NEWSLETTER
With the Hawks and Pelicans locking in the 8th seed in their respective conference last night, it’s officially playoff time!
The action tips off today with four games, including the Raptors-76ers as the lone Eastern Conference matchup. Then, tomorrow, the Hawks-Heat and Nets-Celtics will begin their battles before the Bulls play the Bucks at 5:30 p.m. CT on TNT. The basketball buff in me is ridiculously hyped for a weekend full of playoff hoops. The Bulls buff in me is a blend of excited, terrified, hopeful, sweaty, and a tiny bit nauseous.
Bring it on!
• If you’re looking for a reason to run through a brick wall today, the Bulls gave us one with this amazing hype video:
When there's an opportunity, there's a chance. pic.twitter.com/kKvWMbyM8g
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 16, 2022
• After Chicago’s final practice at the Advocate Center before heading into enemy territory, Tristan Thompson spoke with reporters. I proceeded to make a handful of folks light their torches and grab their pitchforks on Twitter with my initial reaction to K.C. Johnson’s tweet about one of his comments, and I’ll first share that tweet below:
Tristan Thompson said he has challenged Zach LaVine to take the playoff stage like Devin Booker did.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 15, 2022
• Now, before I explain my thoughts, I’ll provide some of Thompson’s exact words:
“This will be a great opportunity for Zach. I challenged him, as well,” Thompson said. “This has to be the Zach LaVine ‘Come Out Party.’ He’s got to be the best guard in this series … Can you do it in the playoffs and be like D-Book was the last two playoffs? Where everyone is talking about you got to be All-NBA. So I challenged Zach. He’s accepted it. He wants to be great.”
• I completely understand and accept that Thompson was brought to Chicago to be a veteran leader and voice in the locker room. If you go back and read some of my thoughts on the initial signing, I was plenty complimentary and eager to see what he could bring to the table. Also, to this day, I believe he can provide value thanks to his past playoff experience. With that said, there is just something that kind of rubs me the wrong way about Thompson “challenging” the team’s top talent (he also seemed to suggest he challenged DeRozan and Vooch), particularly in a situation where he is telling LaVine to be more like Devin Booker. I’m just not sure that’s the kind of vocal leadership they need from him. I could be wrong.
• Thompson is a guy who has been in town for 2 months and plays roughly 15 minutes per game. Also, if we’re being honest, his contributions have underwhelmed up until this point (perhaps that changes in the playoffs). His words should carry some weight regardless of his on-court impact thanks to his Finals experience, but I also don’t think we should assume that experience means carte blanche. I don’t know. I totally get why some people were off-put by me questioning whether Thompson should be challenging his teammates in this way. However, I do believe there is plenty of accountability behind the scenes already, and maybe these “challenges” just don’t need to be said out loud to the media. That’s all.
• If you disagree, by the way, I’m 100 percent cool with it. I accept I might be in the minority on this one. There is also a real chance his words did have a positive impact on guys like LaVine and Vucevic. I do want him to keep feeding this team advice, I just hope he’s going about it the right way at a crucial point in the season. Oh, and I also hope he isn’t asked about the 2014-15 playoffs again:
Thompson also dropped intriguing nugget about the 2014-15 Bulls, which the Cavaliers beat in conference semifinals.
"We had more heart and fight than those guys. I think some of their players quit by Game 2 or 3. I won't say their names." https://t.co/Hi1NMolCFp
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 15, 2022
• Look, I’m not going to waste my team re-hashing beef from over half a decade ago (don’t get me started on Blatt’s timeout), but I think that’s an odd thing to say about the franchise you currently suit up for. I’ll leave it at that.
• KyloRenMore.gif
Pretty cool to see Pat and Ayo learning and taking from DeMar's game. pic.twitter.com/bNB82fFN2s
— Chip Jones (@ChipJNBA) April 16, 2022
• See, this is another reason why bringing DeMar DeRozan to Chicago should prove to be worth every penny. While his on-court influence has obviously been tremendous, his leadership undoubtedly improved during his time with a rebuilding San Antonio Spurs team. Not only do I imagine he’s personally helped Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams work on their game, but there is no question these impressionable youngsters have picked up pointers by just watching him work every day. Dosunmu’s midrange game – albeit on relatively low volume – has especially looked crisp throughout the year. His 51 percent clip ranks in the NBA’s 92nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.
• Nobody has scored more points this season from 13-22 feet than The Midrange King.
NBA scoring leaders by distance. pic.twitter.com/OolEuqVTMp
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) April 16, 2022
• Keeping my fingers crossed that these are the only cases we see over the next couple of weeks.
Bulls Assistant Coaches Chris Fleming and Damian Cotter Have Tested Positive for COVIDhttps://t.co/sAb9F0NgLS pic.twitter.com/8NuPjga7S7
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) April 15, 2022
• The Atlanta Hawks lost starting center Clint Capela to a scary leg injury halfway through yesterday’s Play-In finale, but it appears he avoided any substantial trouble.
There’s initial optimism that Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela hasn’t suffered significant right knee damage, but an MRI on Saturday will determine extent of possible injury, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 16, 2022
• Meanwhile, the Nets still seem hopeful they can get Ben Simmons on the floor for the first time this season.
ESPN story on plan for Brooklyn's Ben Simmons to join teammates on the practice floor in the coming week, with a possible return looming later in the Nets-Celtics series: https://t.co/A753uaV0pL
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 16, 2022
• I like it.
Now This is a Bears Mock Draft with a Little Something for Everybodyhttps://t.co/QH3lyZKTqO pic.twitter.com/oZna5VejRO
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) April 15, 2022
