It was fun to get to our first Bulls game of the season; it was nice because we won the tickets. It would have been nicer if the Bulls were able to pull out the W. They had no finish tonight, for starters. Speaking about starters… when are we going to have a serious “come to Jesus” moment about Vooch?
Yes, I know he hit two big treys down the stretch in this one; I was surprised. His insistence to continue to take this shot irks me. Look, I’m glad he made it; I’m glad he’s shooting a better percentage from deep than last year… he couldn’t do much worse. Yet, this is not where his bread and butter is; get inside the arc, get in the paint. We need you down there; he still resists. Is that how they’re coaching him to be? Makes you wonder. Another thing about good old Vooch; he’s a defensive liability. It’s pretty clear to see that not one person fears him as he stands in front of the rim. Whether it’s his guy, or somebody else, they’re going to the hole and nothing is stopping them. The word is out. When playing against the Bulls, take the ball to the rim; don’t worry, nobody will be there to stop it.
Wednesday night’s game shows some other interesting stats related to Vooch. We were outrebounded 50-35, including 13-6 on the offensive glass. I know it’s not only Vooch, but as our starting center, there has to be accountability on the boards. When you’re standing on the 3 point line, you’re not getting any. When you’re not getting any, we’re one and done, no second chance buckets. How does that figure in with the analytics? His guy went off for 21 points, 13 rebounds; his 3rd highest scoring game this year, and tied for his 3rd best rebounding game. How about the plus and minus for this one? Vooch was a -13, second worst next to surprisingly Ayo with -15; you know what Drummond had? +13. Finally, while we’re dumping on Vooch, is it just me, or does he seem spaced out half the time? He’s dropped some easy passes, just letting the ball bounce off his hands, or whatever; kind of like DD at the end of this one. Speaking about rebounding, he doesn’t box out either. Feels like he needs a fire lit under his ass to give the maximum effort. Not saying he’s dogging it, just mean that the full hustle is not in his nature; should be dunking over guys, instead, taking treys, missing layups. Should be protecting the rim, instead, rolling out the red carpet.
I liked when we got Vooch; I was excited. I saw right away how skilled he was offensively, just not so much from 3 point land; that’s OK… we have other guys that can shoot it, although 25.9% from behind the arc will not cut it. FYI- The Pelicans only shot 15.8% from three land, and they still won, on the road. Nice win for the Pelicans; bad loss for the Bulls.
At the end of the day, they didn’t close this one out. Good teams find ways to win these games, especially on our home court. The Bulls found ways to lose this one, although there were plenty of people sitting around us who were not happy with the officials; I’d have to agree. Still, this was one we should have won. Instead, back under 500 we go. At 6-7, I wonder about the future ahead for this team; I wonder if they’re good enough. We have to wait until Sunday to get our next shot. Go Bulls!!!
Leave a Reply