Chicago Bulls: 5 Reasons Luol Deng Is the Key to Their Title Hopes
A cursory look at his numbers don't reveal the change in Luol Deng this year. In fact, you might even think he's having a worse year this year than last year. That is not the case, however, as he's gone from fan target to fan favorite.
So why is it that if the numbers aren't any better there's such a change in perception around Luol? It's because of when he does the things that show up in the box scores and it's because of the things he does that don't show up in the box scores.
There's an word in basketball for players like Deng, "glue guy." They're called the "glue guy" because they are what hold all the other pieces together.
Tom Thibodeau almost hit the panic button before the trade deadline and made it impossible to get through an interview without using the words, "Luol" and "glue" at least twice. It was then I started starting dubbing Luol "Glue-all" Deng.
Because he's the glue, he's critical to the Bulls postseason success and here are five reasons why.
| Year | Points | Assists | Rebounds | Steals | Blocks |
| 2010 | 17.6 | 2.0 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| 2011 | 17.6 | 2.7 | 5.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
5: His off the Court Leadership
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After the Memphis game Deng's comments were not only dead on accurate, they were prescient.
"I felt like they outworked us. I just felt like we have more talent in this team. And we made big plays at the end to win, but throughout the game I just thought they played harder. They got to the loose balls first. They're a very good team and they really outworked us. And we got to recognize that."
It's the kind of perspective that the Bulls need. While Rose certainly provides the on the court leadership he lacks the perspective of Luol Deng.
Deng's extraordinary biography gives him a maturity beyond his years and that perspective will be invaluable in the postseason, where it's important to focus on how you play more than than whether you merely win or lose.
4: His Range
2 of 6One area where Deng has improved enormously this year is from behind the three point line. Prior to this season he'd hit 101 three pointers over his entire career. This year he's hit 103. That's improvement.
As you can see from above, he can make them when they matter too.When Deng hits on at least 35 percent of his three point attempts the Bulls are 22-6, regardless of how many he makes. His three point shooting is an important part of the Bulls success. It keeps the defenses honest against Derrick Rose in spacing the floor.
3: Defense!
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When you look at Luol Deng's traditional defensive numbers they aren't impressive. He doesn't collect a lot of blocks or steals. There aren't a lot of spectacular YouTube highlights of him rejecting balls and sending them out of bounds, but there are of him jumping passes and breaking away for an easy dunk.
I still say he's one of the better defensive players in the game though. Just because he plays boring defense doesn't mean he doesn't play good defense.
His numbers on synergy are impressive. In isolation defense, he gives up only .80 points per play, and a field goal percentage of just 38 percent. Compare that with LeBron James, the reigning member of the first team all defensive team, who yields.81 and 39 percent.
Does that mean that Deng is better than James defensively? No, but it sure does mean that he's in the conversation, particularly when you consider that Deng often takes the toughest player from the other team.
At one point this season he had key stops on Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Kobe Bryant in a one week span. There aren't many players that can guard a that diverse a group of players and that's a big part of the reason that the Bulls defense is the NBA's best.
2: The Bench Mob
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As a unit, playing together the Chicago Bulls have the best bench in the NBA. With Deng on the floor along with C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson and Omer Asik, they are the single best defensive five man unit in the NBA with more than 100 minutes playing as a unit.
In fact, when they play together they give up only 77.41 points per 100 minutes. The reason they are so successful is their tremendous energy off the bench. They "mob" the ball and don't allow open shots. For that reason they have been "Bench Mob."
The bench plays so well together as a unit that Tom Thibodeau may not change the rotation for the postseason. If they can continue to play as they do, it gives the Bulls an advantage as their starters will be able to get more rest than the opponents.
If and when they play older teams, like Boston and Los Angeles, the benefits of a younger team getting more rest than an older team are obvious. The Bulls have outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter by 194 points, or 2.7 points per game. That's nearly twice as many as any other team in the NBA.
Boston is 10th at 0.6 and the Lakers are ranked 16th and even in the fourth quarters. If Deng can lead the Bench Mob to continue it's dominant defensive play, the advantage they already have grows, and the fourth quarter is where games are won or lost in the playoffs.
1: His Drive?
5 of 6No one ever confused Luol Deng with LeBron James. He's got his issues with dribbling and sometimes you wonder why he never learned to dribble without looking at the ball, but the man does have some moves, and he can get to the rim.
In fact, other than Rose, he's probably the only starter who can create his own shot and when he does on more than one occasion it's been a huge asset to the Bulls and winning.
When Deng scores 20 or more the Bulls are 20-5. When he scores more than 20 points and shoots over .500 the Bulls are 17-2. Considering that the above .500 field goal percentage is likely a result of scoring in the paint, I'm figuring that when he's getting to the rim.
In other words when Deng is effective at getting to the rim, the Bulls are virtually unbeatable.
March 28: Philadelphia 97-Chicago 85
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In Monday night's loss to Philadelphia Luol was not "gluing" much. He only had ten points on 3-11 shooting. While he had nine rebounds the rest of his game was either short or lacking. He wasn't driving to the rim, he wasn't hitting his shots, his defense was absent, he wasn't doing the little things and the Bulls were beaten.
It wasn't just those things either. He wasn't drawing fouls; he wasn't the same moving without the ball. He wasn't showing up to take some of the load off of Rose in the fourth quarter the way he has been lately. In other words, he was just Luol, not Glue-all.
When the glue isn't there the team loses its cohesiveness and the Bulls are just not the same team. For the Bulls to advance, they need Luol at his best. They need the glue.
