Bulls: Coach Tom Thibodeau said a nine-man rotation in the playoffs is possible if the Bulls are healthy. But he acknowledged that's a big "if." "That's been our question mark all year," he said. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400579380 If we assume Rose is playing, obviously Niko and Taj will be in the rotation. There's no way Brooks isn't the backup PG, right? That leaves Kirk and Snell. Since Feb. 1, 24 games, Snell has played 31.2 minutes and given us 11.0 pts/game, shooting 44.1% from behind the arc on 4.6 att/game. His .586 eFG% and .608 TS% are team bests, he has to play, right? Noah Gasol Dunleavy Butler Rose Mirotic Snell Gibson Brooks Does anyone think this shouldn't be the playoff rotation?
I'm not captain of the Mike Dunleavy fan club, but he's a solid, low-usage vet glue guy IMO. He's also our best three point shooter this season that takes significant attempts. He's 13th overall in the entire NBA. He's decent on the defensive glass. He's a long defender. Yah, that's where my 9 would likely be. But, this is the Chicago Bulls, so I'm expecting Kirk Hinrich to be playing. He might play his way out of the lineup once the heat is on. Its easy to say that Brooks is the "backup PG" but he's more of a ball/shot dominating scoring guard that at times makes some ill-advised decisions. Rose is #1 in usage on the team. Brooks is #2. Sometimes you want the low-usage glue guy to be at the guard position and be the guy that is low usage, can get you into your sets and can guard either the 1 or the 2. Hinrich is supposed to be doing this and getting paid to be the Mike Dunleavy of the guard position for the Bulls in many ways, a solid vet glue guy. We'll see. The Bulls love Kirk Hinrich. I think that 9th spot might change on many nights and be need based depending on what happens during the game.
Snell is the odd man out on most nights, except for guards in foul trouble. I agree with KK4E, I too expect Kirk to be in the rotation.
Not to me. Dunleavy's a very good basketball player. He's the best 3-point shooter on the team and as DRose noted earlier this season, MDJ is just about never out-of-position in the offense...something fans/media may not notice, but players and coaches do. Also, despite the reputation he had coming to the Bulls, he's at least a decent defender...he's consistently where he's supposed to be doing what he's supposed to do. Just as Hinrich was forced to play more minutes than originally intended due to Rose's injuries, Dunleavy has been forced to play too many minutes due to the trade of Deng and the failure of other SFs to step up. I'd love to see Dunleavy logging about 25mpg.
Dunleavy scores about 12 points per 36. That's for this season, 55 games and 1,603 minutes. A better indicator, no?
No. ~30 points every 10 games moves the average up. The other 9 games are pretty awful. Since returning from his injury, he's scored 10+ in 8 games. Less than 10, 14 games. 5 or less 11 times.
I'm pretty sure Kirk plays, just as we've seen him play all along. Another great intangibles guy /sarcasm. The thing is, Snell might choke for lack of playoff experience. If Brooks is abused on defense, E'Twaun Moore isn't the answer. The roster as constructed gives Thibs few options. If we find ourselves in a series like last year against Washington, then playing the vets with no present or future in a losing cause is pointless.
I kinda think Brooks/Kirk/Snell kind of take the 9th spot by committee. I think Snell is the natural backup 2/3 for obvious reasons, and it makes sense to play him and Dunleavy like Taj and Boozer were played last year. Platoon their minutes and ride the hot guy in the 4th. On any given night it could make more sense to play Brooks or Hinrich the majority of the backup PG minutes for the reasons K4E mentioned. Also, as was discussed in this thread: http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/how-should-we-use-rose-when-he-gets-back.281694/ It makes sense to use Derrick in an attacker role when he gets back to help facilitate ball movement and free Derrick up to do what he does best. If that's the case, it actually makes sense to use Kirk as the PG in that lineup for additional ball handling. Kirk Rose Snell/Dunleavy Mirotic/Gasol Noah Kirk brings the ball up and sets up the play, and then choose between Noah high post action or Derrick's penetration as the way to generate offense. FWIW, I think if we play the Bucks in the first round there's a good chance Kirk will get the lion's share of the backup PG minutes because he's a better defensive matchup against MCW than Brooks, who'd probably get eaten alive.
I'm saying I can't blame Thibs for doing what he can with this roster. He's been playing Kirk all along and down the stretch. It's hard to see him going away from that. In theory, Snell gives us a much better chance to win. But playoffs is a different beast.
Got it. Thibodeau is doing either the right or understandable thing no matter who he plays in the playoffs. I'm sure this is a comfort to him.
Smell has near zero playoff experience. But, he's going to play a lot at SF I bet. Thibs can do plenty wrong, but I haven't seen a whole lot of that.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/03/28/westerlund-5-thoughts-after-bulls-knicks/ 4. Asked how deep his playoff rotation would be assuming everyone is healthy, Thibodeau didn’t give a specific number. He’s previously mentioned how he feels nine is a good fit. “We’ll see,” Thibodeau said. “And it’s a big question, if we’re fully healthy. That’s been our question mark all year, and so we have to see who’s available. And if they’re available, we have to see who’s playing well. There’s two parts to that.” A nine-man rotation would seem practical for the Bulls come playoff time, with Mirotic, Gibson and Aaron Brooks off the bench for certain and then either Kirk Hinrich or Tony Snell involved as well. Assuming Rose comes back, Thibodeau could also decide if he wanted a more offensive-minded (Brooks) or defensive-minded (Hinrich) player for the minutes behind Rose. On a team that lacked depth last season, it’s worth noting that Thibodeau went with an eight-man rotation in a season-ending Game 5 loss to the Wizards – with eighth man Snell playing only five minutes in that game.
Something to consider is there's roughly three weeks until playoffs and DRose hasn't begun contact in practice. It's two weeks from then until he's ready to play in games. At the earliest. My hunch is he may not be ready for round 1, and if he's pressed to play it means we aren't doing so well. After surgery and time off, I don't expect the final week (at most) of the season to really prepare him. That will really affect the rotation.
Thibs is in a no-lose situation with quite a few fans. I don't think I'd say the majority of fans, but close to it. If the Bulls can't make it out of the first round or fail miserably in the 2nd round, it's because the front office did a lousy job of building the roster. If the Bulls beat Cleveland and/or Atlanta, it's because Thibs did such an outstanding job of coaching a deeply flawed roster.
Or "fans" call him Thidiot because he doesn't play their pet players the way the "fan" wants. But not many.
