Target of Chicago fans, who blame him for an insufficient contribution since his arrival in Illinois, is Nikola Vucevic the victim of unfair criticism? This is what thinks Goran Dragic, who believes that his teammate at the Bulls is in the same situation as his former comrade from Miami, Chris Bosh.
“People don’t understand” explains in particular the Slovenian leader at the Chicago Sun-Times. ” They do not understand. They only see stats, and that’s not fair. I know CB (Chris Bosh) and CB often talked about it. When he was in Toronto, he was scoring 22 to 24 points per game. He had the ball a lot. And then in Miami, he had seasons where he averaged just 16 points, and everyone, including the press, criticized him. The fans too. But he did so many little things for the team, to make James and Dwyane Wade shine. Things you don’t see in the stats, things people don’t understand. »
First option in Orlando, Nikola Vucevic finds himself behind DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine in Chicago.
“That’s why when I talk about sacrifice… It’s easy to talk about sacrifice for others. But if it’s not you, then who has to sacrifice? When it’s time to sacrifice yourself, everyone can see who you are. »
For Goran Dragic, it is therefore unfair to expect Nikola Vucevic to be as productive in Chicago as in Orlando, knowing that he has far fewer opportunities, and that his rhythm in the game is therefore very different.
“When you have to do what Chris and Vooch are doing, it’s not possible to live up to previous expectations. There’s only one ball, and three guys who can score. Each guy can score in different ways, on different positions. At the end of the day, it should just be about winning. Miami pulled it off. The sacrifice of a guy like CB is perhaps the biggest key in the quest for titles (2012 and 2013). »
| Nikola Vucevic | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2011-12 | PHL | 51 | 16 | 45.0 | 37.5 | 52.9 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 5.6 |
| 2012-13 | ENT | 77 | 33 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 68.3 | 3.6 | 8.4 | 11.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 13.1 |
| 2013-14 | ENT | 57 | 32 | 50.7 | 0.0 | 76.6 | 3.3 | 7.7 | 11.0 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 14.2 |
| 2014-15 | ENT | 74 | 34 | 52.3 | 33.3 | 75.2 | 3.2 | 7.7 | 11.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 19.3 |
| 2015-16 | ENT | 65 | 31 | 51.0 | 22.2 | 75.3 | 2.7 | 6.2 | 8.9 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 18.2 |
| 2016-17 | ENT | 75 | 29 | 46.8 | 30.7 | 66.9 | 2.4 | 8.0 | 10.4 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 14.6 |
| 2017-18 | ENT | 57 | 30 | 47.5 | 31.4 | 81.9 | 1.8 | 7.4 | 9.2 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 16.5 |
| 2018-19 | ENT | 80 | 31 | 51.8 | 36.4 | 78.9 | 2.8 | 9.2 | 12.0 | 3.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 20.8 |
| 2019-20 | ENT | 62 | 32 | 47.7 | 33.9 | 78.4 | 2.3 | 8.6 | 10.9 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 19.6 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 70 | 34 | 47.7 | 40.0 | 84.0 | 2.1 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 3.8 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 23.4 |
| 2020-21 * | ENT | 44 | 34 | 48.0 | 40.6 | 82.7 | 2.0 | 9.8 | 11.8 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 24.6 |
| 2020-21 * | CHI | 26 | 33 | 47.1 | 38.8 | 87.0 | 2.3 | 9.3 | 11.5 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 21.5 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 73 | 33 | 47.3 | 31.4 | 76.0 | 2.0 | 9.1 | 11.0 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 17.6 |
| 2022-23 | CHI | 35 | 33 | 50.8 | 37.5 | 85.3 | 2.0 | 8.3 | 10.3 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 16.7 |
| Total | 776 | 31 | 49.4 | 35.1 | 76.1 | 2.5 | 7.9 | 10.4 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 16.9 | |
