Bulls still have lineup questions
The Chicago Bulls dodged a couple of potholes Monday. They pulled out a victory against a team they should beat, the winless Philadelphia 76ers, and it appears Joakim Noah's left knee soreness isn't a major concern.
Still to be answered, though, is which lineup works best for the team.
Coach Fred Hoiberg was ready to switch starting lineups Monday and use Noah instead of the slumping Nikola Mirotic. Noah was scratched just before tipoff because of the knee pain. Mirotic got the start and scored a team-high 20 points.
"(Mirotic) stuck with it after missing a couple early," Hoiberg told reporters after the game. "But it was great for him to see the ball go in the basket there in the second half. I think it's what shooters need, to see that thing go in, take the lid off and hopefully he can take off from here."
Hoiberg said one reason he decided to change the lineup was the defense has been poor at the start of games. That might be expected when using questionable defenders across the front line - Mirotic, Pau Gasol and Doug McDermott.
Gasol had 6 blocked shots against the Sixers, but his unwillingness to stray from the basket on pick-and-rolls has been an issue for two seasons.
Would Noah do any better? Well, the Bulls are trying to spread the floor this season and that's one of Mirotic's strengths. At the same time, Taj Gibson is a better jump shooter than Noah, which is why those two seems to complement each other coming off the bench.
The lineup stats don't provide many answers. Using strictly plus-minus, the net score of the game while two players are together on the floor, Gibson and Mirotic are the Bulls' best big-man tandem at plus-2.7 per game, and that's one of Hoiberg's least-used combinations. Gasol and Mirotic are close behind at plus-2.6.
In order, the next most successful big-man combinations are Noah-Mirotic, Noah-Gasol, Gasol-Gibson and, finally, Noah-Gibson is statistically the worst.
Plus-minus can be a deceptive statistic, because there are so many other factors involved. Tony Snell has the best plus-minus on the Bulls this season.
The bottom line is in five of eight games this season, Mirotic has been one of the Bulls' best scorers. Hoiberg should stick with Gasol and Mirotic as starters for now. If better defense is needed at the start of games, maybe going back to Snell for McDermott would make more sense.
Noah was in good spirits after sitting out Monday's game. He was not expecting to get an MRI on his sore left knee.
"I wasn't expecting it," Noah told reporters in Philadelphia. "I've been feeling great up to this point and it just happened. I don't think it's too serious, but it was definitely a situation where I had to be smart. I wanted to play tonight really bad."
Noah emphasized the chance to start wasn't the reason he wanted to play so badly.
"I'm just trying to be healthy and trying to help this team," he said. "It's not about who's starting. That's not what I'm about. That's not what this team is about."
Bulls set for D-League:
On Wednesday, the Bulls are expected to officially announce formation of a D-League team to play at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates beginning next season.
The Bulls presumably will own and operate the minor-league team.
The proximity of the D-League squad would allow the Bulls to assign younger bench players to the team in order to see game action, while at the same time not losing touch with the parent franchise.
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