[Highlight] Nikola Vucevic posts 11 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists in his Celtics debut
Vuc is a walking double-double. If people aren’t familiar with his game, this is nothing new for him. His rebounding hasn’t been all too hot in Chicago lately, but on the Celtics, that might change. Miss you, Big Man.
His passing was also great last night. Felt like he had chemistry with some of the guys already
The passing/playmaking is the one thing that stays consistent with him
Sometimes the shot making is good and other nights he can’t buy a bucket even from 3 feet away but he’s always been a good facilitator, we ran a ton of our offense through him at the top of the key and three point line and he’s great at finding cutters when the help comes
His playmaking recently has been nice, definitely was improving/focusing on that more these last few weeks with the Bulls
Yea especially with D White! had some cool cuts and passes
Gonna be so fun having a Jokic at home
We have both Luka and Nikola at home!
better than wemby at home (porzingis)!
He’s a good player, just not someone that you should rely on to carry your offence. 16/11/3 off the bench? No problem at all.
Celtics team rebounding is pretty good. Vuc at least needs to be good at boxing out/clearing some space using his frame.
Vuc is already one of our best rebounders next to Queta, and he’s probably even better given his experience.
What are the Bulls doing just doing shit and living off Michael Jordan nostalgia and Derrick Rose vibes?
Yes. The UC will be sold out no matter how shit the team is and Jerry doesn’t give a fuck if they’re good
All signs point to: Resiendorf is 100% content being the owners of the Bulls as long as we’re not a bottom 10 team. Top 20, 30-38+ wins is a champion to him, the United Center sells out every single home game and is #1 in attendance year over year AS LONG as Bulls aren’t bottom 10.
If bulls ever win more thann40,45 games that’s just pure luck and a happy accident.
Doomed franchise is why I watch Knicks and Spurs games more than us.
I like vooch a lot. His issue for the magic was defense.
His issue is defense that’s it. But if you have good defenders 1-4, that should enough. I really like Vooch.
I do, too. But it doesn’t seem the majority of r/chicagobulls does.
He was the best player on the Magic. Public forgot about him in Chi.
One of my favorite big men when he was still on the magic, was so happy when he came to the bulls. Past couple years started to feel the hope he would find a team with a better shot so we didnt waste the remainder of his career, boston might be that.
Still remember his poster on pau, one of the wilder dunks ive seen from a 5
It’s a simple game. Vucci Mane.
Looking good! He’s gonna fit right in and not have existential crises like that time his teammates were celebrating a win and he was depressed as hell that they messed up the gameplan so badly
Aside from that half a year in Chicago is this the first legitimately good team Vucci Mane has been on?
Just checked, he’s been to the playoffs 4 times and not only has he never made it out of the first round, he’s never lasted more than 5 games.
Barring some kind of Celtic collapse, this is probably going to be the most successful season of his career.
Yeah I think it is
I feel like the magic had an okay chance with him and Aaron Gordon. But the team couldn’t stop drafting 4s/5s for some reason, kept on playing Gordon at the 3? And then gordon asked out, and that was the end of that. A smattering of vuc injuries didn’t help much too.
Was that the same Magic team that traded for Ibaka and then gave Biyombo a massive contract… While having Vuc on the roster as well?
Dude must be so happy to finally be on a competent team.
Oladipo+rights to Sabonis for half a season of Ibaka, true masterclass by the Magic.
U didnt need to remind me of that
before last year I was convinced I would never see a trade that bad again
Wow I didn’t know it was that bad
Gordon wasn’t the same guy either
That’s the moment Joe Mazz wanted him on the team lmao
Yeah Vuc is a killer. I think he gets the absolute most out of his potential as a player.
“Smile bro!!” says his emphatic teammate.
“Brother we barely beat the Washington Wizards, what is there to be happy about?” Says a disheveled Vooch.
Look at those passes. He is in the top 5 - in term of passing skills for a big man.
Excellent pickup by Brad. Also save on tax.
Got under the second apron in a couple of days in summer and still competing for second seed without Tatum.
Got under the tax in the trade line while answering a really big need (a third big that can be an outlet in the paint, pass the ball and also can strech) upon Tatum’s return. The team is certainly upgraded for a better run this year, also we positioned ourselves better for the long-term with cap and apron issues.
I don’t know, maybe Brad should also try to go under the cap in the summer while being still good just for fun of doing it lol
Brad should run for President
With Pete Buttigieg as his VP
Hoosier occupied government
I think now would legitimately love the challenge of trying to win games with a team under the salary flood.
He is for sure but that’s also how Bulls have been playing this year, you can see it in this clip straight shoot right away or pass in .5s decisions
We just had 0 consistency and could never stop any team from scoring, our wins were because we were offensively on firelol.
Great pick up by the Celtics tbh.
Fits in with them so well. Some of his shortcomings on defense will not matter in this system, it’s best for offense spacing and the passing game
And you can gameplan around his shortcomings. He’s slow and groundbound, not lazy on D like some players known as bad defenders.
Yeah if we could get decent center play out of Luka Garza, Vuc should be an easy fit
Then Vuc is about to ball out of his mind, contextually
Luka is underrated, I was glad he got run on the Celtics this year. Vooch is obviously better though, and can fill in the same skillsets while also being a better defender/rebounder and passer
Yeah, you’re gonna get the energy from him, he’s not a slouch
I was in awe at some of the lanes he was creating with his post ups last night. Once Joe has some time to cook in the lab with him the offense is gonna go absolutely fucking crazy. It’s a whole different type of spacing than we’ve ever had before it’s a completely new tool for him to play with.
Yeah, I don’t get the hate he gets.
He is genuinely a solid center to have on your team.
He solves some issues the Celtics had at this position. If Tatum comes back during playoffs, I genuinely think they make the finals.
The problem is that centers play an outsized role in defensive schemes, particularly as shot blockers, and he’s pretty slow/unskilled in that respect. But he’s a great rebounder and the Celtics have a bunch of long wings that can make drives more difficult
Fuck you Brad Stevens for being so fucking good at your job. They got this guy while also getting CHEAPER and ducking the tax?!
And the only asset they used was a single 2nd round pick. Admittedly a good one (NOP ‘26).
The chances that pick amounts to anything is very small.
“Very small” might be underselling it. For example in the 2022 draft, the top half of the 2nd round had 5 guys who have started a majority of games this season, and another key rotation player. That’s a 40% hit rate.
That’s a one draft sample size, look at other drafts and see how many players contributed to their teams or are in the league long enough for a 2nd contract. It’s somewhere around 15-20%. So 80% chance the guy ends up being nothing.
he’s immediately the best offensive big on the team. offers much more as a passer than Queta/Garza, can shoot from outside and score from the post. defensively I have no doubt he can be serviceable in our system if Garza can be
great move from Brad as usual. dumping Simons for Vuc adds a lot more positional balance to our team but also opens up more minutes for guys like Baylor Scheierman to develop
Picking up Simons on that deal was just beautiful in the first place. Allows you to either make a big swing for a disgruntled star that fits the system should that arise, or use the expiring nature in itself of value. Just a super smart move, I don’t think anybody in that situation is upset about it
Except maybe Simons who was on young man and the three with Pritchard White and Garza talking about how excited he was to make a playoff run, and instead finds himself marooned on the Oops! All Guards Bulls
😢which was literally two weeks ago. Poor dude, he was so excited to be in Boston I hope he finds himself on a playoff team in the near fiture
As much as this is disheartening there’s zero chance in his heart of hearts that he didn’t know this was an option on the table. I’m going to miss Anferno.
Very true, of course he did. Excited for vuc but still feel for the dude. I could never run a sports franchise cause I’d run the whole thing off vibes and feels
So you’re the GM of the Hornets? :D
lol yes. I would literally sign someone like X because he seems like a cute dad and good locker room guys. Who cares if he’s barely played past two seasons
I’m sure the 27 Million dollar pay check makes it more than okay. He proved that he’s a valuable piece on a competitive team. He’ll still get a chance to compete.
Tax and a great addition to the Celtics. Brad did a great job on getting him.
They could have used a guy like him years ago. Probably would have more rings with him putting them over the top.
Just you fuckers wait until the Celtics learn to throw a post entry pass then it’s over, haven’t had to do that in the 2020s
They did it a decent amount with KP when he first got there. KP was averaging something crazy in post efficiency for a while.
You’re right but KP was so tall they could just throw it wherever up there like the Spurs throw lobs to Wemby, and even then the Celtics weren’t that good at it. Vuc is a smaller center so they’ll need more accuracy
Kp also posted up on the elbow most of the time. We haven’t had a deep post threat in awhile
KP would only ever post up dudes a foot shorter than him, otherwise we wouldn’t even bother sending the ball near him.
I’ve said this for 3 years with the spurs and yet we still can’t do it.
Lost art with the relative death of the post up offense
Only the Celtics can go down 26 then win while making it look casual
Ngl, he looked absolutely legit with the Celts. Fit right in and was arguably the perfect acquisition for them. A guy like him fits into their system really well.
Hopefully he keeps going with the Celts. It would be nice to see them keep improving and become a threat again this year and next with Tatum back. Love to see it.
Solid pickup for the Celtics.
Miami has eaten the bulls for breakfast, lunch and dinner the last couple years so I’m glad Vooch got enjoy a win against them for once.
One thing with Vuc is he gets the job done. He might not go crazy but he also ain’t gonna go 3⁄15 with 3r. Double double guy.
vuc just casually doing vuc things, this is exactly what boston needed on the boards man
Such an underrated player
i can’t lie, wasn’t a fan of the signing - i’ve never thought Vuc was that good
after 1 game im already thinking “damn this is exactly what we needed” lol
Until he shoots you out of playoff games taking 5-6 3s and being a cone in the paint.
it’s crazy how Boston skipped the tanking season when JT went down while the Lakers are struggling to construct a proper team after their 2020 championship
Flula Borg hooping
Happy Vuc is in winning situation, sucks its with the Celtics 😭🤷🏻♂️
Got their theis 2.0!!! Fits right into their offense but are worried for the Celtics that he’s gonna struggle on the defensive side, hence be yanked to the bench in the playoffs
I think the Cs have enough good defenders 1-4 that they can cover for a lot of shortcomings but I generally agree with you in the playoffs where teams focus more on matchups. But the fact that he is an outlet down low for post scoring is immense for the Cs. Sometimes just need to dumb the ball down low and get a different look for an easy bucket.
Let’s talk about this Heat defense for a second, too.
Its a simple game. Gonna be rooting for a Celtics-Wolves finals this year or someday
Vucevic has been cooking the heat since his days in Orlando . As a Heat fan I remember he always balls out against us
He puts some heat on the passes. First few to White and Pritchard almost went through their hands.
Vuc gonna excel not having to be a first or second option you watch
Rebounding is a new look for Boston always used to get crushed on the boards
They finally found Kornet’s replacement
He’s going to be good for them, fit in so easily too
Jokic of the East.
If he had D for a guy his size, vooch would be complete
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know Vuc could put defenders in jail like that down low. Bullied folks to his spot multiple times.
As good as the Harden trade was good for the Cavs, Vooch to the Cs will be that much better. Even without Tatum, they can win it all.
He seems like a great fit for them
Bro bout to turn into Jokic
Perennial all star nothing to see here
Nice highlight clip I gotta say. This is some serious gourmet shit
Always a solid player. He shined in Orlando, unfortunately they were ass at the time. Maybe trading him open up to the current roster orlando has, but imagine if he was still on that team. It was a good trade for his career when Lonzo and Zach were balling out, that ended in unfortunate events. Sadly Bulls shined with Michael, and they got a good draft with D rose until his unfortunate injuries than Zo had unfortunate injuries. I think it’s cursed place or something. Glad he went on a good team, but we need some wins on my boii Luka.
This might actually work for them shit.
Let’s gooooo!
He’s a great 82 game player
Always a solid player. Can be picked on defensively.
If Mazzulla is able to get this guy to even be a league average defender, he should get COTY for this season and next season as well
Vuk’s wingspan looks massive.