Here are some facts about Nikola Mirotic:

Fact: Nikola Mirotic has done wonders for the Chicago Bulls’ offense this season.

Fact: Nikola Mirotic has not shot well at all this season (41% from the field, 30.6% from three), despite his reputation as a shooter.

Conclusion: Shooting is not the only important quality in a successful stretch four, as Niko’s quickness and ballhandling ability make him a significant threat regardless.

Still with me? Good. Let’s try another.

Fact: Doug McDermott has struggled this season while playing strictly as a wing.

Fact: Doug McDermott has not shot well at all this season (40% from the field, 31.7% from three), despite his reputation as a shooter.

Fact: Doug McDermott checks many of the same boxes Mirotic does on the stretch four checklist: Size, quickness, intelligence, ballhandling and shooting.

Conclusion: Doug McDermott should be emulating Nikola Mirotic more than Mike Dunleavy.

This screenshot, taken from a game in February, just before Derrick Rose had surgery, shows exactly how powerful Mirotic’s floor-spacing is:

Tony Snell has just entered the ball into the post and made a cut down the middle of the floor. Nikola is spotted up on the opposite wing with Dunleavy in the opposite corner. In that precise moment, Jared Dudley, helping on Snell’s cut in the lane, realizes he left Mirotic open in much the same way you suddenly realize that you left the oven on. Both he and OJ Mayo (Dunleavy’s man) start scrambling toward Mirotic, leaving Snell wide open under the basket for a layup. Here’s an overhead view:

Here’s the thing: teams respect McDermott’s shooting, even as he’s hoisted up bricks all year, just as they respect Mirotic’s shooting, even as he hoists up bricks. But Doug isn’t really quick enough to beat wings off the dribble and his defense on wings isn’t great either. Put him against bigs, however, and the equation changes. He can absolutely beat big men off the dribble from the perimeter, especially if they’re already running at him to contest a shot. And we know that pulling a big man out to the perimeter is much more valuable than pulling a wing out there, even if nothing else about the situation changes. Witness the difference between Niko playing alongside two other bigs and Niko playing with just one.

So. We pretty much know that expecting Doug McDermott to contribute meaningfully this year is a lost cause. But the Bulls are pretty well committed to him down the road, and with Joakim Noah’s contract expring after next season, Pau Gasol getting older, and Taj Gibson’s long-term Bulls future uncertain for a variety of reasons, the Bulls would be well-served to train Doug as Mirotic Lite for the future.

Imagine it: 48 minutes with a stretch four always on the floor. What a world that would be.

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(Yes, we’ve gone for 6-on-5 this time, because we all needed a little space to vent).

1. What was your first reaction to the latest Derrick Rose injury?

Caleb Nordgren: I smacked my desk at work and swore loudly.

Kelly Scaletta: Oh well. We all knew it was possible.

Peter Owen: The first time I read the initial tweets breaking the news, it failed to process. The second time, it felt like a freight train hit me.

Trenton Jocz: I just assumed I would wake up in a minute.

Avi Saini: Nothing more than blinking my eyes a few times and sighing deeply. You know it’s bad when the reaction is no longer “Oh my God this is terrible!” like it was when Rose first got injured (or Paul George broke his leg).

Brian Schroeder: 

2. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

CN: Because happiness is a lie and nothing good can ever come of hope.

KS: I’ll actually answer the question literally. Or at least what believe. Rose is too big, strong and fast for his own ligaments. 

PO: This is basically karma rebalancing itself for all those titles and relatively injury-free Michael Jordan years.

TJ: Because for all we know, this isn’t that strange of a surgery and is just clean-up. Panicking never really makes things better. If this came in early January, with a mid-March return date, it wouldn’t sound as dire. Instead, this could very well impact the playoffs, which amplifies it.

AS: Because the world is a cruel place that refuses to let anyone have fun.

BS: 

3. How does this impact the Bulls both short- and long-term?

CN:  Short term? Another depressing end-of-season slog to the playoffs and likely exit before where they’d hoped. Long term? Time to start building around Jimmy and Mirotic.

KS: Not as much as previously. Rose is the third-best player on the Bulls this year. I think they are better prepared to survive this one.

PO: It’s going to feel like a funeral in the Bulls training center today and until there is a firm timetable in place for Rose’s return. The short term, it categorically ends Chicago’s slim title chances. Longer term, the Bulls really can’t build around Rose as a franchise cornerstone which, on that contract, is going to be a difficult task. However, the Bulls front office managed to put together a 2nd-round team without Rose last year and this year’s team sans-Derrick is easily superior in terms of overall talent and depth. It’s not the death sentence it was in 2012 or early in his first return in 2013.

TJ: Short-term, it takes them out of the title conversation. I’ve maintained all year I’d pick them to win the East but lose in the Finals, so unless you think they’d beat a more talented, better coach team like Golden State, the binary goal of winning it all is likely unchanged. Funny how people thought Rose had lost his game yet now take the Bulls out of the contender group. Long-term, not much. Franchise players aren’t readily available, so Rose is still vital to their future. However, it does make the decision to consolidate two first round picks into one player who is highly unlikely to be a real franchise changer (Doug McDermott) look even worse.

AS:  Short term I don’t think it does much. Truth be told the January stretch of terrible play has made me 180 on my hopes of a title this year. Taking Rose out of the equation pretty much solidifies that thought. Long-term I think it removes Rose as being the focal point of the team. Thibs has been a point guard guru since taking over the Bulls because his system focuses around scoring first guards. Unfortunately his health just doesn’t allow that. The team is now going to have to make a tough decision on who to keep versus let go, who to build around, and who will manage that restructuring. Oh… and long term I think this probably seals Thibodeau’s firing even though it isn’t exactly his fault… but that’s a topic for another time.

BS: 

4. Should the Bulls target a free-agent point guard, and if yes, who?

CN: I guess? Dunno who would be available, given they won’t have cap space.

KS: Well, they have to. Kirk’s health is questionable too. Nate’s the easy answer, but I’m not sure he’s the same Nate.

PO: Nate Robinson is available, loves the Bulls and I know I would at least enjoy seeing his energy out on the court. He had a down year this year before being bought out by the Celtics post-trade. You gotta make the phonecall.

TJ: I doubt it matters. Good vets aren’t available. Good D-League guys won’t earn the trust of Thibs. Bad vets are… well, Mike James.

AS:  I’d like them to but a few things hinder going after a point guard in free agency. First: Cap space. The Bulls would have to sign and trade to get someone respectable. Secondly: Kirk Hinrich because we know hell hath no fury like Kirk Hinrich.

BS: 

5. How much are you looking forward to Kirk Hinrich playing 30 minutes per game?

CN: Kill me now.

KS: Sigh. Grit.

PO: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—*jumps under a bus*

TJ: I don’t think his body can handle 30 minutes a night, but I’m trying to be positive and think that his skills will play better as a point than a wing. There will actually be a reason for him to handle the ball as opposed to having a terrible shooter play a spot-up role.

AS:

BS: 

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Rare is the Bulls game that is decided by the start of the fourth quarter.

Blowouts in either direction this season have seen either Chicago hang around until  deep in the fourth quarter or fail to properly close out poor teams. Saturday night in New  Orleans was not one of those occassions.

With Anthony Davis fresh off his absurd three-point game-winner last night in  Oklahoma City, the Bulls promptly came out and engaged in the kind of sloppy, slow,  low-scoring affair that became their calling-card over the past few years.

The Pelicans’ first 20 points and first 18 field goals came in the paint, the Bulls apparently taking defensive innovation a step too far – or, conversely, the end result of trying to check Anthony Davis with Pau Gasol.

Davis should garner several more MVP votes after his impact on the game was displayed in rather stark terms. After a heavy fall on a dunk, Davis left the game and would not return with the score tied at 35-35 and five minutes left in the first half.

The Bulls would tear off on a 72-37 run the rest of the game, including a 20-3 run coming out of halftime that settled the game as a competitive affair. The final 35-point margin of victory was the Bulls largest of the season and most lopsided win since a January 2013 rout of the Atlanta Hawks. Only the opening-night laugher against the New York Knicks can come close this season.

Derrick Rose was his by-now customary mixture of shot-making despite weird shot selection, finishing with 20 points on 8-15 shooting. Pau Gasol was also his typical double-double machine, also scoring 20 points to go with 15 rebounds before he was pulled alongside Rose in the third quarter with the scoreboard heavily favoring the Bulls.

The brightest of all spots for the Bulls on a night to be fairly happy with was Tony Snell. Despite wildly fluctuating minutes – from playing 30 minutes some games to zero minutes in an entire week – he stepped into this game over Nikola Mirotic and came close to a career-high with 19 points, hitting five of his six three-point attempts as he was locked in from the moment he checked in.

While most players experiencing some kind of hot night would expect to see significant burn in their next contest, there’s probably an equal chance Snell ends up buried on the bench tomorrow night in Orlando, a fate that has befallen Doug McDermott most of this year and Nikola Mirotic tonight.

The Serbian, despite being among the candidates for Rookie of the Year and named to the Rising Stars contest, didn’t log a single minute in the first half and only entered the game when the result was beyond all doubt.

He immediately settled into his rhythm, displaying flashes of passing, shooting and ball-handling in his limited time. He made sure his absence would go noticed earlier in the game, throwing a pair of flashy passes to McDermott and one astonishing alley-oop for E’Twaun Moore that he pulled off with a nonchalant flick of his wrists.

McDermott finally saw court time after recovering from a lingering injury, some would suggest he also insulted a member of Thibodeau’s family or missed every flight and team bus over the past four weeks he’s been available such has been Thibs’ reluctance to use the player the Bulls felt necessary to make a major (by Bulls standards) trade on draft night to acquire.

McDermott scored a quick nine points on a backdoor cut, a nice three-pointer off a series of down-screens and a strong post-move against Pelicans bench players.

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Seeing as the Bulls have played their best against contenders this year, it only makes sense that they would break out of their slump in emphatic fashion against the Spurs, last year’s champion and the most successful franchise of the last 15 or so years.

Chicago came out focused right off the bat, led by Derrick Rose. Attacking the basket as relentlessly as he has all season, he backed up his semi-controversial airing of dirty laundry following the embarrassing loss in Cleveland. In a game with many interesting threads on the long-term direction of the team, Rose displayed the kind of leadership that he couldn’t while injured and that he didn’t have to when Joakim Noah was on court with him. His raw numbers don’t pop out because he didn’t play heavy minutes in the relative blowout, but he had 15 points and four assists on 7-11 from the floor in the first half. His first ten points all came in the paint, as he uncharacteristically worked inside-out. Upon scoring inside, he took that rhythm to the perimeter, marked by eschewing an open Aaron Brooks on a 2-on-2 fastbreak to dribble back out to the wing and drill a three of his own with a hand in his face.

His start was critical as Jimmy Butler had a rare game where he was in foul trouble. Two quick calls sent him to the bench, and Tom Thibodeau’s call to re-insert Tony Snell into the starting lineup became irrelevant as Kirk Hinrich was pressed into early duty to relieve Butler. The first quarter and much of the first half saw both teams struggling to hit shots. Rose and Kawhi Leonard were the guys keeping this from becoming plain ugly basketball. Per ESPN Stats and Info, the Bulls shot 51.1% while Rose, who finished with 22 points and five assists, was on the court, compared to 41.4% with him on the bench.

The Bulls dug out a lead largely by getting back to their trademark toughness. Taj Gibson was just 5-13 shooting, but he made his presence felt in the interior. Pau Gasol, who was named an All-Star starter and will join his brother Marc as the only brothers to start opposite each other in the All-Star Game, had only 12 points, but that came on merely six shots, and he added 17 rebounds. Thibs clearly wanted to get back to that defensive mentality, as he leapfrogged Nikola Mirotic in the rotation with Nazr Mohammed, who was considered a veteran before most of his teammates were even in the league. In limited minutes during the competitive portion of the game, Mirotic again opened up the floor for Rose even without hitting shots of his own.

Chicago was much more active on defense, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that San Antonio’s old guard just didn’t have it tonight. In limited minutes, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had 17 points combined on 7-22 shooting. Ginobili had good looks as Rose was eager to leave him and help elsewhere, and he just couldn’t knock them down.

The game was not out of hand, as Chicago led 46-40 at the break, though the Bulls began the second half with a quick 7-0 spurt. After a Spurs timeout, they kept it going, pushing the lead up to 20 and more, peaking at 73-48. At that point, Leonard, Parker and Ginobili took a seat, and unlike some other coaches, ahem, Gregg Popovich did not overreact to his subs trimming the lead by reinserting his stars.

Rose took a page out of Pop’s playbook by removing himself early in the fourth. Pau and Jimmy played too deep into the game, counteracted a bit by Jimmy’s foul trouble, which made this just the second time all season Butler failed to play 30 minutes in a game.

Rarely do we talk about heavy minutes encouragingly when it comes to the Bulls, but Tony Snell played a season-high 34 minutes. While the box score looks ugly (0-6 from three), he made some nice drives to the basket and his length made some impact. An example: early in the third, with Kawhi guarding Rose, Snell proved too big for Parker to handle on a drive to the hoop. Had it been Kirk Hinrich, hiding Parker would have been an easier task. Snell has his rough moments, but it serves the team best in the long run to let him figure things out. If it doesn’t work, Hinrich is a known quantity and has played enough with his teammates to slide right back in.

This effort comes after a couple days to re-group and we’ll see if the limited minutes from tonight help as the Bulls travel to Dallas on a back-to-back tomorrow and show Thibs that maybe, just maybe, the team benefits when given more time off.

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The Bulls have had more emphatic wins than the one they notched tonight. They thumped the Knicks to open the year, mounted an impressive comeback over the Clippers in Los Angeles, claimed two victories over Toronto, won shorthanded in Memphis on a road back-to-back and came through with an emotional triumph in Washington. However, tonight felt more meaningful than any of them. Before covering why, let’s recap the action.

Houston claimed an early lead on the back of MVP frontrunner James Harden. He netted seven quick points, absolutely torching Kirk Hinrich, whose inability to hang with the bearded one was all too predictable. It’s unclear why Kirk started on Harden, but the combination of Jimmy missing the previous game on bereavement leave and that the Bulls adjusted makes it hard to criticize. They tried it, it didn’t work, and they went away from it. That’s all you can ask. Answering Harden’s contributions for Chicago was Pau Gasol, as he’s done so often for them this season. In the first quarter alone, he had 18 points and six rebounds. Similar to LaMarcus Aldridge in last year’s playoffs, Gasol attacked Houston by using Dwight Howard’s reluctance to stretch away from the basket against him. The midrange game was always there and he got in a good rhythm. Finishing with 27 and 14, he’s now gone 25/13 in consecutive games for the second time this year. The rest of the league combined has done that once, achieved, as one might guess, by Anthony Davis.

Once Pau exited to start the second, Derrick Rose picked up where Gasol left off. After starting 0-3, Rose hit his next four shots, finishing the half 4-9. Just 6-17 overall, it was still an improvement from his recent dismal shooting. Houston got contributions from Patrick Beverley and new addition Josh Smith. Beverley continually attack the boards on offense, creating second chance opportunities. He converted all six shot attempts in the opening half before fading to finish 7-12 for 14 points. Smith had his typical mixed bag performance that is becoming the norm with Houston. Taking into account both volume and efficiency, he had his best night as a Rocket, going 10-20 for 21 points. The downside to that was he got back to chucking threes as he had in Detroit. After not taking more than two in any game since joining the team, he took five triples, and a couple of the four misses were rather damaging. He also had four turnovers for the fourth time in seven games as a Rocket.

Tied at halftime and deep into the third, this was a game of runs marked by lots of penetration to the rim. The Bulls got easy alley-oops to Gasol and Butler, with Taj Gibson adding a nasty one-handed putback and Nikola Mirotic added the most emphatic dunk of his young career. Meanwhile, Houston only got to the line three times in the first three quarters largely as a byproduct of the Bulls offering no resistance at the rim whatsoever.

At 83-all, Houston finished the third with a transition three, a point off of a Thibs technical, and finally a Smith tip-in. Despite Jimmy shutting down Harden (no field goals after halftime, per K.C. Johnson, and just 4-19 after starting 3-3), a couple buckets from Mirotic and the Rockets giving Hinrich all day to knock down a corner three, Houston still led 100-95 going into timeout at the 5:41 mark. The scoring frenzy ceased for over two minutes, Houston unable to put the game away and Chicago unable to pull even. Then, in less than 30 seconds, the Bulls had tied it at 100 thanks to buckets from Gasol and Butler.

After a Houston timeout, Jimmy drew a charge on Harden and Pau put the Bulls up with a pair of free throws. Smith hit his lone three to put the Rockets back up, but that would be their last field goal of the game and threes from Butler and Mirotic iced the win.

Both teams played well, and it was one of those games that just came down to whose shots fell. That element, plus their poor interior defense, make it hard to call this the best Bulls win of the year. What makes it the most meaningful is that they again executed offensively down the stretch, hitting big shots and getting fantastic passing from Rose and Gasol, and Thibs finished the game with Hinrich on the bench. Mike Dunleavy remains injured, so Mirotic got his most time yet at small forward, and he rewarded the Bulls for their trust in him. If they can finish games going forward with Rose, Butler, Mirotic and some combination of Noah/Pau/Taj, they’d finally be putting the most talent on the floor that they can. They won’t succeed deep into the playoffs without doing just that.

Chicago now sits at 25-10, the sixth-best record in the league, as well as second in the East. They’re 13-2 since the disappointing home loss to Golden State and will have a chance to solidify their standing in the East over the next two weeks with two games against the Wizards and opportunities to avenge close defeats to Cleveland and Atlanta.

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For the second time in four seasons, the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers met to play on Christmas Day and once again there were major story lines underlying the action. On this day in 2011, the two teams kicked off the NBA season after a long, seemingly endless lockout. This year, the game marked the first time Pau Gasol and Carlos Boozer would face off against their old teams- the Lakers and Bulls, respectively. The game was to also serve as a game between two superstars who have finally made their returns to the court after various injuries (though, this story didn’t come to fully come to fruition as Kobe Bryant sat out the game).

Unfortunately despite all of the underlying plot narratives the game, unsurprisingly, fell flat due to the glaring difference in abilities between the two teams. Behind Gasol’s 23 points, Jimmy Butler’s 21 points, and Derrick Rose’s 20 points, the Bulls trounced the Lakers 113-93. The game was marked characteristic up and down play by Chicago, due in part because the team would play down to their opponent’s level after building a lead. When engaged Chicago fired on all cylinders and were seemingly unstoppable. Otherwise they looked uninterested and ready to pick-up the egg nog Joakim Noah had asked the crowd to put down before tip-off.

Due to difference in both teams’ abilities and their current trajectories, all the story lines weren’t exactly enthralling. While fun for Bulls fans to see Gasol continue to play at a level former-Bulls Carlos Boozer would occasionally deliver, without fierce competition his first game against the Lakers fell flat. Boozer’s fight against Chicago was only interesting because it was difficult to determine whether the crowd was chanting “boo” or “Booze.” Or even when trying to figure out…

Are Chicago fans saying “boo-urns” or “boo-zer”?

— Pro Hoops History (@ProHoopsHistory) December 26, 2014

The Bulls will have the day off before hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on December 27th. Both Derrick Rose and Chicago will hope to keep their incredible level of play (when engaged) going forward.

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