That game is going to be tough to forget. I feel like Hoiberg's lack of experience is showing a little. He's said on multiple occasions that the season is a marathon, not a sprint. But it feels like he's too worried about taking a loss. Against a bad team like that, and with a travel back-to-back on the horizon, he really needed to work Portis and Moore into a more prominent role in the rotation. It's going to be a tough slog tomorrow.
On a somewhat more positive note, I'm beginning to feel less concerned about Derrick Rose. Or at least, I'm more confident that he can settle into being a good player if his eye gets better. There was a useful thread on RealGM about his efficiency close to the basket this year. 0-5 ft: 39% 5-9 ft: 22% That's historically bad. However, his decision making looks genuinely better this year. He's not doing the Steph Curry impersonation anymore and over 50% of his shots are in the paint and only 14% are 3 pointers and his assist rate is 34.9% this year compared to 28.9% last year. So he really is playing differently, he's just converting near the rim at an historically low rate. Of course the *why* is a very interesting question.......maybe he just lacks the athleticism to make the same circus shots he made in the past, but I don't think that would explain the magnitude of the dip.......those numbers are Kirk Hinrich bad, and I think teams are sagging off him even more which makes his diminished athleticism more difficult to overcome. But assuming his eye is affecting his shooting lots of other things could fall into place if/when it gets better.
And I just realized that the Bulls don't have a travel back to back. I was watching the Nugz broadcast and they are the ones flying to Toronto. Hoiberg's rotations were fine.
