Chicago Bulls: Tom Thibodeau Still Figuring Out Big-Man Rotation
Coming into the 2014-15 season, the Chicago Bulls’ front court appeared to be an area of inordinate strength.
Adding Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol to Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson on the depth chart made for the promise of great things. And while the Bulls have been strong up front thus far, they’re still far from the ceiling of their big-man rotation.
A lot of that has to do with injuries.
Between Noah, Gasol and Gibson, 19 games have been missed. Mirotic, a rookie who averages the least minutes of the four, is the only Bulls big to hit the hardwood in every game.
But Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has also done some things to hamper the evolution of his lineups.
By playing Gasol a huge amount of minutes—35.8 per game, a number that’s good for No. 12 in the league and third among all big men—he’s given the endurance of his 34-year-old center a perhaps dangerous test. Pau missed many games to injury with the Los Angeles Lakers in recent seasons, and putting him in such a trying role is a seriously risky move.
Gasol has also stood in the way of Mirotic's progress on certain nights.
Pau played 40 minutes in a 93-86 road loss against the Atlanta Hawks on December 15 and looked out of place in the matchup. At this point, the Spaniard is not quick and limber enough to guard mobile, deep-shooting bigs like Al Horford and Paul Millsap, and he was a liability to the Bulls' offense. Mirotic struggled in the back-to-back contest as well, but only had 18 minutes to prove himself with behind Gasol and Gibson.
Mirotic should get more of Gasol’s minutes—especially when the assignment calls for it. Thibodeau’s insistence on playing Gasol is curious against a team like Atlanta, whose spread-out, motion-heavy offense, full of deep shooters, seems almost designed to exploit the limits of classical big men like Pau.
Mirotic, much to the contrary, is 23 and incredibly mobile for a 6’11” forward. Regardless of his experience in the NBA, there are nights when the nature of opponent clearly makes Mirotic the more valuable big man.
Using Gasol as a veteran security blanket is one of Thibodeau’s few bad habits, and it needs correcting.
Thankfully, Thibodeau is showing signs of adaptability these days. Mirotic, at times, has been too good not to play, and his coach has noticed.
| Minutes per game | Points per game | Rebounds per game | PER | |
| Pau Gasol | 35.5 | 18.0 | 11.5 | 19.9 |
| Joakim Noah | 32.0 | 9.0 | 9.7 | 15.8 |
| Nikola Mirotic | 18.6 | 8.3 | 5.2 | 18.1 |
| Taj Gibson | 29.9 | 12.4 | 7.2 | 17.7 |
Riding an extremely hot hand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 19, Niko earned 30 minutes (his second-highest mark for the year) by shooting 6-for-6 from three and helping spearhead a 103-97 Chicago win. He also played heavy fourth quarter minutes as the team took down the Toronto Raptors on December 22, aiding Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler as the Bulls scored a franchise-record 49 points in the final quarter.
"He's not afraid," Thibodeau said to reporters about Mirotic after the game. "He makes tough plays. He hustles all the time. He's never satisfied, and I love that about him."
Such a description evokes the limping Noah, who hasn't looked like himself yet after a summer in which he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.
Joakim has slowly emerged from his shell as he recovers, but the Bulls won't reach their zenith up front until he's back to being the volcanic, creative force the basketball world knows him as.
And Gibson, for all his blue-collar merits, has become something of a ball-stopper on offense. When he receives the ball in the post, he often dances into a black hole of moves before hoisting up a contested shot in a surge of hubris.
The Bulls need to get him back to the selfless, off-ball hunting Gibson is most useful doing.
Things could be worse, of course. The Bulls are seventh overall in rebounding and No. 11 in defense after a rocky start. Both of those figures speak to a hearty, effective frontcourt. And with the depth Chicago has, the injuries across the board haven't even hurt the team too much.
But in order to compete for the championship at the end of the 2014-15 tunnel, the Bulls have a lot of fine-tuning to do up front.
Let’s see if Thibodeau can make sure it gets done.
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