Dornado

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,2459358.story

The entire fan-base has been pretty critical of Boozer, myself included... gotta give credit where it is due. He has stepped up in a meaningful way lately... I didn't see it coming.

Will it continue? Does it bode well for after Rose returns?

__________________

jnrjr79

It's funny. This gives me mixed feelings. I thought Boozer's level of production the past couple seasons was all he really had left in the tank, due to declining athleticism. But this new gear he's found shows that's not entirely true. What is clicking for him now that wasn't before?

yodurk

One thing: his body. His first season w/ the Bulls in '10-11, he was pretty bulky just as he's always been. Last season he trimmed alot of weight (which is IMO why he stayed healthy in '11-12 and overall had a decent season). This year I feel like he slimmed down even more; I remember in pre-season I confused him with Taj a few times. A guy like Booz who is naturally bulky absolutely must work his @%% off to stay slim. He is not tall enough as a PF, so he needs to maintain decent agility around the rim. Feel like he is getting more opportunity to use an extra gear than at the start of the season.

Skill wise, he's got the moves and soft touch to be a big time scorer, but he struggles to get clear looks consistently. I think the weight loss combined with Thibs and his teammates adjusting schemes is really making the difference.

Good Hope

You think he was holding back? :-)

All it took was a New Year's resolution!

__________________
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

There are better things to hope in than the Bulls, but its fun to try, anyway.

taco_daddy

I'm amazed at this season so far. We are merely 4 wins out of 1st place in the East and that is without our best player. Thibs is really making a difference. It's good to see Boozer really starting to make a major impact. I wonder how things will work out when Rose returns. Will the offensive schemes have to change to accomodate Rose and will that negatively impact Boozer's performance?

You know who is going to come in here and rip your accessment to shreds.

Anyhow, long live the Booze!

__________________
It's still Heat Killa!

mvP to the Wee

He's been good. Best part is the free throw attempts IMO. When he first got to Chicago, he was playing efficient number 2 option basketball. Oddly, it all went downhill after that nasty fall in Charlotte back in March of 2011. Somehow, he found his old self again and hopefully it's not leaving anytime soon. If he keeps this up, I think we can consider ourselves contenders(I know we're doing well, but I don't think this current group of guys can get the title unlike last years group).

Dornado

23.4 ppg and 11.8 rpg on 55% from the field for Boozer in nine games this January... I'm guessing it won't last (based on what we've seen the last few years) but I'm going to enjoy it while it does. I'm hopping on the Boozer bandwagon, but reserving the right to jump right back off if he starts disappearing for long stretches and losing focus defensively again. Some of it is that he's playing more minutes, but I agree with P to the Wee... the FT attempts are an encouraging sign. He already has more FTAs in January than he did in December of November, despite the month only being 2/3's completed. He's a guy that can use either hand to finish and makes up for a lack of speed with some decent footwork and quickness... the more assertive he is the more he goes to the line, hopefully he doesn't forget that.

__________________

roux2dope

Boozer has been phenomanal as of late, really helping out my fantasy team

King Joseus

https://twitter.com/KCJHoop/status/293425784180318210

__________________
Interested in joining the KVBL? PM me for information.

Rhyder

I can't find the link, but Boozer has given credit to his new trainer for his surge as of late. He said that his trainer has forced him to focus back on the fundamentals and making quicker decisions once he has the ball.

Hopefully this is true, and he's just not riding an extended hot streak. To me he seems much more comfortable and a lot more aggressive in the post.

giusd

"The Booz" is on a roll and i think over the last few years he gets a bad rap on this board.

But he has worked hard on his D and conditioning and if Rose comes back near the old Rose the bulls could be a force this year.
And while i am on my soap box Pax should have never let Omir go. He is a force this year. Bad move. Omir is play much better than Taj and Taj has a bigger contract. Just one man's thoughts on losing a young big man.

yodurk

I'm torn on the Omer thing. Obviously in a perfect world we'd still have him as our backup center. But for what we had to pay him...that's alot of dough for a backup center. In a vaccum I would pick Omer over Taj, but considering that Miami is our biggest obstacle in the East, I feel better about Taj for his more versatile defense (ability to switch on Lebron on picks) and ability to step out to midrange on offense, which Omer can't do nearly as well. Again I would LOVE nothing more than to have both Taj and Omer against Miami, Omer just would've hamstrung us too much over the next few years, and his 10 minutes per game of playing time in the playoffs just isn't impactful enough to justify it.

All that said, the lack of Omer is the single biggest reason our bench is merely "good" this year, as opposed to "great" last year. I am completely happy with the rest of the "new bench mob", which have all proven to be suitable replacements for the CJ (Hinrich), Ronnie (Jimmy), Korver (Marco), and Lucas (Nate/Teague) squad.