Bench
Jan 9, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell (20) shoots the ball as Washington Wizards forward Rasual Butler (8) defends in the second quarter at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Bulls have been regarded as an especially deep team, but the Wizards’ roster has some nice depth as well.
Their bench consists of solid veterans like Ramon Sessions, Kris Humphries, Rasual Butler, and Drew Gooden. They have younger guys like Otto Porter and Kevin Seraphin, and sitting at the end of their bench are Will Bynum, Martell Webster, and DeJuan Blair, all players other teams in the league would love to have.
The one guy they are missing from last year’s roster is the guy Bulls fans were ecstatic to see get traded. Andre Miller haunted dreams as he outplayed the Bulls’ backup guards and helped the Wizards hold onto their leads throughout last year’s series.
The guy replacing him, Sessions, is younger and more athletic, and his style of play contrasts greatly to Miller’s. Sessions is a good player but not necessarily better than the Bulls’ backups; I would personally say Aaron Brooks is a more skilled point guard. The thing that worked to Miller’s advantage was his ability to post up smaller guards, and Sessions definitely does not possess those same skills.
Thibodeau has publicly announced his plans for his playoff rotation, and it includes Taj Gibson, Aaron Brooks, Nikola Mirotic and either Kirk Hinrich or Tony Snell, depending on what is needed.
Gibson should be favored over Humphries while Hinrich or Snell should be able to chase around Rasual Butler without much of a problem. Snell has also had a weird affect on Porter as we saw him turn the SF into a Shaqtin’ a Fool legend in their last meeting. If only he made the shot.
The X-factor for the Bulls will certainly be Mirotic; no one on the Wizards can guard him. Who will they put on him? Humphries? Seraphin? Webster or Butler? Paul Pierce? None of these guys can stop the rookie and that, in my opinion, will inevitably be in the Bulls’ favor.
Advantage: Chicago Bulls’ Bench
Next: Thibodeau vs Wittman