If I was “happy” about the Bears loss, I certainly was not happy about the Bulls loss on Sunday night vs the Raptors. We watched most of the game; I have some thoughts…
The Bulls shot selection is crappy. We are NOT a 3 point shooting team, and that’s OK. We do have 3 point shooters, who, if open, and in the rhythm of the offense, should certainly take the shot, but… not everybody is a 3 point shooter. For starters, and for the 100th time, Vooch is NOT a 3 point shooter. He’s had a couple good games shooting from out there, which makes it worse. He belongs inside the arc… Not only does he have a good mid-range game, not only does he have moves in the post, but… wouldn’t it be nice to have somebody down there to get some offensive rebounds? I hate when somebody shoots and there is absolutely nobody underneath the hoop to try to grab a board; makes no fricking sense. Vooch could do so much more damage down there. If he must take a 3 pointer every now and then, fine, but… this should NOT be a primary source of offense.
Another guy that is NOT a 3 point shooter is Derrick Jones Jr., or Javonte Green for that matter. I love the way they’ve been playing defense; love when they fly around down near the rim, but treys? Not so much. Even DeMar Derozan… Now he can hit them every now and then, but we all know his bread and butter is the mid-range game; he also has nice moves in the post and drives to the hoop. DD has a lot of tools in his box; the 3 point shot is not the one he should be using a whole lot. Speaking about DD… did we not learn anything from the playoffs last year? If I’m any team playing the Bulls, I’m double teaming DD like the Raptors did on Sunday night. It’s like the Bulls have no answer for that. Get some guys going to the rim; setup a 2-1, 3-2 going to the hoop to counter this double team, instead of everybody trying to camp out at the three point line… seriously. Even the one time we had a 4-2 break… guys are running to the three point line, instead of filling the lane to get an easy hoop; I just don’t get it.
I also don’t get how long this left knee management thing will go on for. Just after I was praising Zach for playing in his first back to back of the season, he’s out again; could have used him in this one… I’m sure he’ll play in tonight’s rematch at the UC, but man… we need to be able to count on Zach being on the court. Just not there yet…
Final observation is taking shots early in the shot clock, almost like forcing them. Zach is good for that, but I’ve seen others. I get it… shot clock ticking down, you need to get one up, fine. Don’t force up a contested three pointer with nobody underneath with 15 seconds on the shot clock; makes no fricking sense, unless you’re on a heat check or something. Work the offense, get open, get a shot in rhythm… we can do that; we DO have talented players on offense, even if we don’t have many 3 point shooters, or at least guys who should be shooting the trey regularly.
OK, we get another crack at the Raptors on Monday night; hope for a different result. If Zach suits up, that’s a big start; it would also help if we improved our shot selection and learned how to handle a DD double team. Billy, you’re up… Go Bulls!!!
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