[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

 sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/joakim-noah–reportedly–will-come-off-the-bench-for-the-chicago-bulls-230145553.html

Looks like Hoiberg is trying to shake things up, a la Steve Kerr last season with the Warriors.

 He’s definitely showing his offensive-favoritism, choosing Nikola Mirotic to move to the starting power forward slot with Gasol at center. This will enhance their spacing out on the court and looking at Gasol’s pre-season numbers, he’s shooting 1.8 3PA per game at 42.9% while Mirotic bumps up his attempts to 5.3 3PA per game at 37.8%.

This will alleviate Derrick Rose’s wanning athleticism, back when he could just create shot opportunities out of nothing, to a point that gives him enough space for clear driving lanes, as well as open it up for Butler too.

Anyways, as for Noah, what does this say about him? Has his athleticism slip that far down with Thibodeau’s stubbornness of his minutes? I wonder how their defense will play out with a lineup of Rose-Butler-Dunleavy-Mirotic-Gasol, with Butler really only being the one defensive-stalwart amongst them. Also, Dunleavy isn’t slated to come back until early-to-mid December coming off of back surgery is September. That would place Tony Snell to start in his place, as Hoiberg stated that McDermott will come off the bench already too and he’s still only an average defender as well but has the tools to grow.

It seems Noah would provide some two-stability as oppose to Gasol in the Rose-Butler-Dunleavy-Mirotic starting lineup but perhaps this shows that Noah isn’t the same defender and his play doesn’t outweight the added spacing that Gasol provides, which is a mighty fall from only 18 months ago when Noah was fourth in the MVP ballot. 

Looking at him coming off the bench means he’ll play in a lineup of Brooks-Snell-McDermott-Gibson. Defensively, Snell is average as I mentioned above while Brooks and Snell are pretty poor and Portis is a rookie. Gibson is wonderful defensively but there are a lot of trade rumors surrounding him and I suppose Hoiberg wants minutes with McDermott at the four, as well as Bobby Portis, whom both have had terrific pre-seasons. But this will leave a lot of burden, defensively, on Noah.

Noah is a free agent at the end of the season too, so how will he feel throughout the season about the demotion? In the article, he seemed fine with it but as the season goes along, will that change?. He’s never really had the major pay-day that would put in at max dollars and he’ll turn 31 during the season. Also, he stayed at college for three seasons at Florida and had a prep year after high school in 2003, leaving him older than his class, so his earning potential throughout his career is lessened. How will the Bulls and other potential suitors look at this during next summer?

Anyways what do you guys think of this move?

 

[ChewyParticipant]

 1. You are underestimating what Pau was able to do defensively. He was 7th in the NBA with 147 blks last year.

2. Noah and Taj are great together, so I hope he does PF and C swaps to keep them together.

3. I have no idea how Mirotic is going to cover starting PFs

 

 

[ChewyParticipant]

 1. You are underestimating what Pau was able to do defensively. He was 7th in the NBA with 147 blks last year.

2. Noah and Taj are great together, so I hope he does PF and C swaps to keep them together.

3. I have no idea how Mirotic is going to cover starting PFs

 

 

[ExumInfernoParticipant]

 That is a great observation, Noah and Gibson do play very well together.  A great fit for the bench, and they can defend while McDermott shoots away for the second unit.  The Bulls should be very good, if healthy.

[ExumInfernoParticipant]

 That is a great observation, Noah and Gibson do play very well together.  A great fit for the bench, and they can defend while McDermott shoots away for the second unit.  The Bulls should be very good, if healthy.

[GBeeParticipant]

 Pau is trash defensively.  Who care about his blocks?  He’s slow with slow reactions.  He’s weak and can be outworked.  He’s only decent at defending plodding C’s who don’t physically overpower him.  Besides that, there aren’t too many matchups in his favor defensively.  He also likes to pass the buck, watching the action unfold right in front of him expecting someone else to make the defensive play. He’s infuriating to watch on the defensive end.

[GBeeParticipant]

 Pau is trash defensively.  Who care about his blocks?  He’s slow with slow reactions.  He’s weak and can be outworked.  He’s only decent at defending plodding C’s who don’t physically overpower him.  Besides that, there aren’t too many matchups in his favor defensively.  He also likes to pass the buck, watching the action unfold right in front of him expecting someone else to make the defensive play. He’s infuriating to watch on the defensive end.

[T Rex]

 Bobby Portis will be starting soon.

Very soon.

 

 

 

[T Rex]

 Bobby Portis will be starting soon.

Very soon.

 

 

 

[trelos6Participant]

Interesting move by Chicago.

Obviously, their old plan wasn’t working.  They never got out of the East.

This way, Mirotic can space the floor a bit, and Noah hopefully comes back a bit healthier and plays a huge role off the bench.

I hope Snell and McDermott get some minutes.  I think they both have good potential as role players.

 

 

 
 

 

  

[trelos6Participant]

Interesting move by Chicago.

Obviously, their old plan wasn’t working.  They never got out of the East.

This way, Mirotic can space the floor a bit, and Noah hopefully comes back a bit healthier and plays a huge role off the bench.

I hope Snell and McDermott get some minutes.  I think they both have good potential as role players.

 

 

 
 

 

  

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

 Good Noah is a good backup center in the leagure now. 

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

 Good Noah is a good backup center in the leagure now. 

[bmac697Participant]

They have enough front court depth, Maybe this will keep him healthy the whole year, only time will tell.

I like having Gasol at centre and Mirotic at PF. Gives them more offensive skill and still have Noah and Gibson for defence and hustle off the bench as well as Portis who I think will be greta for this team long term. The bulls have a very deep front court moving Noah to the bench I dont think will hurt them that much and if anything hell be able to sub in and give his 110% hustle and take a break when need be. The goal is to keep him healthy the full year.

 

[bmac697Participant]

They have enough front court depth, Maybe this will keep him healthy the whole year, only time will tell.

I like having Gasol at centre and Mirotic at PF. Gives them more offensive skill and still have Noah and Gibson for defence and hustle off the bench as well as Portis who I think will be greta for this team long term. The bulls have a very deep front court moving Noah to the bench I dont think will hurt them that much and if anything hell be able to sub in and give his 110% hustle and take a break when need be. The goal is to keep him healthy the full year.

 

[Robb_CParticipant]

 This thread is literally a complete rehash of what I posted in the "gm survey" thread.

[Robb_CParticipant]

 This thread is literally a complete rehash of what I posted in the "gm survey" thread.

[ChewyParticipant]

 It’s the off season James Brown. Some repetition is bound to happen with slow news day after slow news day.

[ChewyParticipant]

 It’s the off season James Brown. Some repetition is bound to happen with slow news day after slow news day.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

A gasol-mirotic frontline will get torched defensively. Don’t let last season’s rebound and blocks stats fool you. Gasol provides very limited rim protection. Hes long but he can’t move his feet, is slow to react, and can’t jump anymore. He will get the occasional block but will also give up a ton of layups. The good news is that this will really open things up offensively for them when the starting unit is on the floor. Noah is a creative passer but you really don’t have to guard him outside 5 feet.

I can’t see them keeping both Gibson and Noah for the full season, especially with portis waiting in the wings and a system which places more emphasis on floor spacing.

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

A gasol-mirotic frontline will get torched defensively. Don’t let last season’s rebound and blocks stats fool you. Gasol provides very limited rim protection. Hes long but he can’t move his feet, is slow to react, and can’t jump anymore. He will get the occasional block but will also give up a ton of layups. The good news is that this will really open things up offensively for them when the starting unit is on the floor. Noah is a creative passer but you really don’t have to guard him outside 5 feet.

I can’t see them keeping both Gibson and Noah for the full season, especially with portis waiting in the wings and a system which places more emphasis on floor spacing.

 

[GBeeParticipant]

 If Taj wasn’t recovering from surgery during the earlier portion of training camp and preseason I think he would’ve locked up a starting spot over Niko.  I think he’ll eventually make his way into the starting lineup this year off of merit or for pump and dump purposes.  He’s the most well-rounded big on the roster considering both sides of the floor. He can make up for some of Pau’s defensive shortcomings.  Niko actually isn’t that bad defensively.  He plays with good intelligence and effort, but he’s not a good as Taj is and he can’t erase mistakes with shot contests, In terms of balance, Taj is a better pairing with Pau and Niko is a better pairing with Noah, but maybe Niko/Pau have better chemstry than Pau/Taj offensively (Taj tends to be a bit of a black hole). As for Noah, it’s sad to see, but he sucks now.  His only redeeming athletic quality was his agility and now that’s gone with his knees.  With Hoiberg’s offense using less high post and pinch action he’s pretty much just an energy big now.  He’s beyond flipping for decent value so I think they’ll just play his contract out.

[GBeeParticipant]

 If Taj wasn’t recovering from surgery during the earlier portion of training camp and preseason I think he would’ve locked up a starting spot over Niko.  I think he’ll eventually make his way into the starting lineup this year off of merit or for pump and dump purposes.  He’s the most well-rounded big on the roster considering both sides of the floor. He can make up for some of Pau’s defensive shortcomings.  Niko actually isn’t that bad defensively.  He plays with good intelligence and effort, but he’s not a good as Taj is and he can’t erase mistakes with shot contests, In terms of balance, Taj is a better pairing with Pau and Niko is a better pairing with Noah, but maybe Niko/Pau have better chemstry than Pau/Taj offensively (Taj tends to be a bit of a black hole). As for Noah, it’s sad to see, but he sucks now.  His only redeeming athletic quality was his agility and now that’s gone with his knees.  With Hoiberg’s offense using less high post and pinch action he’s pretty much just an energy big now.  He’s beyond flipping for decent value so I think they’ll just play his contract out.

[Author]

Posts