Chicago Bulls come out shooting in preseason opener
Preseason openers generally don't mean much in any sport, but the Chicago Bulls' 105-95 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night at the United Center featured one very interesting number.
The Bulls attempted 39 shots from 3-point range. In contrast, their season high last year for 3-point attempts was 31.
Is this a sign of what's to come under new coach Fred Hoiberg, a heavy emphasis on long-range shooting?
"If they're open and they're god looks, then, yeah," Hoiberg said. "Obviously, once we get Pau (Gasol) out there we'll have a little more of a post presence. If you get those open looks, those are great shots."
Hoiberg made his unofficial NBA coaching debut in this one. The primary task during the first week of training camp was to introduce the new coach's offensive plan. In theory, it's supposed to be faster-paced and give the players more freedom to make their own decisions.
In reality, the Bulls' offense was embarrassingly bad in the first half. They shot 28 percent from the field as a team, while Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic combined to score 27 of the 37 points.
Everything looked better in the second half, though. Second-year forward Doug McDermott turned out to be the player of the game. After going scoreless in the first half, he knocked down 4 straight 3-point baskets and finished with 23 points, tying Butler for scoring honors.
"I just took a deep breath," McDermott said. "I think we all did. Just kind of first-game jitters. It's one of those deals you're getting used to the arena again.
"It felt good. That's what I do. That's what they brought me here for. It's one day, it's one game, so I can't dwell on it. There's 100 of these left."
Butler scored his 23 points in 25 minutes, Mirotic finished with 18 points, and rookie forward Bobby Portis had a nice debut, collecting a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 8 points.
The Bulls rested several key players, including Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich. Derrick Rose will be out for a few weeks with a broken orbital bone below his left eye, and Mike Dunleavy will miss a couple of months while recovering from back surgery.
At the start of the contest, it looked like former coach Tom Thibodeau knew what he was doing by limiting the number of 3-point shots. The Bulls hit just 1 of their first 14 shots from long range but went 12-for-25 the rest of the way.
Butler carried the team when it struggled early. After the contest, he expressed his desire to be a vocal leader this season.
"Most definitely. We've got guys who can score, guys that can shoot, guys that can drive, rebound," Butler said. "We need a guy that's going to step in and be that vocal guy on the court, in this locker room, in the game. I think that's what I'm going to have to be. I've got to take another leap forward, and I think that's going to be on the leadership side.
"We've got a couple guys that are quiet by nature. There's nothing wrong with that. We need a guy who's going to go hard every night and going to back up what he's talking about. I definitely think it's going to be me."
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