DeRozan back-to-back two-game kills! One is like Kobe Bryant, and the other is like Kobe
With de Mar deRozan's "Kobe Possessed" magical performance, almost a whole game behind the Bulls reversed to defeat the Wizards, won seven consecutive wins, continued to press the Nets, and ranked first in the East!
It's the Bulls' second game back-to-back, and yesterday, DeRozan just finished the whistle-blowing shot on horseback at the top of the three-point arc in the last second to help the team narrowly beat the Pacers. Today, facing the Wizards who are the best at playing key balls in the league, he forced kuzma to change his life against the sky in the case of Kuzma's magical three-pointers in the last 4 seconds, and hit a difficult three-point shot before the final whistle, sealing his throat with a sword!
DeRozan, who once studied under Kobe, not only learned mamba's technique, but also inherited the mamba spirit. Under his leadership, do the Bulls really want to go black to the end and overturn the Nets?
Garbage Brothers Transformed into Contemporary Kobe Bryant!
Before the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bulls were not very optimistic, although they made frequent moves in the offseason, successively introducing DeRozan, Ball, and Caruso, who is loved by Lakers fans, can they establish a chemical reaction with Lavin and Vucevic? Many people are pessimistic.
Even ESPN columnist Kevin Palton's offseason operating rating only gave the Bulls a low C+ score, and like many experts, Pelton was not optimistic about the defensive efficiency of the Lavin and DeRozan duo, and doubted whether several stars could find a balance in the distribution of the ball.
Moreover, the Bulls have missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons, and the last time they made the playoffs, the team leader was Jimmy Butler.
Interestingly, after Butler left the Bulls, he traveled to Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and later found a new life in Miami - in the 2019-20 season, he led the Heat to stage a dark horse myth, eliminating hot opponents such as the Bucks all the way, and playing six games with the Lakers in the Finals. His experience is very similar to that of DeRozan today.
Butler had been named an All-Star for three consecutive years before leaving Chicago, but after a few seasons of displacement, he was questioned for some off-court problems, until he went to the Heat, finally found the most suitable position for himself, so he shined and took the leap to the sky.
DeRozan plays as a point guard like Butler, and there are many similarities in his playing style, he played an All-Star in Toronto, but because he could not lead the team to a breakthrough, he was eventually traded to the Spurs, and after a few unsatisfactory seasons, he came to the right team by chance, so he was able to regain his life.
DeRozan, who was once criticized for being unable to withstand the pressure at a critical moment, was defeated by LeBron James in the playoffs for several consecutive years, and was even more exposed to "psychological problems". But this season, he has become the league's "mr. fourth quarter", he averaged 26.8 points per game with 49.5% shooting, of which the fourth quarter score was the first in the league!
DeRozan still doesn't love to shoot three-pointers, averaging just 2.2 three-pointers per game this season, and among the current top 40 players in the league's scoring list, only Butler and Thick Brow are slightly lower than him. But DeRozan is not unable to shoot three-pointers, he has shot 37.3% of three-pointers this season, including 53.8% in the fourth quarter, and 100% in key moments (within 5 points in the last 5 minutes)!
According to statistics, three-point kills have been staged in two consecutive games back-to-back, and in the entire history of the NBA, it has never happened before. From this point of view, DeRozan can be called "the first person in history"! Such DeRozan is difficult not to make people associate, and it is not too much to call him a "contemporary Kobe".
Butler and Dro agree well, the difference is only in timing and circumstance. If today," the location, the people, and the conditions are in place, what Butler failed to do in Chicago, can DeRozan do it?
Two straight wins for the Nets to show the Bulls' true power?
If the Bulls want to stage the myth of the dark horse of the 2020 Heat and rush out of the east, they need to climb over several mountains such as the Nets and Bucks. How strong is this team? Although their current record to suppress the Nets, temporarily in the first place in the East, but with the return of Irving, the Big Three reunited, can the Bulls still have the advantage against the Nets?
DeRozan stole all the limelight with two consecutive three-point kills, but the Bulls' success this season is not his credit. The team's other two signings in the offseason , Ball and Caruso , as well as the two interior and exterior cores who were on the team last season – Vucevic and LaVine – have all played a crucial role.
Almost all of the bulls' core members have their own flaws - Vucevic has been criticized for being soft on the ball, Lavin and DeRozan are weak in attack and defense, the ball brother lacks a breakthrough threat, and Caruso's limited talent is difficult to get rid of the sapper image... But Billy Donovan managed to combine these people into a whole, using their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, and fit perfectly.
Pol and Caruso changed the defensive temperament of the entire team, making the Bulls one of the best three-point defense teams in the league (averaging only 32 opponents per game, the third in the league), considering that Patrick Williams only played five games and was reimbursed for injury season, and Both Pol and Caruso also missed many games due to injury, their current defensive efficiency of 108.2 (10th in the league) is impressive.
More importantly, on the offensive end, the Bulls effectively used the characteristics of existing players, found a line that suited them, and played a refreshing performance in an anti-trend way. So far, the Bulls can shoot 112 points per 100 rounds, ranking fourth in the league in offensive efficiency, behind the Jazz, Hornets and Hawks.
This season, the Bulls averaged 29.8 three-point shots per game, the league's penultimate number one, and although the 38.6% shooting rate is the highest in the league, the three-point score accounted for only 31.1%, ranking fourth from the bottom in the league. Conversely, in the middle distance, which is abandoned by most teams, the Bulls make a big fuss, ranking sixth in the league with 53.5 percent of two-pointers and 14.3 percent of mid-range points.
Because of the Warriors' success, three-point shooting seems to have become the only way to succeed in this league, but Donovan has a different understanding of this, he once said in an interview: "When you watch a lot of games, especially in the playoffs, you will find that it is difficult to guarantee long-range shooting at key moments. You have to have players who can play in the middle distance, get to specific positions, and take advantage of those good shooting opportunities. Once the game went into the last 6 minutes, those paper theories lost their meaning. ”
It seems that Donovan has already set his sights on the playoffs. So surpassing the Nets in the standings doesn't mean much to the Bulls, and whether they can win when they meet head-on is the key.
In fact, this season the Bulls have met the Nets twice, in two games, and they both have won the final victory. The first of these games was on November 9, when the Bulls won 118-97 with a crazy 42-17 offensive in the last quarter, and when the two sides met again on December 5, they killed the game with the ball brother's key three-pointer in the last 16.9 seconds, and laughed 111-107 to the end. In those two games, DeRozan averaged 28.5 points per game and shot 52.3% from the field!
Of course, at that time, the Nets were not yet Irving, Harden was not in the best state, and when the playoffs began, the Bulls may not be able to fully dominate. But if you ask the Bulls if they have the strength and the Nets break their wrists? The answer is obvious.
What else does the bull need to improve if he wants to rush the crown?
There are no perfect teams in the world, and there are no perfect people, and the Bulls are no exception. If this team is asked to be the standard of a championship team, they do have some room for improvement.
In today's game against the Wizards, although the Bulls won the final victory, they also exposed their biggest shortcomings in the course of the game - poor penalty area defense.
In this game, the Bulls shot 11 more three-pointers than the opponent, and this alone won 33 points, but they let the Wizards score 72 points in the box! That's the key to them falling behind almost an entire race and a major sticking point this season.
According to the technical statistics of the NBA's official website: the Bulls have conceded 46.8 points per game in the restricted area this season, the league's 18th; the opponent's average second offensive score per game is 13 points, the league's 16th; the opponent's offensive rebounding rate is 27.3%, the league's 17th. (The above rankings refer to defensive effects).
Although three-pointers play an increasingly important role in modern basketball, even magic ball theory emphasizes near-basket attacks. The closer you get to the basket, the higher your shooting percentage, which is an eternal truth. If required by the standards of ordinary teams, the Bulls' defensive data in the penalty area is not too bad, but if they want to compete for the championship, they obviously have a lot of room for improvement.
A key reason for the opening of the bull city gate is determined by the characteristics of the personnel. Vucevic has done a pretty good job of defensively selecting positions and interfering with passing routes this season, but in essence, he is still a heavy attack and light defense of the floor flow technical interior, the word basket, has never been written into the advantage of his scouting report.
Coupled with Pavey's early season reimbursement, the Bulls' already less thick four positions have a vacuum, and most of the time it is 6'6 DeRozan and 6'4 Green forcing the top. Although Derek Jones can fly well, after all, he is too thin to be a big job.
In today's game, the Bulls had Kuzma 29 points and 12 rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting, allowing Garford to cut 19+8 in 20 minutes and 15 seconds. Before the two wins over the Nets, although they held Harden, they let Durant average 33 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, and let Ader average 19.5 points and 7 rebounds per game.
I don't dare to imagine that if the playoffs meet stronger opponents such as the Bucks and the Heat, what will the Bulls' restricted area be chiseled into?
In addition, the Bulls' roster depth is also at a disadvantage compared to their main contenders. This team is essentially still playing with five people, Kobe White's substitutions in these games, although the performance is eye-catching, instability has always been his biggest problem, and whether he can remain efficient on the bench is quite questionable. And once the only reliable interior lineman Vucevic suffers a foul or injury problem, no one can top it.
But either way, as a team that has just been rebuilt in the offseason, the Bulls' performance is amazing enough. If they can complete a key deal by the deadline, bring in reinforcements at the number four or five, fill in the last short, and with the horror that DeRozan is currently showing, they are definitely capable of being a nightmare for any opponent.