Chicago Bulls: 3 Lessons Learned From Spurs’ Title Run

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Miami Heat to capture the franchise’s fifth championship. In doing so, the Spurs accomplished two things: 1) They derailed the Heat’s bid to win three consecutive titles and 2) they proved they were better than the team that let a championship slip away from them last season.

For those of you who are Chicago Bulls fans, I’m pretty sure that you and the front office were paying close attention at how the Spurs turned back a Heat team that was making its fourth straight appearance in the NBA Finals. And if that is not the case, then shame on you.

With the draft and free agency period on the horizon, all eyes will be on the Bulls to see how they can position the team to become potential title contenders next season. And to turn that dream into a reality, here are three principles that should be taken from the Spurs successful title run this season.

Multiple scorers needed

The sports world marveled at how beautifully the Spurs offense (118.5 points per 100 possessions and 60.4 effective field goal percentage) played in the Finals. And if you watched this series from start to finish, you are aware that one of the reasons why the Spurs are champions again is because multiple players stepped up at different moments and provided scoring when it was needed.

For example, Tim Duncan, whose best years were supposedly behind him, averaged a double-double in the five-game series with 15.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per outing. Tony Parker, who was the team’s leading scorer, chipped in with 18 points per contest, which is impressive considering that LeBron James was guarding him at various stretches.

Manu Ginobili, who struggled in the series between these two teams last year, had solid contributions with averages of 14.4 points and 4.4 assists, including 19 points in the series finale.

But the most important piece of the puzzle was Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who was sensational with 17.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per outing. After tallying just nine points in the first two games, Leonard scored 29, 20 and 22 points in the last three contests, becoming just the fourth player in history to score 20 points in three consecutive playoff games before reaching 23 years of age.

And Leonard accomplished this while guarding the best player in the league.

The point I am trying to make is quite simple. In order for an organization to be successful, the roster must have more than one player who can score.

Yes, I know Derrick Rose is on the mend and is expected to be at 100 percent by the time the 2014-15 season rolls around. However, even when Rose was healthy, he was not able to lead the Bulls to a title alone and he will not be able to carry the team on his shoulders now.

Therefore, if the Bulls are going to take the next step towards being a championship-caliber ball club, they will need to address the problem that has plagued them for the last four seasons—the lack of another legitimate scorer who can create his own shot or provide scoring opportunities for the other players on the floor.

In other words, they have to find a way to acquire Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Love—both of whom should be of great help to a team that ranked last in scoring a season ago.

Solid bench play

Another factor that helped fuel the Spurs to their first title since 2007 was the play of the reserves. After all, no matter how talented a starting unit is, that group of players will need rest at some point.

How well did the Spurs bench perform in 2013-14? Well, they were the top team in the league in minutes played (21.0) and points per games (44.6).

In addition to that, the Spurs reserves outscored the Heat’s second unit by more than 14 points per contest through the first four games of the Finals. And in the series finale, San Antonio’s bench outscored Miami’s second unit 47-24.

So although Miami’s roster features three of the most talented players in the league at their positions in James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, in the end, the best team won these Finals because of a balanced attack that included consistent scoring from its reserves.

That being said, the Bulls second unit will need to have a similar level of production if they are going to shed the label of being a good “regular-season” team that has come up short in the playoffs.

This brings us to my last and final point.

Resting starters as needed

Tom Thibodeau has done a lot of good things since he took over as the Bulls head coach four years ago. He guided the team to its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 15 years back in 2011 and won the Coach of The Year award in the process.

He has instilled a defense-first mentality into a team that was average in this area the two seasons prior to his arrival. What is even more impressive is Thibodeau has complied a 205-107 record (.660 winning percentage) despite the fact that Rose has missed 181 games over the last three years.

But for all the good Thibodeau has done for the Bulls, he has one flaw in his coaching style—he relies too much on his starters.

For example, in the regular season finale against the Charlotte Bobcats, Butler and Noah played 48 and 42 minutes respectively in a contest that had no bearing on the team’s position in the playoff race. And following a season that took a toll on the starting unit, Thibodeau still opted to go with a seven-man rotation during the playoff series against the Washington Wizards.

What was the result? A tired Bulls squad that managed just one win against a talented, but unproven opponent. To further illustrate my point, the Bulls bench unit played just 15.1 minutes per game, which puts them near the bottom of the league in this statistical category, per HoopsStats.com.

In contrast, Gregg Popovich opted to rest his players during the regular season, even if it meant not finishing with the best record and possibly sacrificing home-court advantage at some point in the playoffs.

In fact, if you take a look at the chart below, you will see that no player on the Spurs roster played more than 30 minutes per contest.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/19/2014.

The goal that Popovich had in mind was to put his players in position to perform at a high level when it mattered the most—mission accomplished.

So Mr. Thibodeau if you are listening, I would ask that you give your starters more rest in meaningless games and learn to trust your bench unit a bit more. Not only will this method allow your starters to have fresher legs come playoff time, you may also discover that your bench is a bit deeper than you thought.

James Tillman is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com and a sports contributor for Football Nation and Sports Kings/Pass The Pill. James is also a former Featured Sports Contributor for Yahoo! Contributor Network.