Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

I'd say he'll be All-Rookie First Team, but his numbers aren't big enough across the board to lock up ROY. Wiggins is likely a lock, and that's fine, I don't think he's undeserving. I'm just happy that Niko is panning out and that the Bulls have picked up a really good player for the future.

[I Hate Mondays]

At 24 years of age I actually see him a piece to build around at some point. He can do a lot in the game

[Kevin]

Wait did Coach Thibs really said that he's favorite now is Nikola?

[Andrew]

Bulls: Derrick Rose could return to contact practice next week

And so we play the "What does it mean? How close is he actually to returning?" game once more.

[air gordon]

Haha thanks for the "update". Bigger news is Butler is supposedly back this week

At 24 years of age I actually see him a piece to build around at some point. He can do a lot in the game

What's your time frame? He's locked up through '17.

[I Hate Mondays]

What's your time frame? He's locked up through '17.

Wild guess : '17 will be his year. I see a Jimmy buckets scenario here. He will start to play like a machine in his last year, forcing the organisation to offer him a max contract. From there on, building around him would be a no brainer. He is not the only piece of the puzzle - Jimmy's future looks bright - but building around the brand new 1-2 punch would seem to be the best idea. So actually his era would start in the '17/'18 season

[air gordon]

I hope it's not a jimmy butler type breakout where niko gambles on himself en route to a max contract.

I don't think anyone thought Butler could be harden-esque light on offense. Still working with a relatively small sample size, Niko is showing he can score in a variety of ways

I think the Bulls core is butler, niko, mcbuckets, Noah, rose

It's a bit harsh to say but you have to list the last 3 due to their salary or being a 1st round pick. If someone comes along with an offer for any those, GarPax will be listening

[Andrew]

NBA.com is reporting that Butler is returning today against the Hornets.

[Moz]

What's unraveling is making all the Taj fans sad... I have a feeling that they will get a backup center in the draft and he'll be traded this off season or at the deadline on the next one (or in the draft to get that back-up center)... the only problem is he's not an eye candy at the moment and we will see another Luol Deng-type deal...

[I Hate Mondays]

Unless he is a first-20 pick, I don't see Thibs eager to play a rookie even as a back-up center over Taj. That of course, if Thibs will be on the staff list next season. Another thing would be Gasol's age. I strongly believe next year Gasol will be running out of fuel a lot, not to mention the injury risk % will go higher next season for him, there will be a lot of pressure on the big guys, Noah isn't reliable like last year's Noah, so yeah...Taj could be needed. Personally, I would take a a decent draft pick over him any day

[air gordon]

Unless he is a first-20 pick, I don't see Thibs eager to play a rookie even as a back-up center over Taj. That of course, if Thibs will be on the staff list next season

Yep. I think a lot depends if Thibs returns

Its a strange situation. The bulls need gibson. He was supposed to be the relief for noah and gasol but hes the one who gets hurt.

Teams are killing the bulls on high screen n roll. You almost have to pull a boozer and bench gasol in the 4th since he is terrible at that.

Maybe a full offseason will do wonders for noah's health.

And you still have to find minutes for Niko.

I say trade Gasol while his value is high. Its unlikely he will produce like this next year. He'll be better fit going to a team where he can play center full time

[Jeffx]

I'd say he'll be All-Rookie First Team, but his numbers aren't big enough across the board to lock up ROY. Wiggins is likely a lock, and that's fine, I don't think he's undeserving. I'm just happy that Niko is panning out and that the Bulls have picked up a really good player for the future.

Yep, I love his overall game.

[Andrew]

Bulls' Rose expects to return in 1-2 weeks: 'I don't have any pain'

Rose on whether he's confident he'll play this season: "Oh yeah. I'm not worried about that. I don't have any pain."

[air gordon]

Great win against the raptors. Toronto was in control for most of the game until they finally cooled off from downtown in the 4th and the bulls were resilient. good stuff

Enough with the rose updates until he's actually playing, Andrew lol. This is the third time around. I'm not interested in a Rose watch

[Andrew]

On the plus side, he pretty much said all the right things, this time. Score one for him, I suppose.

Going back to the Hornets game for a moment:

phpBB [video]

[air gordon]

Kudos to him I guess. For me it's not a matter of saying the "wrong" things, it's the lack of sincerity or him not expressing the desire to come back.

I'm not coming back until I'm 120%. Not coming back until I can dunk off two legs. Dunk off of surgically repaired knee. God only knows when I can come back. All this while there are reports he is killing it in during practice

But hey he's coming back within 2 weeks. The team is in a mini groove now. It will be interesting to see how much of the offense Thibs gives back to Rose when he returns. Tbh the offense has had a better flow and balance with Noah at the helm and Brooks providing better 3pt shooting

[Moz]

I'm not coming back until I'm 120%. Not coming back until I can dunk off two legs. Dunk off of surgically repaired knee. God only knows when I can come back. All this while there are reports he is killing it in during practice

He can't say those things nowadays unlike last year when he's still the center of the universe of this team...

It will be interesting to see how much of the offense Thibs gives back to Rose when he returns.

Don't worry about that he's a teacher's pet ... I expect that he will again resort to jump shots when he comes back just hoping that this time Thibs run some off-ball sets for him so that he will not force himself to play heroball...

Niko and Snell step up again when they needed them... I just hope that their productions will not go flat with Butler on the floor and Rose returning soon... The defense and rebounding are still the main concern they just got lucky when they got hot in the 4th and the Raptors become stale...

[air gordon]

Haha true. This team can score points without Rose

I hope to see more off ball sets for him too. Teams have been going under the high screens with Rose, daring him to shoot and he has been obliging them.

Noah's role in the offense is lost if Rose is the primarily handling the ball. Thibs, don't do it!

And while it is easy to pile on Rose at the moment, this team is not going to contend for a title as long they have 20+ million a year committed to a not producing/playing.

Niko and Snell step up again when they needed them... I just hope that their productions will not go flat with Butler on the floor and Rose returning soon... The defense and rebounding are still the main concern they just got lucky when they got hot in the 4th and the Raptors become stale...

It was niko and pau in at crunch time!? I'm giving the Bulls more credit on the win. The defensive rotations were better in the 4th. Once Vasquez went cold they did a great job defending derozan.

And for once, Hinrich had a good game. Strangely enough on the ESPN broadcast it was mentioned his fg% improves by the quarter

[I Hate Mondays]

Daaamn Niko still got it. He's stats are wonderful even with Jimmy Buckets' return. I wouldn't touch his minutes when Rose comes back eventually. Maybe if Rose's game is poor, thibs will play him less minutes under some lame soreness excuse

P.S. 5 min / game for Hinrich is more then he deserves in my opinion. Make it happen, staff !

[Andrew]

Why would Rose's minutes affect Niko's playing time? They don't play the same position.

[I Hate Mondays]

Correct me if I am wrong, but when an almost 30 min/game player comes back, minutes are taken from all of the players, no matter the position. Sure, most of Rose's minutes were divided between Brooks, Hinrich and Moore but I took a quick look at the stats and about 4-5 of those minutes were also given to Niko or Snell, ocasionally to benchwarmers or hot starting 5 players.

If my maths are bad and none of those leftover minutes were given to Niko, sorry for the bad statement lol

[Andrew]

I suppose there's that, but seeing as though they do play different positions, it shouldn't cut into Niko's time all that much...at least compared to players like Brooks, Hinrich and Moore.

[air gordon]

Andrew,
What do you think Thibs should do with offense when Rose returns? he needs to get back to speed but we're seeing the bulls offense is clicking. Plus Niko turned in a great March, including league leader in the 4th quarter scoring

[Andrew]

Have Rose be a facilitator first, and a scorer second.

It's a shame that the supposed improvements to his jumpshot that we did see flashes of as he was getting ready to make his comeback last season don't appear to have stuck. If they had, I'd suggest taking the ball out of his hands a bit more and using him as the shooting guard. The way he's shot the ball this season though, that's just not feasible.

They have three very capable passers in Rose, Gasol, and Noah. I'm guessing the offense will be run through all of them at different times, which is fine. Butler and Gasol have to be the top scoring options though; I believe Rose has to be looking for them before his own shot, at least until he can start finishing at the rim consistently, and knocking down some more of those jumpers/midrange floaters.

[Moz]

It's a shame that the supposed improvements to his jumpshot that we did see flashes of as he was getting ready to make his comeback last season don't appear to have stuck.

Part of it is because it seems he's forcing himself to be a 3 point shooter... He should consider staying first in the mid-range and eventually, as he becomes apt with it, adjust his range further one step at a time...

Speaking of Rose, he returned to practice though still unsure when he'll gonna play