Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

A Bulls Review on the Heels of the Greatest (First Round) Series Ever

Game Seven ended a little over 24 hours ago, and I'm kind of sad that the Bulls season is over.  It seems kind of weird to say that, considering how much I loathed the team back in December, but its true.  After the big trade, they morphed into a genuinely likable team.  And the Bulls-Celts series was just the epitome of entertainment, despite the Bulls loss.  Textbook "why we love sports."  So before we close the book on the season, let me share a few thoughts on the team's key players:

• Derrick Rose - the future of the franchise showed flashes of brilliance, and was about as solid as a rookie point guard can be.  The thing that impresses me most is his strength.  He can go to the rim with so much power, its nearly impossible to believe that you're watching a 6'3 guard and not a beastly power forward.  Couple that with some sweet no look passes and wonderful court presence, and you've got yourselves one of the defining point guards for the next generation.  I'm not worried about all the turnovers either.  He didn't cough it up much in the regular season, and rookie PG's are notorious for dropping the ball.  He just picked the wrong time to make rookie mistakes. 
• Ben Gordon - The Assassin.  There's only a handful of guys in the NBA that can completely take over a game like Ben Gordon.  Of course, those other guys might not disappear as much as Gordon and might be a little more rounded players overall, but no matter.  The guy can win two games in a playoff series by himself, and he's exactly the type of guy that you need to keep around.  He's a free agent this offseason, and I don't have a good read at this point on whether the Bulls are going to try to keep him or not.  My vote would be to keep him.  He does one thing incredibly well, and I'd rather have that one thing than a little more well-rounded guy that does nothing especially well.  Speaking of...
• Kirk Hinrich - I've come around on the Captain.  I was annoyed to no end last year and the first few months of this year, but he stepped it up and earned his money in the second half.  He's solid on D, he can score a little, he can create shots.  He just isn't especially great at any of those things.  If I had a choice, I'd keep Gordon.  If they lose him, though, the consolation prize in keeping the Captain ain't so bad.
• Joakim Noah - Joakim's emergence was the most exciting aspect of the postseason.  The guy was universally thought of as a clown, a total buffoon in this league until the last two or three months when he finally started to take control of his game.  The guy's got mad rebounding skills and a shockingly nice touch on free throws (despite the awkward shooting motion.)  But it's his energy that's most valuable.  He just goes at it all night, and really gets under people's skin.  His steal and dunk over Pierce was perhaps the defining shot of the series for Bulls fans.  How many 7-footers can do that?  Maybe Duncan in his prime?  I can't think of anybody.  He really only has two things going against him.  He doesn't have much of an outside shot, and he doesn't have much mass.  He can get abused under the rim by the likes of a true big man, like Perkins or Big Baby.  They shoved him around like a rag doll.  I'd really like to see what Noah would do if he could put on twenty pounds of muscle.
• Tyrus Thomas - Thomas has mad blocking skills, and crazy good hops.  He even has an OK outside shot, that we maybe saw a little too much.  I didn't understand why he wasn't playing more in the second half in the defining game 7.  They desperately needed a few stops, and you'd think that the crazy shot blocker would be a great candidate to do it.  But alas, he was on the bench.  Probably because he shares one of Noah's problems.  He doesn't have much bulk and can get tossed around a bit under the basket.
• Brad Miller - Miller's great. I only wish the Bulls hadn't traded him six years ago so they would have had him for his prime.  He's not Shaq or anything, but he was a legit top ten center in this league for a while and he still has more than solid enough skills.  He's under contract for one more year.  Perhaps he can teach Noah a few things about posting up and being more of an inside presence. 
• John Salmons - Salmons is another one.  Love his game.  He can play three positions on the floor and play them well.  What a deal for Paxson.  I know the Kings had to dump salary, but still.  He might have a bit of the "does everything well, nothing especially great" in him, but he's a borderline great scorer.  His game six was phenomonal, and he can take over a game.
• Luol Deng - Who?  I don't know what the hell's going to happen next year.  Two years ago, Deng looked like a borderline star.  Since then, he's done less than nothing.  He showed a few flashes in January after coming off the injured list, but he was a complete non-factor in the resurgence and John Salmons and Ty Thomas basically took all his minutes.  Would the Bulls be better off if Deng just disappeared?  How can Vinnie find enough minutes to keep everybody happy?
• Vinnie Del Negro - the first half of the season was a disaster, the second half showed marked improvement.  He's still pretty green, though, and he made a half-dozen mistakes in every playoff game.  Still, he made some really great moves in this series.  The small lineup of the three guards, Salmons and Noah played huge for this team.  Boston couldn't keep up, and they were vulnerable on D when they put in their smaller guys in an attempt to counter.  And then the call for Miller to take the potential game-tying shot was brilliant.  Just a shame Miller got mugged by Rondo and was too woozy to hit the free throws.  Oh, and he isolated Hinrich perfectly under the basket in game six.  Shame that Hinrich couldn't hit a layup.  Yeah, he couldn't devise a play to even get a shot off with six seconds in regulation of game 5, and he routinely mis-managed his timeouts.  But he seems like a solid-enough basketball mind that he could grow into becomming a good coach.  I just don't know if I want to wait for him.

John Paxson has got some serious work to do this offseason.  If he kept the roster as-is, I think the team could easily win 55 games next year.  I'm not sure how much of a contender they'd be, but they'd surely be ripe for another decent playoff run.  Unfortunately he doesn't get to keep his roster.  He's got to make a decision on Gordon, and that decision impacts what they will do with Hinrich (if anything.)  He's got to figure out how to find enough minutes for Luol Deng, and keep Salmons productive and happy on his own.  He's also got to find a long-term big body to play Center, although I don't know if that move will even be possible this offseason.  To bad Gasol isn't available. ;)  I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

Till next season...