The Bulls Offense in Four Charts

25 games into the season, the Chicago Bulls have yet to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Eastern Conference morass. At 15-10, they sit tied for fourth in the standings, but have only the ninth-best point differential in the East. The stingy defense, ranked second in efficiency, has been a pleasant, yet unexpected, surprise. More surprising though, is an offense that has dropped from 10th last season all the way down to 27th this season, with almost the exact same personnel.

2015-16 Staff Predictions

Our second annual edition...

How the Bulls Can Win the NBA Title

The Bulls success largely hinges on it's three leaders: Butler, Noah, and Rose.

The Chicago Bulls have one of the most talented rosters in the NBA, but they are left out of the conversation when it comes to legitimate championship contenders. This is with good reason.

2015-16 Over/Under Picks

Over/Unders are from Las Vegas Westgate released on September 29.

7 (Not So) Bold Predictions for 2015-16

Without enough time to do season previews for every team, I'm going to post two articles, one with 7 bold predictions for this upcoming season, and another giving over/under picks.

For my bold predictions, I try to strike a balance between realistic and not-so-obvious. As a measuring stick, I'll consider getting three predictions correct a success. Any more and I'll conclude they weren't quite bold enough. Any less and, well, I'm not as smart as I think I am. Here we go, 7 (not so) bold predictions for this upcoming season.

2015-16 Milwaukee Bucks: Can they maintain a top five defense?

Last year

Pythagorean Record: 42-40 (T-15th)

Offensive Rating: 102.7 (26th)

Defensive Rating: 102.2 (T-3rd)

Net Rating: 0.5 (15th)

Projected Rotation

Starters:

PG - Michael Carter-Williams

SG - Khris Middleton

SF - Giannis Antetokounmpo

PF - Jabari Parker

C - Greg Monroe

Reserves:

G - Greivis Vasquez

F/C - John Henson

G - O.J. Mayo

G - Jerryd Bayless

C - Miles Plumlee

2015-16 Preview: NBA Storylines

The NBA season is upon us. Four teams (Boston, Charlotte, LA Clippers, and Orlando) started training camp yesterday while the every other club opens camp Tuesday. On Friday, the Clippers host Denver for the league's first preseason game, and in just 30 days, regular season basketball will commence.

For this year's preview exercise I will be looking at one major question or storyline for each team as they start their season. I'm typically not a fan of narrative when talking about teams, so I will try and explore something real and measurable. Hopefully, by the end of the season we will have thirty answers to these thirty questions. Some other rules that dictate these questions:

• The scope for these questions is the 2015-16 season only. That may make it difficult to come up with a good storyline for bad teams, but otherwise why would we watch them?
• I'll try and avoid pervasive storylines unless it is too obvious not to explore.
• The chosen storyline should have a meaningful impact on that team's season, especially those that consider themselves title contenders.

I hope you enjoy!

First up, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Who were the Bulls most effective big men?

Going into the 2014-15 season, big man depth figured to be a strength for the Chicago Bulls. Featuring four starting-caliber frontcourt players, it would be a challenge to distribute minutes in a way that would keep everyone happy while also fielding the most competitive team. It seems for the most part everyone was satisfied with their role, but were Tom Thibodeau's lineup choices optimal?

End of Season Awards

Our staff picks after the jump...

On The Backburner: NBA 2k15 Trolling

Top 5 Ways to Troll in NBA 2k15

NBA2k15 is back, which is typically a must pick-up for me.  The series has its usual tweaks here and there, but any grizzled 2k veteran knows what they are getting when they snag this title.  So instead of writing a traditional review of the game, i.e. graphics, modes, gameplay, etc., which you can find at any major online gaming media outlet (and much more professionally written), I present the top five ways that online players can troll an opponent.  Novice 2k gamers, get a few dozen games under your belt before reading further.

I would describe my online NBA2k style as a troll-happy, get under your skin effort to frustrate opponents and even induce “quits”, which are easy ways to pad the record.  2k developers are well aware of this loyal, cult-like fringe of their customer-base, and each year programmers attempt to alleviate certain glitches that give some players an inorganic edge.  Here is a countdown of my favorite methods to work the system during an online match.

5. Patty-cake treys

Now a semi-defunct trolling method, patty-cake treys were a favorite of many gamers late last decade.  It involved playing catch between two great offensive players until a manual defender over-pursued, leaving one of the two players open for a wide open made three.  I would credit the recent surge in off-ball defense – (the player on defense bringing a third player into the picture to pick off passes behind the arc) – as a counter to the patty-cake era.  2k developers randomized the wide-open shot sometime in the last five years, which has resulted in players missing wide open threes more commonly, but many gamers continue to play this style relentlessly.  You’ll see gamers playing with the Knicks use this method quite frequently.

4. Turn up the fast break to 100, baby!!

A favorite of many, and now those patient enough to change their team settings before tipoff, the fast-break-to-100 method was a nice way to get 3-on-2s and cheap buckets in transition, especially with athletic squads.  I say was because programmers have countered the trolls in recent years with a variety of methods.  First, addressing the lazy gamers such as myself by taking fast-break settings out of the in-game-menu via the directional button.  Second, using player awareness, passing, and turnover attributes to cause players to throw the ball away in transition.  We’ve seen the play hundreds of times now: the baseball toss to an outlet player on the sideline fumbling the ball as he steps out of bounds. 

3. Under the basket inbounds pass to a layup/dunk on offense

Now we get into the hardcore troll-tastic stuff.  The under the basket inbounds pass leading to a layup/dunk on offense has been the most underutilized trolling method to get easy scores for years.  Even at its peak, I doubt more than 5% of online gamers attempted this method.  The best way to accomplish the feat is to use your point guard as a decoy to distract your opponent, then switching to a different player and making a sharp cut to the hoop for a quick catch and score.  This method was near automatic in recent versions of the game until programmers countered us trolls by randomly having the inbounder throw the ball into the opposing stands.  In 2k15, I would estimate that it’s a 50/50 score-to-turnover proposition (I’ve played 15 or so games, sample size police be damned).  In its glory days, it was more like 85/15. 

2. Stealing the inbounds pass

There’s no way a 2k troller gets stimulated quite like the inbounds pass pick ‘n dunk.  This can deflate your opponent and cause them to tweak (pause the menu and scroll around like a madman), or even quit on the spot (ultimate troll validation).  For some odd reason, white seven-footers are the best at picking off passes, while point guards are least likely to accomplish the task.  The key here is to not get frazzled once the theft has been made.  Half-court heaves, over-and-backs, and contested layups may result if the troll does not maintain composure after stealing the inbounds pass.  Good luck.

1. Taking a charge in the full court

Long-time 2kers are smiling right now.  It’s the signature troll move in the NBA2k series.  You can tell a lot about a person by if they attempt charges in 2k or not.  Remember the anguish a few years back when programmers threw in the randomized block-foul call after a firm full-court charge?  Known in some gamer circles as “cones” defense, a troll will place body mines around mid-court to attempt to induce a charge call on an opponent, or cause panic throwaways.  Savvy gamers have countered the trolls by beating the mines up the court, creating quick advantages and scores.  Thankfully, the 2k15 programmers have left in the manual charge – albeit less effective than say five years ago.  Still, there’s nothing more embarrassing than being on the wrong end of the manual charge call.

Shawn, Pro Basket-blog contributor
Follow my trolling NBA thoughts on twitter: @sfgore

NBA Preview Series: Staff Predictions

It's time for our first annual staff prediction post! All predictions were made before the season started Tuesday, and are surely to go wrong before the calender hits December.

NBA Preview Series: Brooklyn Nets

Last Year
44-38 (T-14th in NBA)
OFF: 104.4 (14th)
DEF: 104.9 (19th)
NET: -0.6 (17th)

NBA Preview Series: Washington Wizards

Last Year
44-38 (T-14th in NBA)
OFF: 103.3 (18th)
DEF: 102.4 (10th)
NET: 0.9 (15th)

NBA Preview Series: Charlotte Hornets

Last Year
43-39 (16th in NBA)
OFF: 101.2 (24th)
DEF: 101.2 (6th)
NET: 0.1 (16th)

NBA Preview Series: Atlanta Hawks

Last Year
38-44 (18th in NBA)
OFF: 103.4 (15th)
DEF: 104.1 (15th)
NET: -0.7 (18th)

NBA Preview Series: Minnesota Timberwolves

Last Year
40-42 (17th in NBA)
OFF: 105.6 (10th)
DEF: 104.1 (14th)
NET: 1.3 (13th)

NBA Preview Series: Chicago Bulls

Last Year
48-34 (T-11th in NBA)
OFF: 99.7 (27th)
DEF: 97.8 (2nd)
NET: 1.9 (12th)

NBA Preview Series: Boston Celtics

Last Year
25-57 (T-27th in NBA)
OFF: 99.7 (27th)
DEF: 105.2 (20th)
NET: -5.5 (25th)

NBA Preview Series: Orlando Magic

Last Year
23-59 (28th in NBA)
OFF: 99.3 (29th)
DEF: 104.8 (17th)
NET: -5.5 (25th)

NBA Preview Series: Los Angeles Clippers

Last Year
57-25 (3rd in NBA)
OFF: 109.4 (1st)
DEF: 102.1 (7th)
NET: 7.3 (2nd)