Chicago Bulls: Encouraging Signs From Loss To The Indiana Pacers

Here’s the thing about basketball: it’s a game of runs. Last night’s Eastern Conference “rivalry” battle between the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls was no different. At various points throughout the night, each team went on runs to reclaim and extend their lead. With five minutes left in the game, the Bulls were only down 77-72. So although the final score of 97-80 makes it look like Derrick Rose and the Bulls are still struggling, there were a lot of encouraging things to take out of the loss.

Is there such a thing as a moral victory in professional sports? My answer would be “not really,” and this certainly wasn’t a moral victory for Chicago, who fell to 1-3 on the season. Even that Derrick Rose gamewinner over New York from last week doesn’t look as shiny since the Knicks are also 1-3 now. But even though Chicago’s defensive rotations fell apart in the game’s final minutes and even though the Pacers handed Chicago a 17-point loss when all was said and done, the Bulls should feel encouraged that Rose is getting close to finding his rhythm.

It wasn’t a stellar performance by any means, but Rose looked a lot sharper on offense and more comfortable with his shot. He finished with 17 points on 40 percent shooting and (sort of) cut down on his turnovers to finish with four. Four turnovers isn’t something to feel great about and Rose only had two assists, but keep in mind that the Bulls were taking on one of the stingiest defenses in the NBA. And compared to Rose’s season averages of 29 percent shooting and 5.7 turnovers per game, this was a definite improvement.

Chicago’s biggest problem so far is they haven’t really caught a break in playing any easy opponents early. Rose’s “welcome back” game was against the defending champion Miami Heat, who have a punishing defense. Then Chicago took on the New York Knicks, a team that still had Tyson Chandler holding down the paint at the time. Following that they were on the road against the surprising Philadelphia 76ers, who have looked like a team capable of sneaking into the Eastern Conference playoffs (if it weren’t for the obvious fact that they’ll be tanking soon enough). Follow that up with the Indiana Pacers, the team that has hands-down looked like the best team in the NBA early on. It’s easy to see why Rose and the Bulls have had problems finding their offensive rhythm.

It’s tempting to buy into the “Derrick Rose is struggling!” hype, but keep in mind it’s still only been four games. He’ll get a chance to establish his rhythm against the lowly Utah Jazz on Friday. So far, he’s looked great in spurts, now he just needs to find the consistency. If we were to compare his situation to The Princess Bride, Derrick Rose would be Westley (played by Cary Elwes). Both were out of action and dead to the world for awhile: Rose tore his ACL and Westley was literally dead. But both were only mostly dead and got their chance at a comeback. So even though a little head jiggle is great progress in the context of an 82-game season, people are so impatient to see immediate results and highlights that their reaction rapidly turns to disappointment. Calm down, people! He’s been mostly dead all day:

Again, this wasn’t the breakthrough game Derrick Rose and the rest of Chicago fans were hoping for. But if Tom Thibodeau hadn’t left his bench in for so long in the fourth quarter, the game would’ve been closer. Indiana rattled off a 30-11 run to finish the game, thanks to great offensive rebounding, Lance Stephenson deciding he wanted to find his 3-point shot and Chicago’s defensive rotations on the perimeter completely dissolving. Hell, even Luis Scola made a defensive play! When that happens, it’s just not your night. Or, at least, it’s not your last five minutes of the game.

At this point, there are two things far more worrisome than Derrick Rose’s rust: 1) Joakim Noah and 2) wing depth. Noah had a career season last year, but so far he’s averaging just 5.5 points per game. He’s still rebounding well (10.8 per game), but his minutes are down to 28.8 minutes from 36.8 last year. It seems hypocritical to complain that Noah isn’t playing enough given Thibodeau’s tendency to ride his starters into the ground, but does this shift in playing time mean that Thibs has realized that tendency or does it mean Noah still isn’t 100 percent?

As for wing depth, this could be the issue that separates Chicago from the real Eastern contenders a few months from now. Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler have yet to have good nights on the same night, Kirk Hinrich isn’t much of a scorer, Tony Snell is still a rookie and Mike Dunleavy isn’t even worthy of the “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” nickname I’ve been pushing for the past week. Dunleavy might end up being the only Chicago Bulls player to play under Tom Thibodeau and not improve in any way on defense.

The main point remains the same as a week ago, when the Heat dismantled Chicago on opening night: relax! A 17-point loss to the Pacers looks bad on paper but there’s no shame in losing to a team that currently looks like the most dangerous team in the league, even if the last five minutes were admittedly bad. Come playoff time, the defensive rotations have to be better. The defensive rebounding has to be better. And Rose has to get the ball in his hands and make plays. But those things will come as Chicago shakes the collective rust off. Encouragement!