Finally we have the last team on my preview and the team Grantland.com’s editor-in-chief Bill Simmons has named the number 1 team going into the season the Chicago Bulls. To be truthful they’re only on my list for sure because they have Mike Dunleavy. That doesn’t stop me from being really happy that I’ll get to follow them for the next 82 games. This will be a great experience, and hopefully one that ends with the dethroning of the Miami Heat.
The Good:
Derrick Rose. There’s only one place to begin with this year’s Chicago Bulls, and that’s with the former MVP. Of course there’s no stats from last year as Rose was recovering from an ACL tear in his left knee, and outside of the last month of preseason (boo preseason basketball) we still don’t know where Rose is athletically. That’s the cautiously optimistic version of this preview. Let’s blow the doors off this thing. Derrick Rose and Da Bulls may be the best chance to ever de-throne the King. Rose has already beaten Lebron for an MVP, and the Bulls are finally healthy enough and finally have enough firepower. They just desperately need Rose to play the way he played 2 years ago, that’s what drives the Bulls offense (we know how “fun” it was to watch their offense last year), and that’s how they can compete with the Heat. Literally nothing I have just spent the last ten minutes writing is original thought though. You can go to any newspaper, magazine, (just kidding print media is dead) or website and find the exact same things said about the Bulls. Sorry. It’ll get better. Please keep reading because it’s time for…
Mike Dunleavy Jr. My favorite basketball player on the PLANET. The stats first: .57 true shooting percentage, 42 % on 3’s, 53 effective field goal percentage on jumpers, and rarely turns over the ball. Dunleavy will be expected to lead a second unit with Marquis Teague and Taj Gibson, and score off the bench when Jimmy Butler and Luol Deng are ineffective. What the Bulls wanted going into free agency was a new Kyle Korver, with Dunleavy they’re getting not only a three point scorer but a heady instinctive passer and defender whose farthest venture into the playoffs was game 5 of the first round. This is me restraining myself, it’s a long season, there will be a LOT of Mike Dunleavy gushing.
Jimmy Butler. Honesty Time: this moved up from the bad to the good when I drafted him in fantsy about 2 hours ago. That’s just the way it goes when you’re making it up as you’re going along. Glass half full: Butler is everything the Bulls always wanted when they signed stupid people to be their 2 guard, with defensive skills (Thibs approves), and the shooting the whole “shooting“ guard moniker implies. Glass half empty: He keeps being average on offense (15.2 PER) but continues to be a defensive stopper.
The Bad:
Luol Deng. He’s supposed to be really good right? Hasn’t Luol Deng been the glue that makes the Bulls. Haven’t they stopped trades because they didn’t want to give up Luol Deng? Doesn’t Tom Thibodeau LOVE Luol Deng? I sure hope so because Deng’s stats are pedestrian. A 15.1 PER, a 50.8 true shooting percentage, an effective field goal percentage on jumpers of 39.6 and 32% on 3 pointers aren’t exactly up there with Lebron James. I understand that he is a lockdown defender and an altogether glue guy, but those offensive numbers make him seem like a slightly better Tony Allen than anything else.
Joakim Noah. Noah has come so far in the years since he left Florida after back to back NCAA championships. Without Derrick Rose, he saw how much of the offense he had to add to and did so. With Rose back, now Noah can go back to what he does best. His PER with Rose 2 years ago was 19.6 and last year was 18.1 when he did more offensively. The more you look at it, the more it looks like Noah is on his way to having a great year. The problem and the real reason he’s on “the bad” is how ugly is jump shot is. Because honestly, it’s like grotesquely ugly.
The Ugly:
Carlos Boozer. I just don’t particularly like Carlos Boozer. I mean he’s okay. He’s underrated at this point as an offensive player, since people continually forget that he has gotten you a 15 and 8 every night forever. The Bulls actually ended up in the top half of offensive efficiency last year and though a lot of that credit goes to Noah, Boozer continually did Boozer things, and kept cranking out 15 and 8’s star point guard or no. Reliability and proficiency aren’t vices, they’re just boring. Boozer’s kind of boring.
Well I’ve wrapped up my team previews and thus the season must finally be upon US! Hopefully it’ll be as great as it seems it will be.
The Irish Basketball Preview Blessing
May Roy Hibbert rise to meet you
May Lebron leave Miami and never go back
May the sun shine upon your team,
Your favorite players never get hurt,
And with the game on the line
May the ball be held in your best players’ hands
e-mail: Seamusfennell@gmail.com twitter: Kevin
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