Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers: Takeaways
Nikola Mirotic
I have extremely basic Photoshop skills. If I were better, I’d absolutely make a Bad Niko version of the movie poster for Bad Milo. Yes, it has reached that point.
Mirotic has be to so incredibly thankful that we’re in the preseason. If this were the regular season, his performances would find him rightfully buried on the bench behind Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis.
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It definitely didn’t seem like Mirotic got 24 minutes on the court, but he did. He shot just 1-for-7 and had a couple of turnovers. One of those turnovers was particularly atrocious as he turned lobbed the ball directly to a member of the Pacers and then fouled on what became an and-one situation.
Almost everything that Mirotic has been doing isn’t good or great. The Bulls need him to be a lot better this season than what he is showing through two games. There is some good news, though, as it appears Mirotic isn’t discouraged by his early shooting struggles:
Mirotic on 2-for-14: “What’s most important is that the shots are good decisions. Obviously, I’m not making them. But I’m not worried."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 7, 2016
And he shouldn’t be worried about it. For now. At some point, he’s going to need to start converting on these opportunities because he has a unique skill set that neither Gibson or Portis possess.
Since the power forward position is open, according to Hoiberg, don’t be surprised if Mirotic isn’t starting the next time the Bulls take the floor.