Steph - what do you think is going on with Pat? He had zero rebounds and is looking as passive on offense as he ever has. He makes shots but just won’t take enough of them.
I get that he’s not going to get big stats on this team, but something feels amiss. Is it possible he’s still not 100% with the ankle?
It's been disappointing. We could make a bunch of excuses -- youth, no training camp, getting back in shape, etc., but bottom line he has to be better.
We still see flashes of great play (I tweeted some out) but that passivity is always underlying his game.
Totally agree. I have a theory for you, would love your thoughts… My armchair analysis is that it seems like he’s trying to play too “perfect”. That is, he is trying to make the right basketball play every time and/or avoid making mistakes.
It’s almost an admirable quality that he cares so much and is team first, but it’s misguided thinking. This constant avoidance of mistakes leads to its own issues.
I’ll compare him to Vucevic for example: Vooch is very purposeful with his moves. He gets the ball and shoots or makes a move. There is zero hesitation, for better or worse, but his commitment to whatever he’s going to do is evident and often leads to buckets. Zach and Demar are also excellent at forcing the issue, do they make the “textbook” basketball play every time? No!
Once Pat he learns that aggression is more effective than perfection, he could be scary effective. His issue is not that he can’t, it’s that he won’t… and at least that is fixable.
That's interesting and as a recovering perfectionist, relatable. I don't like making those types of assessments without actually being there to see him in person and talk to him about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.
It think you take a player who is naturally deferential and then put him in a role where he has to defer, it only exacerbates his passive nature. Unless he's forced to do something on the offensive end, he won't, and right now, his role is such that he won't develop offensively.
I really hope they move him to the bench soon. The bench is light on scoring and we want him to be more aggressive and score more...feels like a perfect fit.
The biggest concern to me is how they totally lost the thread offensively in the fourth quarter. So many disjointed possessions. I also think that Toronto, while not a contender, is a scrappy, well-coached team and not many other teams could replicate the energy they were generating defensively.
During the evening, someone tweeted, is Lonzo Ball the best passer the Bulls have ever had? I thought about that as I watched his late game, sideline out-of-bounds pass go sailing a few feet over Vooch's head (I have to assume the ball slipped out of his hands).
I think he had two misfires to Vuc in the 4th including that last one and one earlier where he lobbed it in to him in the post very casually and Vuc's man or a help defender beat him to the ball to steal it. I'm sure Lonzo will realize after that game that he's not throwing it in to Zion or Ingram anymore who could use their athleticism to go get it. Vuc is pretty much playing the game with cinderblocks on his feet which just makes his effectiveness even more amazing when you think about it!
Steph - what do you think is going on with Pat? He had zero rebounds and is looking as passive on offense as he ever has. He makes shots but just won’t take enough of them.
I get that he’s not going to get big stats on this team, but something feels amiss. Is it possible he’s still not 100% with the ankle?
It's been disappointing. We could make a bunch of excuses -- youth, no training camp, getting back in shape, etc., but bottom line he has to be better.
We still see flashes of great play (I tweeted some out) but that passivity is always underlying his game.
Totally agree. I have a theory for you, would love your thoughts… My armchair analysis is that it seems like he’s trying to play too “perfect”. That is, he is trying to make the right basketball play every time and/or avoid making mistakes.
It’s almost an admirable quality that he cares so much and is team first, but it’s misguided thinking. This constant avoidance of mistakes leads to its own issues.
I’ll compare him to Vucevic for example: Vooch is very purposeful with his moves. He gets the ball and shoots or makes a move. There is zero hesitation, for better or worse, but his commitment to whatever he’s going to do is evident and often leads to buckets. Zach and Demar are also excellent at forcing the issue, do they make the “textbook” basketball play every time? No!
Once Pat he learns that aggression is more effective than perfection, he could be scary effective. His issue is not that he can’t, it’s that he won’t… and at least that is fixable.
That's interesting and as a recovering perfectionist, relatable. I don't like making those types of assessments without actually being there to see him in person and talk to him about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.
It think you take a player who is naturally deferential and then put him in a role where he has to defer, it only exacerbates his passive nature. Unless he's forced to do something on the offensive end, he won't, and right now, his role is such that he won't develop offensively.
Agree. One answer might be temporarily moving him to the bench where he can take some more shots and be involved a little more.
I really hope they move him to the bench soon. The bench is light on scoring and we want him to be more aggressive and score more...feels like a perfect fit.
Those last 6-7 minutes were rough. so many sloppy TOs and bad shots. FT shooting was huge, i think they finished 21/22 from the line.
The biggest concern to me is how they totally lost the thread offensively in the fourth quarter. So many disjointed possessions. I also think that Toronto, while not a contender, is a scrappy, well-coached team and not many other teams could replicate the energy they were generating defensively.
During the evening, someone tweeted, is Lonzo Ball the best passer the Bulls have ever had? I thought about that as I watched his late game, sideline out-of-bounds pass go sailing a few feet over Vooch's head (I have to assume the ball slipped out of his hands).
😂 That final inbounds was a tough watch.
I think he had two misfires to Vuc in the 4th including that last one and one earlier where he lobbed it in to him in the post very casually and Vuc's man or a help defender beat him to the ball to steal it. I'm sure Lonzo will realize after that game that he's not throwing it in to Zion or Ingram anymore who could use their athleticism to go get it. Vuc is pretty much playing the game with cinderblocks on his feet which just makes his effectiveness even more amazing when you think about it!