Positives from the Bulls Loss to the Magic

It's been a very tough few days. Not only did it take the Bulls a last second shot to beat the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, but now the Bulls have dropped consecutive games to the lowly Raptors and the mediocre Magic.

Even worse, Taj Gibson is back to earth, no longer looking like an all-star power forward. Jimmy Butler capped off his return by shooting 1-11 last night. Marquis Teague looks like his time with the Bulls is dwindling, and Carlos Boozer scored just 6 points on 3-10 shooting. Tony Snell, who had shown some promise, played just 5 minutes, shooting just one time.

So what the heck went right?

D.J. Augustin

D.J.  Augustin is the Bulls backup point guard of the future. For now, he'll log 37 minutes per night and make the Bulls wish they never waived Mike James. Augustin isn't a great shooter by any means, but he can at least occasionally hit open jumpshots, and he is a fantastic passer. He almost always makes the right pass, and he's shown the ability to make things happen off the dribble. He's quickly becoming a valuable member of the rotation, and while he doesn't quite score as easily as Nate Robinson, he's the best playmaker this side of Derrick Rose.

Mike Dunleavy 

Mike Dunleavy has emerged as a very valuable scorer. He's no stranger to being featured; in fact, he spent much of his early career as a featured scorer for the Golden State Warriors.  Dunleavy isn't he best three point specialist ever, but he does a great job of getting open off screens, and he definitely has the range to create ideal spacing on the floor.

Dunleavy's now scored in the double digits for 6 straight games, and he's shown that he doesn't mind being the man on offense. Believe it or not, that's a huge problem for the Bulls, and it's borderline embarrassing to see Dunleavy and Luol Deng have to shoulder the burden as the ONLY confident offensive weapons.

With the team struggling, it appears Derrick Rose is unhappy. Allegedly, Rose thinks the Bulls are going to start tanking and embark on a massive rebuilding effort. We all know Rose "just wants to win." But, what we don't know, is why Rose would complain so much about the release of Mike James. In reality, that's the only change this team has made. Deng, Boozer, Noah, and Butler all remain under contract, though a Deng contract extension is a matter of the salary cap. Management recently met with Nikola Mirotic and seem excited to get the ball rolling with him.

Rose might be more upset that the Bulls are tanking (unintentionally) and may be poised to acquire another star. It is overwhelmingly clear that Rose doesn't care about recruiting any friends or stars to this team. He wants to win a championship "on his own."

He might feel threatened by the arrival of another elite NBA player, perhaps even feeling expendable. We all know that's not the case. Rose is the face of the Bulls and Chicago sports. While I think he makes a 100% recovery, it's just smart business to diversify into less risky assets. If I'm Michael Reinsdorf, I want a team that's competitive without Rose and a team that can crush the Heat with him.

I understand why Rose may be upset, but he shouldn't be. His job is safer than Jay Cutler's.

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Bulls Waive Mike James

Corey and I loved you, but no one else did.   :(

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Friday's Finds

Hello Bulls fans,

Here are some of the most compelling stories in basketball:

Hoops Rumors: Bulls Offseason Review

There's nothing I love more than an outsider's take on the Bulls--mostly because I am extremely biased and think Mike James is still a great backup point guard. Here, Luke Adams does a nice job of reviewing the Bulls offseason changes, though it is funny that Mike Dunleavy has looked like anything but a knockdown three point shooter at the moment.

Mark Titus' Big Ten Preview for Grantland

I'm on an unabashed NBA elitist, plus my alma mater has consistently put together some of the worst teams in college basketball history over the past 7 years. However, I really like reading Mark Titus due to his frank assessment of his college career, and the ability to single out skills that only a bench warmer would pickup on (I'm experienced here too).

The main interest I have in college is for NBA scouting so I can tell GarPax who to take in the draft, and this article made me quite bullish on Glenn Robinson III.

Hoops World Argues that Byron Mullens was a Great Pickup

Back when Byron was BJ

Ah, a story that's positive on Byron Mullens? Mullens is one of the premier chuckers in the NBA, refusing to stop shooting in lack of his horrendous shooting percentage, particularly from behind the arc. I have a hard time buying that he'll be a positive pickup for the Clips, but hey, his shooting is an upgrade over Blake. 

My Reactions to Game 2...

Stromin Normin' is not meant to be a summary site, so if you want a summary, go check out BlogaBull. Obviously the game was a huge disappointment, especially to all of us that think we can still win the title without D.Rose. 

In reality, it's one game. So let's take a look at what will propel Los Bulls to win the series. 

1. Mike James (who) MIKE JAMES

Although maybe 2 Bulls fans in the world are upset by his absence, it was clear to me we need to see him out on the court. He brings a veteran presence that CJ and JLIII don't have, and he can still score. No, he might not be able to get across the time-line against Avery Bradley, but like I've said before, he is a much better, reliable true point that either CJ or Lucas. If you thought the guards played well...ok maybe it's your first time watching the NBA. 

2. Stop running the high screen with John Lucas

Thibs will adjust, as we all know he's among the best coaches in the NBA, but really, this play killed us on countless possessions. Sure, it works wonders against an old team that isn't athletic enough to trap, but with Turner, AI, and Jrue Holiday all athletic enough to trap, it doesn't make sense at all. 

Oddly, this play didn't lead to too many turnovers, and, for no reason that I can tell, Philly stopped trapping. However, this play highlights when Lucas' size is a complete liability on the court. 

3. Play defense

I don't know what the hell happened, but the Bulls just stopped playing defense in the 2nd half. No one felt like getting back on d, and Omer looked lost on several occasions. This should be pretty easy. 

4. Stop wasting possessions

This is really common at the gym and also on the Lakers, where the best scorer on the court just pounds the ball for a while and chucks a shot. Unfortunately our best player was sitting in a skybox all alone. This meant CJ Watson and JLIII pounding the ball on the top of the key, running down the shot clock, and then forcing a bad shot. It looks reaaaaaaaaaally bad. 

This great piece from Grantland hightlights exactly what the Bulls should run more often. Mind you it was shut-down a few times, but it's still far better than a high screen with JLIII. Philly's defense looked very good, but I'm confident we can overcome it with better shooting and if we start defending. 

No Rose...Now what?

First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to Derrick Rose. I can't even imagine what he's dealing with right now.

Being from Chicago, loving the game, and graduating in 2007, I feel a special connection to Rose that I've only felt with a few other athletes ever. It's hard to say he's a role model (he's about 5 months older), but his true passion for the game, competition and success is akin to Howard Rourke in Ayn Rand's classic, The Fountainhead. He is literally everything that is right about basketball, sports, capitalism, and the human spirit. Get well soon, and I hope you come back like so many other athletes have. I think he'll be fine.

Another quick note: there was no outrage like what we've seen against Nike designer Jason Petrie when I posted about how I thought adidas was responsible for Rose's injury woes Is adidas to blame?

His comments were totally inappropriate. I'm a big Nike fan, and I think he's a legendary designer, but wtf bro?

But let's get back to what's going on in this series. We now lead 1-0, with no real competition from Philly in game 1. If you didn't hate Evan Turner before, tweeting nonsense about how he was happy to play the Bulls, how he was "better" than Derrick Rose, and how he was a dick to Mark Titus and the rest of the Ohio State squad: Link to Titus' book, I'm dying to read it... you probably should now. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little scuffle this series.

Anyways, more pertinent, is how can we beat the 76er's without last years MVP. And I think that's fairly easy. Our stable of point guards gives us a bit of everything. CJ's a great 3pt shooter and can facilitate decently. John Lucas III is instant offense when he's hot; we've seen him single handedly swing games thanks to his ability to get great separation and hit clutch jumpers. And my personal favorite: MJ...or Mike James. He is old. He skips when he runs. But the man still has plenty of game. I've never seen anyone so slow cut SO quickly, and take much faster guards off the dribble. Mike has a fairly reliable jumper, and can get to the rack better than any point guard on the team. It baffled me and Bulls Passion contributer Corey Hickman every time they decided not to sign him. Also, why the Heat passed on him, if not to block us from having him, is beyond me, but sae la vie.

Take a look at his stat lines when he ACTUALLY got playing time: Wow, they're pretty good. It'd be ignorant to think that he'll really push CJ for too much playing time, but he is certainly a valuable contributor who's been completely overlooked.

I'll have another post up on why we're still the best team in the NBA...and how we'll go about beating the Heat.