Mirotic leaves Bulls' starting lineup
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg broke apart the tall front line Friday against Dallas, moving Nikola Mirotic out of the starting lineup in favor of Tony Snell.
Mirotic has started 31 of 39 games this season, some at power forward and some at small forward. He had a rough night in Philadelphia on Thursday, going 2-for-13 from the field with 5 turnovers in a game the Bulls won in overtime.
“The big thing is talking to him, try to build up the confidence,” Hoiberg said before Friday's game. “He's going to be fine. I'm confident in that. We'll get him back out there probably a little bit more at the 4 (power forward), probably a little more natural position for him, to build some confidence.
“We'll utilize him in a little different manner, setting some screens and popping, being able to get down to the rim, especially when he's playing with Jo (Noah). I think that's a good lineup.”
Mirotic was one of the Bulls' first subs at the five-minute mark of the first quarter. He checked in for Taj Gibson and started out playing next to Pau Gasol. He played with Noah for a while, but Noah figures to be sidelined for a while after reinjuring his left shoulder in the second quarter of Friday's game.
Mirotic has been hot and cold all season, with no real rhyme or reason to it. Two games ago, Mirotic scored 17 points at Milwaukee and last week he had 24 against Atlanta.
“He's continued to be aggressive, that's for sure,” Hoiberg said. “It's what we want. When he's got an open one, he's got to take it. But that's the thing, I thought he pressed a little bit (Thursday). I thought he was trying to make things happen, force things to happen that maybe weren't there.”
Hoiberg gets hot:
One of the subplots of Thursday's comeback win at Philadelphia was coach Fred Hoiberg's halftime rant. Jimmy Butler mentioned it after the game.
“Fred came in here and got on our (butt) to tell you the truth,” Butler told reporters in the locker room. “I like it though. He was fired up — before the game, too. So when we came in at halftime, he came in and let us know this is not how we're going to play. And that's what I like to see.”
The Bulls trailed the Sixers by 16 points at halftime after being down by as many as 24. Butler led the comeback, scoring a career-high 53 points in the process.
Before Friday's game at the United Center, the normally mild-mannered Hoiberg talked about getting fired up.
“If it has to be done, you do it,” Hoiberg said. “I'm comfortable doing it. I've had some pretty good rants over the course of my career. When it has to happen, you do it. Hopefully, they respond to it. (Thursday) night, they did.”
Bull horns:
Jimmy Butler's 53 points in Philadelphia were the most scored by a Bulls player since Michael Jordan had 55 against Washington on April 27, 1997. … Since Jan. 1, Butler is averaging 30.6 points, second in the NBA behind Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins at 32.9. … According to nba.com, Butler leads the league in most miles run this season with 104.8.