no, that doesn't explain why offense is up so much in the bubble compared to last season and any other recent season where the same kind of "contemporary NBA basketball" has been played.

The Bubble is 100% the reason players are exploding offensively in the restart.

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Offense is up in Orlando but you're overstating it. League scoring was already up over prior years before the shutdown, and has seen an uptick of around two points per 100 possessions post-shutdown. You're not wrong to state offense is up in the bubble but within the context of higher scoring trends in 2019-20 it's not all that remarkable.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wh ... he-bubble/

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If your premise is to hold value then that means that John Stockton is never to be regarded as one of the top points to ever play the game and Karl Malone is never to be regarded by MANY as the top power forward to ever play the game.

Donovan Mitchell is rated as a player about where he should be rated as a player. A one dimensional scorer that does little else to impact winning.

If nothing else his scoring binges merely expose Denver to be the frauds that they are.

3rd series in a row that they have struggled against teams that are lesser seeds. Might be time to go back to the drawing board with them.

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If anyone thinks Karl Malone is the best PF to ever play they are a fucking idiot, or stopped watching basketball in 1999. No other explanation makes sense.

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Some people think that Duncan is a center and it still doesn't discount the point. Even if he isn't the best most still wouldn't place him lower than 2nd. I wouldn't have him 2 but most would.

Stockton in my opinion is one of the most overrated players to play the game. That shouldn't be if playing in Utah severely hindered his legacy and perception as a player.

And a few guys on Twitter claiming that they "should be Isaiah Thomas a statue" doesn't mean that they "wanted to build Isaiah Thomas a statue" either.

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Your takes on PFs took an enormous hit when you defended Boozer as being an impact FA signing for the Bulls.

Boozer

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I know the Carlos Boozer jokes are fun and he certainly wasn't their first, second, or third choice in 2010 -- but Boozer absolutely made an impact.

Yeah I just searched my posts on him and its basically me saying he was good, he was solid, etc. That's true.

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What prevented the Bulls from contending that year was the team was too reliant on Rose to create his own shot. In other words, no one on that fucking team could score without needing a screen or without being relatively wide open or without being helped by a designed play, etc., except for Rose. This is why to this very day I contend that Paxson was a fucking dumbass for signing Richard Hamilton of all people to provide the scoring punch the team lacked, which just amplified the problem the Bulls already had: a bunch of guys who can't beat thier man one on one. Dumb as hell.

Boozer was just another one of those guys. Couldn't make a big bucket when it mattered, couldn't break his man down and just carry the team when Rose was out or ineffective, or just provide some relief to Rose. His lack of scoring prowess single-handedly kept the Bulls from beating Miami. So I disagree with both of your assertions. Boozer was fine if you want to win 62 regular season games along with Deng, Rose, Noah, etc. Boozer was not fine if you want to win 16 post-season games.

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That's a dumb post. Boozer was fine, he could get you 15-20. You need guys like that. You're blaming him because he wasn't an MVP caliber player and that's just country dumb.

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You didn't need an MVP caliber player on that team, you just needed someone better than Boozer. Didn't he sit out fourth quarters? Yet, he's "fine" in your assessment. Sounds coherent?

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Yes, it does sound coherent, because he was fine/solid, etc.

Incoherence is expecting everybody to be a superstar 1st team All NBA guy and criticizing them when they are not.

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Okay, so it appears you have super low standards if you are fine with your major free agent acquisition sitting out fourth quarters because he sucks.

"Someone better than Boozer" does not mean MVP. It means someone who can create his own shot and not suck so much that he's benched for entire fourth quarters.

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I'm starting to think you don't know the definition of fine and solid. But keep clinging to that 4th quarter thing, it's all you have left in this.

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Disagree on Boozer. His perception as a player was heavily impacted by the actions of the overrated Tom Thibodeau. He was a major contributor when he was first signed. Probably the first 2 years in fact.

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I know the definition very well, it's just that what you consider as "solid" or "fine" appears to include players that add no value. You've failed to account for the role the Bulls mistakenly signed Boozer to play - as a no. 2 to Rose. In that context, there's no way you can say he performed up to expectations, unless in your world no. 2 players usually find themselves benched during the fourth quarter, just like the Scalabrines of the world.

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1. I know the Bulls were too reliant on Rose
2. I agree Paxson is a dumbass
3. You're mad at Boozer for being Boozer. That's the player they were left with to sign. The Bulls lost the Heat series because they didn't have LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. Sorry dude.

This is pretty much true except for parts of #3. I think if they had a legit no 2 they could have taken Miami. Yes, they had no other FA to spend the money on outside Boozer after striking out on better players. I think we started this whole thing by you agreeing with FF that Boozer was fine/helped the Bulls. I think he was enormously underwhelming -as expected for many of us - and is actually below average.

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How do you expect me to respond when say Boozer added no value? That's simply not true. Your use of hyperbole tends to undermine your point, this is one of those times.

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Yup. I'll let you take it from here. I'm fine with the Thibs bashing, he's earned it since leaving the Bulls

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Even the stuff about him being benched in the 4th was mostly due to the actions of Thibs. I doubt many coaches would have favored 2010-2012 version of Taj Gibson over the 2010-2012 version of Carlos Boozer.

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But yeah man Mitchell's statue in Utah is gonna look great in 2035

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What is the value of a $100M + player if he can't play for you in the fourth? If he is not playing in the fourth, he by definition is not adding value.

This is not a Shaq situation where you strategically rotate him in and out to hide his flaws (FT shooting), this is removing a player entirely - on offense and defense - because you believe you don't need him at all.

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And very few if any will still think he is a better player than Tatum.

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Boozer's contract with the Bulls was for nowhere near a 100 million dollars. If memory serves correct it was for about 13-14 per over 4 year-5 years.

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He was never a $100M player, but ignoring that, are you under the impression a game is 12 minutes long and is just the 4th quarter? I'm trying to find the logic behind your recent posts on this topic and there is none to be found.

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He's correct on some level. Typically your best players are those that play during "winning time". He is incorrect in his thinking that Boozer was not one of those guys.

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They had the best record in the NBA in back to back seasons. Boozer and Taj both provided valuable roles. We all wanted Boozer to be better than he was at times but to say he was a below average player who didn't add any value to the team is just factually wrong.

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just skipped the entire Boozer discussion in this thread.

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