Bulls Season In Review: Joakim Noah

Like most of the small amount of players that made it through the Bulls’ roster turnover from the 2009-10 to 2010-11 season, there was a certain degree of uncertainty as to whether or not Joakim Noah would be a Bull this season.

Despite the reluctance to cut him lose by many fans and those involved within the organization, Noah looked like he was going to be the key centerpiece of a potential deal to acquire former Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony. Before the season began, many were almost hoping for Noah to be cut lose in favor of Anthony.

But rather than alienating Noah with these types of trade rumors, the Bulls rewarded him with a contract extension last summer, signing the former Florida Gator to a five-year extension, worth $60 million.

The good news didn’t end there for Noah, as he finally got a little help in the paint. The Bulls made Carlos Boozer their big free agent acquisition last summer, locking him up for five years and $75 million. Many assumed that with the defensive dominance of Noah and Boozer, combined with the offense that the former Utah Jazz forward brought, the Bulls would have an unstoppable duo up front.

Those expectations failed to be realized, for the most part. Boozer missed the first month of the season, which was followed by a slew of injuries for Noah.

The intense center for the Bulls would go on to play a career-low 48 games. Even in those games, Noah wasn’t exactly the same, and his intensity was noticeable lower in consistency, no doubt due to the string of injuries he experienced this season. The worst of those injuries included a thumb injury, for which Noah underwent surgery and missed 30 games.

His stats on the season were about what you would expect from Noah, save a hope for a little more out of his offensive skills this year. He still averaged 10.4 boards per game, but that went along with just under 12 points per game. Like Kareem Abdul-Jabaar said recently, if Noah focused on his offensive game this summer, he could be a monster in the paint.

In the playoffs, one event marred the whole run for Noah and the Bulls, more for the former than the latter. Noah was seen on television calling a fan a vulgar name, most likely relating to the homosexual community. As it so often does today, the term Noah used was treated with great scrutiny, and he incurred a hefty fine and had some apologies to make following the incident in Miami.

The summer to get healthy should do wonders for Noah. But there are certainly things he needs to improve upon in the offseason if he wants to help the Bulls take the next step. If Carlos Boozer is still with the team, barring some miraculous trade of the veteran big man, Noah will have to work on his play with his running mate, whom he never completely gelled with this season.

Bulls Don’t Stand a Chance Against Miami Heat? Not So Fast..

If you’ve read any headlines since the Miami Heat knocked off the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, then you know virtually no one else stands a chance in this postseason. Not the Dallas Mavericks, who swept the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, and surely not the Oklahoma City Thunder or Memphis Grizzlies.

Of course, the Bulls were just a stepping stone for the Heat, as well, given their troubles in getting past the Atlanta Hawks in six games. After all, the Heat beat the Celtics in five, and have been proclaimed unbeatable.

Well, there is a reason they play the games. Yes, it was impressive to see LeBron James and Dwayne Wade lighting it up together against the Celtics, but who did they really beat? A banged up, old Boston team, which had a point guard playing with one arm, in Rajon Rondo, and a frontcourt that included an aging Kevin Garnett and a should-have-retired-years-ago Shaquille O’Neal, who made less of an impact on this series than Brian Scalabrine did for the Bulls.

Not to discount the Heat, though. Obviously they’re a top tier team, given that potent backcourt. James and Wade are both all-NBA talents, which certainly showed against the C’s. Sure, they lack depth and a strong frontcourt, but they are still as deadly and explosive as any team remaining in these playoffs.

But to completely dismiss this series as over, as some have already done (looking at you Skip Bayless) could be considered nothing short of absurd. Yes, the Heat have great players, but the Bulls have proven this season that they have the all-around talent to keep up with anyone in the league.

At this point, dismissing the Bulls is irresponsible. They actually match up against the Heat much better than one might realize, even if many have already tossed the Bulls aside as an easy opponent for Miami.

In fact, the Bulls hold an advantage over the Heat, which could end up shaping this series. That advantage lies in the both the frontcourt of the Bulls, and their depth.

There is certainly no shortage of talent down low for the Bulls. After a few tough games in the playoffs, Carlos Boozer found his stride in Thursday’s Game 6 against the Hawks, along with the fact that he plays next to one of the most intense, and a top notch guy on the boards, in Joakim Noah.

Beyond those two, the hat still goes deeper. Taj Gibson has shown that he can stick with anyone in the league and is proving to be a key cog in the Bulls machine. There’s also Omer Asik, who is a beast on the boards and a solid backup for Noah, as well as the veteran big man Kurt Thomas, who is fresh after seeing little time to this point in the postseason.

What do the Heat have down low? Chris Bosh. Now Bosh has had a good postseason, but he was also playing against a Celtics frontcourt that looked very sorry in their series in the past week or so. Joel Anthony certainly isn’t in a league with Boozer or Noah, meaning whichever one Bosh does match up with, will have an extremely favorable matchup in this series.

Of course, there’s still that outlandish advantage the Heat have in the backcourt. Yes, the Bulls have the league MVP in Derrick Rose, but Miami boasts two of the game’s best players in Wade and James. Wade will most likely guard Rose, but luckily for the Bulls, Rose can keep himself fresh on the defensive side of things, with Keith Bogans expected to match up with Wade with the Bulls on D. There’s also the matter of that Luol Deng guy, who is a pretty great defender, matching up against James.

Say what you want about the Bulls not blowing teams out in the playoffs or not looking overly impressive. The fact is, that this team is sound from top to bottom, and has as much depth and defensive skill as any team in the league. They’re not built to blow teams out, and whether they come out on the winning or losing side of this series, each game should prove to be a close one.

On paper, you see the names of Wade and James and assume the Heat have an outstanding advantage over the Bulls in this series. But Chicago is the better overall team, with a better frontcourt and more depth, meaning this is going to be an extremely close, and nerve-racking series for Bulls fans, no matter the result.

Big Fourth Quarter Propels Bulls To 3-2 Series Lead Over Hawks

The early stages of Chicago’s Game 5 on Tuesday night had all the makings of what Game 3 was for the Bulls. They jumped out to an early lead and looked to be running away with it, but the persistent Hawks would stay in it until the late-going in this one, with the Bulls eventually grabbing the 95-83 win.

The Bulls started off hot, leading by 11 points after the first quarter. Rather than Derrick Rose taking the early shots, which he did, it was Luol Deng who had the hot hand, scoring the first seven points for the Bulls in this one. As the Bulls pulled away early, Keith Bogans scored eight consecutive points to help the Bulls jump out to their early lead.

But the Hawks would not be denied. Aided by another sound performance from the youngster Jeff Teague, as well as some solid play early from Josh Smith, the Hawks crept back into this one in the second and early third quarters. Towards the end of the third, they would eventually hold their first lead over the Bulls.

It wasn’t as if the Bulls were playing poorly, either. The Bulls shot almost 49 percent from the field and were sound defensively, but the Hawks were also solid in their shooting, finishing with about a 48 percent. Even with the Atlanta rally, though, the Bulls held a one-point lead after three.

After blowing a double digit lead that they held early, many were certainly weary of the Bulls heading into the game’s final frame. Searching for energy, the Bulls got it from the usual source, as well as one that was a bit more unexpected for some.

The Bulls outscored the Hawks 26-15 for the quarter, with Rose accounting for 11 of those points. Coming up with another 11 of them was Taj Gibson, who did  not score in the previous three quarters. He provided a nice spark off the bench, which was absolutely necessary on a night in which Joakim Noah and Kyle Korver combined for zero points.

Atlanta didn’t do themselves any favors on Tuesday either. Despite a solid night from Josh Smith, and another sound performance from Teague, the  Hawks’ major scoring threats, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford, fell silent once again. The two combined for 17 points, and 15 of those came courtesy of Johnson.

Even though it wasn’t the prettiest win for the Bulls, this shouldn’t come as anything new to fans. This isn’t a team that’s going to blow many teams out, even if they were able to decimate Atlanta in the regular season. Expect another gritty performance when the Bulls try and close out the series in Atlanta on Thursday night.

Bulls Can’t Overcome Slow Start In Game 1 Loss to Hawks

Well, that was ugly.

The Chicago Bulls couldn’t have played much worse against the Atlanta Hawks, bookending the game with sluggish play in their 103-95 loss to Atlanta on Monday night.

It didn’t help that the MVP, Derrick Rose made just two of his 10 shots from the field in the first half, including going 0-for-7 in the opening frame. Given that he has been Chicago’s no. 1 scoring option this postseason, that’s a recipe for disaster.

It helped even less that Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah combined for just 17 rebounds, a surprise given the reemergence of Noah over the last stretch of games against Indiana.

But the real kicker on Monday night was Joe Johnson. A guy the Bulls targeted briefly last summer prior to his re-signing with Atlanta, there was no stopping Johnson, even for a defense like Chicago. He shot 12-of-18 from the field, including 5-5 from beyond the arc, torching the Bulls for 34 points on the night.

It wasn’t as if he was getting tremendous help from the rest of his mates on the offensive side. Josh Smith struggled from the field, shooting just 3-11, and only one other starter, Jeff Teague, scored in double figures.

It’s a rarity that the Bulls’ bench mob finds themselves outplayed, but that was the case on Monday. Jamal Crawford touched the Bulls for 22 off the bench, seeing 35 minutes of gametime.

On the Bulls’ side of things, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer were a combined minus-25 off the bench for Chicago. The only real source of scoring off the bench came from Kyle Korver, who dropped nine on 3-4 shooting from long idstance.

If there is a positive to pull from this game, it’s that the Bulls probably couldn’t have played a much worse game than this, and were still in it for the majority of the game.

It’s unlikely that we’ll see Derrick Rose have another putrid shooting night, having gone just 11-27 on Monday, but he also needs to take less shots than he did in Game 1. With Luol Deng having the hot hand, going 8-12, he needs to have the ball in his hands more often against a softer defensive team like Atlanta.

With a day off on Tuesday before Wednesday’s Game 2 at the United Center, you can be sure that Tom Thibodeau will have his squad ready to roll as they attempt to even up the series.

After Loss To Pacers, Should Chicago Bulls Fans Be Concerned?

Saturday’s game was very similar to the other three games played in this series between the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls. Unable to blow out the No. 8 seed Pacers in any of the first three, the Bulls’ woes finally caught up to them in Saturday’s loss to Indiana, which closed the gap in the series to 3-1.

Even more disconcerting about the loss was the injury to Derrick Rose, who rolled his ankle and had to be examined in the locker room. He did return, but didn’t have the same, explosive capabilities he typically has on that ankle.

On Sunday, Rose was seen in a walking boot and had an MRI performed, but the results of the test were negative. The Chicago brass is hopeful their star point guard will be good to go in time for Tuesday’s Game 5, but even with the status of Rose up in the air, there are still quiet concerns about this Bulls squad.

The general reason for the concern is the fact that despite they carry the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s playoffs, the Bulls have been unable to put away the Pacers for good in any game this series. They’ve showed resilience in being able to come back in each of the three wins, and nearly a fourth, but should they really be needing to come back against a team like Indy?

The other big concern, even bigger than Rose’s injury, is the play of Carlos Boozer, who has been ugly so far, with Game 2 as his only decent performance in the first four games. He’s hit the boards hard, but has struggled from the field (6-15 on Saturday) and has been a turnover machine.

But the Bulls knew what they were getting in Boozer: a guy who will add a few to the ‘win’ column in the regular season, but isn’t the most polished postseason player. That has certainly been the case thus far into the playoffs.

However, Boozer’s struggles and the tight games against Indiana are no reason for the Bulls or their fans to  be concerned.

Boozer seems to be pressing, as many Bulls did at home in the series’ first two games, and it shows on the court. He’s been turning the ball over at an extremely high rate and has been more of a liability than an asset, much different from that guy who performed so well for the Bulls down the stretch of the regular season.

But the fact that his battery mate down low, Joakim Noah, played so well on Saturday should end up benefiting Boozer. With both dominating the glass, combining for 27 boards on Saturday, Boozer can have a bit of the scoring load taken off of his shoulders if Noah continues to re-emerge and prove how healthy he is moving forward.

What most people have to realize about this Bulls team is that they’re not the type of team that is going to constantly blow teams out, especially in the playoffs. Sure, they had some runaway games during the regular season, but Tom Thibodeau and co. preach that defensive philosophy that has made the Bulls so successful this season. They’re going to be in some nailbiters, but this team has proven all season that until that clock reads 0:00, they’re going to be in the game, if not leading.

Even with Rose in a walking boot on Sunday, the concerns over his injury don’t seem to be too great. Many figure he’ll go on Tuesday, and if not, the Bulls should be able to feed off of the energy from the fans at the United Center to grind out a possible series win.

In short, there’s really no need for Bulls fans to hit the panic button, even if it wasn’t an easy, clean sweep of the Pacers. I have a hard time believing the Pacers wouldn’t be giving a squad like Boston or Miami the same type of trouble as an 8-seed. If Thibs and the Bulls make the necessary adjustments moving forward, and Rose gets back to full strength quickly, this team will be fine.

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