Season Preview of the Chicago Bulls
Etienne
Last Season: The Chicago Bulls finished last year with a conference-high 62 wins and received numerous postseason awards including Derrick Rose winning the Most Valuable Player award and Tom Thibodeau receiving Coach of the Year Honors.
However, after winning their first game in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, the Bulls proceeded to drop four consecutive contests in the series to lose the round.
Backcourt: The Bulls have the luxury of having one of the top players in the NBA in Rose. The Chicago native drastically improved his three-pointer shooting percentage last season going from being around 26% in 2010 to 33% in 2011. Furthermore, Rose scored five more points per game and had one more assist per game in 2011. He will once again be relied upon to be the biggest contributor on both sides of the court for Chicago.
The biggest upgrade that the Bulls made in the offseason was the addition of Richard Hamilton from the Pistons. The weakest position for Chicago last season was shooting guard where defensive specialist Keith Bogans provided a solid effort as a starter for the Bulls but lacked the offensive skills to alleviate the scoring pressure off of Rose. Hamilton is a veteran whose mid-range offensive game will be an excellent compliment to Rose’s aggressive dribble drives to the basket. Furthermore, Hamilton has the ability to play off the ball and use his movement off of screens to receive open shots, which is important because Rose is the primary ball handler and the Bulls do an excellent job of setting said screens for shooters.
The biggest concern for the Bulls will be the depth at point guard if Rose suffers an injury. However, C.J. Watson is a reliable backup in the position and runs the offense well when Rose needs rest. Ronnie Brewer was the starting shooting guard most of last season and his main role was to be the top perimeter defender alongside Luol Deng. However, Brewer will most likely come off of the bench this season and may actually be able to show more offensive talent as a reserve this season.
Frontcourt: The biggest benefactor to Rose’s evolution last season was Deng, who posted 17.4 ppg, the second-most in a season in his career. While Deng’s rebounding numbers took a dip, he increased his assists per contest and bought into Thibodeau’s defensive philosophy. Deng has showed solid durability the past two seasons, including playing in every contest last season. The Bulls will need more production on the offensive end for Deng, which would mean possibly becoming a 20 ppg-type of player, to make the next step as a unit.
Carlos Boozer was considered one of the major free agent signings in the NBA for 2011 but suffered nagging injuries throughout the year and was only able to appear in 59 games. The offensive struggles highlighted in the playoff series against the Heat compounded the need for Boozer to increase his scoring. He only scored 12.6 ppg in the playoffs for Chicago last season, five points less than his average for the regular season. Furthermore, Boozer’s defense improved last season but still needs more work. However, Boozer continues to be one of the top pick-and-roll forwards in the NBA and if healthy, can provide good production for Chicago.
While the defensive skills of Boozer are inconsistent, the production on that side of the court from starting center Joakim Noah, who averages double-digit rebounds and nearly two blocks per contest. Similar to Boozer, Noah struggled with injuries as well last season with ligament damage to his hand. He only participated in 48 contests last season.
Arguably the second-most valuable player last season on the Bulls was Kurt Thomas who would fill in the starting lineup for Boozer or Noah when either one was injured. Thomas isn’t on the squad anymore, which places more pressure on Taj Gibson and Omer Asik to fill those spots if the starters continue to suffer bad health. The development of Asik will be significant because his post-moves as a backup center may provide the second unit with an interior offensive presence to complement Korver’s perimeter shooting.
Coaching: Thibodeau tied the record for the most wins ever by a rookie head coach last season and installed one of the top defenses in the NBA. The Bulls were in the top-five defensively in the NBA for points per game allowed, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and had the second-most rebounds. All of this confirmed that Thibodeu is one of the top defensive minds in basketball. However, he will have to find a way to not have the success of the offense rely too often on Rose. While the injuries to Boozer and lack of production from the off-guard may have contributed to this, the reality is that the head coach has to find a way for the team to score more points through offensive schemes, which may be questionable under Thibodeau.
Schedule: Every NBA team will play only 66 regular season contest this season due the Lockout delaying the start of the year. The result of this will be a difficult schedule for every squad, with all of the games being condensed into around 120 days.
The Bulls aren’t an exception with four road games to start the year in the first week on the west coast against the Lakers, Warriors, Kings and Clippers. It’s entirely possible for Chicago to start the season 1-3 to begin the season. The Bulls also have trips to San Antonio, Memphis and Oklahoma City, all playoff teams in the Western Conference. Furthermore, Chicago has a brutal nine-game road trip in late January to early February. However, they should be favorites in at least seven of those contests.
All of this means is that the Bulls will have to rely on its bench more than ever, especially with the shaky health issues of the front court players.
Final Thoughts: The Bulls averaged only 98.6 points last season, which was tied for 19th in the NBA. Despite all of the defensive excellence of the squad, this number must improve if Chicago hopes to reach the NBA Finals. The good news is that all of the top players are back this season and the addition of Hamilton may be a critical part to improving on the numbers needed by the Bulls. With the Boston getting older, New York still adjusting to new players, Orlando struggling with what to do with Dwight Howard and the inevitable regression of Atlanta , the only major opposition for the Bulls action appears to be the Heat, the same team that beat them last season in the playoffs. I see a similar fate for Chicago this season.
Prediction: Losing in the Conference Finals to Miami:
