We're 57 games into the regular season with 25 games left to play and the Bulls are already one win away from tying their season total in wins the last two years (finished 41-41 in Rose's first two seasons). While I still think the Bulls needed an upgrade at the deadline at the shooting guard position, they are still in good shape to make a run in April and May. Here is my roster breakdown:
Derrick Rose: What can you say about Derrick Rose this season? He's been spectacular. All the MVP hype that he is getting is well-deserved because he is a huge reason why this team is where they are right now. I actually think Rose's jump shot has declined from last season (obviously he really improved his 3 point shooting from last season but I think his mid-range game is a little worse) yet he's still putting up monster numbers night in and night out. One of the big things Derrick has improved on from last year is his defense. No longer do you see a point guard like Devin Harris in his rookie year lighting the Bulls up. For more on Rose's defense this season, I recommend you
take a peek at this blog because it nails what an improvement Rose has made on his defense this season. One of the things I'd like to see work on for the rest of the season is cutting down on the number of turnovers he has. I feel like Derrick has been a little more careless with the ball this season compared to last year but maybe this has to do with adjusting to a new system. Whatever the case, the hype is real folks.
Keith Bogans: First off, I don't hate Keith Bogans as a person. I'm sure Keith is a wonderful man and a model citizen. It's not his fault that Tom Thibodeau is putting him a position to fail. Keith should not be starting as he is not a very good basketball player. His defense is rather overrated and aside from a nice recent stretch, he has shown the inability to knock down the open jumper. I know why Tom is starting Keith though. He likes Ronnie Brewer coming off the bench (as do I) and while Keith isn't that great of a basketball player, the Bulls are 40-17 with him starting. John Paxson and Gar Forman really need to make a move this offseason to bring in a real shooting guard to start. The Bulls are a good starting shooting guard away from being championship favorites in my opinion.
Luol Deng: I've never been a big Luol Deng fan at all but in the last two months, Luol Deng has turned into the 3rd most important players on this team in my opinion ahead of Carlos Boozer and behind Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. One gripe I had with Luol Deng in the past is he wasn't consistent enough and he'd have one good game and follow it up with a few clunkers. The past two months, Deng has had more good games than bad games. Deng now has a great 3-point game as well as a solid mid-range game and he brings the great defense he's always brought to the table. Only thing I worry about when it comes to Luol Deng is his health. He's played the 3rd most minutes per game in the NBA so far this season and Deng has a history of injury problems. So far this season, Deng has not missed any games and hopefully it continues.
Carlos Boozer: I have a love/hate relationship with Carlos Boozer. Sometimes I love him while others I hate him to death. Carlos Boozer has always been regarded as a lazy defender by fans of the NBA and he sure does show that at some points. But while he isn't the greatest defender in the world, Carlos brings a low post offensive presence that the Bulls have been lacking for years now. One thing that is encouraging when it comes to Boozer is he always seems to step his game up in the playoffs so hopefully this continues this year.
Joakim Noah: Noah has been awesome this season. The only time I had a problem with Noah this season, we later found out that he was playing with a serious injury. Stacey King calls Noah a modern-day Dennis Rodman with an offensive game and while I don't totally agree with this comparison, it's kind of spot on. Noah brings stingy defense and great rebounding and these past two seasons, he's developed a nice offensive game. In his three games back, he hasn't been that great on the offensive end but he'll get back in the groove again. It's really nice to have him back there's no doubt about that.
Ronnie Brewer: My favorite Bull not named Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. He obviously doesn't have the best offensive game but his defense is so noticeable out there. One of the best steals I've ever seen. It almost feels like Ronnie Brewer does the hard things better than he does the easy things like lay-ups and finishing dunks. There was a report on Friday from KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls offered him and draft picks to the Grizzlies for OJ Mayo. First off, I don't believe this report for one second because I see it as damage control. All reports say the Bulls rejected a deal involving Taj Gibson and picks to Memphis for OJ Mayo. And the Bulls are stupid if they offered Brewer in the first place because he's so valuable to this team.
Taj Gibson: Taj did a wonderful job starting and filling in for Carlos Boozer when he was out for punching a wal....er tripping over a bag. But ever since
he suffered a concussion against the Clippers in December, he's been rather terrible. Taj's jumpshot was solid earlier in the season and throughout his rookie season but since the concussion, he can't make a shot to save his life. Taj still brings stingy defense to the table but it would be nice if he could get an offensive game going again.
Kyle Korver: Kyle Korver was one of my favorite players in the NBA before he signed with the Bulls and I originally loved the signing but Korver has been a little underwhelming here. Korver isn't having as good of a season shooting as he has in past years and he still brings terrible defense to the table. When Korver isn't shooting well, he's worthless out there. But maybe he just needs to take time to adjust to being on a new team and shooting in a new building night in and night out. When Kyle Korver is on, there's no better jumpshooter in the NBA other than Ray Allen.
Omer Asik: Omer Asik has been awesome this season. It's hard to believe the guy is a rookie because he's adjusted to the NBA well. He obviously isn't the best offensive threat out there yet but he's already a great defender and he has seriously impacted games this year. Just take the Miami game on Thursday for example. He didn't take a shot yet finished with a +16 and while the +/- stat isn't always the best way to determine how well a player played on that night in the NBA, the star correctly reflects how well Asik played in that game. He's going to make for a great back-up for Noah for years to come.
CJ Watson: CJ Watson is a very streaky shooter and I feel like when Watson's shot is not on, he's hurting our team out there because he's more of a shooting guard than a point guard. He really doesn't do a good job at running the team. He did have
one amazing game earlier in the season when Derrick missed a game in Denver where he went for 33 points out of nowhere.
Kurt Thomas: Kurt Thomas didn't play much at all before Joakim Noah went out with the thumb injury but Kurt filled in for him nicely. Kurt is a great pick and pop player for Rose to dump it off to and while Thomas is the 2nd oldest player in the NBA behind Shaq, he still plays very good defense. With the rise of Omer Asik though and Noah out, Thomas hasn't seen much time if any in the last two games and assuming no more injuries come up, it'll probably stay like this.
Brian Scalabrine: Hard to believe this guy was a rotation player for the first few games of the season because he isn't a good basketball player at all. But he's still a fun guy to have on the team. That's about all I could say about him.
Tom Thibodeau: I was critical of Tom early in the year because he made a few big in-game decisions like keeping Rose out of the New York game in the 4th quarter in November when the Bulls were making a comeback and putting Jon Lucas on the floor in that Denver game in which they lost by 1. Lucas just flew in from Texas earlier in the day after being signed and went on to miss two key free throws. Still hate Lucas to this day because of that. But Tom has really done an amazing job getting this team to play defense despite having bad defenders like Boozer and Korver playing substantial minutes. Tom also did a nice job implanting a system that fit Derrick Rose well unlike Vinny Del Dumbass did in his first two years here. The Bulls are lucky to have a coach like Thibodeau for years to come.
