Tiago Splitter shared some of his insights in player development during the Waddle & Silver show. And I quote...
Tiago Splitter:
>... Basketball wise. What does he need on the court to get better? It is more reps?
#Players profile
I will focus on these four players namely Matas, Caleb Wilson, Swain and Essengue. As my main target in this player development profile.
Strengths
All of them are long and athletic.
All of them are good switch defenders. Swain is also a good POA defender
All of them are good help defenders.
All of them are projected(Matas already proved it) to be good finishers at the rim
Weaknesses
All of the are slender and tall that currently lacks strength. Except maybe for Swain
All of them lacks ideal ball handling skills to get to the rim. Swain can only do it with his left hand. The right hand is still questionable.
All of them lacks ideal shot creation skills
All of them lacks ideal three point shooting skills
#Current roster composition
After the Tiago Splitter hire. Acquisitions were made. Nic Claxton, a lengthy center who protects the rim and finish lobs was added. Followed by the draft. Where Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain were drafted. This strengthens the identity of the team to be long and athletic.
This team is expected to accumulate STOCKS(steals and blocks) with their length and athleticism. Force turnovers and hit the open floor running.
But everyone in this sub were questioning where will the shooting come from? The lack of spacing is evident!
This reminds me of the Blazers team Tiago coached. Before he accepted this head coaching job.
#Tiago's former team(Blazers) playstyle fits the Bulls
I was following(looks like it was not a coincidence) the Blazers last season because of the Bulls pick. And that team Tiago coached was a defense oriented team. They defend and rebound. They force turnovers. And they come out and run.
This team composition of two-way players is projected to be good switching in defense. Their length and athleticism would disrupt the passing lanes. They can rotate as help defenders and block shots. The same tools can also be applied in rebounding. And like the Blazers last season. This Bulls team is expected to run.
But what if the opposing team gets back in transition?
#Bulls half court sets and lack of spacing
Ironically. The Blazers team Tiago coached has the same problem. Lack of ideal spacing. But it gives us an insight on how to overcome it.
Blazers were not a good three point shooting team. Early in the season. Defenders literally stop going after the shooter mid way. When they see someone like Blake Wesley or Caleb Love have the ball behind the arc. Blazers shooter would basically wait for the defender to come near him. But the defender would just stare and wait for him to shoot. This happened for several possessions in the game. Until the shooter hit a shot. Else the defender will just keep daring them to shoot. This also happened for several games early in the season.
When Tiago was asked why his Blazers team keep shooting? He gave this answer below. And an insight as to how Bulls can over come that lack of shooting.
> "It's part of what the other teams were giving to us. We were making the right reads. We were also very good at rebounding those misses. It's easy to see that we shot and missed a lot of threes. But we also grabbed a bunch of those offensive rebounds and we scored after that."
Offensive rebounding coincide with what Tiago stated above. As something his Blazers team was good at. And they mastered(second in the league) it.
Offensive rebounding is projected to be Bulls strength as well. With their length and athleticism. But that doesn't solve the main problem in the half court. Which is the lack of spacing.
#What's the plan?
As Tiago said above. What's the plan? And it looked like he answered his own question as well. When he said, "Is it more reps?"
Blake Wesley came to the league as bad shooter. Shot 2/10 his first 6 games last season before getting injured. Then he got back from injury shooting 40% at 8/20 from three in his next 12 games. After that he was out of rotation because Scoot playing time increased.
Caleb Love has the same story. Shot 26/103 from three his first 21 games averaging 17 MPG. Then shot 61/166(36.7%) his next 21 games averaging 28.3 MPG. Before eventually losing playing time.
So the plan was simple. Keep shooting!
Blake Wesley has small size. Caleb Love has big sample size. But both were third stringers, that seize the opportunity when it was presented to them. And perhaps the best example of why I think this player development plan will work.
#Player development plan for Matas, Caleb, Swain and Essengue
We all expect Bryson Graham would add shooting. There are people in this sub speculating of going after Walker Kessler. But if Kessler camps behind the arc. Won't the system gravitate to him shooting from three? Is he really the player we want to shoot the ball?
So Bryson added Nic Claxton. Someone who makes a living at the rim finishing lobs. Claxton definitely clogs the paint because of the lack of shooting. But he influences the defense to pack the paint. Which will give more opportunities to Matas, Caleb, Swain and Essengue to shoot the ball. The same opportunities Caleb Love and Blake Wesley got in Portland.
The system needs to gravitate towards Matas, Caleb, Swain or Essengue shooting the ball. Because it is a valid approach to improving one of their weaknesses. As Tiago Splitter suggested himself. It could be the on court reps that could make them better. And it looked like we will be expecting our developing guys shooting the three ball next season. Hopefully it's just a matter of time before we see them knocking those threes down
#Foundation and start of the rebuild
Byrson Graham already implied publicly that this is a multi-year rebuild. But after this draft, questions arises about how these new players in Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain would fit. Given there is a glaring lack of spacing.
Also that they are long slender architypes. Which on paper could be categorized as redundant players.
Matas, Caleb Wilson and Essengue are not full time perimeter defenders. Dailyn Swain can guard the perimeter. But all four of them, can't be expected to defend stronger bigs in paint with their slender build.
They are good if not great secondary or help defenders. In a team defense setting. They uses their length and long strides to switch, block shots and contest three point shooters.
As corner stone of the rebuild. The current core are versatile, long and athletic. Can cover a lot of ground in defense. That could translate into deflections, steals and blocks. In short we are currently built for STOCKS. Force turnover and run. It maybe entertaining. But we know that ain't getting us to the playoffs. Because quality teams will slow down the pace and grind us out in the half court.
In half court setting, Bulls obviously lack the go-to scorer to create. Giddey is a great playmaker. But he can't get his own shot. Rob Dillingham can get his own shot. But is too squishy. Hard to see him playing with our slender forwards. This brings me to Bulls recent pick-ups in Kam Jones and Jaylin Sellers.
Both Kam Jones and Jaylin Sellers can get their own shot. Both can stretch the floor if needed. But most importantly they are strong guards with excellent core strength. Both Kam Jones and Jaylin Sellers are projected to be strong perimeter defenders. That will protect the slender forwards in Matas, Caleb and Essengue. Their core strength enables them to box out in rebounding situations. So that Matas, Caleb and Essengue can use their length and athleticism to run after the rebounds.
So at least Bulls aren't going to get killed in half court sets right? But Kam Jones and Jaylin Sellers aren't your ideal go to guy. Else they won't drop or even go undrafted. At the very least we will be seeing the roster structure. Of having strong guards that can create shots. And protect the slender forwards in defense. Which brings me to future projection of this team. And what I see as "vision" of Bryson moving forward.
#Moving forward and 2027 NBA draft
Three of the projected tops pick in 2027 draft are Jordan Smith Jr., Tyran Stokes and Caleb Holt. All three are freak athletes with quick first step. All three big projected high level two-way players. Because they have size and tools to guard the point-of-attack in defense. While being the primary creator on offense. In short, they are the missing piece to the puzzle. Now substitute Kam Jones or Jaylin Sellers with one of these guys?
Of course it is not a given we get another high pick next draft. But if ever we do. I can look back on this post and say in a hindsight. Bryson Graham did have this vision. When he put this team together.