. Excuses, excuses I hear. The player that I feel is the biggest culprit of this is Zach Lavine. Sorry, not sorry. The only reason I won’t go balls out against Zach on this point is because he’s dealing with a knee issue; he’s got a built-in excuse. But if he didn’t play, I’d probably be talking shit for that reason. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t I guess; sucks to be an NBA player in the spotlight making all those millions, huh? Yeah, well, Zach hasn’t been himself. How much does that have to do with the injury? How much does that have to do with DeMar really becoming the man on this team? How much does it have to do with just the way Zach is? Not sure.
You know Zach’s patented jog down the court right? Hit a three point shot, turn, put your arms up to your sides, and start jogging; can you see it? Miss a shot, do the same. Turn the ball over, same. Ball gets unexpectedly loose, and you have a chance to snag it… oops, too late, the jog has already begun. Am I being too picky? Tell me you understand what I’m talking about here. I watch a lot of Bulls games; this is what Zach does. Usually, we could always count on him going full force to the hoop, and either making a nice and 1 layup, or going up for a sweet dunk, but even this has suffered; we may be able to attribute THIS piece of it to the injury, but what about the normal play in play out stuff?
Zach’s defense had been getting better, but it appears to have taken a step backwards; he’s not alone in this category. I think we had the built-in excuse for so long, no Caruso, no Ball, no Williams, no defense. Zach needs to show this hustle on defense too; I just don’t see it often enough. The fact that DeMar has kind of stolen the spotlight from Zach this year… I feel like this has had an impact; changing his agent to Lebron’s guy… that can’t be good either, right? I don’t know… I hate to pick on Zach, but I see what I see. And if the Bulls plan on beating the Bucks, Zach has to be that max contract guy, which includes busting his ass all over the court, while finding his confidence at the same time. It can’t just be DD… Zach needs to be that 1A guy. At this point, same with resting during the season, forget about it. If you’re going to need work on your knee regardless, then you shouldn’t be holding back… not in the playoffs. If you were saving yourself for the second season, then thank you…???
I guess in summary, Zach has got to be the best Zach he can be. Hustling, confident, all out Zach is what we’re going to need to win this series. I feel like we can count on DD to be DD, but to beat the Bucks in a 7 game series, we need Mr. Lavine to show why he was an All Star. We need about 25 per game from him, plus all the intangible stuff I’ve been talking about. Take smart shots, pick your spots, come up big for us. This is your first dance… show us something we’ve never seen from you before. Go Bulls!
Leave a Reply