Bulls Proving Doubters Wrong As Vooch Proves Worth | Matas Buzelis Shines & Physicality Sets Tone

Bulls Proving Doubters Wrong As Vooch Proves Worth | Matas Buzelis Shines & Physicality Sets Tone

The Chicago Bulls opened their season yesterday with a win over the Detroit Pistons and did it in dramatic fashion. On today’s episode, I want to talk about my takeaways from the game and we got one voicemail that I want to get into as well. We’re going to get to all that plus more right after this. What’s going on, Bulls fans? Welcome to another episode of Chicago Bulls Central, your number one spot for everything Chicago Bulls related. I’m the host, Hayes, but more importantly, you guys can follow the channel at Bull Central Pod on every social media platform. we happen to be on. With that said, let’s go and get into this content for today, y’all. And hey, the Chicago Bulls started off with the win. Now, it wasn’t a outright win like it looked like it was going to be at one point when the Bulls are up by 23 points. They end up giving up a lot of that in the fourth quarter and unfortunately it comes down to the wire, right? But the Bulls did win the game and they do what’s needed. They tightened up when it was needed and they were able to win that game. That was a huge game as far as building an identity for a team, right? a lot of the same things that I’ve been saying about the Chicago Bears recently and the way that they have to also find ways to win games down the stretch. You just have to be that tough team to get that done. And you’re seeing that from this team, right? You saw them be able to have that moment where they’re able to just tighten up and and win the game. And that’s all fine and dandy, right? And so we’re going to talk about, you know, a lot of the good, but there’s some bad in that as well. you know, Billy Donovan’s, you know, not not calling a timeout, not changing up the lineup a little bit when the Detroit Pistons were going on that that 30 to 15 run. Uh whereas I I would have liked to see Billy Donovan try something different. Now, it may have not really had that much of a different impact, but would have liked to see Billy Donovan maybe try to put more of his stoppers out there uh to try to get something going there. Um but other than that, I think that Billy Donovan managed the rotations really well in this game. Overall, I like the combination of players that he had out there. Not everybody played well. Jaylen Smith was a bit rough out there, right? We’ll talk a little bit about that, but you know, other than that, I think there are some pretty solid things to pull away from this game. The first thing that I want to talk about is this, and I know there’s going to be something that a lot of people don’t want to hear, but I think that it’s the truth, and we’re going to get into a little bit more of it, but as it stands right now, not trading Nicola was the right call. I I know that people don’t like to admit that. I know that especially a lot of the whiny Bulls fans like to be, well, why is Voot still on this team? Last night, Voot showed you why he’s still on this team. His preseason was terrible. He probably had one of the worst preseasons outside of Jaylen Smith on this team. No doubt. But Vuch is a veteran and not every veteran takes preseason as serious. But guess what? For all the people that have been saying, “Well, Vout seems disinterested. He seems locked out. Clearly, he wants his way out.” Vu was he picked up right where he left off last season at being the most consistent Chicago Bull uh last season. 28 points off 18 shots, 14 rebounds, one steal, two assists in this game. He only had one turnover as well, which is talk about the Bulls turnovers overall. And Vu had himself a really solid game. And you love love to see that from Vu because like I said before in well yesterday’s daily, Vu doesn’t offer you anything defensively. The thing that he is, that thing that he can hang his hat on, the thing that he does for this team is on the offensive side of the ball. So therefore, you need Vu to be locked in offensively and he was last night, right? and Vuch played a really good game offensively and as it stands right now and I’ve said this multiple times, it’s easy just to say, “Let’s move VOC.” But what does that then do for your team? Now, I do think when Kobe’s back and Mis is back, that maybe hopefully, especially with the way Mis looks, you don’t need as much of V’s offense. And that doesn’t change that in the long run, you still do need a center with a different skill set that is more able to protect the rim. If Josh Giddy and Kobe White are going to be your back court, you just need that. You need that backline defense because they’re both not great in pick and roll. and you put Vu in switching scenarios, he’s not going to be good. But for what it’s worth, Vu also had some pretty damn good uh defensive moments last night as well. And I was surprised by that. I came into this game expecting Nicolusvich to get cooked by Jaylen Dur. And we had some bit of that, but the Bulls had a 109 defensive rating when Vu was on the court. Now, that’s not great, but that is better than league average. League average is 110. So, that was better than league average. V contributed to both sides of the ball. We had a 120 offensive rating when Vuch was on the Keep in mind, offensive rating, you want the higher number. Defensive rating, you want the number to be lower. That was really good. We had a positive net rating of 9.9 when Nicolola Vousvich was on the basketball court. Vu played well. And the thing that Vu did to play well is that he started off in the paint. Yes, he took some threes and he hit the threes with more confidence because guess what? He started off his game in the paint. And that’s what you need from Vu. That’s what you need to be looking for from Nicolusvich is him starting off his game in the paint. If he does that, things could be pretty solidly for Nicolus. So, four six from three-point range was he. Shout out to Vu. He had a game and we needed every bit of that. And for my Bulls fans that say that they want Vu off the team, keep in mind if Vu plays better, it increased the the chances of him being traded in a team that does need some big man depth, looking at Vu as maybe a player that can help them with that big man depth. So, that’s the way that I look at it. Again, I know everybody’s gonna have their own standpoint because people have their own opinions on Nicola, but Vu played pretty damn well yesterday. Next up, Modis Bzelis. We talked a lot about Modis and him needing to step up in his role. Um, while Kobe White is out, right? And for what it’s worth, the counting stats, they love Modis Bzelis. Modis Bisellis outside of just the box score, right? Let’s not talk about the box score yet. Modis was taking players off the dribble. Uh, we saw a effort by Billy Donovan. And it seemed it was intentional to put Modis in a situation where his ball handling and his passing were able to use more of his point forward skill. And he he was solid in that. He did have three turnovers, but he also had three blocks, one assist, six rebounds to go along with his 21 points. He only took 12 shots to get those 21 points as well. Seven of 12 from the field, seven of seven from the free throw line, which is a key thing for somebody like Modis with his athleticism and all that type of stuff is to get to the rim and get those foul calls. And he did that. And Modis Bzelis statistically had himself a great game. Now it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. He was the only starter with a negative plus minus. He just was that that is what it is. And you know he was staggered some out there with some of the bench players that could have uh been a cause of that. But it is something to look out for. But like I said, Modest attacked the rim. He took players off the dribble. Um you know, he he was he was took the open three-point shots. He didn’t hit them. He was 0 for three from three-point range. If he hits one, two of those threes, you’re talking about a a a 27 point 24 point night for Manis Bzelis on even better efficiency. Right? So all those things were there. But after the game, Billy Donovan actually has echoed some of the sentiments that I’ve said about people trying to crown modest too early where Billy Donovan said this. Billy, um I don’t know if you noticed there’s been a lot of discussion about modus uh coming into the season and um I was wondering with you know Kobe White out for a while and now Zack Collins went out and I’m sure he’s heard a lot of this how much Yeah. Not injured because nobody knows about that but discussion about him in the community. Uh are you concerned or how much do you think he might take try to take a lot on himself offensively because you know people look at him and say you know I got to step up I got to do more you concerned about that you talk to him about that about you know where he sees himself now what he has to do I mean this is probably more my personality I always get concerned about that stuff you know and it’s not just M it’s anybody and I’m not sitting here saying whatever the talk is in the community about Modis you know it’s just more about Modis keeping get himself grounded and driven. You know, he has not arrived. It just hasn’t. And that’s just the truth, you know. And I love Madison. I think he’s got an unbelievable runway to be an outstanding player in this league if he keeps his drive and his motivation and doesn’t think he’s arrived. And I think the great ones are always driven regardless of what’s going on around. So, I think that, you know, I love that Billy Donovan said it’s more about keeping himself grounded. He’s not arrived. he has not arrived yet. You got to do it consistently. Now, this was a great first game of the season, a great way to start for Modis Bzelis. An amazing way to start for that. Um, and so when you when you look at those things, it’s really good to see that for Modis because Modis Bzelis is a player that can absolutely help you in those areas, right? And this is a season where the growth, especially while Kobe’s out of Modis Bzelis is going to be highly important for all of this. And Modest, for what it’s worth, in that first night, he did it. Um, like I said, the the negative plus minus. Take all that out. Modus Bellis went to the rim. He did a lot of stuff uh yesterday that you just want to see from a player like Modis Bzelis. It wasn’t all great. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but a lot of his shots were at the rim. He even hit a a long midi right that step back probably would have been a three-point shot. Um so that’s really good. Uh 58% of his offense came in the restricted area and 16a came in the mid-range. you’re looking at almost 70% of his his his uh offense coming from, you know, in in the mid-range and in the paint. That’s where you want Modis Baleis to live at. Um so I think that’s really good for Modis and the attacking that he did, it put pressure on the Detroit Pistons and it was almost demoralizing. Now we we played a clip from Billy Donovan in which Billy said of uh Modis has not arrived yet, but we got a a quote from Vu that Voo said this about Modis. What I really like about him is he has a little bit of cockiness in him, but not in a bad way. He just has belief, which is all great ones do have. Obviously, he still has to continue to work, but I think he’s taken huge steps from last season. And the Bulls need to hope that Modis Buzzelis took those huge steps from last season because if he has, not only does that give you a young player that in their second year is turning into somebody that not only do team opposing teams have to game plan for, but that could be somebody that that other players around the league, especially because I think the Bulls are going to have to operate in restricted free agency to find some of these players that other young players may be intrigued with coming here to Chicago to play with a modest bzella. So that’s really good. Now, moving on from that, Josh Giddy. Josh Giddy found his rhythm as the game went on. And coming into this game, I had expected that they were going to try to play a sore Thompson on Josh Giddy to disrupt uh the Bulls offense because of how much uh Josh Giddy carries the ball and those type of things. If you can disrupt Giddy, it throws off the offense. What Billy Donovan did that was a really good strategic thing is he started Trey Jones. And what that allowed them uh to happen is that even when they put our sewer Thompson on on Giddy, that means that now you have Trey Jo uh Trey Jones uh ball handling and he did an admirable job at that ball handling and stepped up when the Bulls needed the most. He had eight assists to go along with the 11 assists to Josh Giddy. Uh Trey Jones had 12 points, eight assist, one rebound, three steals. Really good to see that from Trey Jones. And for what it’s worth, as Josh Giddy found that rhythm, started attacking the rim more, started using that floater, Josh Giddy put his shoulder into people and was getting to the to the line. There are a couple of times he was hacked later in the game that the refs didn’t call. It is what it is there. But Josh Giddy finished with 19 points, 11 assists, five rebounds. He did have the six turnovers and one block. Those turnovers, you got to get tightened up. always say that’s part of the Josh Giddy experience, but in and especially with where some of those turnovers come came at, you just need better from Josh Giddy in those moments. But like I said, for what it’s worth, Josh Giddy came in and uh he let the game come to him as it went on. And you started feeling it, right? You started seeing that, all right, Josh Giddy’s building some confidence. Oh, he hit a tough shot. Oh, he hit another one. Oh, he’s trying to take somebody off the dribble. He’s going to the he’s going to the rim in transition. Right? You started seeing some of those things. And as the game went on, Dash Skiddi played better. We had a 109 defensive rating with him on the court, a 120 offensive rating with him on the court as well. We had a pace of 103 and we had a plus minus a plus six. Josh Giddy played really well for the Chicago Bulls last night and I love just how the game ebbed and flowed for him. He also got to the free throw line 11 times. We talked about Josh Giddy and the importance of him with his skill set and size over other guards getting to the free throw line. And I’ll say it for what it’s worth as well, like Kate Cunningham did try to hunt out Josh Giddy at times and Josh Giddy got cooked on some possessions. I’m not going to act like he didn’t, but he gave some some pretty important defense. I mean, Kate Cunningham went eight of 24. Now, a lot of that was Isaac Aoro and uh I sumu being on him, but I I think the Bulls did a pretty good job at containing Kade Cunningham last night, and that was really good to see. Now, outside of that, the Bulls physicality that they talked about this off season is real. It’s legitimate. You saw it. This was a team that I really think caught the Pistons by surprise with how physical that they were, right? Getting to the free throw line, you know, over 30 times for the Chicago Bulls. Uh 32 times last night for the Chicago Bulls is key, right? That shows you that they weren’t settling for the three-point shots in transition. They were attacking the rim. And this is something that we talked a lot about last season is attack, attack, attack. Especially with all the solid rebounders we have on this team, how quickly we can get out to the fast break and the solid passers we have in transition. Attack, attack, attack. We saw that attack mode from the Bulls last night. And that physicality that they talked about all offseason, it was evident last night for the Chicago Bulls team. They got to keep that going. And if they do, good things are going to happen for a Bulls team that gets physical that consistently. And if they do that, that that I’m not going to say that’s going to be the only reason for success, but that can be a reason for success for this Chicago Bulls team. They just got to keep it going. And if they do, it’s going to be a really good uh season for the Bulls. And overall, really impressive. One of the things that also was impressive by this team, 35 points off the bench. Now, why that’s really important is that Trey Jones wasn’t off the bench. He was in the starting lineup. No Zack Collins in this game. Most of the scoring came 29 points of the of the 29 of the Chicago Bulls bench points came from uh from IO Dumulu and Kevin Herder. Iodum had 14 points. Kevin Herder had 15 points. Now IO didn’t have the scoring punch we saw in preseason. I do think that’s because he was guarding players like Cade and Tobias Harris and things like that. But Io still had a really important game off the bench for this Bulls team. And he picked he also picked up where he left off at last season before I got hurt. Every one of the Bulls positive lineups had Iod Dumu in it. And I think that that’s going to be a good thing for him that seeing Iodumu be able to have that impact for the Bulls is going to be big. He was six of 14 from the field for 14 points, five rebounds, two assists. You got to see Iodumu and how his his rhythm and stuff off the bench can be important for the Bulls. But it wasn’t just him. Kevin Herder who did go four of 11. Not an efficient shooting night for him. He got to the free throw line six times though. five rebounds, two blocks from Kevin Herder and a still as well to go along with his 15 points. The bench was carried by two of the players that are going to be on this bench in Herder and IO. Imagine if you have Trey Jones. Imagine when you get Zack Collins back because Jaylen Smith and I’ve seen a lot of people over the last couple of days talk about Jaylen and why he needs a start over uh over Nick Levich. Jaylen was garbage last night. 0 for seven shooting. He didn’t hit a single shot. He 0 for five from three-point range. Luckily, he hit his two free throws to get him two points. Five rebounds were important. I’m not going to act like they’re not, but Jaylen was bad. He was very bad last night. And so, this is why I say when people are like like sometimes players have a reputation that isn’t really them. For example, Trey Young has a reputation of being a great three-point shooter. When you look at it, he’s decent, but he’s not amazing, right? Jaylen is not a good defender. He’s never really been a plus defender in his NBA career. And his defense at times was worse than Vu’s last night. So, I I I look at it at that. Um, but you know, for what it’s worth, Jaylen Smith and Patrick Williams uh were the other two players to score off the bench. They combined for six points, four of those coming from P Will, but Jaylen just wasn’t good last night. But P Will, I got to give Pill credit. Uh, you know, he only took two shots and that’s kind of the role that he’s in now. Like, it’s not going to be a lot of shots for Pill and that’s perfectly fine. He was the eighth guy coming into this game last night for the Chicago Bulls. And for what it’s worth, we had a 100 defensive rating when he was in the in the game with a plus minus of plus one, a negative rating of a net uh a net rating of negative -2. It is what it is there. But I think PW gave some really solid bench minutes last night for the Chicago Bulls. And you can build off that. But was it all great? No. But I think it was more good than bad from P. Will last night defensively especially. And that’s where you’re going to need to find for PE to find himself. If you’re not shooting, okay, what are you giving us defensively? Are you giving us that defense that we need? And if you are, that’s great. So, you know, overall really solid game, really solid coaching job from Billy Donovan through three quarters. That fourth quarter was a bit shaky in some of his decision-making, but I think overall he coached a really good game. But let me know your guys’ thoughts on the game down below. With that said, the Bulls now play again on Saturday. And um the things that I want to see carry over into that game is the physicality for one, playing as a team. This was a really connected team and it helped them, you know, really match wits with the Detroit Pistons that most most uh outlets have as a playoff team. Now, they go into Orlando on Saturday and this is going to be another team that is a defensive beast, right? And we’ll see how the Bulls can match up with that team. But with that said, uh we do got one voicemail that we got to get into today. And this one, this one’s from K. What’s the word drip, man? It’s your brother K, man. Let’s get right into this [ __ ] man. Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. Um, I don’t like saying this as much, but when it comes to Kobe White and me, people already know what time it is with me and Kobe. So, him being out for the first two weeks when this is supposed to be his team, his time. Am I surprised? Sad to say no. Sad to say no. Um, it’s just the simple fact that I really want this guy to prove me wrong because I really don’t believe in this man. Let’s just I just don’t I don’t care for his game. I just don’t do not really care for Jacobe White. I just don’t I don’t see star potential. I see a sixman. I see a role player. That’s cool. I don’t see a starter in him. Just don’t. I want him to prove me wrong so bad. Drip like cuz cuz I know you [ __ ] with him. I know you I know you like Kobe, but to start off the season this way and injuries happen. It’s not his fault that he got injured, but damn, man. Damn. Damn. It’s like when he when he come back, what’s going to happen? How he’s going to start? Is he going to have that slow start that he usually start in the beginning of the season? And it’s like this is a big season for him. This is his contract year. Like I said, man. Um, I kind of I I I hate being this guy. I really do, man. I just don’t believe in, bro. Just that simple. I just don’t believe in, bro. And this is another nail in the coffin. The reason why I’m just like, [ __ ] Maybe I’m in the way because what the [ __ ] is going on with the football, but still Kobe man point. I love you, bro. But um we’re about to have a real conversation. Um and the thing that I want to say about this, and this is why I always say this, and this about myself, too, your personal feelings about a player means nothing to facts. You saying, let’s stop narrative saying that it’s a lazy narrative when people try to say, “Oh, Kobe White’s just a six-man.” When you go and look at there is no six-man in the NBA that scores at the rate that Kobe White does, that rebounds the ball, that creates the points off assists that Kobe White does. There, you won’t find a single six-man that does that. So saying that Kobe White is a six-man is a lazy ass narrative. Now, you can say, and I do feel like it’s a legitimate question, like, all right, how good can a team be with Kobe White as their number one score? That’s a legitimate thing. But to say that Kobe White’s a six-man and all that type of [ __ ] that’s just not legitimate. It’s not real. and that it it it started becoming a narrative around the time that he was coming off the bench after we got Lonzo and Demar and people were like, “Oh, he’s a he’s a worse uh Jamal Crawford. He’s a worse Ben Gordon when his game isn’t even like Ben Gordon’s, right?” But when you go and I get it, there are players that I don’t like either, like Javon Carter, right? That no matter what Javon does, I’m looking at be like, “Okay, right?” But if we’re going to talk about a player like that, like one thing we got to stop doing and I don’t want this narrative to start is now that the Bulls won their first game and if they do win while Kobe whites out, oh, we don’t need Kobe. Oh, let’s trade Kobe. Oh, we wouldn’t have done this if it was Kobe. It’s a stupid narrative. It’s a dumb narrative. And I’m not calling Korn dumb. K is actually a really smart basketball mind. So nothing, no knock on K there, but it’s this narrative that it got to stop because it’s not legitimate. It’s not real. And it’s it’s just not factual. You just won’t find it. Now, does Kobe need to be better at getting to the free throw line? Yes. Does he need to stop having the games where he has the big droughts? Yes. Which he had a lot less of last season. And he needs to show that he can be consistently that guy, but let’s not start doing the thing with because the Bulls win now. Like people do that with the Bears. The Bears went, “Oh, we got to trade X player.” Like, stop doing that. We have a team. Let’s see what this team can accomplish and let’s stop trying to find when something goes good. Try to blame a player on, oh, it wouldn’t go. Like, that’s stupid. Let’s not do that. Let’s not do that. That’s that Matt Peek stuff. Let’s not do that. But that’s my time for today. Make sure you guys are following us at Bull Central Pod. You send us any feedback, questions, comments, concerns. Bulls central.com. And lastly, if you want to leave a text message and our voicemail for the mailbag, the number to do so, 773-270-2799. We are the number one spot for everything Chicago Bulls related. But that is thanks to you lovely and beautiful people. And like we like to end every episode on, go Bulls. Love you guys. See you. Ready for y’all. Peace. This has been a presentation of the Break Media.

The Chicago Bulls kick off their season with a dramatic win against the Detroit Pistons. Nikola Vucevic silences critics with a stellar 28-point, 14-rebound performance, proving his value to the team. Matas Buzelis impresses in his expanded role, showcasing his potential with 21 points and aggressive play. Josh Giddey finds his rhythm as the game progresses, contributing 19 points and 11 assists. The Bulls’ newfound physicality and bench production, led by Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter, play crucial roles in the victory. Coach Billy Donovan’s rotations and strategic decisions come under scrutiny, particularly in the fourth quarter. Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the Bulls’ season opener and insights into the team’s evolving identity.

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