Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose’s Resurgence Affecting Jimmy Butler
The Chicago Bulls have won three straight games even though their backcourt tandem of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler has been trending in opposite directions.
The Chicago Bulls have not had an easy season by any stretch of the imagination. Both injuries and several losses to inferior opponents are the primary reasons why the team finds itself in the eighth spot of the conference playoff race, hanging on for dear life.
Despite the mediocre 36-33 record, however, there is one trend unfolding that is worth talking about. That trend is none other than Derrick Rose.
Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the oft-injured point guard. Before the season began, Rose suffered an orbital injury on the first day of training camp. As a result of that setback, Rose’s depth perception was affected, which led to him shooting just 35 and 41 percent respectively during the first two months of 2015-16 campaign.
Additionally, Rose has garnered criticism for his willingness to sit out games if his body doesn’t feel right. This sentiment holds true in both regular season and playoff contests as well.
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While Rose’s durability will always be a debatable topic going forward, what is a fact is that he has been playing extremely well as of late. After scoring 17.6 points per contest in January, Rose’s scoring output jumped up to 21.9 points per game in February to go along with 6.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds on 47 percent shooting.
For those of you who need more proof that Rose is starting to bloom, look no further than the 12 games he has played in since the All-Star break. During the stretch, Rose is averaging 20.2 points per contest on 52 percent shooting from the field. This includes a 50 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc.
Needless to say, this is quite an improvement considering that Rose is a career 30.4 percent shooter from distance.
"“He’s playing his best stretch of basketball. There’s no doubt about it,” Hoiberg told CSN Chicago. “He’s raising up and taking and making clutch shots with no fear. He’s attacking the basket. He’s doing a good job finding mismatches and throwing ahead on the break. And his defense has been much better the last few games, applying more hand pressure, getting deflections and getting in the ball better on the pick-and roll.”"
Furthermore, in Chicago’s last two wins over the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings, Rose converted 60 percent of his attempts in both contests, marking the first time such an occurrence has taken place since February of 2012, per ESPN Stats & Information, via Nick Friedell. That being said, Rose is peaking at just the right time.
Meanwhile, Rose’s backcourt mate, Jimmy Butler, appears to be heading in the opposite direction. During the first four months of the season, Butler averaged at least 20 points per contest and was the team’s top scoring option.
But after being sidelined for 12 games with a knee injury, Butler has not been the same player from an offensive standpoint. While he did score 24 points against the Houston Rockets in his first game back in the lineup on March 5, Butler seems to be a shell of his former self.
In the five games he has played in following the outing against the Rockets, Butler has scored more than 17 points in just one of those contests. Additionally, Butler has connected on just 25 of his last 66 attempts, which equates to paltry 37.9 shooting percentage. Not exactly the ideal time for a team’s top scorer to be going through a slump with every game having playoff implications.
Fortunately for the Bulls, Butler continues to be the team’s best defender, as his five steals against the Kings would indicate.
"“The most important thing Jimmy is giving us right now is a great defensive presence,’’ Hoiberg said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s doing a really good job making it difficult on the other teams’ best scorers. He just gives you that physical wing presence where he can guard the other teams’ best player. That’s what we really missed when he was out of the lineup. I have no doubt his offense will come back and come back soon. He’s putting the work in.’’"
Whether or not Butler’s recent struggles are a result of missing extended time away from the court; being on a minutes watch, or simply him and Rose not being able to consistently play well together remains to be seen. However, if the Bulls hope to have any success down the stretch, they will need this duo to get their act together and fast.
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If that doesn’t happen, the offseason will begin sooner than they would like.