Pippen Ain't Easy
Fansided

Teammates Bail Out Derrick Rose in Dominating Win

By Paul Steeno

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If the Chicago Bulls can get contributions from across their lineup like they did in Wednesday night’s opener against the New York Knicks they will win the NBA Finals. You heard it here first.

The Chicago Bulls started the season the right way with a 104-80 victory against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. The final score is a bit deceptive; New York turned it into a “respectable” 24 point deficit in the 4th quarter during garbage time. For much of the game, the Chicago Bulls were leading the Knicks by a much loftier margin. It was a completely dominating performance that could have ended in a much larger margin of victory.

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Imagine for a second if Rose would have had a good game last night. For the former MVP point guard, 13 points on 3-7 shooting and 5 assists is fairly pedestrian. In addition, Jimmy Butler remains sidelined with a sprain left thumb that he sustained a week and a half ago against the Charlotte Hornets in a preseason contest. Butler’s injury status has progressively worsened despite initial optimism that Butler wouldn’t miss a significant amount of time because of the injury. Coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters before the regular season opener that he is unsure how long Jimmy will be out with injury; although it will undoubtedly be a significant chunk of time.

"“No one knows,” Thibodeau said. “Two to four, one to three, I don’t know what it is. He’s not comfortable going yet, so when he is, he will. We know he wants to be out there, and injuries are part of the game, so you just deal with it.”"

Butler confirmed to reporters that the thumb injury is still causing him a substantial amount of discomfort.

"“Just a lot of pain in the joint and in the muscle around it,” Butler said. “I just don’t want to make it worse right now. I try to come back early, and that’s not always the best thing to do,” Butler said. “They’re just making sure when I do come back, I won’t have any restraints and I’ll be able to go 100 percent.”"

Oct 16, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) gets hugged by Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic (44), Chicago Bulls guard Kim English (24) and Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) after he shot a last second three-point basket to beat the Atlanta Hawks 85-84 during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Although Butler’s absence didn’t ultimately effect the outcome of the game, his presence could have further lopsided the score in favor of the Chicago Bulls.

But, instead of continuing to speculate about what could have happened, lets give credit where credit is due. The Chicago Bulls just laid waste to a team that many predicted to be much improved this season. Furthermore, this victory came despite the fact that our three best players (Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler) were either sidelined or played mediocre (at best) games.

However, like any top caliber NBA team, when the stars don’t step up, other players on the roster rise to the occasion and carry the team. The unsung hero of the game last night might surprise a lot of people.

Mike Dunleavy. Who knew that this boy could play defense? When the report surfaced that Butler would miss this game due to injury, Bulls fans had nightmares about what Carmelo would do to whichever poor soul was given the responsibility of guarding the perennial all-star. But Dunleavy produced a gargantuan defensive effort, frustrating Anthony and holding him to 14 points on 5-13 shooting.

Oct 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) looks to pass defended by Chicago Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy (34) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Dunleavy wasn’t the only guy that played extremely well on Wednesday. The entire bench sent a statement to the NBA, proving that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Taj Gibson revealed after the game that it wasn’t a secret that the bench players were the real deal.

"“That’s one thing about our second unit, we’re really talented, man,” Gibson said. “We’ve really been taking it to the first unit in practice. And we talk a lot of trash in that second unit. So when you come into the game in this league you really have to have that kind of swag. You really have to be motivated to help your team and that’s what championship teams do."

Gibson exploded off the bench, setting an early statement for his case for 6th man of the year. He scored 22 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked a shot. Aaron Brooks looked Nate Robinson-esque in his minutes, adding instant scoring to the second unit offense. McDermott staked his claim to be inserted  into the starting lineup with his impressive 12 point showing in 24 minutes. A rookie under Tom Thibodeau played significant minutes the first game of the season—stop the presses.

Oct 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Aaron Brooks (0) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni (9) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

And then there is Pau Gasol. Critics claimed that he is too washed-up to contribute significantly. He is too old, too frail, the Bull’s supposed prize offseason acquisition would ultimately be a failure. Well, Gasol proved all the naysayers wrong with his 21 point effort on 7-11 from the field.

Oct 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (16) reacts after scoring a basket against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

As counter intuitive as it may be, for me the best part about watching the game last night was knowing that Derrrick Rose played mediocre at best and the team still dominated, scoring over 100 points. If you have been watching the Chicago Bull’s for any extended period of time, the significance of reaching the century mark is obvious for a team whose offense struggles miserably in long stretches at times.

To be fair to Derrick, the way I have talked about his performance against the Knicks last night is a bit unfair and misleading thus far. He finished the game with 13 points and 5 assists, all the while opening up the floor for his teammates with his crazy ability to meticulously break a defense down on a whim. He did many good things; but sprinkled in there were some bad things as well. He 0-3 from three point land (I’ve been saying all along, he needs to stop with the outside shot) and had three turnovers in his 21 minutes of action.

Here are his highlights from last night.

Despite the flashiness of Rose’s highlights, the headline from the other night isn’t Derrick Rose’s performance. It is the depth of this team. They are modeled like a true championship contender and if they get contributions like this from a plethora of players across their entire lineup they will be a hard team to beat when the games start to matter in April-June.

Am I freaking out and getting ahead of myself? Maybe. This is one game at the beginning of the season that will become irrelevant in the minds of many once the playoffs start next April. But really, the Chicago Bulls are in good shape, at least for now.

Thibodeau’s age old-adage of ‘next man up’ is highly relevant for this season. The depth on this team is unreal, affording the opportunity for some key players to have bad games because somebody else is bound to step up. A few seasons ago, if Rose would have only scored 13  and Joakim hardly played at all, the Bulls would have been screwed. But this year is different. The Bull’s have so many weapons all across their line-up that some key role players are bound to bail out the starters if they struggle. It is the ultimate formula for success; a formula that the San Antonio Spurs have used to develop a dynasty. The scary thing about it though is the Bulls are arguably a much deeper team than the Spurs this season. Look out NBA.

Of course, if Thibodeau remained true to his stingy 9 man rotation limit, the depth that the Bulls have on their roster wouldn’t be utilized fully.

Recall Thibodeau’s very disturbing remarks at the beginning of the season regarding his attitude towards the rotation for the impending season.

"“Usually most teams are around nine,” he said. “And then as the playoffs get closer you’re going to pare that down some more. We’ll see. My first two years we played nine, sometimes 10. Ten is hard, most likely nine.”"

Last night, 10 players received 10 minutes or more of playing times. With Butler being reinserted into the lineup sometime in the near future, it can be reasonably assumed that one of the back-end rotation guys (Snell, Mirotic) will see a dramatic minutes cut. Still, the Bulls would be utilizing a 10 man rotation assuming that Butler’s comeback means that only one of the aforementioned players get their minutes cut, not both.

Oct 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau looks on against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe Thibodeau is diverging from his stubborn ways and finally sees the value of utilizing a complete rotation.

The Bulls will attempt to reciprocate their performance against the Knicks when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night. Tune in for this one folks, it is going to be one heck of a battle.

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