Takeaways from the Bulls season opener

Wrote some notes on the Bulls season opener at my free Substack page (no ads, not monetized, for the fans). If you want to see with the video clips, click on the link. Otherwise I will just put the text in this comment.

Matas Buzelis

• I have to lead with Matas Buzelis, who had 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and an assist.
• The most glaring thing is how often he is scoring off cuts this year. Synergy had 22 percent of his possessions coming off cuts in this game as compared to around 7 percent last season. He has gotten MUCH better at timing those plays out, and he’s pretty devastating when changing directions on a dime.
• When he gets a bit of space, holy hell is he good at finishing now. He shot 86 percent at the rim in this game, showing great touch and power. His poster dunk on Isaiah Stewart was blocked, but he had so much strength behind it that it went in anyway.
• Matas was credited with three blocks in this game. It easily could have been six. One block was taken away by a very cheap foul call, one looked uncredited on a Duncan Robinson floater, and he would have had another on a Robinson 3 but Robinson realized he was about to get packed and wildly threw the ball away at the last second. All of that is a long way of saying that I fully expect Matas to be one of the best shot-blocking forwards this season.
• The one area where Matas has gotten criticism is his lack of passing. He only had one assist in this game, and it was a very generously credited one for an Ayo Dosunmu layup. He did have two very nice passes off great reads of the help defense, but his teammates biffed the assists. [VIDEO IN SUBSTACK LINK]

Vooch/Jalen Smith

• Vooch was the best player in this game, scoring 28 on 11-of-18 from the field and pulling down 14 rebounds. That ridiculously hot shooting from last season continued, as he drilled 4-of-6 from deep. He is really effective as a trailer on the Bulls’ fast breaks, lumbering to the top of the key after a Bulls guard has sucked in the defense. His makes were super clean swishes, as were his midrange and floater shots. Maybe last year’s 3-point bombing is for real.
• The Vooch/Tre Jones pick-and-roll might have been the team’s best weapon. They went to it repeatedly down the stretch of what turned into a close game after looking like a blowout for the first three quarters.
• Vooch was surprisingly effective on defense (more on that later), but I had to chuckle at this transition defense from him. Isaac Okoro tried to push him into the right spot and he said “NO SIR.” [VIDEO IN SUBSTACK LINK]
• Jalen Smith meanwhile was awful. It was more than his 0-of-7 shooting — he’s just not a high-feel player, making a ton of mental mistakes whenever he’s out there. He was trying to do too much, getting lost on defensive assignments, compounding mistakes by not getting back after errors, etc. He won’t look this bad when he’s making shots (which he is normally good at), but this is why he was buried last year.

Josh Giddey

• It was a usual rollercoaster game from Giddey. He opened poorly, with a shot that would make Michael Carter-Williams proud. Not sure if this one was blocked or not. [VIDEO IN SUBSTACK]
• Things picked up from there considerably, both figuratively and literally. Giddey’s impact on pace is undeniable. The Bulls built up a huge first quarter lead that won them the game after he sucked in the defense on his drives and kicked out for 3’s.
• I don’t totally understand how Giddey’s spin move works every time, but it works every time. He’s maximized that to put rim pressure when he’s otherwise not very good at creating separation. He’s also gotten very good at throwing a shot up as soon as he feels contact, helping him get to the line 11 times (6 of those were intentional fouls or came with the Pistons desperately trying to get steals at the end of the game).
• Giddey drilled a wide open 3 and bricked another wide open one. Not bad.
• The six turnovers are a major issue. They’re unforced, and a lot of them are from very sloppy reads or handle.
• His defense was up-and-down. He held up well in the first quarter, but he started slipping mid-game. He slammed the ball down in frustration after he gave up two big scores with the Pistons clearly going after him. Late in the game, he was committed about 30 percent to taking a charge late (he’s taken almost none for his career), but backed out and drew his fifth foul. [VIDEO IN SUBSTACK]

The Bulls defense

• How is the Bulls’ defense even mediocre? They have some of the worst individual talent in the league, but knowing where to be is a lot of the battle. Their team defenders are for the most part smart and try hard.
• Also a huge testament to Billy Donovan, who always gets his teams to defend above their weight. Here’s a great example of everyone filling their role and getting a stop. [VIDEO IN SUBSTACK]

Other notes

• This is getting long, so I’ll run through some other player stuff quickly. Isaac Okoro was mostly terrible in his debut, following up on a disappointing preseason. Shout out to Trey Kerby for the “NoSkoro” nickname.
• Tre Jones continued to look very polished as a lead guard. He’s gonna have trade value down the line.
• Patrick Williams got in late, got a rebound in traffic, and actually got mad for one of the first times I remember when his jersey got yanked on the way down. Also had a great deep pull-up 3 and turned it over while trying to dribble.
• Bad Dalen Terry six minute stint.
• Noa Essengue couldn’t break into the game, even when the Bulls were up huge.
• I’m not feeling great about my Bulls 12 seed prediction. They looked great in the opener, even despite giving back most of a 23-point lead. Schedule is ROUGH for the next 10 games aside from a Kings gimme (Zach LaVine blew their opener by fouling on a 3-point attempt at the end of the game).