This Era of the Chicago Bulls is over.
It’s a harsh reality when the end of an era comes. Now the Chicago Bulls are looking to stage off elimination at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their game 6 matchup later tonight. They are at home, going up against LeBron James and his recent string of fantastic games and trying to survive, at least for one more day.
That’s what it’s all about right now for Chicago. Survival. There’s no optimistic views for next season like you see with the New Orleans Pelicans or even with the Milwaukee Bucks. Those teams are on a different path. It’s a weird fork in the road that teams face sometimes. Every team goes through it, the good, bad and mediocre. That moment in time where you come to a crossroads and decide where you go from here. Are you going to try and survive, hang on by a thread and clinch onto a false hope or do you face facts and come to a reality that seemingly is going to happen either way.
The writing is on the wall in Chicago. Whether that’s with their coach all but being fired at seasons end, seemingly even if the Bulls win the NBA Championship or if they are just too hurt to continue the way they are, it appears a change is coming to Chicago.
Now it’s no fault of the fans or even the players half the time. Just look at Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah’s 2014-15 season alone. It’s time for Bulls fans and fans of the NBA to face facts. This Bulls team when healthy, the way its structured now, possibly the best Bulls team since Michael Jordan’s 72 win team in the 90’s. The horrible thing is, this might be the last great Bulls team we see.
Tom Thibodeau, see ya.
The numerous reports about Coach Tibs departure is just silly at this point. He’s all but done with the Bulls. The thing is, he shouldn’t be. The lack of progress the Bulls have in the playoffs, are not his fault. He was without his MVP, his best player for 2 postseasons. He’s had some other big time players get hurt and cost his teams some big wins. His record has gone down as the years have progressed. He won 62 games in his first season, 50 in his second (during a lockout season) and he’s hovered around 45-50 wins every year since.
The former NBA Coach of the Year has been in full control of this team and how he manages their minutes. He’s had intricate ideas and plans for his players and how they execute when they are on the floor for him. Well maybe nothing too crazy besides, just keeping them out there as long as possible. That’s one of the main issues against Tibs. He’s run his guys into the ground. Prime examples, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.
Tibs defensive schemes are transcendent. From his days with the Boston Celtics up until now, in his 5th season as the head coach of the Bulls, that’s what he has been known for, his defense. He’s a stickler for detail and he expects perfection from his guys. Well, this season it hasn’t been all there. He was in the top 5 of defense ever year before this one. The 2014-15 season, he was mediocre, right in the middle of the pack defensively.
It’s just weird how that Scott Brooks and Tom Thibodeau signed extensions in 2012 and now, in the summer of 2015, they may both be exiled out of their current jobs.
It’s Jimmy Butler’s team now.
Jimmy Butler is 25. He hasn’t shown anything but an increase in skill since he entered the league in 2011 and he was originally a ‘defensive stopper’ and now, he’s a rising star.
Butler is arguably the second best shooting guard in the NBA behind James Harden. Some say he’s the best, some say others might be higher than Butler but either way you slice it, Jimmy can handle the reigns for this team.
‘Jimmy Buckets’ does just that. He gets buckets for Chicago even when they struggled at times. He had 3 straight games in the first round of the playoffs setting career-highs in playoff scoring as each game passed. His points per game have increased from a meager 2.6 as a rookie to 20 as an All-Star this season.
The newest ‘Most Improved Player‘ might have to take over this Chicago team to help usher in a new era for Windy City hoops and a tough yet fun player in Butler could just be the guy to do it. All of his stats have improved as his career rolls along and while the Bulls might be letting go of Coach Tibs, it could be a blessing in disguise for Jimmy. He’s just going to have to be sure that he sets new goals for playing a certain amount of games in a season because your star player, being in less than 70-75 games might not bode well for overall season success. Especially when he gets his max contract from the Bulls, he’s going to be expected to play as many games as possible.
Derrick Rose. From Most Valuable Player to Most Moveable Asset.
It’s a shame when you see a player go from being on a path to possibly being one of the All-Time greats to a player that many people doubt can even finish a game. When Derrick Rose takes the court it’s like being able to see a celebrity in person. You call your friends, you’ll tweet about it and tell everyone, ‘Look, he’s here. Check it out, hurry up.” The rarity of Rose is what makes him so appealing to everyone who watches. It’s due in part because of the flashes of brilliance we’ve seen out of Rose recently but it’s also due in part to Rose’s injury history.
That part of his career could be done. He could not be going through any injury issues for the remainder of his career but the fact is, he went through it. Quite possibly the worst case ever and he’s only 26, turning 27 before the season starts.
A former MVP is expendable? Yes, especially when you can’t stay on the court. Rose hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since his MVP campaign in 2010-11. His injuries are numerous and well documented at this point.
There have been rumblings of Rose being traded out of Chicago because there’s no way you can just cut him thanks to his contract totaling over $20 million over the next 2 seasons. He would have to be traded but a team that can afford to bring his contract in, when the salary cap rises, might love to do it.
It’s an unfortunate fact for Chicago’s own son. Rose isn’t exactly the same player he once was when he came into the league fresh off a National Championship appearance with the Memphis Tigers. Rose won’t receive a max contract ever again and he might not even get close to it but someone will overpay him. It most likely won’t be the Bulls because they went through that phase. They did the D.Rose song and dance so it’s time to end the charade and move on from this era.
Joakim Noah’s time is over.
Another case of a player in his prime falling way too fast for everyone to handle. Joakim Noah won the ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ award last season but this season, he’s looked anything but like an everyday NBA player. He can barely make it up and down the court and his numbers have drastically fallen this season. Noah is a 30-year-old 2-time All-Star who has an injury history that has proven to take its toll on his body.
Noah went from a career year last season to now averaging some of his lowest career numbers since his second season in the league. Telling Noah to hang it up isn’t exactly the way to solve this problem. He can still perform in small spurts for the Bulls but at what cost? His $13 million salary next season might be too much for the Bulls to keep him around as he enters his 30’s and continues on this decline.
Look for Noah to take a pay cut whether it is with the Bulls or any other team along with a reduced role. As much as he is a high-energy, community driven player, his time in the league is dwindling due to his injuries and lack of the usual Joakim Noah play we’re all used too. When time dwindles for players who aren’t performing to standards, it’s almost time to drop them from any future plans.
Get ready for a new offensive Chicago team.
Pau Gasol, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and even Doug McDermott are all players that seem to be the center pieces for the Bulls future plans. All of those players seem to have an offensive mindset (with the exception of Butler) when it comes to basketball and shoot the ball with high success. With coach Tibs on his way out, a changing of scheme is set to happen in Chi-town. Offense looks to be the mindset with this team and trying to outscore teams seems to be the flavor of choice in Chicago. They tried the defensive approach and no titles were produced so a change is coming.
It’s not only a changing of the guard in Chicago but in the NBA as a whole. Offense is the flavor of the month in the NBA with teams like the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors all having prolific offenses but also having solid defenses to pair with it.
It’s more than just a scheme thing with those teams, it is the proper personnel paired up to change the way those teams do things on both ends of the court. Healthy, young, versatile and long players seem to be the trend with most of those teams and other squads look to follow that trend in the league. You need to have versatility on the roster to be able to present teams with different looks, with guys having a ton of energy in their youth and health needs to be something the Bulls need to focus on, thanks to their recent horrible injury history.
The fact is this season, the Bulls have relied on ‘Tibs guys’. We’ve seen Mirotic not get any playing time for it and we’ve also seen their first round pick Doug McDermott not play after he got hurt. It was a trust thing with Tibs and now with a new coach, that will most likely be offensive minded, everyone will have a chance to prove their worth.
Change is coming for Chicago. Whether it’s going to be sudden as the possible situation with Coach Thibodeau or if it’s going to be a slow and methodical process, change will come. You seemingly can’t keep the same thing going with the same results. A whole lot of nothing. When you’re in Chicago and you don’t make it to the NBA Finals, that’s all it is. A whole lot of nothing.
