How the Derrick Rose injury could help the Bulls

By: Jack Wascher

Luol Deng has emerged as the Bulls’ go-to-guy. (Wiki Media)

April 28^th, 2012, a day that will live in Chicago infamy as the city watched it’s superstar Derrick Rose lies hopelessly on the floor. A week later, the Bulls are bounced from the first round in the playoffs, and left with certain doubt about next year, as Rose isn’t expected to return towards the middle of the season.

Flash-forward to today and the Bulls sit at 15-11, first place in the Central, and own one of the league’s top defenses. But how can one team do this without the face of the franchise?

During the offseason, Chicago lost most of its bench, nicknamed the “Bench Mob” to free agency. This had been where a lot of their spark came from, especially when the starters were not performing their best. However, they made key free agent acquisitions in Marco Bellinelli, Nate Robinson, and former Bull Kirk Hinrich to weather the storm.

Head Coach Tom Thibedeau always has and always will be a defensive minded coach because that’s how you keep your team in the game. Especially when the majority of your offense is sidelined with a knee injury, tough defense will keep your team competitive. After a shaky 6-7 start, the Bulls have picked it up even without Richard Hamilton, who seemed to take over the bulk of the scoring with Rose out.

One player having a break-out year is Joakim Noah. Always an energetic player, Noah has taken on more of a leadership role with Rose out while also becoming a more well rounded player. Monday night he recorded his second career triple double with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Recording a triple-double is tough enough to do in a game, even more as a center when your primary objectives are to protect the rim and grab rebounds. Noah is clearly playing like the best big man in the Eastern Conference, and is on pace for a career year. His mere presence on the court makes every player on the court.

Not necessarily Rose’s replacement, but Marco Bellineli has stepped in to the starting lineup with a lot of energy. He has taken on the role of aggressor, especially when taking the ball to the basket.

Defenders almost look surprised when he puts the ball on the floor as he is predominantly three-point shooter. Furthermore, Carlos Boozer has stepped in nicely as well by picking up the slack of Rose being out. A lot of fans have been on Boozer because of his lack of production despite being paid $80 million over five years; however, over his last ten games, he is averaging 15 points a game to go along with 10 rebounds. Now most people look at those numbers and not think anything of it, but keep in mind he is shooting 49% from the field during this stretch.

The one player who continues to receive little recognition is Luol Deng. He’s only the leader scorer for the Bulls at better than 17 points per game, but it’s the little things that are taken for granted that make his role significant.

For one, he usually has to guard the opposing team’s superstar, such as Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Paul Pierce, to name a few. But Deng is also the Bulls leader in minutes played at more than forty minutes per game. Essentially, he is counted on every night to be the workhorse for the Bulls. Some people will argue that Noah is the workhorse for the Bulls based off of his stats, but it’s Deng that does the dirty work on a nightly basis.

So the Bulls are in a perfect situation right now because of the fact that the more wins they accumulate, the more time Derrick Rose has to recover from his torn ACL. But more importantly, Rose will not be his old self most likely right when he comes back, which means that his minutes will be limited. With what they’ve shown so far this year, there seems to be nothing to worry about.

This Bulls team could potentially be more dangerous than the last two years, when they were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.

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