Carter Jr.’s Promise, LaVine’s Shot Selection, Slow-Down-Coby, and Other Bulls Bullets

This block is absolutely absurd.

If I attempted that I’d be posterized so hard I’d have to go into hiding and change my name.

Anyway, bullets time!

  • The Chicago Bulls play the New York Knicks for the first time this season! *Hears something in earpiece* What’s that? They played them, already? And the Bulls lost? You’re kidding!? All right, well it might not be for the first time this season, but we can sure pretend like it is.
  • Wendell Carter Jr. spoke with the media yesterday about handling former-Bull Bobby Portis, who’s bound to be hungry for a big-time performance in the United Center, and you can see that below. In the team’s first (imaginary) matchup, Portis destroyed the Bulls off the bench, going for 28 points and 11 rebounds. But according to Carter Jr., Bulls’ fans don’t have to worry about that happening again:
  • Carter Jr. is the heart and soul of this team right now. I love this man.
  • I think we can classify Zach LaVine’s first 10 games as underwhelming. After a breakout campaign last season, the scoring guard has taken some time to find his rhythm in this new-look offense. His lowest two scoring performances of the season came over these past two games, but to his credit, he has managed to help the team out in other ways (eight rebounds in the win over Atlanta, five assists in the loss to Houston). The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry focuses on LaVine’s shot selection though, breaking down why we’ve seen a bit of a drop-off in his usual scoring numbers. I strongly recommend giving it a read.
  • Mayberry’s piece shows LaVine’s knack for hero ball and frustrating no pass possessions. In many ways, as Mayberry points out, LaVine has earned a bit of freedom in his offensive games … but how much? I wouldn’t classify LaVine as an elite wing player yet, that’s what he’s trying to prove this season. The way for LaVine to prove his worth now is by being a winning player, and that’s something we saw in the Bulls’ win over the Atlanta Hawks. Sure, you’d like to see him score more, but grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out four assists, and grabbing two steals isn’t a bad thing at all. As the season goes on, LaVine’s scoring will come more and more naturally, so remaining focused on those other contributions is key.
  • I’ll preface this with: I LOVE Coby White. With that being said, he needs to take fewer shots for now.
  • NBC Sports Chicago’s Kevin Anderson did the math … and the math is good. From an analytics standpoint, Jim Boylen’s offense is working. The Bulls are one of the best teams in the league at getting opening looks, their only problem is, well, making them. Here’s a good snippet from the article: “Through 10 games, the Bulls have attempted 347 3-point shots. Of those attempts, a whopping 89.6% of them are considered open or wide-open by the league’s closest defender metrics (1). The Bulls are hitting just 31.1% of those open or wide-open shots. That is far below the league average. They rank 27th in the NBA on ‘wide open’ threes made, and 24th in the NBA on ‘open’ threes made.” Open shots = good. Missing them = bad.
  • A lot more goes into all of this, so that’s why I encourage you to read through the article. While this fast system may be forcing some of these players to fall out of sync, I don’t mind the approach. If the Bulls just start hitting their open shots (which they’re bound to, right!?), the offensive production will look a whole lot different.
  • Jim Boylen said words yesterday, so catch up here:
  • If you watch this video it seems like the Bulls are good at hitting threes!
  • If the Bulls don’t beat the Knicks tonight, I will also react this way.
  • Sign up for your free trial with Disney+ and support Bleacher Nation in the process!
  • written by

    Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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