Chicago’s injury rotation from last year could predict what they do this year…if there is a season

Since there may not even be an NBA season, let’s talk about something else that is somewhat depressing…injuries. Chicago had their fair share of them last year, especially between their two starting bigs, Joakim Noah and Carlos “Gym Bag” Boozer.

Despite their injuries, the three main ones that will be discussed below, the Bulls won 62 games and made it to the Easter Conference finals before falling to the Miami Heat. It was a bitter ending to a pretty great season. Derrick Rose emerged as one of the best players in the league and won the MVP award. Omer Asik proved to be a very productive player (more to come on this below in the playoffs section) and Carlos Boozer screamed a lot (among other things).

Bulls’ fans were cheated out of a full season of health, but let’s take a look at how the Bulls did when they faced those injuries.  The most important thing was that players stepped up in response to those injuries.

Chicago started the season off shorthanded, with Carlos Boozer missing the first 15 games because of a broken hand. This meant the Bulls didn’t have their full rotation from the beginning, getting them used to what was going to be an injury riddled season for their big men. Boozington injured himself tripping over a bag and breaking his hand. So the Bulls started off with Noah and Gibson starting at center and power forward positions respectively. This is how the minutes broke down and each player’s numbers.

*Editor’s Note: Brian Scalabrine’s numbers were not calculated because his stats were too high and I’m not very good at math.

Life without Boozer: Volume I, Shaky, but solid start

October 27- November 27 (15 games)

9-6 record

Joakim Noah:  36.8 minutes, 15.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steal (started all 15 games)

Taj Gibson:  11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.2 assists, .9 steals (started all 15 games)

Omer Asik: 3.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, .5 assists, .2 assists, .6 blocks (played in all 15 games)

Kurt Thomas: Did not play in any games

No Boozer, no problem. Chicago wasn’t really missing Boozington, as it had never played a regular season game with him. The Bulls were just back to their normal strategy—which includes never posting up. Chicago entered December with a record of just 9-6, but all of their losses came to eventual playoff teams. And during that stretch they beat the soon-to-be champion Dallas Mavericks and playoff bound Trailblazers.

It wasn’t the best start to the season, but Chicago weathered the storm and would be back at full strength for a long time right? OK maybe just nine games.

Boozer returns: Full strength

December 1-December 15 (9 games)

7-2 record

Noah: 33.1 minutes, 11.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 blocks (started all nine games)

Boozer: 28 minutes, 17.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists (started all nine games)

Asik: 8.5 minutes, 1.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, .56 blocks (played in all nine games)

Gibson: 23.3 minutes, 6.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 blocks (played in all nine games)

Thomas: played in just two games, total of five minutes and two points

Boozer started slow (as expected) and didn’t work into the offense for a few games. But in his third game back he scored 25 points and in the fourth game back dropped 29. Then, on December 15, against Toronto, Boozer scored 34 points. In the same game Chicago would lose Noah, who wouldn’t be back until late February.

While Chicago was keeping Boozer’s minutes relatively low, Gibson got some good minutes and played well. Added bonus over Boozer…Gibson actually plays defense.

The Bulls dropped their first two games at full strength, to Orlando and Boston (once again both playoff teams), then went on a seven game winning streak, until Noah went down. Chicago was seemingly hitting their stride, only to be derailed, but they would quickly make the necessary adjustments.

What to do without Joakim

December 18 to February 17 (30 games)

23-8 record

Boozer: 33.9 minutes, 19.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists (started 27 games, missed 3 games)

Asik: 11.2 minutes, 2.8 points, 4 rebounds (played in all 30 games)

Gibson: 20.5 minutes, 5.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 blocks (played in 29 games, started 4)

Thomas: 27.9 minutes, 5.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, .96 blocks (started 28 games)

Thibodeau thought it better to go with experience, rather than youth, when Noah went down. That meant Kurt Thomas got his minutes, and the old man did work.  Thomas scored 22 in a game, the first time he scored that many since 2005. He also grabbed 18 boards in a single game; the first time since 2007 he had that many rebounds. It’s even more impressive when you consider Thomas can’t jump. Thomas was also sure to use up the six fouls you are given per game. And he made them hard fouls.

Asik also played well not putting up huge numbers, but playing solid defense, something that would become expected from the Turkish Delight. Gibson and Boozer split minutes and both put up good stats; especially Boozer who averaged a double-double in Noah’s absence.

The return of Noah, Full Strength again

February 23 to March 9 (9 games)

7-2 record

Noah: 29.7 minutes, 9.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 blocks (started all nine games)

Boozer: 30 minutes, 14.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists (started all nine games)

Asik: 16.9 minutes, 1.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, .9 blocks (played in eight games)

Gibson: 17.6 minutes, 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds (played in all nine games)

Thomas: played in zero games

Noah’s first game back was spoiled by an embarrassing loss in Toronto, but Chicago bounced back from that and topped Miami, sparking a nice run.

Through this stretch Asik scored less than two points per contest, but grabbed nearly nine rebounds per game. A sign of good things to come from the young man…not so much on the offensive side in which his skills consist of dunks, but on the defensive side where he is a good post defender and great rebounder.

Upsetting fact for the future: Noah and Boozer never seemed to develop a solid chemistry when they were on the court together, and their numbers reflected that depressing idea.

The Bulls weren’t meant to be at full strength for long, as Boozer went down again (here is my surprised face).  Once again everyone put in solid minutes, but they weren’t at full strength and Thibs had to change the rotation, for the 1,538,097^th time this season.

Life without Boozer, Volume II, Shorter this time

March 11 to March 18 (5 games)

4-1 record

Noah: 30.3 minutes, 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists (started four of five games)

Asik: 14.6 minutes, 4.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1 block (played all five games)

Gibson: 23.4 minutes, 7.6 points, 8.2 rebounds (started one game, played in all five)

Thomas: 29.8 minutes, 3.8 points, 10 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 blocks (started all five games)

Thibodeau went with the starting frontcourt of Joakim Noah and Kurt Thomas. Thomas was once again used more for his rebounding skills than his offensive firepower. But at this part of the season, it was obvious that Derrick Rose basically had to do all the scoring by his lonesome.

The good news is that this would be Chicago’s last major injury of the regular season, the better news was that Chicago only lost one more game the rest of the way.

Full strength to end the season

March 21 to April 13 (14 games)

13-1 record

Noah: 27.6 minutes, 9.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.7 assists (started eleven games, missed three)

Boozer: 31.1 minutes, 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists (started all 14 games)

Asik: 11.4 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds (played all 14 games)

Gibson: 20.1 minutes, 7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1 block (played all 14 games)

Thomas: 14.4 minutes, 2.2 points, 3.4 rebounds (played eleven games)

Chicago, still fighting for the number one overall seed in the playoffs, played some of their best basketball down the stretch. And they had every one of their big men contributing.

The Bulls entered the playoffs on a high, winning nine straight and 21 of their last 23. They would slump a little in the playoffs, but would still make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, before falling to the Big Three and the Miami Heat.

Playoffs

16 games

Noah: 34 minutes, 8.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 1 steal (played every game)

Boozer: 31.7 minutes, 12.6 points, 9.7 rebounds (played in every game)

Asik: 9.9 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.1 rebounds (played in fifteen games)

Gibson: 17.8 minutes, 5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 blocks (played every game)

Thomas: 10.6 minutes, 2.9 points, 2.7 rebounds (played in seven games)

Thibodeau went with Omer Asik and Taj Gibson in a few late game situations, and it ended up being a good choice. Some people questioned why it took so long for Thibs to make that switch and get back to his rotation he used during the regular season. Asik’s minutes jumped from just 5.8 in round one, to 12.8 in round two and 11.3 in round three.

Boozer played poorly, or exactly the way Jazz fans said he would play in the playoffs. He scored just 12.6 points per game and shot just 43.3 percent from the field (down from 51 percent in the regular season)

And with this, more and more responsibility shifted to Derrick Rose on the offensive side of the ball, until he couldn’t do enough and the Bulls fell in the conference finals.

What we learned

The Bulls have depth, especially at the power forward and center position. Asik, Gibson and Thomas can all step in and make you forget that Boozer is injured again, or that Joakim is being the biggest cheerleader on the bench (Alright, second biggest. Scalabrine was the biggest).

Many people thought Kurt Thomas had one foot in his basketball grave…O.K. most people thought he had two feet in his basketball grave and both hands on a sandwich, but he proved those people wrong. He can still hit open jumpers, rebound a little, bang bodies and give you six hard fouls. Kurt Thomas left his walker in the locker room and stepped up when Chicago needed a center.

We learned Omer Asik doesn’t just look like Linguini from Ratatouille. The rookie also played a bunch of minutes. His play was rewarded with a high price tag at the trade deadline. But for some Bulls fans possibly too high. Asik came in unproven and really showed he could be a solid back-up in this league for years to come, especially on the glass and on defense. I’d argue he could be a starter on a good amount of teams in this league.

Gibson’s numbers have fallen from last year, but again he is playing behind Boozer, and if Boozer’s history shows anything, it’s good to have a nice back-up at the power forward position. And Thibodeau loves defense, so Boozer’s inability to play that half of the game, paired with Taj’s tenacity on that end, bode well for his future with Chicago (see the playoffs for examples of Taj getting late-game minutes over Booz).

And for Carlos Boozer, we learned he is injury prone. There is no denying that Boozer is a good player when he’s on the court, but if he isn’t playing much, he will never live up to his contract.

A look ahead

Who knows if there will be any games this year, and if there are, it’s impossible to predict what the new CBA will look like. There has been a lot of talk about an amnesty clause. If that’s the case, will they get rid of Boozer and his huge contract, or give Boozington another chance? Could they possibly use it on someone else, such as Ronnie Brewer, as Bill Simmons suggested?

As of right now, Chicago has many of the same players on their roster, one dimensional big men and defensive-minded shooting guards. It’s impossible to predict what will have to change under the new CBA, but hopefully we’ll find out in the next few days. Or at least within the month of October.

Even though no one knows exactly what next season will hold, Bulls fans know a few things. They have the reigning MVP, a great coach, solid role players and awesome chemistry. They just don’t have a shooting guard that can shoot. Oh yeah, forgot about that minor problem.

The season is over. And it’s a bummer.

To be honest, I still feel kind of numb. This season was a thrill ride that had a sudden, jarring stop at the end. Like a roller coaster that slams into a brick wall.

The Bulls lost to the Miami Heat and failed to make the NBA Finals. Assuming a championship is the goal, that means the team will have to improve to take the next step.

Here are some preliminary thoughts about what I believe needs to be done.

Derrick Rose:
Rose struggled with his shot during the playoffs…and that was after shooting a career-low 44.5 percent from the field during the regular season. To me, that highlighted a problem that affected Rose and everybody else: Chicago’s offense was not well-designed and struggled to create clean looks against intense defensive pressure.

In fact, the Bulls spent much of the season simply putting the ball in Rose’s hands and expecting him to create everything. This led to a lot of contested jump shots created off the dribble. If you check out the numbers at Hoopdata, you’ll notice that Derrick’s shooting percentages dropped in every zone between “at the rim” and “three-point range.” The percentage of his shots that were assisted on went down as well, indicating that Rose had to create an increasing number of his own shots against one or more defenders.

Rose is a complete player, but his scoring efficiency needs to improve. It’s that simple. Rose expends an awful lot of energy finding his shots. He — with the help of the coaching staff — needs to find easier ways to get high-percentage shot attempts. We know Rose can drive. We know he can hit midrange jumpers. We know he can knock down threes.

We also know that too many of these shots are hotly contested.

Part of that is spacing. The Bulls have only one truly dangerous long ranger shooter (Kyle Korver) and two of Rose’s fellow starters are borderline offensive liabilities (Joakim Noah and Keith Bogans).

Another part of the problem is the offensive play calling. The team’s offense could really use an offseason overhaul, and coach Tom Thibodeau might want to consider hiring an assistant who specializes in offense the way he specialized in defense for the Celtics.

At any rate, the bottom line is that I’d like to see Rose get more open looks at the basket instead of having to force so many things against defenses designed to hinder him. If that happens, his scoring efficiency should increase.

Joakim Noah:
His energy and intensity are his two most important traits. However, considering he’ll now be playing on a five-year contract worth $60 million, Noah won’t get free pass on offense anymore. Before, it was a bonus if he could chip in 10 points. Now, scoring will be required. Especially if the Bulls expect to have any hope of overcoming the Heat. For all his wild-eyed enthusiasm, Noah was a liability on offense, which is the primary reason he got benched for the team’s final fourth quarter of the season.

Noah should add a little more bulk in the offseason. He also — and most importantly — needs to develop his offense skills. Specifically, Jo has to add a few go-to post moves and hone his midrange jumpshot.

Carlos Boozer:
First, we might as well nix all the “trade Boozer” talk, because the Bulls owe Carlos another $60 million over the next four years. That makes him pretty much immovable.

I’m not sure quite what to think about Boozer’s season. He got hurt before playing a single game. By the time he was ready to suit up, Noah was hurt. He played really well while Jo was out and then struggled when Noah returned. Again, I think spacing is an issue when those two are on the floor together because Joakim was (especially after his thumb surgery) a borderline offensive liability.

Except for a few strong games, Booz basically stunk up the postseason and spent the fourt quarter of the final game shining the bench with his butt. Maybe the lingering affects of a sprained ankle he suffered late in the regular season combined with his turf toe injury was more of a problem than we knew.

Or maybe they’re just excuses.

Boozer is a liability on defense. The question is: Is it due to a lack of effort, or does he simply lack the lateral quickness and instincts necessary to play defense against elite players? The former can be corrected. The latter cannot. And, unfortunately, I’m afraid it might be the latter.

If that’s the case, then Thibs needs to 1) continue tweaking the team defense to “hide” Boozer and 2) find a way to get every possible benefit out of Boozer’s offensive abilities. It seems the best Bulls fans can hope for is that Carlos scores more points than he gives up.

Luol Deng:
After Rose, Deng was the team’s most indispensable player this season. He didn’t miss a game. He was third in the league in minutes played. He scored, rebounded and gave it up on defense every night.

What more can the Bulls possibly ask from him?

The only area I’d like to see Deng improve significantly is his three-point shooting percentage. He attempted the second-most threes on the team but shot only 34.5 percent. Deng also attempted the second-most three-pointers on the team during the playoffs, and his accuracy dropped to 32.4 percent. Because Lu is primarily a spot-up three-point shooter, many of his attempts are open. He needs to knock down a higher percentage to help spread the floor and open driving lanes for Rose and other teammates.

Beyond that, I wouldn’t mind if Deng added a few post moves.

Keith Bogans:
How to put this kindly? Bogans needs to be somebody else. I mean this with all due respect, because Bogan put forth maximum effort all season, and he clearly earned the respect and trust of his teammates.

That said, the Bulls need to upgrade their starting. They do. Everybody knows this. There have been plenty of stories written about buyouts, free agent acquisitions and potential trades. I’ve heard or read about guys like Jamal Crawford, Jason Richardson, O.J. Mayo, Rip Hamilton, Stephen Jackson and even Monta Ellis.

Unfortunately, the Bulls don’t have a lot of cap room and very few tradable assets they’re willing to part with. Management will have to pull a real rabbit out of their hat to provide a significant upgrade.

If they can, Bogans can still provide a solid 5-10 minutes off the bench as a spot up shooter and go-to defender.