Despite an enigmatic season to date, the Chicago Bulls remain in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings — the cutoff line for playoff inclusion — just past the All-Star break. The good news is that pieces are there for a playoff run, Derrick Rose is healthy and looking spry and Pau Gasol is still playing at a high level. If Jimmy Butler returns in time next month from his sprained knee, the Bulls are still a team no one wants to face in a seven-game series — especially not in the opening round.
In the eyes of Kobe Bryant, whose Lakers lost to the Bulls 126-115 on Sunday, the Bulls are a dangerous team and a tweak or two away from going deep in the playoffs. Specifically, Bryant suggested Rose needs to adjust his game and rely less on his speed.
“I think it’s important to remain patient,” Bryant said via ESPN.com. “I think what you’re seeing with this team is an adjustment period. Derrick is at a position in his career where he’ll have to adjust his game. And what I mean by that is start using his size a lot more instead of his speed and quickness and start going to the post a little bit more. But they have three tremendous players with Rose and [Jimmy] Butler and Pau [Gasol]. If they can figure out how to defend, I think this team can go very, very deep in the playoffs.”
It’s not like the Bulls have been on a hot winning streak, but the opportunity for one is certainly there. Rose, whose son PJ shared a special moment with Kobe before Sunday’s game, is the healthiest he’s been since the 2010-11 season and has been asked to do less as a scorer thanks to the emergence of Butler.
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Defensively, Bryant isn’t very accurate. Chicago is No. 12 in the league in defensive rating (they were No. 11 in Thibodeau’s final season, a marked drop since they consistently were in the top three on that end of the floor during most of his tenure). With the weapons Chicago has, there’s no reason why they can’t at least keep pace offensively, but that’s actually been their Achilles’ heel this season. Despite new coach Fred Hoiberg’s wide open spread offensive system while coaching at Iowa State (so many drag screens in early transition!), the Bulls are just 24th in offensive rating this season and rank in the bottom five for effective field goal and true shooting percentage (28th and 27th, respectively).
Bryant’s always been honest and his assessment of the Bulls moving forward is no different, even if he’s misidentified which side of the ball they need to work on. Seeing as Rose was the league’s MVP in 2011, it’s more than fair to think he’ll be able to adjust his game to more of a physical presence, though.
(Via ESPN.com)
