re: General NBA Links

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Tyreke Evans and Withey are fine value for a replacement-level big.

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Lopez played as many minutes as Evans/Withey combined at $6M less. Now imagine Evans MP if Holiday doesn't get hurt.

That is a waste of money and assets.

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Tyreke was good when we had our guys healthy, then great once he the starting lineup

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Even in the 4-5 weeks everyone was mostly healthy from mid November to mid December, Evans was not seeing enough minutes.

And the starter thing is a bit of a lark. His per minute stats were all roughly the same as when he came off the bench. He was very good all year (except in FG%), he just didn't see the minutes until there was no other choice.

I can't be okay paying $11M for 25mpg of good production

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where we both agreed Monty had totally changed his philosophy

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Yep. Until he didn't. The roster is basically the same types (varying degrees of aptitude) of guys and Davis. I wasnt expecting a good or even average team when guys went down, rather a continuation of the good things we saw and what they wanted to build with this roster. We got Davis going supernova, which is awesome, but little else.

To me, the injuries exposed either structural rot or a lack of ideas.

I can have serious questions about the leadership of the franchise and also be optimistic about the talent on board. I think they have a very good chance of surprising a lot of people next year. But IMO there need to be changes made in either the pieces they have or how they deploy those pieces

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I can't be okay paying $11M for 25mpg of good production

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And you shouldn't be, but that's not Demps' fault. The circumstances revolving around Tyreke's usage are a big part of why most of the board switched to the #FireMonty side this season.

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Now imagine Evans MP if Holiday doesn't get hurt.

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When Holiday went down he wasn't replaced by Tyreke, he was replaced by Roberts. The guy sucking up Tyreke's minutes was Aminu. Tyreke didn't start getting used properly until they benched Aminu, a decision many of us speculate was not Monty's call, or at least not the call Monty would make if he was doing what he thought would give him the best chance to win. Imagine Tyreke's minutes and performance if Demps knew in advance just how much Monty was going to screw things up by over using Stiemsma and Aminu and never signs either of them. Go with Onuaku and a random DLeague SF instead and this team might be around .500 as crazy as that sounds.

I think we all share your concern that Monty and Dell aren't on the same page. Hopefully both Monty and Dell have learned from this season.

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To me, the injuries exposed either structural rot or a lack of ideas.

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This doesn't appear to be an either or for you. You seem very much on the side of Demps made poor decisions when Tyreke's play since getting minutes suggests the fault lies entirely with Monty.

What would you rather have?

Tyreke playing 35ish minutes per game and Withey
or
Vasquez and Lopez?

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But IMO there need to be changes made in either the pieces they have or how they deploy those pieces

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This really isn't a situation where either side is equally good as long as you get off the fence and pick a side. With Monty as coach you're basically advocating replacing All Star caliber talent with journeyman caliber talent, because that's what he showed his natural inclination is. Demps and Monty do need to get on the same page, but it's Monty that needs to get up to speed, and since it looks like he's a slow learner Demps is going to need to be careful about the types of players he signs. For instance, Roberts is a good value for a bench player and should be on the team next year, but with Monty as coach I don't want him back at all.

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Clearly more to it than just rolling the ball out

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I don't think there needs to be much more to it. Tyreke got all the glory last game, but what we saw him do against OKC was very much a team effort. Plays weren't being run other than Tyreke Kamikazi, but guys were moving off ball to make themselves available instead of what we've seen so much of the year, 2 guys involved in the offense and 3 guys standing around "spacing" the floor. I think you could build a pretty potent offense around Evans/Holiday/Morrow/Anderson/Davis with Evans running the offense and everyone else following simple rules of playing off him. I'd much rather see that than the bullshite top of the arc weave that wastes 10 seconds looking like player movement but not really doing anything useful.

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This doesn't appear to be an either or for you. You seem very much on the side of Demps made poor decisions when Tyreke's play since getting minutes suggests the fault lies entirely with Monty.

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Not really. At this point, Demps should know what type of players Monty likes and Monty should be able to adapt to the philosophy the FO wants.

If you know your coach isn't really on board with a big acquisition, then you either make him get on board, fire him, or don't acquire the player.

If you know your GM is adding a player you aren't comfortable with, you make it clear to him that is the case. If he is still added, then you adjust to make it work as best you can.

Both guys are right, both guys are wrong. End of the day, they have to agree on who they want to be.

The outstanding Howard Beck on the Bulls, how rare they are, and what makes them great.

LINK

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Beyond the cliches and the heart-and-hustle imagery, there is a design at work here, an architecture that prioritizes players of high character and professionalism.

Chicago drafted Gibson, 28, with the 26th pick in 2009 out of USC. He was not a highly skilled offensive player, but he stood out for his intelligence, his toughness and his work ethic. Gibson knew he would fit with the Bulls the moment he met with general manager Gar Forman and executive vice president John Paxson during the predraft process.

"They just asked me about my life," Gibson recalls. "They asked me like, what are the things you're willing to do to help a team? And I was saying, 'I'll do whatever it takes. If I've got to come off the bench, if I've got to play five minutes. I'm the type of player, I'm going to work my way to whatever you guys need me to do.'"

The questions kept coming: Are you coachable? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Can you play a backup role without animosity toward the player ahead of you?

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Like many forward-thinking teams, the Bulls invest heavily to develop complete profiles of players—not just their ability to dribble or shoot, but their ability to fit in, to take criticism, to be resilient.

"For every scouting report we have on a player, we probably have two or three intel reports," Forman says. "We try to start early and dig and do those things, and try to see guys in a different (setting), try to see them in a practice setting, try to see them on the road. How do they handle a difficult environment when they're on the road? We talk to a lot of people that are around them—not just coaches, but whether it's trainers, doctors, door monitors, back to high school."

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It does, however, take a certain mental and emotional fortitude to thrive here. Thibodeau is every bit as demanding as his reputation suggests, and his relentless, hard-driving approach can make a lesser player wilt.

"Not everybody can really tolerate the kind of yelling," Gibson says of Thibodeau

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Lots of cliche speak even there, but an interesting window into how they choose and then mold players

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I'd much rather see that than the bull shite top of the arc weave that wastes 10 seconds looking like player movement but not really doing anything useful.

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How DARE you sir! 1 out of 50 times or so we will get an opposing SG matched up on a PG for a huge mismatch after they switch our super-complicated, super-confusing scheme!

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If you know your coach isn't really on board with a big acquisition, then you either make him get on board, fire him, or don't acquire the player.

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I pretty much agree Corn. They certainly don't appear to be on the same page. I often wonder how much Demps handing him a 4 year extension goes towards evaluating Monty. He JUST gave him that extension after watching him coach for 3 years. That's a pretty big "oopsie" to have to admit to the new ownership.

I think that was just speculation based on player usage like we're doing.

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Yep. Until he didn't. The roster is basically the same types (varying degrees of aptitude) of guys and Davis. I wasnt expecting a good or even average team when guys went down, rather a continuation of the good things we saw and what they wanted to build with this roster. We got Davis going supernova, which is awesome, but little else.

To me, the injuries exposed either structural rot or a lack of ideas.

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That seems a little over dramatic to me. We had to pull back what we were doing because we went from having good players, to shitty ones.

You just can't run the sets you were running for Holiday, Anderson, Smith... with the guys who were replacing them. They could barely run the most basic stuff, as it was. And with Brian Roberts leading the "fast break"(cough), there was no way to keep up the pace of play we had earlier in the season. He dribbles with his head down and is generally awful in transition. Plus, with him heading a defense, you aren't going to get the stops and turnovers you need to get out and run.

Just for whatever its worth, I re watched the Tyreke game-winner, game vs Portland last night. Probably my favorite game of the year, because everything finally seemed to be coming together, and we were healthy. Although, I forgot Gordon missed that game.

What struck me the most was haow up tempo and exciting we were. We were up and down the court, everything was clicking and even the Blazers announcers couldn't get over how much our style of play had changed from one season to another. They couldn't stop talking about how fast we were playing. Both of those guys were sure we'd be a playoff team.

Then they come back from half their play by play guy said he talked to an nba scout at halftime and he said there was no doubt we'd be in the playoffs.

It just seems to me like the injuries have really clouded what were actually really promising things happening early in the season.

Here's a link to that game for people wanting to relive the "good ole days," over the long offseason. It isn't perfect basketball, but it was very encouraging.

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You just can't run the sets you were running for Holiday, Anderson, Smith.

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That's the point; ATL hit on it a few posts up- it was talented players getting theirs, not a legit system. Spacing was horrid all year. Some of that is unfamiliarity, sure. But there is a good bit of design flaw too

You really think they couldn't go uptempo because of Brian Roberts? The Sixers ran more than anyone with MCW and Tony Wroten running the point and D Leaguers filling lanes.

If Roberts couldn't do it, then maybe Rivers could have, and certainly Evans (and perhaps Gordon) can. If they wanted to keep the pace up, they could have easily done so

Regardless of the talent, you've still got a bunch of ball dominant guards playing together with enough shooting that you can get work done. You can lay foundations. You tweak, not change who you are, because of injuries.

Here is a link to SI awards. LINK

Davis was the consensus MIP with 3/5 ballots. Gerald Green and Dragic were the other 2.

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Mannix: Anthony Davis, Pelicans
Ballot: Davis, Goran Dragic, Lance Stephenson
Voting for this award is subjective, to say the least. Does it belong to the star who becomes a superstar? The middle-of-the-road veteran who rises from the pack? My ballot features a little of both, but it’s impossible to overlook Davis, a holy terror on both ends of the court who makes me think Durant has some competition as James’ heir apparent. That Davis has added a reliable mid-range jump shot and an emerging post game to his elite-level defense at the ripe age of 21 is downright scary. The Suns’ Dragic deserves some award (“Player Who Strapped What Was Supposed To Be A Crappy Team On His Back And Nearly Got It In the Playoffs?”). The Pacers’ Stephenson will get his reward in free agency this summer.

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Golliver: Anthony Davis, Pelicans
Ballot: Davis, Gerald Green, Lance Stephenson
As a former No. 1 pick who hadn’t yet reached legal drinking age, Davis and “anticipated improvement” were synonymous entering the season. Nevertheless, he blew past any reasonable development curve, averaging 20.8 points, 10 rebounds and a league-leading 2.8 blocks. Davis’ PER (26.5) is the highest ever for a player during his age-20 season, including LeBron James. Going from “potential franchise player” to “bona fide franchise player” this quickly and this effortlessly makes his growth more impressive than that of the rest of a loaded field. Green’s mid-career emergence and Stephenson’s blossoming as an all-around talent make them both worthy runners-up.

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Dollinger: Anthony Davis, Pelicans
Ballot: Davis, Lance Stephenson, Goran Dragic
The rate of Davis’ evolution continues to marvel. Keep in mind Davis is nine years younger than LeBron James. He’s a defensive anchor, leading the league in blocks, and he’s a blossoming offensive star, raising his scoring average by seven points per game. Stephenson has been the best player on the best team in the East for portions of this season, using his unconventional playmaking to spark the Pacers’ often-stalled offense. His tenacity on defense and vision on offense make him one of the best two-way players in the league.

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I think it was sloppy play from a newly assembled group with guys who were clearly struggling to get comfortable early in the season (Jrue and Tyreke) with a coach that wasn't comfortable playing the way they needed to play. Stiemsma and Aminu are all the evidence you need to show Monty is more comfortable losing with defense than winning with offense.

Tyreke's FG% by Month (The Everyone Healthy stretch was December through early January)

Oct 25%
Nov 41.3%
Dec 42.5%
Jan 38.8%
Feb 36.7%
Mar 51.1%
Apr 47.6%

If the Tyreke we saw in March and April was playing for that team in December, their eFG would obviously be much better.

I said I was happy to see Monty say Tyreke had a "Magic Johnson night" after the OKC game. Well it only took one game for Monty to burst that bubble.

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He drove me crazy a few times tonight with some of his ‘uh-oh’ plays but, these last two games, I hope he gets Player of the Week.

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You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs Monty. That's what Tyreke does, he forces shots 99% of the league shouldn't attempt.

I think the crux of our disagreement here is you want them to get on the same page regardless of who catches up to who. I am 100% against Dell dumbing down the roster for Monty. Monty is the one that needs to catch up, and if he can't then they'll probably both get fired but whoever comes after them will have a much more talented roster because of the moves Demps has made.