vs DENVER NUGGETS (1-2) @ CHICAGO BULLS (1-2) Preseason Game 4, Home Game 2 Monday, October 13, 2014 – 7:00 PM CT United Center Comcast SportsNet BULLS VS. 2014-15 PRESEASON OPPONENTS Opponent ................................................. Record Atlanta ............................................................8-10 Charlotte ...........................................................2-1 Cleveland ..........................................................4-7 Denver ............................................................10-3 Detroit ...........................................................14-13 Milwaukee .....................................................20-27 Minnesota .........................................................8-8 Washington .....................................................15-7 Game Notes Chicago Bulls (1-2) Home 0-1 Road 1-1 Bulls Season Averages: PPG: 93.7 (Opp: 93.7) RPG: 45.3 (Opp: 45.3) APG: 18.7 (Opp: 20.0) SPG: 7.33 (Opp: 7.0) BPG: 6.0 (Opp: 4.0) TO: 20.7 (Opp: 16.0) FG%: .409 (Opp: .393) FT%: .752 (Opp: .681) 3p%: .379 (Opp: .302) Probable Bulls starters Derrick Rose - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Doug McDermott - SF - Pau Gasol - PF - Joakim Noah - C - Bulls Stats Leaders Points: - Rebounds: - Assists: - Steals: - Blocks: - FG%: - FT%: - 3FG%: - Injury report None. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Denver Nuggets (1-2) Probable Nuggets starters Ty Lawson - PG Arron Afflalo - SG Danilo Gallinari - SF Kenneth Faried - PF Timofey Mozgov - C Injury report ? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I personally won't be upset if Doug starts the season off the bench for the following reasons: 1). Thibs hangs his hat on demanding consistent execution of his defensive schemes. Even though Doug seems to be doing well, if there are long run gains from waiting for him to cross a certain threshold then that's fine. 2). I judge all moves by what they might mean for how the team performs at the end of the season. The regular season is demanding, and playing defense for Thibs is especially demanding. I think a lot of rookies, even seasoned ones like McDermott, would find themselves exhausted by the end of the season if they were put into the starting lineup and asked to play big minutes from day 1. That said, I'm glad he looked so good the other night.
Not Bulls related, but the Nuggets looked like shit against the Lakers a couple of days ago, don't think they used the full roster though. Hope they sneak into the playoffs this year, but the west is very tough, maybe that will light the fire they need to make it past the first round.
The problem with off the bench is his +/- ends up being -19, while as a starter it's +19. My hope is positive feedback for his playing will help him turn into something like a Ben Gordon who brings more than pure scoring. You all are already saying his defense is impressive; if Boozer could play 24 minutes and the team still ended up top 5 on defense, then Doug's not going to hurt at all at that end.
I never got the impression that Doug was a defensive liability. Lockdown defender he is not, but he seems average.
No way in hell Doug starts consistently at all before the All Star break. If he's getting his minutes he's easing into them.
Well, we won a championship with Bogans as our starting SG, and against my better judgment, so who am I to second guess?
