[Game] Bulls vs. Kings

Kingster

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#1
#1
So here is a possible Bulls starting lineup:

Noah - C
Boozer/Gibson - PF
Hamilton - SG
Deng - SF
Hinrick/Robinson - PG

It's not exactly known who the starting pf and pg is going to be for Chicago. (Sound familiar?)

So Chicago could bring Boozer or Gibson off the bench, depending, and Hinrick or Robinson off the bench, depending on who starts.

I'll roll with this Kings lineup because it's last starting unit of Smart's:

Cousins - C
Thompson - PF
Tyrke - SG
Johnson - SF
IT - PG

If I'm Chicago, I start Nate Robinson because of his success against IT last year. And I probably start Boozer because Chicago needs all the scoring it can get without Rose in the lineup.

Is the Kings starting unit better than Chicago's starting unit of Noah, Boozer, Deng, N. Robinson, and Hamilton, or not? Because if you think they are, then the it shouldn't be close in this game because the Kings bench of Brooks, Thornton, Robinson, Hayes, and whomever at the 3 has way too much firepower for the likes of Hinrick, Teague, Bellini, and Jimmy Butler and whoever they have for a backup center. Even if you think the starters play to a standoff, the Kings should win because of the bench. So are the Kings starting 5 better than Chicago's starting five, or not?
 
G

Gilles

Starter
#2
#2
Boozer will start and as for PG Hinrich has minor injury and is somewhat injury-prone so Robinson has a good chance to start indeed as Thibodeau may look to limit Hinrich's minutes. Kings' success depends on how smooth will their offense run because despite losing Asik Bulls are still an elite defensive team.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#3
#3
The kings probably do have a better starting 5 with rose out of the lineup. However the better defensive team is chicago. The more disciplined team is chicago. Chicago also has a much better coach. It will be interesting to see how the offseason and training camp has helped the kings to be a more cohesive team
 
H

HighFlyingMonkey

Starter
#4
#4
Tyreke and Cousins tend to play well against Chicago. Without Rose, we have a good shot of winning. The key will be Chicago's offense vs. the Kings' defense. We know the Kings can score on the Bulls, but can they defend Bulls' offense?
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#5
#5
Its going to be the same story through much of the early season -- on TALENT we are better than half these teams. Will we have it together thoguh? Will the coach let us have it together? We just won't know until we get things going.

Against Chicago Noah has not had luck stopping Cousins, Johnson plays the right position to slow one of their two scorers, and really Boozer is the only major problem, and he actually seems like somebody Hayes could bother. Meanwhile we might have 4 guards better than their best guard. Kings win right? Well...problem is that winning includes a lot of intangibles, defense, teamwork, coaching etc. beyond just a fantasy league lineup comparison.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#6
#6
HighFlyingMonkey said:
Tyreke and Cousins tend to play well against Chicago. Without Rose, we have a good shot of winning. The key will be Chicago's offense vs. the Kings' defense. We know the Kings can score on the Bulls, but can they defend Bulls' offense?
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Key distinction here. Reke has played well against Chi. He won't however if rotting on the bench the entire 2nd and 4th quarters, or if he's more off the ball than on.

This season for me comes down to roster/game management and injuries. If healthy, based on talent alone we can push 40 wins or .500. If in game management is poor, which will lead to players not being all that happy, we could be down near 30 wins and out of the playoff conversation by Christmas.

Basically comes down to Smart and injuries.
 
Entity

Entity

Hall of Famer
#9
#9
i hate the home opener aspect of it. I know it was preseason but we sure looked good closing out the game and really most quarters. that was a major problem of ours last season. If that carry's over then this could be a good year.
 
B

Brooklyn King

Prospect
#12
#12
Bricklayer said:
Its going to be the same story through much of the early season -- on TALENT we are better than half these teams. Will we have it together thoguh? Will the coach let us have it together? We just won't know until we get things going.

Against Chicago Noah has not had luck stopping Cousins, Johnson plays the right position to slow one of their two scorers, and really Boozer is the only major problem, and he actually seems like somebody Hayes could bother. Meanwhile we might have 4 guards better than their best guard. Kings win right? Well...problem is that winning includes a lot of intangibles, defense, teamwork, coaching etc. beyond just a fantasy league lineup comparison.
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Agreed..
 
S

Smiley

Prospect
#13
#13
I love both these teams and had lived in Sacramento 4 years when the Kings were NBA championship contenders!
Without Rose the Kings have a better chance of winning based on the roster for both teams.
I will be sure to get the NBA league pass here living 80 miles NW of Chicago and missing my Kings and the young and athletic team they have built! There are so many good young guys on this team it's fun to watch, but also will probably cause a problem with only so little time for each player. Its crazy Reke is forced to play SF or was when he came out of college a PG, he is a combo guard tho like Thornton.
The Bulls are going to have a disappointing year by the looks of it with their starting lineup of injury prone players and No DROSE! :-(
 
S

Shabazz916

Guest
#14
#14
I hate having tyreke at the 3 he needs to ball in his hands. We mite as well trade him now if were going to play him at the 3 because it hurts him and the team.
 
S

Shabazz916

Guest
#16
#16
Entity said:
well he played at the SG spot for most of the preseason.
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He needs to play pg i love IT but if the kings want to make the playoffs it will be tyreke playn pg. because tyreke is really unstopable he was his rookie year because he had confidence but mixing his game makes him unsure and thats not good for anybody. Tyreke is a #1 you can't use him as a #3
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#19
#19
Spike said:
Well, there is this:
View attachment 4073
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I almost like the idea of JT being the first big off the bench for Cousins (backup center) more than as the starting PF. We are thin on guys that have the size to play center (Hayes is strong, but still to short for long stretches at the 5). And if both JT and Cousins get in foul trouble or one gets injured....
 
Spike

Spike

Subsidiary Intermediary
Staff member
#20
#20
Warhawk said:
I almost like the idea of JT being the first big off the bench for Cousins (backup center) more than as the starting PF. We are thin on guys that have the size to play center (Hayes is strong, but still to short for long stretches at the 5). And if both JT and Cousins get in foul trouble or one gets injured....
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I know some people are of the opinion that Hayes should be the starting PF...I can kind of see the logic behind that for the point that you mentioned. I think JT is a suitable backup C, but seems to work better at the 4. The point probably becomes moot when (if?) Robinson becomes the starter at 4, which would then create more balance on the bench.
 
Entity

Entity

Hall of Famer
#21
#21
well JT does have to be guarded 10-15 feet out chuck don't. His man would be able to play off him and close the lane on cousins.
 
S

Shabazz916

Guest
#22
#22
If i was smart id let T Rob get his feet wet on the bench and ask JT to help the team and be the 1st off the bench and it would make the bench stronger and the team in general
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#23
#23
Probably too late to just throw out a different lineup. I don't see Robinson getting the start because of the way he was handled in preseason. Smart is a coach without the clout so he'll probably start whoever he thinks will make the fewest mistakes. I think he'll go Westphal and if the team is doing poorly at about 30 games in he'll adjust.

As for Hayes starting, it's almost hard to start him the way the team is built. They brought back JT at the expense of finding a legit sized player that can guard C's. Hayes is pretty much the only player that can consistently guard strong post options outside of Cousins. The Bulls don't have too many huge bodies that will set up shop in the paint so it shouldn't be a major issue in this game but if Boozer is going off and they don't at least try Hayes on him the same dumb thought pattern from last year has seeped over into this one.
 
jcwkings

jcwkings

All-Star
#24
#24
One thing we have on the bulls is depth. the bulls go only 7 or 8 men deep. The key matchups will be Boozer vs JT/Hayes, Hamilton vs Evans, and Robinson vs IT. Robinson seems to love playing against IT. DMC should not have to worry about foul trouble going against Noah (knock on wood). If he can establish his physicality early it will be very important. If our starters can get us off to a good start, Brooks and Thornton along with T Rob have to bring that energy off the bench and just attack, turn it into a track meet.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#25
#25
jcwkings said:
One thing we have on the bulls is depth. the bulls go only 7 or 8 men deep. The key matchups will be Boozer vs JT/Hayes, Hamilton vs Evans, and Robinson vs IT. Robinson seems to love playing against IT. DMC should not have to worry about foul trouble going against Noah (knock on wood). If he can establish his physicality early it will be very important. If our starters can get us off to a good start, Brooks and Thornton along with T Rob have to bring that energy off the bench and just attack, turn it into a track meet.
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Will be interesting to see Tyreke guard Rip. He certainly won't be able to give Rip space and just hope to close when Rip catches the ball. We'll see if Evans knows how to adapt defensively to best defend his man.
 
S

Smiley

Prospect
#26
#26
If the Kings has Thibs as their coach there would be lots of changes and much more accountability and this young and athletic team would make lots of noise in the NBA!

I would like to see Nate be matched up against Isiah but Thibs is very stubborn as evident by him starting Bogans and then playing John Lucas III big minutes when both are fringe NBA players at any time in their careers.

Thibs starting linup is: Hiny,RIP,Deng,Boozer,Noah
Although with Hiny's groin pull and banged up thumb there is no better time then to start Nate who is the same size as Isiah...only time that happens as they are the smallest players in the NBA! :p
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#29
#29
pshn80 said:
On my Sacramento TV with Comcast tonight's 5pm game is shown at 9pm. Is that it? Let me know if it's otherwise. Thanks.
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No, it should be on at 5 as well with a rerun at 9. Check the guide again. There's no reason for a particular cable outlet to change that.
 
MassachusettsKingsFan

MassachusettsKingsFan

All-Star
#30
#30
We match up well with this version of the Bulls. It's going to come down to coaching and energy/excitement/nerves.

I don't think Smart will lose this game, but Thib's could WIN it. I hope that makes sense. Thib's coaching along with Chicago's defense could potentially sink us. That won't be Smarts fault depending on how it goes down, but our team isn't particularly smart, and our early-stage of the season offense could struggle. Our best offense is when we get out on the break, and Chicago has guys that can and will get back. Particularly Noah, who is one of the best bigs in the league at running the floor. If Cuz can get him into foul trouble their transition defense could break down allowing the Kings to get their easy buckets.

The other thing I'm worried about is the crowd/opening night factor. You can just never tell how either team will respond. I'm sure the Bulls feel disrespected now that everyone is writing them off without Rose. The Kings have some pressure on them for the first time in a while. The Bulls could come out of the gate with a ton of energy, and if we fall behind by too much I don't love our comeback chances against this defense.

Chuck Hayes of all people will play a huge role tonight. It's been mentioned before, but he's a perfect defender for the type of PF's on the Bulls roster. Taj Gibson is a huge player for them off the bench, and if Hayes can shut him down we could have a very big bench advantage if Thornton and Brooks can get going. If JT struggles with Boozer, which I don't necessarily expect, Hayes could step in and help there also.
 
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