Reserves Must Pull Their Fair Share

TomBoerwinkle#1 · Nov 7, 2010

Full Story

Save for perhaps the Knicks' game — and even that featured a mild comeback — the Bulls have had a chance in the fourth quarter of all three of their losses.

Too bad they can't say the same about the second quarter.

The Bulls have been outscored a staggering 160-113 in the second quarters of their first five games, an obvious nod to the difficulties coach Tom Thibodeau has experienced in settling his rotation and second unit.

The Celtics enjoyed a 22-3 run to open the second in Friday night's overtime victory, with the Bulls taking 5 minutes, 56 seconds to score their first points. Thibodeau even went back to his starters when a lineup of C.J. Watson, James Johnson, Kyle Korver, Omer Asik and Joakim Noah struggled to start that quarter.

"Right now," Thibodeau admitted, "we're still searching."

That's about as strong a rebuke as you will hear from Thibodeau, a relentlessly positive coach who has tried to prop up struggling players consistently with his public comments thus far.

But even Thibodeau knows games can be lost in the second quarters as much as in the fourth, and that it's a problem area that hasn't gone away.

"That's something we have to address and correct," Thibodeau said of the dropoff when he first goes to his bench.
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TomBoerwinkle#1 · Nov 7, 2010

Sun Times on same theme

The biggest issue is with the second unit. In the last two games, the Bulls' opponents have opened big leads when coach Tom Thibodeau turned things over to his second unit after the first quarter.

''We'll keep working at it,'' Thibodeau said. ''We'll get better. [The Celtics] went 16-2 to start the [second] quarter. That's something we'll have to address and correct.''

The biggest problem with the second unit has been finding ways to score consistently. The offense just hasn't run smoothly with backup point guard C.J. Watson running the team. He's not a classic point guard and has tended to over-dribble at times.

Watson is the Bulls' only backup at the position, so Thibodeau has no choice but to stay with him. One move that might help take some pressure off Watson would be moving Ronnie Brewer into the starting lineup at shooting guard and shifting Keith Bogans to the second unit.

Bogans' veteran savvy would benefit the second-unit players, who are mostly young and inexperienced. He could take some of the ballhandling pressure off Watson, and his ability to shoot the three-pointer would better space the floor.

That's the role the Bulls signed Bogans to fill, and it's the role where he best could help the team.
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Good Hope · Nov 7, 2010

Still all comes back to shooting guard. We need a legit starter. Will Brewer get there?

Denny Crane · Nov 7, 2010

Why do we need a second unit?

Rose probably needs only 2 minutes a quarter of rest, so he should be out there with a variety of teammates.

It seems like they could keep at least 2 of Rose, Deng, Noah, and Taj out there at any one time.

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Reserves Must Pull Their Fair Share

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