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The dominoes that fall when Mike Dunleavy is out

By Ernie Padaon|

When Mike Dunleavy is out of the game because of injuries, this team has struggled and there are many reasons for that.

Mike Dunleavy was able to fully practice on Wedneday, but his status for the game on Thursday is still up in the air. The team could use him back on the floor in a hurry. The Chicago Bulls were able to make Doug McDermott active onto the roster on Monday, but he still did not get on the floor. He would have been a nice player to help ease this pain.

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The Bulls have struggled without Dunleavy on the floor. Without him on the floor in the last 10 games, the team is 4-6. That record shows how weak the team is at the wing. It has been a known weakness on the roster and it especially rears it’s ugly head when Mike is sidelined. There is nobody that can step into his spot in the starting lineup and there is nobody to make up for the depth at the win on the bench.

Tony Snell should be the player to take advantage of Mike on the sideline, but he has not been consistent for the team and Coach Thibs doesn’t trust him on the court. Out of the 10 games that Mike has been out, Tony was not even put on the floor in 3 of those game. The team won 2 of those games without him on the floor.

Tony has been averaging 21.9 minutes per game without Mike available and has averaged 6.1 points per game. He started in 3 games and has shot 31.8% from deep. He is 42.5% from the field. In comparison, Mike Dunleavy is shooting 41.7% from 3-point land. That is how you stretch out the floor.

Kirk Hinrich has taken the starting role with Dunleavy out and he has not been shooting it well from outside either. In the last 10 games, Kirk has hit 26.7% of his shots from deep. Teams can just sit in the paint and dare the Bulls to beat the from the outside.

Even Jimmy Butler has felt the backlash. He has to move over to the small forward position with Dunleavy out and his production has dropped dramatically. He is shooting 38.3% without Dunleavy on the floor in the last 10 games. He was shooting 10 points higher when Mike was in the game.

On defense, things are even more shifted. Kirk Hinrich is a bad matchup on defense for us against a lot of teams. He doesn’t have the size to compete with a lot of the starters in the league at the two or three. That is why he is best used off of the bench. He can match up with some of the bench players.

Mike’s presence is needed back in the lineup. We need someone to lock down that small forward spot in the starting lineup. Adding a veteran like Ray Allen or Tayshaun Prince would help fill the void. Having Doug McDermott available might help as well. At this point though, without Mike, this team will continue to struggle.

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