I agree with you, Rosenthall. Thibodeau gave the 2nd unit a fair chance to close out that game, even bolstering the group with Noah, Hinrich and Butler for long stretches. It seemed like his trigger was if the lead slipped to single digits, which it did at the 5:25 mark, and Thibodeau brought in Gasol to complete the 1st unit reunion. As is often the case when starters who thought their night was done are pressed back into bailout service, the starters didn't exactly light it up on the closeout. Still, if Thibodeau was going to swallow a horrendous late collapse, it wasn't going to be with his best players sitting next to him watching the debacle unfold. Man, I'd love to see McDermott, Mirotic and Snell play some good ball tonight.
I think you touch on an important point here. I haven't actually looked at any lineup stats, but I'm guessing the adjusted +/- for these three together is pretty terrible, which makes rotations problematic. It doesn't look to me like Thibs has decided on how to get around this, as it seems something a little different is tried each night with these guys. They're all unique enough to want to give them a shot, but the cold hard truth is that none of them have really gotten the job done yet, especially when they're on the court at the same time. If the three of these guys can collectively up their games we'll have a lot more flexibility with lineups, and we might see some of the minutes crunch alleviate itself.
Wanting all three of these guys to be serious contributors on a true contender may be unreasonable, but I don't think this Bulls team can afford for all three to prove unworthy of Thibodeu's trust.
Probably right. Snell I think is the most redundant, and probably the least likely to take the leap. I think if Doug or Mirotic can be a guy that can be relied on for 20+ minutes a night (even if they don't actually see that each game), then that'll give us a 9 deep rotation, which ought to be enough.
Snell is Plan B at SG for if/when Jimmy doesn't give the home town discount the Bulls seem to want. So it seems to me it's in our best interests to assure he is suitably developed as a player by season's end.
Bulls wanted a discount off perceived market value in return for the absolute certainty that Butler need never worry again about money...the bastards! If Butler stays healthy and plays well, he wins, which doesn't mean the Bulls won't re-sign him. Deng similarly bet on himself and came out ahead, but stayed with the Bulls. Snell is A plan B, not THE plan B. The Bulls can re-sign Butler, sign someone at the MLE, trade for a player or give the job to Snell.
Someone at MLE or trade is not a guarantee. I don't think the Bulls are going to be happy with an MLE talent in the 46 minutes/night lockdown defender role.
I hope so. They didn't keep Deng, who played that role, too. Seems like the plan is to bring along a young guy to take Lu's and then Jimmy's place.
Mike Dunleavy leads Bulls over Sixers 118-115 Mike Dunleavy had a hot hand and his unselfish teammates kept feeding him. Dunleavy scored 12 of his season-high 27 points in the decisive third quarter and the Chicago Bulls held off a late Philadelphia rally in a 118-115 victory over the 76ers on Friday night. Read more http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400578365
