This is not the time for experimentation
Bobby Portis played 29 minutes in Game 1 for a stat line of 19 points and eight rebounds. Astoundingly, he converted 80 percent of his shots for an 8-for-10 night.
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg thought pretty highly of him after Sunday night’s victory:
Hoiberg on Portis: "He was the one of our new young guys who hasn’t had any playoff experience that I wasn’t worried about."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 17, 2017
Here’s where new questions arise.
Since Hoiberg isn’t worried about Portis in the playoffs, will he conduct another slew of “experiments” with the young guys to make sure they get that coveted playoff experience?
If so, I don’t want it.
The Bulls played nine guys on Sunday and that’s not including Denzel Valentine, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Michael Carter-Williams.
It seemed like the nine guys that did play were in sync and comfortable with one another. However, there is the realization that you can’t rely on the same group of guys forever.
But, who can step up?
For one, Nikola Mirotic put on one of his best defensive displays this season yet. However, his one-dimensional offense led him to just 1-for-9 shooting on Sunday night.
But ya know what? He picked up four rebounds (wink, wink).