Pippen Ain't Easy
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Chicago Bulls: The Walking Dead

By Paul Steeno

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No Rose. No Gasol. No Hinrich. Big Problem.

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As my brother so eloquently put it following the Bull’s embarrassing loss to the Portland Trailblazers, the Chicago Bulls should cancel the circus at the United Center so they don’t have to get killed on their annual west coast trip. It appeared that a revamped Chicago Bull’s squad would break their string of bad west coast luck following an impressive short-handed double digit victory against the Los Angeles Clippers to start the circus trip. However, two straight lackluster performances against the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trailblazers equated to the Bull’s first two game losing streak of the season thus far. Unlike earlier defeats this season, I think the Bull’s struggles stem from a different issue as opposed to the question of effort that I pointed to in an earlier column. The Bulls have simply been too devastated with injuries over the last couple games to have any real chance of defeating these two solid opponents without a Herculean effort that never materialized.

Nov 21, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) drives past Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) during the first quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Rose continues to be sidelined with a hamstring strain that has already kept the Bull’s point guard out for 4 straight games. By the way, the Bulls are 1-3 in the games that Rose has missed. Derrick suffered the hamstring strain about a week ago in a non-contact fall against the Toronto Raptors. Rose continues to maintain the stance that he won’t play unless fully confident in his ability to play at his highest capable level. The Bulls are really babying Rose this season; which is both a good and a bad thing. On the plus side, as long as these relatively minor injuries are taken care of now and don’t linger until the playoffs in April, it is irrelevant if he is sitting now. As long as he is 100% ready to go during the playoffs, Bulls fans should remain level-headed about him sitting some games during the early part of the season. On the other hand, the number of games that Rose sits has to be reasonable. The only way he will continue to improve his game is by playing, and sitting on the bench is doing nothing towards building his confidence. Additionally, Rose must learn how to play through injury, because literally nobody is 100% come playoff time after a long season.

Nov 20, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) on the bench during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Chicago Bulls 103-88. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Rose’s status for Monday’s game against the Utah Jazz remains up in the air. If Rose can’t play, the Bulls may consider looking to add another point guard to the roster because second stringer Kirk Hinrich has also been battling injuries for the last couple of games. John Lucas III, Mike James and Will Bynum have all been mentioned as possible additions should the Bulls choose to take this route.

Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson reported today that Derrick Rose is is questionable for the game Monday against Utah.

Pau Gasol strained his calf against the Indiana Pacers last week and has missed the last three contests with this particular injury. Gasol took to twitter to inform Bull’s nation that his calf is feeling a lot better after his extended time off with this injury.

One of the main concerns with signing Pau Gasol was his history of injuries. He is 34 years old and it was clear from the get-go that the Bulls must remain conservative with his minutes if they wanted him to last a full season with relatively few injuries. So, was this injury due to Coach Thibodeau’s tendency to overplay his guys? Lets take a look.

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Gasol’s 34.8 minutes per game this season is less than a minute fewer than his career average. Thibodeau’s reluctance to fully utilize his line-up contributes to this high total of minutes played. Gasol played really high minutes during the earliest part of the season to compensate for Noah being out nursing a lingering injury. With Taj Gibson spraining his ankle against Portland, Gasol minutes could spike again because Gibson may not be back for awhile. I have no problem with Gasol sitting out a few extra games due to this injury. The Bull’s will need him to play extended minutes moving forward, and any extra rest now could go a long way towards keeping him healthy in his expanded role with Gibson sidelined. Moving forward, Thibodeau needs to limit his minutes to around 30 per game. The only way that this can be accomplished is by opening up the rotation and giving Nikola Mirotic an expanded role. If the Bulls expect to be around come June, they need to do everything in their power to give their key players chances to stay healthy. Gasol’s injury is likely a byproduct of too many minutes. Thibodeau needs to be proactive and try to correct this problem.

Nov 20, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (16) on the bench during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Chicago Bulls 103-88. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Iron man Kirk Hinrich, was a surprising absentee from the lineup against Portland on Friday. Hinrich took an inadvertent shot to the ribs by Rudy Gay against Sacramento on Thursday night and suffered a chest contusion in the process. The fact that Hinrich took several charges on DeMarcus Cousins after this play further aggravated the injury. Hinrich is still in pain, and his status remains questionable for Monday’s game against Utah. He told reporters on Friday that he is still in a lot of pain after the incident.

"“It hurts to take deep breaths,” Hinrich said. “Any type of just movement in itself, it’s hard to even posture up straight. I hope I get better soon.”"

The latest casualty for the Bulls is a serious one. Taj Gibson appeared to severely hurt his ankle against Portland on Friday and was sent home to Chicago this weekend instead of continuing to travel with the team for the remainder of their west coast road trip. Here is a video of the play on Friday.

Gibson’s injury  was officially listed as an ankle sprain following the game. He appeared to be in a lot of pain walking back to the locker room and couldn’t put weight on his ankle. Following the game, he was wearing a walking boot. As for the duration of time missed due to his injury, that remains yet to be seen. However, Gibson plans to take a slow, Rose-like approach in his recovery.

"“I gotta get this thing right,” he said… . “Just talking to Derrick, talking to the guys, I have to be patient. I have to stop trying to run back out there to try to play through these things. We have a long season. It’s just the dog in me that wants to be out there and play. I have to just learn from this.”"

Nov 21, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson (22) is carried off the floor after an apparent injury during the third quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bull’s continue to be devastated by injuries; a trend that has plagued the franchise for several years. However, the Bulls have consistently prevailed despite the litany of injuries that they have suffered over the years and that is part of their appeal from a fan standpoint. There is no doubt that the Bulls will be able to overcome the current injury obstacles and put together consistent winning efforts by grinding out games together as a team. But, for the Bulls to have a chance of winning a championship, they need to be healthy. These injuries are unsettling, and don’t bode well for the future because injuries tend to build up over time and/or linger.

Here’s hoping that the Bull’s can stay healthy. They certainly deserve a break one of these years…

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