NEWSLETTER
For some bizarre reason, I woke up in a good mood this morning, so let’s start these bullets with a few positives!
- First things first, a major congrats is owed to DeMar DeRozan for surpassing Larry Bird on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list. DeRozan now sits 38th overall and is just 19 points away from surpassing Gary Payton, who is the next retired player on the list at 36th (Chris Paul is 37th and just 8 points ahead of DeRozan).
- While DeRozan has passed some impressive names in recent years, there is just a little something extra special about topping Larry The Legend. I think it really puts into perspective how rare DeRozan’s scoring consistency has been over his 15-year-long career. The last time he averaged under 20.0 points per game was his 4th season in the league, where he played all 82 games and still averaged 18.1 points a night with the Toronto Raptors. I know that the playoff resume isn’t what he’d want it to be, but what he’s accomplished in this league is impressive regardless. And this feels all the more true when we remember that he’s done it primarily by sticking to what he does best. He’s continued to dominate the mid-range during a decade where the NBA has thrown that shot to the wayside.
- The Chicago Bulls’ defense deserves a legitimate round of applause for their effort last night. Even though the final score didn’t land in their favor, they did a genuinely encouraging job keeping Luka Doncic in check. They threw several different defensive looks at the All-NBA guard, holding him to just 18 points on 5-16 shooting (he came in averaging 39.0 points, folks). Chicago started the night by switching on a couple of PnRs, but they really found some success by sending late help when Doncic had players one-on-one near the post.
- As the game entered the second quarter, we started to see Chicago rely on an even more aggressive blitz strategy. When Doncic came off the PnR, the Chicago Bulls would send both defenders at the lethal scorer. While this wasn’t something they could keep up all game, it undoubtedly shook things up before halftime. Then, as the game went on, we continued to see Donovan throw several players at Doncic (Caruso, Williams, White, Dosunmu, Craig). The Bulls also made a concerted effort to consistently send late help and keep their arms wide. By making themselves big and always having multiple players in Doncic’s airspace, it made it hard for him to create as efficiently as usual (he finished with 6 TOVs).
- All things considered, yes, this was easily the most palatable loss of the season. But that also doesn’t mean it inspires much confidence moving forward. The same old problems arose at the end of the game, which included missing key rebounds AND the 3-point disparity. Chicago did at least follow up their 17-attempt showing against Indiana from downtown with 33 attempts against Dallas. Unfortunately, however, they were still outscored by 27 points behind the arc! As we’ve learned the past two seasons, you’re just not going to win many games when that’s the case, folks.
- I know we praised DeRozan at the beginning of these bullets, but we do have to mention his poor start to the year. The guy is shooting an uncharacteristic 43.7 percent to begin the season. He’s now shot a combined 34.4 percent over the Chicago Bulls’ last two games. To no surprise, DeRozan sounds confident that he’ll find his groove (and I tend to believe him), but it’s still been frustrating to watch. The inability of him and LaVine to get going at the same time remains a major problem and continues to speak volumes about this core.
- By the way, Derrick Jones Jr. took NINE 3s against the Chicago Bulls and six the game before that. FIVE attempts happened to be his season-high last year. Would anyone consider him an above-average shooter? No. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t shoot when open. This is why the whole “the Bulls shouldn’t shoot 3s because they aren’t good at it” narrative falls flat for me. At the end of the day, you can’t ignore where the league is at. Dallas knows that DJJ isn’t a particularly consistent shooter, but that isn’t going to stop them from telling him to fire away
- Speaking of narratives, the one about Patrick Williams wanting $200 million is just dead wrong. We wrote about this at the time and tried to clarify to people that Zach Lowe’s words meant Williams wanted $20+ million a year. You can read the transcript of what was said here. Now, is $20 million a year still too much after what we’ve seen? Absolutely! But I still don’t like to see that false report circulating.
- Bulls broke the Pacers.
- Some Bears news this morning!
- Blackhawks making an adjustment …
