Bulls' early forecast looks sunny and bright
Preseason for the Bulls ended with an ugly fourth quarter Friday against Minnesota. Overall, though, there was plenty of good news, while the bigger problems seem correctable.
After taking Saturday off, the Bulls will get three practice days before opening the regular season Wednesday in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
Coach Tom Thibodeau wasn't happy Friday after most of the starters squandered a 13-point lead in the final seven minutes of a 113-112 loss to the Timberwolves.
Is it possible the starters had mentally checked out because they didn't think they'd go back in? They sure played like it.
But the big picture is what's important. There were plenty of Easter eggs in this 4-4 preseason:
• Most important, Derrick Rose declared himself ready for real action by crushing the last two games. He averaged 28.5 points, shot 59 percent from the field and didn't even play starters' minutes.
Rose shot well from long range - 43 percent for the preseason, 7-for-12 in the last two contests - and made the 1-on-3 fastbreak look easy.
Resistance will get tougher when the games start counting, but the working theory is, if Rose is healthy and moving well, good things will follow. As it stands today, there are no worries.
• Joakim Noah has responded well to his off-season knee surgery.
It was slow going early in the preseason, but Noah capped things off with a 17-rebound, 9-assist performance against Minnesota. Before that he grabbed 13 rebounds against Atlanta.
Learning to mesh with Pau Gasol will continue to be a work in progress, but imagine the possibilities - Noah's activity paired with Gasol's length.
The idea is the Bulls can match up big or small using the same front line.
• Jimmy Butler, remember him?
He missed the last two preseason games with a sprained left thumb and is questionable for the opener. But he was the Bulls' best player through the first five games, when he averaged 18.6 points and shot 60 percent.
If some of that carries into regular season, the Bulls would have an unexpected weapon.
• There were some under-the-radar positives.
Mike Dunleavy shot 44 percent from 3-point land in the preseason. That's why the Bulls signed him in the first place, but he didn't shoot particularly well from long range last season.
Rookie Doug McDermott shot just 29 percent from 3-point land. His shot figures to come around, but the encouraging news is he was able to rebound well and drive to the basket at times. But can he master Thibodeau's defense?
Nikola Mirotic has some impressive skills, but this figures to be a developmental season for him. Aaron Brooks seems to play better when he's looking to score.
There was nothing to complain about from veterans Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich.
The problem areas were easy enough to spot. Too many turnovers was a big one: 17 per game and most on careless passes.
Overall in the preseason, opponents averaged 96.4 points and shot 43.2 percent against the Bulls. Those numbers aren't bad, but there were stretches when the defense was awful, such as Friday's first half, which ended in a 64-64 tie.
The preseason problems should be easily solved as the new players learn Thibodeau's defense and get more comfortable playing with each other.
Thibodeau may not see it this way, but the forecast coming out of the preseason is mostly sunny with a chance of Rose blooming.
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