Preseason Takeaways Thread

clonetrooper264

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I know it's only preseason, but there are always some things that we can take out of it. Everything must always be with a grain of salt, of course, but we shouldn't dismiss everything entirely just because it's preseason. Plus, it'll be easier to distinguish from the normal :kermit: of IGTs.

So...from the first preseason game some things I saw:

Rose looked good. Athletically and just basketball wise, he looked way better than in FIBA. I thought he could've been more aggressive, but it is just preseason so I can see why he settled for jumpers. Overall, pretty good in his 15 minutes.

McDermott was solid. Again, I thought he could've been more aggressive offensively, but since this was his first game playing with everyone, I can see why he just tried to play good team ball. He can definitely shoot it and I'd like to see the Bulls run more plays for him in the next few games. He also didn't get killed defensively and puts forth some pretty good effort. The effort should translate to the season regardless of his success so there's something for Thibs to work with there.

Mirotic did much better than I expected. He missed his first few shots, but wasn't shy about letting it fly despite those early misses. I knew he could handle the ball decently, but he exceeded my expectations there. His drives looked pretty solid and his handle on the perimeter didn't look too awkward. He looks like he could lead a break himself and that pull up 3 in transition looked really smooth. He did look lost at times on both sides of the court, but the raw talent is definitely there.

Gasol definitely exceeded expectations defensively. He had 3 very good blocks and showed that he's no Boozer in that regard. There was a quote from one of the Lakers' coaches that said "he's not a great individual defender, but he's a great team defender because he's got great basketball IQ" or something to that effect. I definitely saw that last night. He also showed some great passing ability. Between him and Noah, passes out of the high post should be a huge strength. Also a good outlet passer, somewhat of an underrated ability. Didn't see much of the low post game from him as he was looking to pass more often than not, but perhaps we'll see something different tonight.

Thoughts on the rest of the pack:
Butler played really well in every aspect except shooting the ball. Hopefully he can get himself going in a rhythm the next few games. We need him to make shots. The rest of his game looks on point though and he even had 5 assists. His block on Beal's step back was awesome.

Hinrich will be Hinrich...missed all of his shots, but had 6 assists and played pretty good defense. He took good shots too. You'd think at least one of them would fall. Oh well...Hinrich's gonna Hinrich.

Our free throw shooting was a little disappointing. I'll attribute it to the first game of the year, but I hope that's not a trend. In contrast, we shot 38% from 3 in the game, a trend that I hope will continue. Overall though, our shooting was pretty bad. We didn't really score in the paint outside of Rose. Taj and Jo struggled mightily from the field, but I expect them to get into their groove by the regular season.

Feel free to add your own thoughts
 

Naptastic

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Pretty good assessment, I'd say. Only thing to add is that Snell still sucks.
 

clonetrooper264

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Snell's many fouls were somewhat circumstantial as they weren't really his fault. He was just sort of in the position to challenge the shot and they were probably going to call foul regardless of who it was. That said, Snell wasn't really good.
 

Naptastic

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True, but it was still disappointing to not see much growth. Hopefully he show up next game. I've been rooting for him
 

clonetrooper264

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True, but it was still disappointing to not see much growth. Hopefully he show up next game. I've been rooting for him
Well he only played like 5 minutes so it's really hard to get anything going when you're also trying to not make mistakes. He knows he's buried in the rotation and he doesn't want to be completely in the doghouse with awful play. Fouls don't really matter in preseason. Him getting a turnover by getting the ball stripped into his foot does matter. Kind of hard to play 5 perfect minutes of basketball though. He did have a nice midrange shot which if he can add that to his game could be a bonus for his playing time.
 
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The biggest thing I took away from this first preseason game was that Stacey King has another gem catch phrase for Mirotic. "NI-KO-LA!!!"
 

clonetrooper264

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The biggest thing I took away from this first preseason game was that Stacey King has another gem catch phrase for Mirotic. "NI-KO-LA!!!"
A rip off the old Ricola commercials...wasn't that original imo lol
 

Axl Rose

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The biggest thing I took away from this first preseason game was that Stacey King has another gem catch phrase for Mirotic. "NI-KO-LA!!!"

i think he will be annoying this year with all the nicknames and stuff

i feel hes gonna OD on em
 

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1. Rose looked good
2. Nikola looked great
3. Taj looked terrible
4. McDerm looked over excited
5. Gasol looked like a big upgrade over Boozer
6. Jimmy still played too many minutes
7. The Bulls need to add an enforcer to the team

I hated seeing Jimmy getting knocked around and no one on the Bulls returned the favor, what if that was Rose getting smashed on that moving screen?
 

clonetrooper264

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I hated seeing Jimmy getting knocked around and no one on the Bulls returned the favor, what if that was Rose getting smashed on that moving screen?
Only reason no one was in Seraphin's face was because Noah was not on the court. Jimmy is sort of an enforcer by himself too...he doesn't back down from anyone.
 

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Only reason no one was in Seraphin's face was because Noah was not on the court. Jimmy is sort of an enforcer by himself too...he doesn't back down from anyone.

Noah and Jimmy both don't back down which I respect, but I'm talking about a big bodied guy off the bench who can take hard fouls and bring some more size and toughness to the team. Right now Noah, Kirk, and Jimmy are the toughest guys on the team so the Bulls need more beef than that.
 

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1. Rose looked good
2. Nikola looked great
3. Taj looked terrible
4. McDerm looked over excited
5. Gasol looked like a big upgrade over Boozer
6. Jimmy still played too many minutes
7. The Bulls need to add an enforcer to the team

I hated seeing Jimmy getting knocked around and no one on the Bulls returned the favor, what if that was Rose getting smashed on that moving screen?

like i said on the first page of the game thread (when i called the scuffle lol) that we need a guy like AD

i loved how he got in haywoods face after pushed hinrich and went after Larry aswell

and when haywood threw that little love tap he was serious about that action he pushed the ref out of the way and everything...had haywood backpedaling for his life lol
 

clonetrooper264

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Noah and Jimmy both don't back down which I respect, but I'm talking about a big bodied guy off the bench who can take hard fouls and bring some more size and toughness to the team. Right now Noah, Kirk, and Jimmy are the toughest guys on the team so the Bulls need more beef than that.
Yeah I guess we don't really have a big bully so to speak. Maybe Nazr? He's generally too nice (aside from shoving Lebron). Ironically, Boozer was sort of that guy for us the past 4 years, but I always thought he was more bark than bite.

I don't think teams really have those thug type enforcers anymore though. The game isn't quite so physical anymore.
 

Axl Rose

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Boozer? lol

the last guy we had was Kurt Thomas for that old goon role
 

clonetrooper264

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Boozer? lol

the last guy we had was Kurt Thomas for that old goon role
I guess you're right in terms of hard fouls. Boozer's only moment as a "tough" guy was taking Lebron's shoulder to the chest. You could always count on him to be yelling at the other team though...
 

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i think he will be annoying this year with all the nicknames and stuff

i feel hes gonna OD on em
I feel like he OD in 2010-11 on them. Then people just grew to like them. Though he still uses hot sauce for any hot 3 point shooter now.
 

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Every good team needs a goon or two and the closest the Bulls have to a goon is Noah. I hope Bairstow can develop into that role or the Bulls need to make a trade because history has shown that the Bulls have trouble with physical teams especially in the playoffs.
 

clonetrooper264

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I feel like he OD in 2010-11 on them. Then people just grew to like them. Though he still uses hot sauce for any hot 3 point shooter now.
Hot sauce is usually the only catchphrase that I like...but I only like it if it's a big 3 or if someone is hot from 3. Unless McDermott or Mirotic can actually shoot like Korver, hot sauce as a true nickname will always be misused imo.
 

cjswan232482

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1) Mirotic is a "3". Don't care what nobody says. He is going to be a nightmare to defend and hide defensively lol. Dunleavy will be a perfect mentor. Will be a star if Thibs let him.

2) McDermott is a serious threat to Stephen Curry in the three point shootout. Dude is a flat out scorer. Hope McD can play some 2

3) Derrick Rose looks fine. Hope it keeps.

4) Gasol's length alone makes him a upgrade over Boozer on D. May have lost some toughness though,
 

RamiTheBullsFan

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1) Mirotic is a "3". Don't care what nobody says. He is going to be a nightmare to defend and hide defensively lol. Dunleavy will be a perfect mentor. Will be a star if Thibs let him.

2) McDermott is a serious threat to Stephen Curry in the three point shootout. Dude is a flat out scorer. Hope McD can play some 2

3) Derrick Rose looks fine. Hope it keeps.

4) Gasol's length alone makes him a upgrade over Boozer on D. May have lost some toughness though,

Mirotic really isn't a 3. He isn't athletic enough to be a star playing that position. Or fast enough to defend it. His value comes from being a 6'10'' guy who can extend the floor.
 

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