Chicago Bulls: Maximizing Young Players Should Be Top Priority for Fred Hoiberg

On June 2, Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman introduced former Iowa State Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg as the successor to Tom Thibodeau. The turnover took seven days and involved no reported interviews with other candidates.

Hoiberg inherits a winning roster and is tasked with getting a perennial playoff team to reach its championship potential. If he’s going to have a shot at accomplishing that, he has to utilize his younger guys more than the previous coach did.

This team has six players under the age of 26: Cameron Bairstow, Jimmy Butler, Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic, E’Twaun Moore and Tony Snell.

Butler will certainly continue to be a part of the franchise’s big picture. It is the remainder of that grouping that needs to be better integrated into the new schemes if this team is going to make the leap it is hoping to accomplish with this change in sideline leadership.

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In with the New

Hoiberg’s hire signals a shift from a defense-centered premise to an offense-oriented philosophy, and the new system could benefit many of the young guys who were seldom used under Thibodeau.

Kelly Scaletta, writing for TodaysFastBreak.com, partnered with Randy Sherman to discuss how Hoiberg’s system would look with the Bulls’ player personnel.

The gist of the analysis is that next season will feature an offense that moves quicker than what fans were used to in the preceding five campaigns. There is a lot of ball movement and screens, both on and off the ball. This will greatly benefit spot-up shooters and wing players who can penetrate.

Check out Sherman’s response when Scaletta asked him about Hoiberg’s ability to get so many quality open looks:

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Scaletta: 'I read that 40 percent of Iowa State’s offense comes off three-point attempts, yet still shot 36.2 percent from deep. What does he do to create so many looks?'

Sherman: 'Two main ways: His fist action uses screen the screener action where a shooter sets a cross screen for a post player and then receives a down screen for a shot. But the main way is spacing around pick-and-rolls. The penetration created by the pick-and-roll allows for kick-outs to open shooters. Hoiberg almost always has a shooter spaced on the weak side from the ball screen.'

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As noted by Scaletta, it is readily apparent that McDermott, Mirotic and Snell have a grand opportunity before them. Each of these athletes moves well without the ball and has the ability to knock down the open shot.

McDermott was acquired specifically for his shooting aptitude. He didn’t get too many run-outs during his rookie initiation but the ability surely remains and should be a regularly exploited skill.

Snell’s potential in this system is very intriguing. He has just two years under his belt but played in more than 70 games in each. His three-point percentage was a respectable 37.1 in 2014-15—a five-point increase from the year before.

Under Thibodeau, the former University of New Mexico wing got his looks running off of screens and spotting up on other players’ drives. It will be interesting to see if his output could improve under a more efficient scheme.

It seems like Mirotic could have an expanded role. It can be gleaned from Sherman’s response to Scaletta’s question about Derrick Rose and Butler’s potential under Hoiberg that skilled forwards are an asset:

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Scaletta: 'One thing that’s interesting to me is that Hoiberg’s teams are elite offenses at the college level without having elite players. Would his system allow for star-caliber players like Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler to shine?'

Sherman: 'Butler is becoming a player who can’t help but shine for whomever is coaching him. I would anticipate frequent dribble handoffs to Butler. Hoiberg loves to use dribble handoffs to generate mismatches that become isolations for a particular player.

'It’s with Rose that I see the most adjustments coming. Iowa State has had the nation’s leader in assist-to-turnover ratio for consecutive years – point guard Monte Morris. While Morris is a terrific player, this can be deceiving. For a point guard, Morris has a low usage rate (16.9 percent) due to Hoiberg’s point forward schemes.'

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The mention of Hoiberg’s schemes utilizing point forwards is great for a player such as Mirotic. The 6’10” big possesses a litany of skills that include being able to pass and handle the ball in the open court. Add that to his rebounding ability, and it is easy to see the Montenegrin being the catalyst for a lot Chicago’s offensive happenings.

These youngsters definitely have all of the tools to play a bigger role in continuing this franchise’s winning ways. The remaining question is, does the new coach seem to know what to do with this collective talent?

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Initial Forecast

Hoiberg seems cognizant of the group he is inheriting, their varying skill levels and their potential. Sam Smith of the team's official site relayed one of the Iowa native's first evaluations of his roster:

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When I look at this young group, players have not only had great seasons as rookies and younger players but also a group that has great potential to be excellent players in this league.

You have former all-stars, you have current all-stars. You have players that I think could eventually become all stars. ... I’m here to do everything I can to support them, work with them and hopefully bring this group to where we’re competing for a world championship.

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Hoiberg isn’t saying anything that any new coach would likely say, but his emphasis on youth and potential reveals that, on some level, he is thinking about working with and developing the less experienced talent at his disposal.

That makes sense, considering he is fresh off of a college gig. Hoiberg’s NCAA stint may give him an edge in effectively communicating with his younger cohort. Coaching these guys while maintaining the production of the established veterans is something that is bound to pay off for this franchise.

The amount of attention to be given to this subgroup doesn’t have to be exponential; a regular spot in the rotation would be more than enough. Mirotic and Snell are both accustomed to playing about 20 minutes per contest, but their usage was sporadic at times. There would be some games in which they would see five minutes of playing time and others when it would be five times that amount.

Younger players need regular court exposure. A set role with clearly defined expectations would work wonders in helping them develop a feel for the game and building confidence. Most importantly, it benefits the team’s top contributors when they know they can depend on consistent respite.

One of the most relieving bits that came out of the introductory presser was Hoiberg’s affirmation that rest is important, as recapped by Sam Highkin of ProBasketballTalk.com:

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That’s very important. You want to be playing your best basketball at the right time… Maybe you have to take a day off after a tough stretch. Maybe you’re going to come down here and go through a difficult practice and you see the guys out here just dragging, then maybe you just go watch film with them and tell them to get their rest. But that is very important as far as getting the guys to play their best basketball at the right time of year…

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McDermott, Mirotic and Snell are all talented enough to produce very well if utilized effectively. They will be in system that maximizes their skill set thus ensuring that the alpha dogs like Rose and Butler will be in the best possible condition when it matters the most.

The franchise still has a core than can win now, but they must also start bridging into the future. Luckily, the front office doesn’t have to search all over for those prospects. If Hoiberg can properly harness the potential of his younger players, there should be no regression in the team’s overall success.