Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham cited new Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter’s NBA player experience with NBA title-contending San Antonio Spurs teams in the early 2010s as an influencing factor in selecting Splitter for the job. By Splitter’s own admission, he considered himself a “smart” NBA center during his playing days.
Splitter’s NBA playing career was unglamorous. No NBA individual awards or even consideration for said awards were ever attached to Splitter’s name in seven NBA seasons. However, Splitter, despite the lack of league-wide accolades, was an integral contributor to high-level winning basketball with the Spurs that culminated in winning the 2013-14 NBA championship.
Splitter’s player impact and how that might translate to the Bulls
Tiago Splitter ranked in the NBA top-10 for True Shooting Percentage (TS%) twice in his seven NBA seasons, 3rd during the 2011-12 and 7th during the 2012-13 NBA seasons, according to Basketball Reference.
Splitter’s scoring instincts around the rim are the driving force behind why he ranked high in TS%, because he was not a credible NBA three-point shooter as a player who has only had 14 career NBA three-point attempts across his seven NBA seasons.
The low post scoring reputation Splitter earned as a player originated in ten years of professional play in Spain’s Liga ACB from 2000 to 2010, when he joined the Spurs roster after being selected 28th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft.
On the defensive side of the court, Splitter was not statistically prolific on defense. However, he possessed the necessary skills to be the rim protector required for critical moments in a basketball game.
Splitter’s body of work as a former basketball player should translate well to a roster that has two young front-court players in Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue, who would benefit from Splitter’s experience establishing a low-post offensive presence.
Of equal importance, there should be hope that Splitter can also mold the Buzelis and Essengue tandem into a formidable defensive combo that can provide the Bulls with a stout switching coverage foundation for the defensive layer of the Bulls' rebuild.
Perhaps the biggest opportunity space for Splitter’s playing career to impact the Bulls' rebuild is imparting his scoring knowledge to guard Josh Giddey.
Splitter prioritized his relationships with point guards as a player, so ideally, that trait should translate well in his coaching relationship with Giddey to unlock the full potential of the Bulls' 6’8” point guard.
Add us as a preferred source on Google