Chicago Bulls' Quarterly Review: State of Team By Position and How To Improve
The Bulls have gotten off to a quick start, and especially with the Bucks' loss of Brandon Jennings, are poised to run away with the Central Division, guaranteeing them a top 4 seed in the NBA Playoffs at the end of the season. However the Bulls are still not a perfect team and have some ground to make up to become a championship contender this season.
This report card takes you position by position and gives a review of how each position is doing and then how the position can be improved.
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Point Guard
1 of 7
Grade: A+
The Good:
-The good? Well that would be a certain Mr Derrick Rose, potential Most Valuable Player of the National Basketball Association. Before the season, I didn't know whether I bought into the hype. I knew Rose had limitless potential but I just wasn't sure whether he had the mindset or killer instinct to be a superstar in the league. Well it's safe to say I was wrong. Rose has been outstanding.
The Bad:
-The Bulls aren't using CJ Watson the way he's supposed to be used. As we saw in the Nuggets game when Derrick Rose was out, Watson is a scorer not a facilitator. If we keep trying to use CJ like he's Kirk Hinrich, we're not going to use him effectively.
How to Improve:
-The Bulls could use a real scorer in the second rotation. They've tried to use Kyle Korver as their scorer in a Ray Allen like role but that's just limiting CJ. If Thibs would just let CJ run at times, we may find that he surprises us.
Shooting Guard
2 of 7
Grade: C-
The Good:
-With Brewer and Korver, the Bulls have many different looks they can bring to the table against different styles of teams. If they need defense, they can bring in Brewer. If they need Korver, they can bring in offense.
The Bad:
-Keith Bogans is not a starting shooting guard in this league. The Bulls need to make a decision. Either they should start Brewer to get a legitimate defensive stopper in, or start Korver to complement Rose or bring someone in through trade or signing this offseason.
How to Improve:
-If you can sign a legitimate starting shooting guard this offseason, you've got to do it. If I were the general manager, I'd try to sign Jason Richardson. Richardson is a deadly three point shooter and a capable defender who would mesh well with Rose. If you start Richardson, you can still bring Korver and Brewer off the bench to bring different looks to the table. It may not be a realistic possibility since all we have to work with is the MLE, but if we can get him, we've got to.
Small Forward
3 of 7
Grade: B+
The Good:
-Luol Deng has silenced critics and has actually been nearly the perfect complement to Derrick Rose. Despite a careers worth of failure learning to shoot the three, Deng now has a deadly three point shot to pair next to Derrick Rose. Pair this with his solid defense, rebounding, and ability to play off the ball, and Deng has had a great season thus far.
The Bad:
-Deng has played far too many minutes. Kyle Korver is a decent backup at the small forward position but he's played most of his time at the backup shooting guard.
How to Improve:
-By any means possible Deng needs to play less minutes. Whether we need to give James Johnson some run or play Korver and Brewer at the 2 and 3 at the same time, Deng will get hurt if we keep playing him this much and we can't afford to let that happen.
Power Forward
4 of 7
Grade: A-
The Good:
-With Boozer out, Taj Gibson stepped in and did a fantastic job as a starter. He cut into the gaps, fought for boards, knocked down his jumper and played great defense to really help us out. Boozer coming back has had more of an effect than his stats may show. He's doing a great job of drawing defenders into the post. As a result, Rose and Deng are getting open threes when Boozer is double teamed and passes out. Of course his offense has been huge, especially against teams like Toronto with their limited front line and when Rose was limited.
The Bad:
-Taj Gibson's offense has suffered a little bit since going to the bench but that's not a surprise since he's not playing next to a creator in Rose anymore. The real concern is Carlos Boozer's subpar defense. For all he does on the offensive end, he still hurts us a lot on the defensive end. It's true that he's undersized, so he'll have trouble against players like Pau Gasol or Kevin Garnett who will beat you with size on defense. But he really looks like he's not putting forth effort on the defensive end. When Joakim Noah is in the game, we can work around that. However with Jo out, we have to hope that Taj can help cover up Boozer's mistakes.
How to Improve:
-There's not much that needs to be improved in the power forward rotation. Right now all we can do is hope that Boozer doesn't get exposed on defense and that Taj can keep us on track.
Center
5 of 7
Grade: B-
The Good:
-When Joakim Noah has played at full strength, he's one of the best defensive players in the league. He's brought rebounding, defense, and scoring to the table and all sorts of immeasurable things. Omer Asik has been a pleasant surprise off the bench too. He's brought defense and rebounding to the table off the bench. Kurt Thomas also played very well when he needed to against the 76ers.
The Bad:
-Injuries. Joakim has been limited by injury and now he'll be out for a while. With Joakim out, our team defense will be DRASTICALLY worse, especially in the short term. If Taj Gibson is out, then we might really be in some trouble on defense.
How to Improve:
-Of course the best way to improve would be for Jo to come back from injury, but that can't happen until after the all star break. Kurt Thomas surprised us yesterday so we definitely have depth, but we won't be as good as we could be until March. We just have to ride it out.
Coach
6 of 7
Grade: A
The Good:
-Thibodeau may have been the best acquisition we made this offseason. Especially after the trainwreck that was the Vinny Del Negro era, the Thibodeau style is such a breath of fresh air. There is far more motion to the offense and the sets show the players' strengths rather than minimizing them. Great things are still to come from this team.
The Bad:
-Rotations are still a problem at times. Earlier Thibs had figured out that he needs to keep a starter on the floor so that scoring doesn't drop off. However recently he's been making that mistake again.
How to Improve:
-Thibs could use Watson in a scoring role off the bench to be able to take full advantage of him. He's not a facilitator who can get the ball to Korver, he's a scorer.
Conclusion
7 of 7
Grade: A-
The Good:
-When this team was healthy, they were a real force in the NBA. At full strength, they had a record of 7-2. In this stretch they beat both the Thunder and the Lakers. The only two losses were the first two games that Boozer was back and before he was healthy and integrated. Joakim Noah should be back and healthy for the playoff push. All in all we're poised to be in a position to go far in the playoffs.
The Bad:
-The biggest problems right now are just injuries. Joakim Noah obviously won't be back until after the All Star break and Taj Gibson is out with a concussion tonight. Boozer and Deng have been injury concerns throughout their career. Derrick Rose has even picked up injuries throughout the season so far. If the Bulls are healthy, the shooting guard position can still be a concern. Hopefully we can get some continuity by the end of the season.
Bottom Line:
-The Bulls are in a great position but injuries are just a real concern. If the Bulls can stay healthy, they're one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference and the league.
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