The Portland Trail Blazers press on into the dog days of the NBA season, traveling to face the Chicago Bulls tonight to kick off a five-game road trip.<\/p>\n
The rebuilding Chicago Bulls may be the only NBA team in history to follow Neil Olshey\u2019s revolutionary \u201cOops, All Guards!\u201d team-building philosophy . The Bulls\u2019 trade deadline was fraught with transactions, with Chicago taking back a guard in nearly every deal. Notable acquisitions include recent lottery-pick point guard Rob Dillingham, slightly less recent lottery-pick guard Jaden Ivey, much less recent lottery-pick guard Collin Sexton, and Blazers legend Anfernee Simons. They briefly retained talented young forward Ousmane Dieng, but traded him to the Bucks upon discovering he was taller than 6-foot-5.<\/p>\n
The Bulls, much like the rebuilding Grizzlies, are a motley crew of holdovers and temp employees, who resemble the idea of a basketball team more than they function like one. Losers of their last ten competitions, the Bulls are a great representation of the NBA\u2019s current lower class. Gone are the days of 10-day contracts and nepotism signings (miss you, Keljin). Now, GM\u2019s are acquiring a smorgasbord of young talent that are entirely incongruent with one another\u2019s skillsets, allowing them to shine on an individual level without ever threatening to win a basketball game. Anfernee Simons, who may miss the rest of the season with a fractured left wrist, was taking full advantage of this freedom in his limited appearances, averaging over 14 shot attempts a game. Matas Buzelis, the Bulls\u2019 promising second-year forward, has also been keen on \u201cgetting his,\u201d recently dropping 32 points in 33 minutes in a loss against the Hornets.<\/p>\n
The Bulls, like any NBA team, have talent that is capable of beating anyone. The Blazers ought to be familiar with this, nearly dropping a game to the zombie Memphis Grizzlies mere weeks ago. That said, the Bulls are trying their very hardest to lose, without teetering into the Adam Silver will be sending black SUVs to my house at 3 a.m. because my tanking is so blatant territory. The Blazers should win this game. However, if it looks like a trap game, walks like a trap game, and\u2026 quacks(?) like a trap game, then it\u2019s a trap game.<\/p>\n
This is Donovan Clingan\u2019s team now. The last week of Blazers basketball has been defined by Clingan\u2019s ascension into what appears to be the franchise\u2019s long-term center. Over his last 10, Donovan is posting averages of 15 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2.3 blocks on 55% shooting and 46.3% from three. The eye test more than affirms those statistics. Against the Bulls, whose only healthy centers may be Nick Richards and Lachlan Olbrich, expect Clingan to continue his reign of terror (if he\u2019s able to go tonight; shortly before publish time, the Blazers announced the big man is questionable with an illness).<\/p>\n
Beyond Clingan, the Blazers possess more size and talent than the Bulls across most every position. The question, as always, will be \u201cCan the Blazers hit enough three-pointers to win?\u201d Against the Bulls, a sounder strategy may be more rim attempts, given their stark lack of size. However, the Blazers rarely seem to deviate from their sick and twisted Moneyball-esque strategy of \u201cget more possessions, shoot more threes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bulls and Blazers play a similarly-optimized offensive game. Billy Donovan prefers rim attempts, three-point attempts, or no attempt at all. The Bulls are 2nd in the league in rim frequency this season, and 8th in three-point frequency. The Blazers are 13th in rim frequency, and 7th in three-point frequency. However, these stats take into account the first half of the season, where the Bulls were still walking the tightrope between tanking and finishing in the 10th seed for the fifth consecutive season. Their gameplan likely won\u2019t deviate though, only their ability to capitalize upon it.<\/p>\n
Portland Trail Blazers (28-31) vs. Chicago Bulls (24-35) – Thu. Feb 26th – 5pm Pacific<\/p>\n