Whenever you have Derrick Rose on your roster it’s not hard to find positives in how the position is panning out as the season continues. But this year the Bulls have had their fair share of woes at point guard this year from Derrick Rose going down to C.J. Watson missing significant action. But nevertheless Chicago has remained one of the finer units of point guards in the NBA.
Points: Derrick Rose – 22.0ppg (3rd in NBA/2nd in Eastern Conference)
Assists: Derrick Rose – 7.7apg (9th in NBA/4th in Eastern Conference)
FG %: Derrick Rose – 46.1% (14th in NBA/ 9th in Eastern Conference)
The Good
Derrick Rose suffered a five game stretch where he didn’t play a single minute, but despite that he remains near the top of the league in scoring and assists. C.J. Watson also missed significant time but showed that when the Bulls call on him to lead this team, he can answer. During much of Rose’s five game sitting streak, it was the bench Mob General C.J. Watson who led the Bulls much in the emotional fashion Rose does. Watson has played in 23 of the Bulls 34 games thus far in 2012, proving that he’s one of the best reserve guards in all of the NBA.
Rose, however, is still the reigning MVP and therefore is still the crowing jewel for the Bulls. He continues to make athletic plays, driving to the basket and hitting clutch shots — you know business as usual. He also has shown he’s not afraid to be used as the decoy which was demonstrated in the Bulls second home game of the year. With the game on the line Rose sacrificed himself as a decoy, allowing Luol Deng to hit the winning shot. More of this in the second half, in combination with his already off the cart skills will mean only good things for the Bulls down the stretch.
The Bad
Despite nearly leading all of basketball in scoring, Derrick Rose has struggled to hit shots this year ranking 14th in the NBA in field goal percentage. However, it must be said that only Russell Westbrook has made more field goal attempts then Rose his year and if you though Rose’s 425 was a lot, Westbrook as lobbed up 627 field goals this year and his shooting percentage is only marginally higher then that of Rose’s. But nevertheless it’s Rose’s job to hit shots, and although he manages to usually hit the clutch shots, having Rose hit the early game buckets would prevent the dramatic final seconds attempt from occurring.
C.J. Watson also hasn’t been as effective as he could be, not to say that he hasn’t been. But when Watson was filling in for Rose, he was more a spiritual leader then a statistical one. Watson is only averaging 4.0 assists per game in his 23 games which isn’t a sexy point guard number. It’s middle of the pack and Watson is better then being lumped in with all the other reserve point guards int he NBA.
Probably most disappointing of all is the play of John Lucas III and to an extent Mike James the third and fourth string quarterbacks of the Bulls. James gets semi-exonerated due to his almost meaningless role on the team, but Lucas has seen time in big spots and has only wowed roughly 5 percent of the time. Unfortunately for the times he has done right — which there are redeeming times for Lucas — his first half will be forever remembered on posters hung by kids in their rooms. I think we all know which play I’m referring too.
The Ugly
The injuries are obviously the defining theme of the first half for the Bulls and no position has seen more bloodshed then at point guard. First it was C.J. Watson spraining his elbow and missing most of the first month of play. Then — to the horror of Bulls fans — Derrick Rose went down with a toe sprain. Watson returned to fill the void but then kept dealing with various nagging injuries.
Then the big bomb went off: Rose suffered lower back spasms and sat for five straight games including two huge games against Boston. Watson unfortunately was dealing with concussion problems leaving the job up to Lucas III and the already once waived Mike James.
Rose has since returned and Lucas has improved but Watson remains out and with something as serious as a concussion who knows when he’ll really be ready to return.
The Minnesota Twins saw Justin Morneau suffer a seemingly harmless knee to the head in June 2010 and he missed games deep into the next season. Watson’s first priority must be to get healthy even if that’s not the best option for the Bulls. If he misses significant time in the second half, Lucas and James must step up in big ways.
Overall
Despite the injuries and the slumps, the Bulls have powered on. They played 7 games sans Rose and managed to not completely implode. Watson has proven himself to be a worthy spiritual substitute for Rose and even John Lucas has seen his bright days. Heck, Mike James has even turned in the occasional good performance this year as well. The Bulls head into the second half four deep at point guard which should, at least on paper, be enough to get them to the playoffs healthy. At the end of the day that’s what counts and the point guard unit in Chicago has what it takes to get the job done.
Grade: B+