I could end this post by just saying "see last night's game," but I owe to Luol Deng to elaborate. With Derrick Rose injured, Deng is by far the most important player on the Bulls. Here are my top 3 reasons why.
#1 - Deng Creates Shots
Every Bulls fan knows that Luol isn't a great dribbler. This is a function of both his long, awkward body, but also, he simply isn't a great ball handler. However, Luol slashes to the basket extremely well, can move off screens, and although it's usually pretty ugly, he uses his athleticism to get some easy dribble drive buckets.
Watching Jamal Crawford handle the ball like an extension of his body is super entertaining, but Deng gets the job too--just in a less sexy fashion. While Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson can both dazzle with post moves, neither can create off the dribble like Deng. Frankly, with Deng, Rose, and Jimmy Butler all injured, the Bulls don't have a single creator available.
#2 - Deng Shuts Down Offensive Stars
This is so obvious that it almost doesn't warrant a mention. If he played against the New York Knicks tonight, I'm quite certain Carmelo Anthony would have one of his worst games of the year. Deng doesn't look as jacked as a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, but he is very strong, very physical, and he's not soft. It takes a different kind of personality to like getting beat up and pushing back, and Deng has it.
#3 - Marquis Teague Doesn't Have to Play
After watching last night's debacle against Milwaukee, I think we can all agree that playing Marquis Teague should be considered tanking. I'm sure Teague is a great guy, works very hard, and he's probably even good in practice. However, he can't shoot, he can't finish, he's weak, he doesn't defend very well, and he truly has no NBA-quality skills at this point.
Teague presents so many problems for the Bulls at the moment. He's afraid to drive, so his defender can sit on his heels and wait for Teague to pass the ball. He also can't shoot, so teams are easily able to sag off and double on other players. Other than the Bulls' refusal to run plays through Taj Gibson frequently, the other major problem with the offense right now is spacing. The Bulls quality bigs face constant doubles and clogged paints because there's virtually no reason to defend the perimeter.
When Deng is playing, the Bulls can minimize Teague's playing time. True, he will have to log some minutes as long as Mike James is out and DJ Augustin isn't signed. But, with Deng in the lineup, the Bulls can minimize the Teague/Kirk Hinrich backcourt which looked so pathetic last night. Deng can play the 2, 3, or 4, making him incredibly valuable when other players are injured.
At this point, I'm not really sure how the Bulls keep Deng going forward, but I think management should at least try. If the Reinsdorf family is interested, I'll happily deal with the issue if they would like to pay me to be a consultant. As a humble fan and blogger, I'm not really sure what to do. The decision is probably very much predicated on how good they think Nikola Mirotic can be.
Tonight's game...
The Knicks are absolutely terrible. The Bulls are terrible without Rose, Butler, Deng, and Joakim Noah. But the Knicks are really really bad and have no solid big men to speak off.
Final Score:
Bulls 87 Knicks 80
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