Bulls Fast Paced Play Leads to Win in Preseason Finale

Bulls Fast Paced Play Leads to Win in Preseason Finale

The Bulls preseason is in the books. They finish off their preseason with a win over the Timberwolves to go three and two over their five games. And I have to say this was probably the Bulls best game of the preseason going up against a good Minnesota Timber rolls team that played their starters for a good portion of the game. A played 30 minutes, Julius Randle 27, Go Bear 26. And even though the Bulls started off the game slow yet again, literally every single game of their preseason, they started off poorly. Uh but for the Bulls in every game they managed to dig themselves out of an early hole. They took care of the ball in this one well slightly. Still turn the ball over 15 times, but a far cry from the 20 plus that we’re used to seeing. And while I still wouldn’t say their defense is good by any means, but they were at least able to maintain their physicality without fouling all over the place like we saw in the game against Denver. They drew a lot of charges in this game, which is great to see. What I liked most from this game though was the level of speed, ball movement, transition play, fast breaks that the Bulls have been hammering and talking about all training camp for how they want to play. Don’t get me wrong, that style of play was there in these other preseason games, but it just wasn’t executed very well. In this game, their transition play was much more crisp, on point, and was exciting to watch. The outlet passes off turnovers, the lobs on two in one fast breaks. It was the brand of basketball I want to see from this team come the regular season. The Bulls had 27 fast break points, 68 points in the paint, something the Bulls have not done as well at getting easy points in the paint. They did that in this one and against one of the better rim protectors in the league and Rudy Gobear. Bulls crashed the board 61 rebounds in this game. Got a lot of second chance points and fighting for those offensive rebounds. 15 offensive boards in total. just good allaround hustle and effort, especially for a preseason game to do what they can to get the win. I will say the one thing that still concerns me, and I talked about this in my last video, the Bulls three-point shooting, they’ve continued to struggle shooting it from deep. Yet another game sub 30% from three, 25% specifically in this one. 11 for 43 from behind the ark. Again, I know they’re without Kobe White. He hasn’t been playing. I know Javon Carter is just chucking up threes every chance that he gets, but Kevin Herder was back in this one. He did not shoot the ball well. Was two for nine from three, two for 10 overall. Vouch still can’t buy a three. Vu also has just been really, really bad throughout this preseason. I mean, I’m really hoping this is just because it’s the preseason and for a veteran player who’s been in the league for 15 plus years, you’re not going to go hard in the preseason because you’ve been through this. You know the grind of an NBA season. But Vu is just not able to keep up with the speed of play that these young guys want to play. He’s been missing easy shots, can’t hit threes. I don’t know. Like, if we continue to see this in the regular season, I feel like you have to seriously consider Vuvich coming off the bench. Like Zack Collins and Jaylen Smith, I mean, they may not be overall as talented as Vuvich is, but they fit much better with the way the Bulls want to play, and they’ve done it well, especially when it comes to their pick and roll game and ability to finish inside. something Vuvich has really struggled to do. You probably saw that Billy Donovan went with the double big starting lineup where Jaylen Smith and Vu started in the front court. You had Modis playing at the three. This was due to the fact that Aora was out for this game. Same with Io and Patrick Williams. Sounds like it’s nothing serious for them from an injury standpoint, but more so just some additional rest as a precaution. And Jaylen Smith was actually great. You know, I can do without all the threes that he takes sometimes, but inside he was great. Got to the line a few times, solid rim protection, rejecting shots at the basket. finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in 23 minutes of play. Uh Trey Jones got the start with Io and Aoro being out. Uh and he was great as always and just making winning plays. His aggressive on ball defense, forcing turnovers. Like it always amazes me for his size, how he’s able to get steals so easily by just forcing his opponent to make mistakes handling the ball. Eight points for Jones, five rebounds, four assists, and another four steel game. He also led the team in box plus minus at plus4. The Bulls are just that much better when he’s on the court versus when he’s off. The other guy I wanted to call out and it was great to have him back in the lineup was Julian Phillips. Look, if Phillips can make a leap this season in addition to Modis who definitely looks to be on his way to having a breakout season. I’ll get to him in a little bit. A leap from Josh Giddy as well, but Phillips is a player we really weren’t talking about at all this offseason. With Julian going into his third year, if he plays the way he looked tonight, making strong cuts to the basket, finishing at the basket through contact, fighting for loose balls, getting to the free throw line, got to the free throw line six times in this game. Julian Phillips becoming a solid role player that the Bulls can rely upon would be a big win for the Bulls. Josh Giddy looked good tonight as well. 14 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, five for 10 from the field, getting in the paint, creating contact. like he’s gotten so much better at using his size to go from the elbow and dribble his way to the hoop while pushing off his defender and his overall finishing around the basket has gotten considerably better than what we saw at the beginning of last season. You know, I also don’t like this narrative that I’m seeing a lot of people say on Twitter how giddy is the reason the Bulls are having all these poor starts to games and that it takes guys like Trey Jones or Iowa to come in and clean things up. It’s on the Bulls whole starting five to set the tone early, bring the energy from the jump, be locked in from the get-go. If anything, I feel like Giddy is actually playing hard and trying to make things happen, trying to make plays. I’m not saying Giddy is absolved of any blame for the slow starts because he has been susceptible to turnovers at times, but this really is on the whole starting unit. And to me, I’m looking at a guy like Vuvich specifically who isn’t meeting the same level of intensity and speed of play to set the tone early. And then finally, Modus Modus Buselis, the guy we’re all hoping is going to save this franchise. We’re still seeing it. Like I keep thinking, you know, it’s too small of a sample size. We’re going to see him of a bad game. I keep saying, well, it’s only preeason. But watching him play is going to make the games that much more exciting this season. Like he alone is going to make the Bulls fun regardless. No matter how their overall win loss record looks, he is blossoming right before our eyes. that two-way potential, that versatility on offense, how efficient he is in getting to his spots and finishing at the basket, the hustle, the poise, the IQ, and the wherewithal on the court. Just turned 21. Still so much upside and potential. It should be all hands on deck for the Bulls development staff to be prioritizing this kid and making him the Bull’s next franchise player. 19 points, eight for 13 from the floor, two for five from three. Another couple of blocks in this one as well. He’s the future, man. He’s the future. I know I’m getting ahead of myself on this. We need to see uh him continue this level of play going into the regular season. But man, I need something to cling on to keep my fandom alive, especially after seeing the Mariners lose yet again in the ALCS. But anyway, I won’t go into that. The regular season is almost here, guys. Less than a week away, Wednesday at the United Center. Let’s go. I cannot wait. Let me know what you guys thought of the game tonight. Let me know in the comments. As always, be sure to subscribe and I will see you in the next one.

Reacting and recapping the Bulls preseason win over the Timberwolves

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