Bulls Go 2-0 on the Preseason in Another Win Over the Cavs

Bulls Go 2-0 on the Preseason in Another Win Over the Cavs

How about that? The Bulls are undefeated. Not a phrase you hear very often. Too bad it’s only the preseason though. But anyway, the Bulls in their first preseason game at home taking on the Cavs yet again. 119 to 112. They finished another close game that went down to the wire, although not as quite down to the wire as the last game did. And there were things from this game that I saw some improvement on. And then other things where it’s clear the Bulls still need a lot of work. I’ll start with the things that still need a lot of work. While turnovers weren’t as bad as the game on Tuesday, uh, where they turned the ball over what, 26 times, they still turn the ball over at a very high rate, 19 times in this one, much more than you would like to see for a team that likes to play fast. Like, yes, a high octane offensive team that moves the ball a lot and plays quickly in transition. You expect more turnovers to occur than a team that is going to primarily be playing in the half court. But averaging over 20 turnovers per game over these two games is not great and something that isn’t going to bode well when the regular season comes around when defenses start kicking things up a notch and you’re playing against a team starters for most of the game. That said, every team, every player is always shaking off a little bit of rust in the preseason. That’s why they have the preseason to get back into the flow of the games. But yeah, I really hope the Bulls can shore up these turnovers if they’re really going to emphasize this new fast-paced style of offense. Going along with that though, kind of related, but the Bulls, if they want to be more physical, which they have been and I love it, but they need to figure out a way to be more aggressive and more physical on defense while limiting the fouls they commit. The Bulls were already in the penalty in this game with 10 minutes left in the first quarter. They fouled 28 times throughout this one. I’m not saying they were all bad fouls. Some were actually good, hard fouls to prevent their opponent from getting an easy bucket. But you cannot be sending your opponent to the free throw line at the rate the Bulls have been over these past two games. Luckily for the Bulls, the Cavs did not shoot it well from the line. Just 68%. They missed 10 of their free throws in total. That was the differencemaker in the game. If they just made 90% of their free throws, the Cavs win this one. Another thing that needs to be worked on that defense, man. And it goes back to what I was just talking about when it comes to limiting the number of fouls they commit. But they can’t just play physical foul guys and call it defense. And when it came to going up against the Cavs and their starters, which is what’s going to be the reality when the regular season rolls around, you can’t just let them have their way with you. Missing back door cuts, missing switches on screens, not closing out shots. I know it’s the preseason and obviously they’re not going to be going all out on that end of the floor, but it was the missed assignments and sometimes looking lost on defense that worries me. Not closing out your shot, not closing out shots or letting your guy blow by you after you get beat off the dribble. Yeah, it’s annoying to see that happen, but it’s the preeason, but the offball defensive stuff, the IQ on defense is not there, and that’s what concerns me. And then finally, and not something I’m as concerned about, but something that needed to improve from the last game and still isn’t that great, was the Bulls three-point shooting. They got up a lot of threes, which we expect, 42 in total, and only made 14 of them. Good enough for 33%. Javon Carter, of course it was Javon Carter, was the only consistent three-point shooter in this game. If only we could see that level of consistency and flamethrowing from him from deep in the regular season. Uh what I did like seeing and saw some improvements on the Bulls passing was more crisp. The ball movement while still a little sloppy at times was more on point. The flow on offense overall did look better and the Bulls crashed the boards well especially against a big Cleveland Cavaliers team. Now look, there are two guys to me that have stood out and impressed me so far in the preseason. Well, aside from Modis, of course, who I’ll get to, but that’s Trey Jones and A Dumu. I don’t know how you can’t like Trey Jones. He just gets it. Like he just knows what to do, where to be, makes the right plays, plays selfless team basketball. I think I’ve said this before, but this could end up being one of those bigger contract steels in the NBA if Jones can continue this level of production. Trey Jones in 24 minutes, 10 points, four for five from the floor, two for two from three, five rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Don’t say this guy is too small to be strong defensively. He knows how to pickpocket guys and read passes. He does it all and I love the effort he brings to the floor. And then for IO, IO has been great so far in the preseason. I mean, you’re talking about a guy that is coming off a pretty significant injury that sidelined him for a good portion of last season. We weren’t quite sure how he would come back to start this season, whether it would take him some time to get back into the swing of things, but I has looked as every bit of ready as he was before, if not better. In both these games, he’s come off the bench and provided instant offense to turn a slow start around for this team. Just like in the game on Tuesday, the Bulls started off very slow, fell behind early. Io comes in, cleans things up, and gives them a boost to get them right back on track. His pushing and speed and getting downhill in transition is back to what it used to be, using his length to finish even when he’s being contested at the rim. I mean, in this game, he punched in 16 points on six for 14 shooting. I like what I’ve seen from my thus far. Now, Modis Pucelis, I wanted to see more minutes in this game for Modis because there is a lot to like with what we’ve seen from him thus far, regardless of it being a preseason qualifier. He’s getting after on offense. Like, even though he wasn’t as efficient in this game, seeing him use those handles and doing some step back shots even though they weren’t falling, that’s a side of his game we did not see a great deal of last season. Adding that to his repertoire would be a big win for the Bulls. the improved cutting to the basket, the decision-making, the shot selection, all of that you can see has improved from this past season. There’s just I mean I don’t want to hype this guy up too much because you eventually get to a place where you have too high of expectations for one of your young players, but there is a lot to be excited about with this kid and he looks primed to have a breakout season and dare I say it could try and make a run at the most improved player of the year award that he set out as a goal for himself on media day. Josh Giddy looked better than this one. Not the best way to begin the game. He had some weird drives where he was getting caught in no man’s land and would try and throw it up and get rejected or miss the shot badly. But I think one thing we have to remember and Casey Johnson called this out as the reason why Billy Donovan did not play him in the second half of the last game was that Giddy, you know, he hasn’t played as much in the off season compared to some of the other guys due to the ongoing contract negotiations. So he wasn’t with the team as early as a lot of the other guys were in Chicago. So yeah, he might be a little rustier than most for that reason, but the second quarter, Giddy was a little more in the groove. Made some nice driving plays to the basket, skipped passes to the open man, ended up finishing the game with 14 points on five for 13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, six assist, doing all this in 22 minutes. And then the other guy I actually wanted to call out in this one, Patrick Williams. You know, I joked in my last video, Pat still looks like Pat. And while there is some truth to it even in this game, but I’ll give him some credit. has looked a little more aggressive and trying to assert himself into the offense. Uh he’s made some nice plays defensively, some nice footwork around the basket to score. I just I can’t with Patrick Williams when it comes to his handles. He just makes me nervous every time I see him trying to handle the basketball and creating his shot. It just looks clunky. Half the time he bounces off his foot or puts it right in the hands of the defense. And I just don’t get it because he was a pretty solid ball handler in his rookie year and I believe even played point guard in high school. So yeah, I don’t really know what to make of Pat just yet. It’s still too early. Uh him having a bounceback year would be a massive win for the Bulls, especially if everything else goes right for this team. Anyway, Bulls are off for a few days until Sunday where they take on the Milwaukee Bucks. But you guys, let me know what you 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 Cavs

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