Chicago Bulls: The Real Answer at the Shooting Guard Position

Since the beginning of the season, Keith Bogans has been the starting shooting guard.

Bogans became the shooting guard because of good play in preseason and the injury to the projected starting shooting guard, Ronnie Brewer.

However, Brewer is back and seems to have lost his starting spot to injury, despite there being an unwritten rule in the NBA that you can't lose your job because of injury.

Unfortunately, Bogans just hasn't been at starting quality for this team.

Many players have been proposed to be the starting shooting guard. Courtney Lee, Stephen Jackson and O.J Mayo are part of the plethora of players who have been rumored to be headed to the Bulls.

However, a move will take assets that are precious to this team. Why give up those assets if we haven't tried using our team to its full potential?

The most important part of being a shooting guard on the Chicago Bulls is fitting next to Derrick Rose. Players will come and go on the Bulls, but Derrick Rose will be constant for years to come. The Bulls claim that they are starting Bogans because he can shoot a little and defend a little.

However, that is not the case anymore. To fit next to Derrick Rose, you must either defend or shoot, and that is what I'll be analyzing.

Offense

From the floor, Keith Bogans shoots a pedestrian 37.4 percent from the field and merely 31.1 percent from three.

He is shooting so poorly, teams aren't even respecting his shot.

They're just leaving him wide open and going and double-teaming Rose; an example of this is here. This isn't the best example because most of the plays where Bogans are in the game don't end in a highlight, but notice how Gordon inches away from Bogans when Rose drives because he doesn't respect the jump shot.

Kyle Korver, on the other hand, spreads the floor for Rose. You cannot leave Kyle Korver wide open or he will kill you; an example of this can be found here. 

Notice how Beno Udrih stays in the way of the pass throughout the whole play. He didn't play Korver tight, but he did not leave him just because Rose drove. Korver's shooting makes him far more valuable next to Rose. 

Ronnie Brewer does not have a three-point shot—this is clear; however, he makes up for it in other ways. If you play next to Derrick Rose, you want to at least pressure the defense in some way so that you can't double-team Rose.

Brewer does not pressure the defense with his three-point shot.

However, he has a more than respectable midrange jumper to at least somewhat pressure the defense. As well, Brewer has a very effective offensive game that is not commonplace. He will run the baseline and the defenses will lose him.

At least by doing this, the defense has to account for him, unlike with Bogans.

Defense

Defense is one of the hardest things to gauge in the NBA.

Coach Tom Thibodeau praises Bogans' effort against the top scorers in the league, but he really isn't doing that great of a job against them.

One of the few defensive stats that are fairly easy to measure to show effectiveness on the court is opposing PER and most importantly PER differential. Player efficiency rating is the tool John Hollinger came up with to try and gauge the effectiveness of a player based on all available metrics. A 15 is an average player.

Ronnie Brewer allows an 11.9 opposing PER for a plus-3.1 PER differential. At the shooting guard position, Korver has allowed a 9.3 PER for a plus-2.9 PER differential; however, Bogans has allowed opponents to have a 15.5 PER against him, leaving Bogans with a minus-8.6 PER differential. 

Not only that, but Ronnie Brewer is more than just a solid defender, he causes havoc. He is the type of player who gets in there and knocks balls away and forces turnovers, which Bogans does not do.

Conclusions

You cannot have Keith Bogans start for your team. He does not pressure the defense like Korver or pressure the offense like Brewer.

If you don't have a player that does either of those things for your team, you are completely wasting a spot on the floor, which championship teams can't afford to do.