The Chicago Bulls end November with their yearly “Circus Trip” against some of the top young teams in the Western Conference, but start December against some of the best guard-dominant teams in the league. If Fred Hoiberg‘s new guard defense holds, the Bulls can beat some of the best teams.
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In the first three games of December, the Chicago Bulls go up against the likes of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers. Those games give the team a chance to tune their vaunted new backcourt defense, which Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg hopes to help the team improve on and flow into their pace-and-space offensive game that he’d like to run in year two.
Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo should hold their own and even things out with the opposing starting backcourts of almost everyone they will be matching up when the Bulls face some of the league’s best. The teams in December that they’ll be matched up with have strong veteran scoring guards, so it will be interesting to watch the whole Bulls team make an effort to slow down or shut down these All-Star backcourts with their new blitz-and-swarm defenses.
The newly put-together “Bench Mob” of the Bulls should play a crucial role and plenty of minutes should be given to young guards like Jerian Grant and Spencer Dinwiddie; both of whom are expected to come into their own as lockdown specialists on opposing playmakers off the bench.
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December also sets the Bulls up with three awesome games against the division rival Milwaukee Bucks in a back-to-back in the middle of the month and a New Year’s Eve game, plus two games against Jeff Teague and Paul George‘s Indiana Pacers. These games mean heavy playing minutes for Jimmy Butler in particular, who has shown that he can lock down some of the Central Division’s best in the past.
The Chicago Bulls also game against Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the first week and on Christmas Day, plus tough games against John Wall‘s Washington Wizards and Kemba Walker‘s Charlotte Hornets. After Wall and Walker, the Bulls will face smaller, veteran guards like Goran Dragic of the Miami Heat and J.J. Barea of the Dallas Mavericks.
Dec. 13 will also bring the first look at Tom Thibodeau’s new Minnesota Timberwolves roster with Kris Dunn and Ricky Rubio.
The December games where the Bulls play teams like Miami, San Antonio and other strong scoring teams are the games where Hoiberg needs to unleash the Bulls’ young guys like Grant, Dinwiddie and maybe even Tony Snell to tough it out and hound the savvy veterans. They’ll need to cover things like preventing catch-and-shoot opportunities, as well as picking off pocket passes by these wily playmakers, especially Parker and Dragic. If the Bulls can stop the passing game of Parker and Dragic for example, the frontcourt guys like Robin Lopez and Cristiano Felicio can make it difficult for opposing guards to score in the paint. Even Barea needs a pesky Bulls guard in his face all game long.
The December schedule of the Chicago Bulls promises us a true test as early as two months into the season. December should show us if the team’s backcourt is up to snuff and make Hoiberg look like he knows what he’s doing early on or if the Bulls are going to fight it out just to make the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference this season.