Shaq Harrison knows his strengths and plays like it
Shaq Harrison has been a great find for the Bulls front office, a high-energy defensive-minded player who makes up for what they loss in wing David Nwaba. But outside of Harrison’s relentless defense, his under control play on offense has been most notable part of his game.
Harrison rarely turns the ball over, averaging a mere 0.8 turnovers per game though 67 games in 2018-19. He continued that trend on Wednesday night, finishing with a game-high 21 PTS with zero turnovers in 30 minutes of playing time. Bulls head coach Jim Boylen was definitely pleased with Harrison’s great play on the evening.
“Shaq played well.....I like the way we drove the ball and competed at the rim.”, Boylen stated.
Boylen is certainly right to be pleased with Harrison’s effort driving the ball, as he generates 59 percent of his FGA at the rim per Cleaning the Glass. The numbers back up the fact that he doesn’t force shots and is comfortable playing his game.
In the Bulls 118-98 loss to Portland on Wednesday, 8 of 10 field goals made by Harrison were in the paint. He also hit one of his two 3PT attempts against the Trail Blazers, an encouraging sign though no one expects him to turn into a significant 3PT threat anytime soon. But Harrison has had a great year and certainly has done enough to prove he has a place in this league.
Harrison is a great-to-elite defender and can carve out a legitimate role as a backup guard in this league if he continues to work on his off-ball cutting.
NBA
Robin “Go-to scorer” Lopez
Lopez has been a changed man post All-Star break and although he didn’t have a huge night on Wednesday, he continued to showcase his effective post game, including the ability to finish through contact.
It has been odd watching the Bulls offense run so many possessions through Lopez, but the veteran big man has been posting solid numbers. He continued his solid play with a nice 15 PT, 9 REB,4 AST night and was constantly a handful for Trail Blazer’s big men to deal with.
Of all the numbers, Lopez’s team-high 4 assists were the most impressive. His ability to score is a nice bonus, but any potential suitors--including the Bulls--will want to see his playmaking and screen-setting continue to be his focus.
The post All-Star break scoring surge from RoLo has been a fun storyline down the stretch, even more so when you factor in that he is currently posting the second best field goal percentage of his career (56.7 percent).
As Stacey King once said, “Artis Gilmore would be proud.”
The Cristiano Felicio “stretch four” experiment was fun while it lasted
The Bulls were woefully short handed on Wednesday night and without Lauri Markkanen, essentially had zero PFs on the roster. Cristiano Felicio played just over 12 minutes in the first half and uncorked two of his four 3PT attempts of the 2018-19 season.
Big Cris’ shooting form didn’t look awful but the results were as he missed badly on both of his attempts on the night. Overall, Felicio finished the game with 15 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST and 2 STL.
Felicio shows obvious value in the offensive rebounding department, but his decision-making on offense and lack of foot speed on defense torpedo his overall value on the floor.
He was predictably unable to contain Portland’s guards off the dribble, with the likes of Rodney Hood, Seth Curry, Anfernee Simons and (of course) Damian Lillard to get wherever they wanted to on the floor.
Felicio was in the right on defense by dropping back in coverage as Boylen’s defense instructs, but the fact that he was unable to get a solid contest in the midrange area was too much to overcome.
But man were those 3PT shots from Felicio a lot of fun, and he chipped in a huge dunk to boot that provided some fun during an otherwise painful game to watch for Bulls Nation.