The 2014-15 NBA regular season will end in less than a week, and then the real season begins. The Chicago Tribune‘s K.C. Johnson reports (subscription only), the minute restrictions on Joakim Noah and the just-returned Derrick Rose will be lifted once the playoffs begin:
Not only can Rose play in fourth quarters, he also will play more than 20 minutes, likely as early as Saturday. And that 32-minute limit Joakim Noah has been on all season? That will be lifted for the postseason.
That always has been the organizational plan since the restrictions were put in place in an attempt to keep Rose and Noah, both coming off offseason knee surgery, fresher for the playoffs. Rose’s latest small meniscus tear that sidelined him for 20 games after arthroscopic surgery only added another level of conservatism for the short-term.
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After successfully navigating the roughly 20-minute outings in Orlando and Miami that featured him sitting out both fourth quarters, an upbeat Rose respectfully asked for more.
All season long, Noah has been limited to around 32 minutes a night. He exceeded it nine times in the first 17 games of the season, and we count 26 games on the year where he’s played over 32 minutes (and two where he’s played over 40), but it’s still up to coach Tom Thibodeau to enforce the guidelines set forth by management before the season began. The restriction is not something Noah’s been very happy about, and we’re not going out on a limb in guessing Thibodeau has been equally as frustrated with his 2014 DPOY sitting the fourth after he’s already gone 32 — it’s happened a handful of times in the season’s second half.
Some observers point to the minutes constraints as further evidence Thibodeau and the Bulls will part ways this summer even though the coach has two years remaining on his contract. Analyst Ric Bucher recently even guessed where Thibs might land if he leaves Chicago. No one in Chicago has intimated he’ll be leaving, but sources once removed from Thibs told Bucher he’s exploring his options.
As for the Bulls and their postseason fortunes, the presence of Rose and Noah down the stretch of games bolsters their chances of advancing when the playoffs tip off April 19th. The Bulls have battled injuries all year (what else is new) but they appear as healthy as they’ve ever been over the last three seasons entering the playoffs. Yes, Jimmy Butler missed a stretch of 11 straight games with a calf injury and he was inactive against Miami on Wednesday, but he’s listed as “probable” tonight against Philadelphia as is Kirk Hinrich (knee).
Rose is back though and he’s appearing in the playoffs for the first time since that awful ACL tear in the first round three years ago. If you’re a Bulls fan, you finally get a chance to see what your team can do in the postseason when it’s close to full strength. Tough to ask for much more than that at this stage, but more Rose and Noah is certainly a positive sign.
