Big men step up during Bulls loss at Charlotte
Pau Gasol didn't play in the Bulls' 94-86 preseason loss at Charlotte on Monday, but the competition for minutes among the big men was stronger than ever.
Despite the final result, the Bulls got solid efforts from several big men. Taj Gibson, playing for only the second time in preseason as he recovers from ankle surgery, piled up 14 points and 9 rebounds in just 17 minutes of action.
Joakim Noah played 33 minutes and produced one of his signature stat lines from two years ago, before sore knees became an issue. Noah finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.
Nikola Mirotic started alongside Noah and had a nice night, with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Rookie Bobby Portis didn't give in, either, delivering 12 points and 8 rebounds.
First-year Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg has admitted there are some tough decisions ahead when it comes to finding playing time for the big men.
Nothing has been settled when it comes to the starting lineup, but it seems as if Hoiberg is leaning toward using Spanish national team teammates Gasol and Mirotic together. If it works out that way, Noah and Gibson would come off the bench, with Portis fighting for whatever scraps of playing time are left.
Hoiberg has talked about using Mirotic at small forward sometimes to create playing time for Portis at power forward. Heading into Monday's action, Portis ranked fourth in the league in rebounds with 10.0 per game during preseason.
There are a couple of explanations for what happened in Charlotte. One theory is intense competition is bringing out the best in the Bulls big men. Then maybe Gibson and Noah are healthier than they've been in more than a year and it's showing on the court.
There are two games left in preseason, not much time for Hoiberg to figure everything out. Expect the big man rotation to remain a work in progress.
The other good news for the Bulls was a strong game from shooting guard Jimmy Butler. After scoring 23 points in the preseason opener, Butler had been in a slump. He finished with a game-high 18 points against the Hornets.
The bad news was the Bulls didn't shoot the ball very well as a team, finishing at 37.6 percent overall. Noah went 2-for-8, Mirotic 3-for-9, Kirk Hinrich 1-for-6 and even Doug McDermott couldn't get going, with just 5 points in 26 minutes.
Guard Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 22 points and Jeremy Lin added 18. The Hornets improved to 6-0 in preseason.
Derrick Rose made the trip and spent time before the game shooting baskets while wearing the face mask that will protect his broken left orbital bone. It's not clear when Rose will be cleared for full-contact practice.
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