Had a good game tonight, played within himself. But …what the heck is going on with his rebounding? He literally looks like he’s trying not to get rebounds. No effort there at all. My theory …he’s scared to injure his ankle jumping for a rebound in traffic. That hypermobility of his can have benefits but also can be a curse.
I think he has a recurring back injury, which is not taking him off the court most of the time, but limits his movement, particularly his jumping.
I agree that his back is effecting his play, rebounding and defense especially. His mental approach on offense has regressed which has nothing to do with injury. Up until recently, he was playing way too selfishly. Whether Ime wanted him to play that way or his off-season heroics went to his head is beyond me. He is showing signs of getting back into the right mind-set which bodes well for next year if we retain him.
Ime never leaned into Senhub or any sort of passing/movement game by anyone. As with everything, he has something fixed in his mind and keeps doing that regardless of situation, feedback from the real play or results. Maybe it is my selective memory, but I don't recall much praise about Alpi's passing (he deserves some for sure) but I definitely recall 'fancy' passes mentioned.
Sorry, but some have harped for a long time that Alpi and Amen cannot co-exist because neither guy can shoot. Maybe we should have a discussion about whether Alpi and Reed can co-exist because neither guy can defend worth a dime. The Bulls are a decent offensive team, but this very entertaining loss should not have been a loss. Reed should definitely remain a starter, but I have no idea what this team is supposed to be.
Alpi anchored a top tier defense last year with Jalen Green on the perimeter. Sure, Reed isn't as mobile, but I thought our coach was supposed to be a defensive genius? SCHEME FOR IT.
nah just get a bunch of no offensive defesnive forwards, that's the secret to a real good defense...oh wait Udoka can't even do that. This team has too many flaws. I think there's no way you can scapegoat one specific player.
I can’t even say the defense was that bad they just couldn’t miss. Sometimes that happens. The way the starting shooting lights out changed the whole game and spread our defense out. I dunno why we didn’t go back to zone it was working for a bit,
His defense is clearly good enough not to hurt the team as we can make the playoffs with him. The Achilles heel of this team has always been the lack of reliable 3 pt shooters and it still is the biggest issue (Other than Udoka) in my opinion. Reed is a streaky shooter who can go 2/10 every few games and Jabari's shots are flat. KD is the only shooter on them who is guaranteed to deliver every game. Without addressing this issue, alongside getting a proper coach, nothing is going to be fixed.
