Chicago Bulls: 10 Reasons They're the Most Dangerous Team in the East
After forty-seven games, the Bulls have climbed into a tie with the Miami Heat for the second best record in the Eastern Conference at 33-14. That record puts them on pace to finish with a record of 58-24. Their record is also tied for fourth in the whole NBA.
If I tell you that the Bulls are fourth in the NBA, you'd probably be pretty impressed with that. Not a bad record. Now what if I told you that their starting frontcourt has only played 9 games together all season. We don't even know how good they will be.
When the Bulls get healthy later this season, they will be the most dangerous team in the East.
These are the top ten reasons why.
Depth
1 of 11
One of the Bulls biggest strengths is their depth.
The Bulls' starting shooting guard position is not ideal, but it has its advantages. Having Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver coming off the bench allows the Bulls to counter any lineup with different looks. If the Bulls need defense, they bring in Brewer. If they need offense, they bring in Korver.
C.J Watson, after starting out slow, has progressed to be a solid backup point guard. His stats still aren't great but he does a very good job facilitating the offense and playing better than expected defense.
The Bulls' big man rotation is one of the better in the NBA. Taj Gibson has developed into one of the best bench bigs in the league and is a force on defense. A pleasant surprise has been Turkish import Omer Asik. Asik was known for his defense and shot blocking when he played in the Turkish league, and has come in and played good defense and gotten rebounds when he gets minutes.
As stated, I'm talking about the Bulls when healthy, so another bench big has been Kurt Thomas. Thomas stepped in easily to the starting lineup after starting off the season looking absolutely dreadful. It is great to know that the Bulls have a big man who can step in and take his place at times when there are injuries. And when you have Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah on your team, you know you will have injuries.
Defense
2 of 11
The Bulls right now are missing their defensive anchor in Joakim Noah. However without Noah, they have managed to hold pat on defense. They have surged to the third best points allowed total in the NBA, only behind Boston and New Orleans. As well, they lead the league in Team Defensive Rating, which calculates points per possession.
Joakim Noah works as an anchor on the defensive end and calls out all the roles on defense, similar to the role that Kevin Garnett had.
Ronnie Brewer is a true disruptor on defense. He gets under the skin of whoever he's guarding and causes turnovers and bad decisions. He is truly a defensive stopper and deserves to start.
The Bulls defense works well together and all the players buy in to the system of Tom Thibodeau, making them ultra-effective.
Chemistry
3 of 11
One of the most underrated aspects of basketball is team chemistry. If you play with players that you trust completely and get along with, you will be more likely to set aside your stats for the sake of winning. You clearly see that on this team.
The players fit very well together and know their roles for the most part. Rose is obviously able to get into the lane and players like Kyle Korver and Luol Deng are able to knock down shots.
The team defense completely proves the chemistry question. Derrick Rose is sometimes regarded as a poor defender, as well as Boozer and Korver. However the team has just bought in to Coach Thibs' plan and they put aside everything to be one of the top defensive teams in the whole league.
The way the players fit far rivals the Three Kings in Miami because all of the players' games on this team fit well together, unlike the Miami Threesome.
Derrick Rose
4 of 11
Derrick Rose is MVP. There is no way around that.
Sure, he doesn't put up MVP numbers.
Sure, he doesn't put up MVP efficiency numbers.
Sure, he doesn't shoot well every night.
But the effect of Rose on the game is just incredible. Whenever Derrick looks left, the whole opposing defense shuffles left. Rose puts his teammates in positions to score with ease, a criticism he had when he came out of school. Whenever he has a weakness, he improves it and makes it a strength. When it comes down to the end of the game, Derrick is a true closer and superstar in the NBA.
If you need to hear any more, read the middle section of this article. Enjoy.
Rebounding
5 of 11
The Bulls have two of the top rebounders in the league of last season in Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. Despite the loss of both for sections of the season, the Bulls have kept up their rebounding, averaging forty four and a half rebounds per game compared to forty for the other team. This rebound differential leads the NBA.
The next highest rebounding differential team is Miami in eighth. The Bulls have even beat teams like Dallas just by highly outrebounding them.
As explained earlier, a high rebound rate can show that the players buy into everyone around them and are willing to put their body on the line to win the game, and that's a beautiful thing to see from any team.
Matchups
6 of 11
The biggest opposition that the Bulls have to taking the East are the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.
The Bulls match up rather favorably against the Heat. Derrick Rose is able to attack and kill both Chalmers and Arroyo when they are forced to guard him. Boozer struggled against Bosh, but he has the potential to just bully Bosh in the post. The Bulls' team defense is good at protecting the basket and rotating on defense, which is instrumental in containing Wade and LeBron.
Derrick Rose can attack the Celtics where it hurts. When Kevin Garnett was out, Rondo had no chance against Rose because he couldn't take all the chances that he usually takes. Carlos Boozer can try and take away some of the pressure from Rose by trying to fill in the gaps to exploit the help defense. The Bulls can contain Pierce with Deng rather effectively as well because of Deng's length. But if Rose can get to the basket, the Celtics will keep fouling him because they have no idea what else to do to stop him, and that's the sign of a superstar.
Balanced Scoring
7 of 11
Derrick Rose is unquestionably the number one scoring option on the team. That is clear. Last year when Rose was the primary scorer, the Bulls had problems with scoring at times due to no other consistent scorers.
That is the difference between last year and this year. The secondary scorer is Carlos Boozer, who can take the scoring load at times. Luol Deng has also stepped up as a legit third option scoring 17.6 ppg, near his career high of 18.8 when he was a second option.
When Joakim Noah gets back, the Bulls will also get 14 ppg back from a player who effectively requires no touches to score.
After the two main scorers, the Bulls have Deng and Noah who can step up and move without the ball to score. Players who can score 14+ ppg while not having plays written up for them are some of the most valuable scorers you can have, and not many other teams have even one.
Coaching
8 of 11
At the beginning of the year, it appeared that the Bulls' roster defensively broke down like this:
Elite Defender-Joakim Noah, Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson
Average Defender-Luol Deng, Keith Bogans, Kurt Thomas
Poor Defender-Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, C.J Watson
Despite only having three players known for their defense, the whole Bulls team has bought into the coaching of Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau of course came from Boston where he was effectively their defensive coordinator. He has brought his system to Chicago where it is being put to great use by the Bulls. The system is fantastic because it covers up bad defenders by limiting the opposition with defensive rotations and forcing the short corner. The defense is simple and doesn't require copious amounts of energy, while keeping its effectiveness. This means that even Carlos Boozer can be a good defender.
The only criticism I might have is that he continues to start Keith Bogans despite his poor offense and average defense. Other than that, he's a Coach of the Year candidate.
Youth
9 of 11
Out of the most elite teams in the league, the Bulls are the youngest.
Chicago Bulls 5.08 27.57
San Antonio Spurs 5.14 27.93
Orlando Magic 6.64 28.17
Boston Celtics 7.27 28.30
Dallas Mavericks 7.27 28.87
Los Angeles Lakers 7.86 29.14
Miami Heat 8.07 30.19
The only other team that is younger and still good is the Oklahoma City Thunder, but I still wouldn't put them into this group just yet.
Now what does that do for us, being the youngest? Well the Bulls will be around for the longest time and the team will be able to last for a while longer.
As well, their youth and lack of playing time will help the Bulls because they are more likely to get injured. As you have seen with Kevin Garnett especially, minutes take a toll on your body and leave you more succeptible to injuries.
Of course the Bulls will always have their injury problems, but youth helps the players hurry through rehab and get back on the court as soon as possible.
Versatility
10 of 11
The Bulls have a multitude of players who can step in and play any sort of game. If you want lockdown defense, put in Brewer. If you want shooting, put in Korver. If you want to run, put in Noah.
The ability of the Bulls to match any gameplan makes them all the more dangerous. During the regular season, a fast paced offense can win you many games, similar to the Phoenix Suns of old.
Playoff basketball however is a far more slowed down game, which Chicago can counter with a halfcourt offense that includes Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer getting to the basket.
The Bulls can match up well by using this lineup but they can also make the other team uncomfortable by changing the pace of the game. If the Bulls are playing Boston for example, they can send out Joakim Noah and Ronnie Brewer to go with Derrick Rose and then push the tempo. At the same time, if Boston doesn't follow the Bulls' tempo, Rose, Noah and Brewer can all play a halfcourt game too.
This is where the Joakim Noah injury has a silver lining. With Noah, the Bulls can get out and run. However the loss of Noah forces them to slow down and play a halfcourt offense because obviously Kurt Thomas and Keith Bogans aren't going to get out and run. This halfcourt offense will easily prove its worth in the playoffs when defenses tighten up and get the Bulls through some potential scoring droughts.
Conclusion
11 of 11
The Bulls should be the favorite to come out of the East.
They have played at an all world level thus far into the season. Despite winning only one game with their full starting frontcourt, the Bulls are 6-4 against the elite teams in the NBA. When Joakim Noah gets back, the Bulls will be able to come out of the gates faster and not fall down and have to get back into the game.
The other teams just can't compare. Boston is in the lead right now, but it's unlikely that they can find a way to stay healthy throughout the season and the playoffs. Miami is also very injury prone and they have no depth. That's ok for the regular season, but you have to get something from your second rotation in the playoffs or your stars will just get worn out.
The Bulls' combination of defense and depth to go along with a top ten scorer in the league cannot be countered by any team in the NBA, making the Bulls the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
