I want to start these Monday morning bullets with a PSA:
The Chicago Bulls went 3-1 during the 2022-23 NBA preseason before finishing 40-42 in the regular season. In other words, the preseason scoreboard matters as much as pants do to Winnie the Pooh.
I have a pretty good feeling most folks recognize this, but I know it can be hard sometimes to stay rational when opening up the box score. The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t play Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, or Khris Middleton. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls played each member of their “Big 3.” Knowing that can make it hard to dissociate the 105-102 Bucks win. I get that. But let’s remember that Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic each played just 17 minutes. Not to mention, the entire second half was mostly filled with lineups of out-of-rotation talent and training camp invites. So, yeah, it is what it is.
In fact, if anything, I walked out of the Fiserv Forum yesterday feeling slightly more optimistic than when I stepped in. I’m not allowing myself to push my hopes too high, but we saw what we needed to see from the core players in Game 1. All the talk about playing uptempo and shooting more 3s was put into action. The team shot 19 total 3-pointers in the first half, which is a mark they only reached seven total times during the 2022-23 season. Their 35 total 3s by the end of the night were more attempts than in 85 percent of their games last year.
Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score also kept track of the team’s fast-break opportunities in the first half. They went 8-13 in those situations and ultimately ended up outscoring Milwaukee on the fastbreak 25-17. This tied their second-most fastbreak points in a single game from last season.
Bulls were 8-of-13 in the first half on fast-break field-goal attempts. That's a fair number of attempts on the break, so 24 minutes into a meaningless game that we'll all soon forget, they are at least attempting to play faster and shoot more 3s like they've talked about.— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) October 8, 2023
The eye test, though, is far more important than the stat sheet in these preseason games. And the Chicago Bulls passed. There was a concerted effort to get it and go from almost every player in the starting lineup. The message was clear: If you’re not a big man and rebound the ball, you put it on the floor. We then watched as Zach LaVine and Coby White made an effort to repeatedly get into the paint. Not only did this lead to some easy scores at the rim, but it also created some kick-out opportunities that either led to open 3s or promoted strong ball movement.
The question now, of course, is whether or not this is something the Chicago Bulls can do for four quarters. Lack of consistency and sudden stagnation is what became this team’s primary problem this season. As great as it was to see this group get up and down the floor and create offense off the ball, I can’t believe this identity is here to stay until I see it. More specifically, I’ll need to see it when crunch time arrives. I understand that some nights you’ll need somebody to play the hero, but this can no longer be the default. When times get tough, they can’t slip back into their old ways.
We’re going to talk about Coby White in a separate post. Instead, I’ll give some bullets of love to Patrick Williams. It wasn’t a perfect first preseason game by any means, but I was encouraged by his scoring mentality. He played right into the team’s desire to get it up the floor fast, and we also continued to see him show zero hesitation with the 3-point shot. I give him a ton of props for turning himself into a legitimate threat from behind the arc. He now needs to prove he can use that to his advantage, though. The more the defense is forced to respect him, the more opportunities there could be to attack closeouts.
Basketball sickos love Torrey Craig. The veteran forward showed exactly why I called his signing a steal over his first few minutes alongside the starters. While he finished the night just 3-9 over his 19 minutes, he posted 5 points, two offensive rebounds, a steal, and an assist during his first quarter minutes. When we talk about how this team needs to play, Craig fits that almost effortlessly. He’s constantly attacking the glass and hunting cutting lanes. The dude is never not on the move.
If you need a good recap on where the Chicago Bulls are at, ESPN’s Jamal Collier provided us with just that. He spoke with Zach LaVine and Co. about Year 3 of this core and the need to show improvement ASAP. It sure sounds like this team knows that if they can’t put together a truly competitive season, big changes are on the horizon. Read Collier’s full piece here.
Ohhhhh, I’ll be watching!
ESPN’s documentary on former Sky star Candace Parker will debut Nov. 12 at 8 pm CT.
“Candace Parker: Unapologetic,” directed by Joie Jacoby, features behind-the-scenes access during Parker’s 2022 season with the Sky while tracing her story back to her childhood in Naperville.— Jeff Agrest (@JeffAgrest) October 8, 2023
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