Have the Chicago Bulls Turned Things Around?
The Chicago Bulls have been the subject of a little controversy lately due to reports that their head coach Tom Thibodeau is currently on the hot seat, according to NBA reporter Chris Sheridan.
Jeff Van Gundy had his own comments to make about the situation regarding how the Bulls’ management and fellow media have given Thibodeau an unfair negative reputation, but since then Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson came back at Van Gundy and said that the team is in full support of its head coach.
Whether all of this went down because of Derrick Rose‘s fiery comments regarding the disconnect and lack of effort with the team, or if it was because the Bulls had lost four of their last five games before Thursday night’s win over the San Antonio Spurs, it is clear that there were some dark clouds hovering over the United Center in Chicago.
However, the storm seems to have lifted, as the Bulls have won three of their last four games, with all of these wins coming against quality teams coming from the Western Conference.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
The Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors have all fallen to the Bulls recently. Dallas and Golden State lost to the Bulls in their own respective arenas, and San Antonio bit the bullet on the road in Chicago, getting mercilessly blown out by Rose’s squad.
The Bulls were never going to be viewed as non-contenders in the East unless there was a serious losing streak or clear issues present in the locker room. Chicago is simply too talented and too deep to drop a number of games that would put the playoffs out of reach.
In these three wins over West contenders, Rose has played some of his best (and worst) basketball of the season, but for the most part, he was a reliable scorer down the stretch for his team.
Rose had over 20 points in all three wins, and 19 in their one loss out of the four to the Miami Heat. Rose seems to be attacking the basket and being aggressive on offense like the old Rose, which is definitely a key factor to a playoff run for Chicago. Rose sets the tone on offense, and if he doesn’t come out attacking, then the rest of the team generally doesn’t either.
His aggression has paid off as well, as Rose is shooting 43.3 percent from the field over this four game stretch, which is better than his 41.7 percent shooting for the season. Rose has been taking better quality shots (Golden State game aside) and really seems to be focused on getting his team victories down the stretch before the All-Star break.
The Bulls’ game against the Warriors was a weird one for Rose, who had 11 turnovers to just one assist and 33 shot attempts on the night. You won’t normally see a stat line like that for Rose, let alone any point guard in the NBA. It was clear that Rose just wanted to take over and get back to his old self, a player who could win a close game like that by himself.
That kind of attitude is what everyone wants to see from Rose and the kind of mindset that wins games, but that shouldn’t mean taking that many shots and forgetting what the role of a point guard is, which is to be a distributor on offense.
That was a career-high in turnovers for Rose, so that kind of sloppiness handling the ball probably won’t be seen again from him. Keep in mind that before this season, he hadn’t played a meaningful minute of basketball in two years. It has taken Rose some time to come back from his string of injuries, but things may finally be looking up for the point guard.
Center Joakim Noah is finally back from his injury spout, and looks energized and ready to compete again as he hasn’t quite been himself all year for the Bulls. Pau Gasol has been playing at a high level the entire time, and doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down. Oh, and Jimmy Butler looks like a rising star at the shooting guard position.
The Bulls are beginning to look like the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, although the Cleveland Cavaliers are right behind them as they’ve won seven games in a row now. The Bulls aren’t afraid of the Cavs, however, and will look to keep their dominance going after the short break in action.
Look out NBA, primetime basketball may be back in the city of Chicago.
*Statistics courtesy of ESPN.