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The post Bulls Zone 91- The Playoff Picture appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

On the surface, that question seems irrational and misguided, because there are no such things as curses. But it sure feels like a witch doctor somewhere worked some major voodoo on this team.

For the past two seasons, the Bulls have had championship potential that was ultimately undone by injuries. Injuries to their superstar. Injuries to their All-Stars. Injuries to starters and reserves. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of their ball boys come up lame during a shoot around. It’s been that ridiculous.

Initially, last weekend’s thrilling triple-overtime win in Game 4 appeared to be the point at which this series turned irrevocably in Chicago’s favor. However, given that it effectively knocked Kirk Hinrich (and his invaluable defense on Deron Williams) out of Games 5 and 6, it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory.

Even without Hinrich, the Bulls seemed a fair bet to close out the series at home in Game 6, as long as nothing else unexpected popped up to bite them in the butt.

Then something unexpected popped up to bite them in the butt.

Luol Deng is sick. Sick with what exactly is the question. Deng was reportedly sick enough to undergo a spinal tap to test for viral meningitis. The test apparently came back negative — thank God — but Deng wasn’t well enough to play and got sent home well before tip-off.

And as if all that wasn’t enough, Nate Robinson and Taj Gibson were suffering flu-like symptoms during the game.

Robinson — whom coach Tom Thibodeau says has been sick for “a while” — still managed 18 points and 4 assists, but Gibson was clearly hampered. I know Gibson hasn’t had quite the season Bulls fans had hoped for, but he’s still much better than 3 points, 3 rebounds and 6 personal fouls in 18 minutes of a critical home playoff game.

Said Gibson: “It was all about being there for my team. I am just frustrated right now … I still feel sick. I just had to go out there and do my job. We have to play for each other.”

Added Thibodeau: “That’s part of it. In the NBA over the course of a season, guys get sick, they play through illness.”

Playing through illness and injury is what these Bulls do pretty much every night of their lives. If the Chicago Cubs have the Curse of the Billy Goat, the Bulls must have the Curse of the Co-pay. About the only thing that hasn’t happened is players spontaneously combusting on the bench. Or should I say hasn’t happened yet? After almost 200 players games (and counting!) lost to injury this season, almost nothing would surprise me at this point.

So Tom “We Always Have More Than Enough To Win” Thibodeau was forced to ride yet another starting lineup into action. And I do mean ride. Jimmy Butler did sit down for a single second of this game. Marco Belinelli played all but one minute and 37 seconds of this one. Joakim Noah — plantar faciitis and all — logged 43 minutes and 16 seconds. Robinson, even with the flu-like symptoms, played nearly 42 minutes.

Despite it all, the Bulls almost won. “Almost” being the operative word.

Chicago’s D struggled mightily in the early going, as the Nets scored 33 points on 65 percent shooting in the first quarter. And although the defense picked up in the second half — limiting Brooklyn to 35 points on 10-for-36 shooting over the second and third quarters — that rocky start had the Bulls on their heels all game long.

This was one of those classic “hump” games, where the Bulls were tantalizingly close for most of the night but could never get over the hump and take control. They had countless opportunities to tie the game or take the lead, but something always stymied them. Missed shots. Turnovers. A key play by the Nets. Something.

In the final two minutes, the Bulls had several chances to tie the game. Robinson missed two layups. Carlos Boozer committed a loose ball foul. Belinelli missed a three. With three seconds to go, Noah lost a jump ball to Williams.

For the record, Noah is 6’11” and Williams is 6’3″.

Said Joe Johnson: “We just believed. We believed in one another. In practice (Wednesday), we went over a lot. More so than anything, it was about who wanted it badder.”

That’s a nice sentiment. But I disagree.

After all, who wanted it any badder than Noah (15 rebounds, 14 points, 5 assists, 5 blocked shots), who according to Elias Sports Bureau joined Artis Gilmore as the only players in Bulls playoff history to finish with at least 15 rebounds, 10 points and 5 blocks in a game since blocks were officially recorded in 1973-74? And Noah almost made the play of the game by tying up Williams on an inbounds play with seconds to go.

Robinson was pretty productive despite his illness. Belinelli scored 22 points and tied a career-high with 7 assists. Butler ran the marathon and finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and a blocked shot. Boozer had a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards.

The Bulls held the Nets to 43 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle 46-41, including a 15-10 advantage on the offensive glass. I think they wanted the game badly enough.

As Brooklyn coach P.J. Carlesimo put it: “Starting with Derrick, their franchise player hasn’t played. It seems almost every time we play them, it’s a different roster. … There is not a team in the league that plays harder than them.”

That said, a team can go to the well only so many times before that well runs dry. Only don’t tell that to Noah, who remains as defiant and fiery as ever.

Said Noah: “We’re a team of fighters. We keep getting punched in the face but we fight back. I’m proud of this team, and we’re going to go into a hostile environment in Brooklyn and we’re going to win.”

Noah’s teammates mirrored those sentiments.

Said Butler: “[Our confidence is] going up. It’s sure not going to go down. They know they got to win Game 7; we know we got to win Game 7. Same style of basketball; it’s going to be a fight. The tougher team is going to get the win, and we go in wanting to be the tougher team.”

Added Gibson: “We just got to go there, put our boxing gloves back on and tell everybody ‘be ready to play. It’s no time to be hurt, sick; it could be the end of the season. So we have to go out there, just put forth a lot of effort. There’s no time to worry about small things; we got to just push the limit.”

The Bulls may go down in Game 7. But they will not go down without a fight. That is who they are. Which is why their fans may be disappointed in a particular outcome, but they can never be disappointed a group of players who never give up on a game, no matter the odds.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.

The post Game 6 Recap: A heartbreaking (and possibly backbreaking) loss appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

There are six games left in the regular season and there are more unhealthy bodies than healthy ones.

Derrick Rose (left knee rehab) is still in the “out indefinitely” category. Rose says he’s still open to playing this season, but a return at this point feels very unlikely.

Rip Hamilton (back spasms) reportedly practiced yesterday with no setbacks, but Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said last week that Hamilton is “not real close” to returning.

Taj Gibson (sprained left knee) also practiced without any issues yesterday, but he remains out indefinitely. That Gibson didn’t tear his MCL may have been the best news the Bulls have had this season — it’s been that kind of year — but there’s been no indication when he’ll start playing again. I’ve heard everything from “not until the playoffs” to “could be this week.”

Thibs says that Luol Deng’s sore hip is “better,” although Deng will probably sit out tonight’s game against the Raptors. The Bulls seem intent on giving Deng — who leads the NBA in minutes per game (39.2) — some rest and relaxation before the playoffs.

Said Deng: “I feel like I need it, especially because I think we learned a lot from last year. Fatigue toward the end of the year makes it easy to pick up injuries. We don’t want that with everyone coming back. We just want to be as healthy as we can.”

Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) said he woke up with pain after playing in Detroit on Sunday and has acknowledged that he will simply have to play in pain until the offseason.

Then there’s Joakim Noah.

The plantar faciitis in Noah’s right foot hasn’t gotten any better, and it probably won’t until he has extended time off. In other words, after the Bulls’ season has ended. Even worse, Thibodeau says that Noah suffered “a little bit of a setback” when he played against the Pistons on Sunday.

Said Thibs: “It’s a tough one. You never really know with that type of injury.”

And it’s not for a lack of trying to heal on Noah’s part. He’s done about everything short of consulting a witch doctor, and that includes getting an injection of platelet-rich plasma. Said Noah: “I’m doing everything: Massage, sleep in a splint, ice … If you got any remedies you want to give me I’ll probably do it.”

Maybe Noah should ask Bill Walton about that special rock in the Philippines that breaks curses.

All the Bulls can do right now is rest the guys who are hurt and play the ones who can still walk straight and breath relatively normally.

Said Thibs: “We don’t want anyone to play who is injured. At this time of the year, there are a lot of guys that are hurting that will play, but if a guy is injured we don’t want him out there. … Whoever we have, that’s who we’re going with. We have more than enough to win.”

I think we all saw that last part coming.

The post Chicago’s biggest enemy is the human body appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

With 1:20 left and the Bulls nursing a double-digit lead, Derrick Rose drove the lane and tore the ACL in his left knee while trying to execute a jump-stop.

Rose’s season is over. And, for all intents and purposes, so is the Bulls’ season.

Don’t get me wrong. As coach Tom Thibodeau would say, the Bulls have more than enough to win. And the numbers show they can likely eke out some more playoff victories even without Rose.

But, let’s face it, I have to agree with ESPN’s Melissa Isaacson: the Bulls cannot win a title without him.

My take? I think they will still win this series against the Sixers. I think they have a decent shot against the Celtics is they play at the absolute peak of their abilities. But even if they get by Boston — which would be a very tall order — the Heat will likely be waiting for them.

All that said, I’m getting way ahead of myself. The 2012 NBA playoffs are only four total games old. Anything, as they say, could happen.

There were so many good signs yesterday. Rip Hamilton (19 points, 6-for-7 from the field, 6-for-6 from the line) played exactly as everyone hoped he would. Luol Deng (17 points, 8-for-14, 6 rebounds) looked great. Ditto for Joakim Noah (13 rebounds, 12 points, 2 blocks) and Carlos Boozer (9 points, 7 boards, 4 assists). Kyle Korver (11 points, 5-for-8) was on fire off the bench. Everybody was playing with that edge and energy the team needs to succeed.

Oh, and Rose, after a slow shooting start, had a near triple-double (23 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists).

Then everything came undone in one non-contact move.

As ESPN’s Michael Wilbon points out, Rose’s injury — well, that is, all his injuries this season — were likely the result of the lock-out shortened schedule. But still…what in the name of Michael Jordan was he doing on the floor with the game well in hand?

Said Thibs: “I don’t work backward like you guys do. The score was going the other way.”

Added Hamilton: “Philly was making a run. In playoff basketball, you never want to give a team confidence. … When you have a team down, you have to try to keep them down. They made a little run so we needed guys that could put the ball in the basket.”

Even Philly coach Doug Collins stepped up to defend Thibodeau’s decision to leave Rose in the game: “He knows what he’s doing coaching his team. Thibs is my buddy. I have the ultimate respect for him. From his standpoint, he wanted to finish that game for what he did. It’s awful that Derrick got hurt.”

Thibs went on: “He’s got to play, and the thing is, we sat him ’til [the 7:53] mark of the fourth and he’s got to work on closing, he’s got to work on finishing. Our team, we didn’t handle that part great. That was what I was thinking.”

No. I do not accept those rationalizations.

Look, the Bulls were 18-9 without Rose this season. And those 18 wins included victories over teams like the Celtics and Heat. Game after game, we were told by Thibs and everybody else in the organization that the Bulls have more than enough to win. Presumably, that wasn’t just lip service, and everybody believed and bought into that mantra.

So why take unnecessary risks with a guy who’s been hurting as much as Rose has? And remember: the Bulls had a 20-point lead with five minutes left. And with four minutes left. Thibs didn’t sub Rose out and then put him back in because the Sixers made a run. Rose was in the game that whole time. He logged 37 minutes in a game the Bulls had complete command of.

Practice closing a game? Rose has been there and done that. And he was due to get plenty of chances as the playoffs rolled along.

I hate second-guessing in general. I especially hate second-guessing Thibs, whom I think deserves the NBA Coach of the Year award. He knows what he’s doing. And yet…

…there have been questions about minutes before. Like the hellish PT that Luol Deng puts in on a nightly basis (39 minutes yesterday). Like starters playing despite huge leads. For the most part, these questions have been subplots because the Bulls have done a lot of winning the last two years, and winning silences a lot of dissenting voices.

It’s possible Rose would have suffered that injury in the next game. Maybe his ACL was ready to go and the tear was inevitable.

But maybe it wasn’t.

Rose should not have been in the game.

But I’m not going to dwell. It is what it is. Rose’s season is over and the Bulls simply have to move on without him no matter how despressed they are about it.

As Noah said, there’s basketball to be played.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Game 1 Recap: Bulls 103, Sixers 91 (a.k.a. the saddest win ever) appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

We thought he was day-to-day.

Turns out there’s a torn ligament in that wrist and Deng will be missing in action indefinitely.

Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “He’s going to be out for awhile. It’s a pain tolerance thing.”

Uh oh.

Added Deng: “I know it’s a bad injury, and it sounds terrible, but I’ll be fine. I really feel like we have a very good chance of doing something special. And I feel like without the surgery I’ll be fine. I just know what I can do with it and what I can’t do. And I really think I’m going to be very effective out there. There’s going to be days when it’s sore.

“It could always be worse. Injuries happen. And this happened in the fourth quarter of a game. But it is what is. It’s just, ‘What do we do from here.’ I’m very confident that I’ll be fine. It’s sore, but the soreness is going down a lot in two days. So every day [I’ll] keep treating it and see if I can get rid of the soreness and just try to be back there as soon as possible.

“I’m definitely going to miss a few games here. I don’t know how many, but I’m very confident the guys will be fine. But as soon as I can be out there, I will be out there.”

Deng has suffered a similar injury before. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes:

“Deng’s rookie season ended and he missed the 2005 playoff run when he opted for surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. Deng said this injury is the same and he confirmed a Tribune report that Dr. Susan Craig-Scott, who performed that 2005 surgery, is involved in the process.”

Said Deng: “This time around I’m familiar with it. It’s on my left [wrist] which is not like having it on my right. I know how it feels pain-wise. Just trying to get it down to a certain level where I can play again.”

This is a real hit for the Bulls. Lu leads the team in Minutes Per Game (38.3) and is averaging 15.9 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.2 SPG. His Player Efficiency Rating is only 16.4, but he’s third on the team in Win Shares (2.3) behind Carlos Boozer (2.5) and Derrick Rose (2.6). Further, Deng is one of the team’s most versatile defenders.

He’s also something of a stabilizing force when the reserves are in the game. And you can tell Thibs hates to sit him. After all, Lu has logged 40+ minutes in eight of the Bulls’ 18 games and 38+ in five others. Still, the coach thinks the Bulls should be able to get by without Deng for a while.

Said Thibs: “We’ve got more than enough to win with. I thought Ronnie [Brewer] was terrific. [Brian] Scalabrine was terrific. Kyle [Korver] has played big minutes for us. Jimmy [Butler] can play. So we have a roster full of guys who can play. So we’re confident in their abilities.”

I’m okay with Brewer logging more minutes, but Korver is a defensive liability at that position, Butler is a rookie, and Scalabrine is a 12th man who’s not supposed to see playing time unless the team is up or down by 20+ points with a couple minutes to go in the game.

Let’s hope Deng can come back soon. Assuming he can return reasonably healthy that is.

The post Luol Deng: Hurt worse than we thought appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

And relief washes over me in an awesome wave.

The post Kyle Korver update appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Let the chorus of “I told you so’s” begin: Carlos Boozer is on the shelf for approximately eight weeks due to a fracture of the fifth metacarpal on his right hand. It will require surgery to repair and rebab to make right.

Booz hasn’t even played a preseason game yet.

The injury didn’t happen during some grueling practice session either. He wasn’t viciously dunking over a vision of Chris Bosh or anything. No, Boozer earned himself an entry in the Basketbawful Dumb Injury Hall of Shame with this one. As reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

“I was at my house, came around a corner, fell over a bag, put my arm down to try to brace myself and fractured my fifth metacarpal into three pieces. I’ll get surgery on Tuesday, do my rehab and conditioning, be around the guys.”

He tripped over…a bag?

“It was just dark. My doorbell had rang and I tripped over a bag, tried to brace myself and it popped. I jumped back up, opened the door and my hand was still a little bit numb.”

No, really. A bag?

“It was a big bag I had first thing over here at the hotel for training camp. I went back to my place, hadn’t unpacked the bag yet, came around the corner, running to get the door and fell over it. I’m 265, 5 percent body fat. I’m heavy, man. I guess I had to brace myself and my weight just collapsed the bone right there.”

Seriously, Carlos?

“At least it happened right now and not later in the season.”

As Johnson pointed out, an eight-week absence means Boozer won’t return until after the Bulls’ annual Circus Trip in November…which concludes with a brutal seven-game Western Conference road trip that features two sets of back-to-backs and consecutive games against the Rockets, Spurs, Mavericks, Lakers, Suns and Nuggets.

The point: Boozer may miss “only” 15 games, but they will likely be the hardest 15 games of the season. Nine playoff teams and an extended road trip against strong competition. This feels like an entry out of the Worst Case Scenario Handbook for Injuries to Carlos Boozer.

There’s no way to sugarcoat this. About the only worse time for Boozer to get injured would be right before or during the playoffs. Boozer represented an answer to Chicago’s biggest problems. The Bulls needed an inside presence and another consistent scorer to relieve the burden on Derrick Rose. Management dropped a lot of money to make that problem go away.

And here it is again.

There’s another possible (and rather dark) downside to this injury. As Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie noted: “The long term diagnosis could be much nastier. Boozer is right handed, and while he’s also known for being one of the best left-handed finishers in basketball, his remarkable mid-range shooting prowess is done exclusively right-handed.”

Oy. The thought makes my head hurt.

However, “Doctor” Boozer seems more optimistic: “I’ll be back stronger than ever and my hand will be just fine. Right when it heals up, they’ll slide pins out and move forward.”

All we can do is wait and see.

In the interim, the Bulls are going to require some major production from Taj Gibson at the power forward position. During his rookie season, Gibson nearly averaged a double-double (9.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG) in limited minutes (26.9 MPG). He’s a smart kid who gives consistent effort, finishes reasonably well around the basket, and can stick the midrange jumper (although he knocked down only 37 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet). He’s also a very good defender.

Unfortunately, as good as Gibson is, and as good as I think he can be someday, he’s no Boozer. He simpy doesn’t have the same presence in the post. But at the moment, Gibson seems undaunted: “I don’t have to try to play like Carlos. I’ll play my game and help the team any way I can.”

In addition to liberal helpings of Gibson, coach Tom Thibodeau may play Joakim Noah at power forward while using either Omer Asik or Kurt Thomas at center in big lineups. He might also Luol Deng at power forward in smaller lineups. So there are options.

Of course, these aren’t options that many Bulls fans are likely to be thrilled about. I would say most people have fully absorbed the disappointment of no landing one of this summer’s “White Whales” and instead watching LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh form a team of Super Friends in Miami. Boozer was the spoonful of sugar that helped that medicine go down.

Without him, the 2010-11 Bulls have a distinct 2009-10 feel. That may not seem quite fair. After all, management acquired other complimentary players too (Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson). But Boozer was the centerpiece of the New Bulls, no less than second (to Rose) or third (to Rose and Noah) in importance.

I don’t know if we’re in store for 15-ish games of contested, long-distance, two-point jump shots…but it sure feels that way. And that could cost the Bulls homecourt advantage in the 2011 playoffs. I don’t mean to forecast so far ahead, but it’s a possibility that Bulls fans should probably accept now.

In the meantime, this does nothing to dispel the many “Boozer is injury prone” theories. I mean, anybody can have an accident at home. However, as Dwyer pointed out, “if the 15-games estimate is correct, this will mean a whopping 153 games missed to injury over the last seven seasons, and counting.” So if an accident was going to happen, you’d naturally assume it would happen to Boozer, right?

What’s the deal, Carlos? Are you cursed?

“I don’t feel like I’m cursed, just bad luck. I’ll get a new bag though. And I’ll have someone else answer the door.”

Good plan.

The post That was fast: Carlos Boozer is already injured appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Said Deng: “I don’t feel good at all. The calf strain took a lot out of me. And it’s still bothering me. I missed 12 games, but I wanted to get back into it because I know I’m needed for the playoffs. You want to be 100 percent, but at this time of the season, you’re not going to be. My name is on the roster. I’m out there and playing. So I have to do what I have to do.”

Coach Vinny Del Negro says Deng’s knee is the current problem.

Said Del Negro: “His calf has been pretty good, but now his knee is bothering him. Lu has had a tremendous year, statistically as good as he’s had his whole career. We’re going to need him to play well, especially at the defensive end.”

So the guy taked with guarding the best player on the planet doesn’t feel good “at all” and is suffering from a lingering calf injury and/or a bum knee. Well, that’s just dandy.

The post Loul Deng: Hurting appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Ouch, right?

From the Chicago Tribune: “If I tear it completely, I’m out for a month. But if I rest, I’d be out a month anyway. I’m going to go until the wheel is all the way flat.”

Wow. Talk about taking one for the team.

The Chicago Sun-Times had a minor addition to that quote: ”I’m just gonna grind it out for the rest of the year.”

I don’t know if it was coincidence, but the paragraph immediately following Johnson’s “grind it out” quote mentioned that the Bulls need Johnson’s size at small forward because Luol Deng is out indefinitely with a strained calf muscle. I have a bad feeling that if Deng doesn’t play again this season and the Bulls end up missing the playoffs, we may be in for a whole new wave of “Deng is soft and we need to get rid of him” complaints.

Thanks to By the Horns reader Brad S. for the head’s up.

Update! By the Horns reader and guest poster Tony C. wrote in to say: “At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist…three players on the Bulls have suffered from plantar fasciitis issues, two of which have been fairly serious? I know that it is not an uncommon ailment, but I can’t help wondering whether the highly-paid trainers and physiotherapists in the organization are really doing their jobs well. In any case, it seems like an odd coincidence to me.”

The post James Johnson: Talkin’ tough appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

I can’t argue the decision. Why risk your players’ health in a game that might not be winnable anyway? But the bad news — and it’s all been bad news lately, hasn’t it? — is that Deng’s injury might be worse than expected.

According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “On the eighth day of his absence, Luol Deng revealed he originally was told he could miss one to three weeks with his strained right calf. Coach Vinny Del Negro then piled on by saying Deng suffered a setback Wednesday after trying to run on the injury both Tuesday and pregame Wednesday. Deng, limping noticeably in the Bulls’ locker room, missed his fourth straight game.”

Said Deng: “I’m still having trouble pushing off.”

Added Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro: “Lu’s a little sore. I’m concerned about all those situations. But they’re out of our control. We just have to heal up as fast as we can.”

“As fast as we can” might still be too late. For the playoffs, anyway.

Give Del Negro credit for keeping his cool. Although they aren’t his fault, all these injuries and Chicago’s subsequent fall from the top eight in th eEast might provide Bulls management with a ready excuse to hand him a pink slip after the season ends.

Deng’s injury is a bummer. Luol’s goal was to play in all 82 games this season. He wanted desperately to shed the “soft” label that has been slapped on him by fans (and even some experts) after two disappointing, injury-plagued seasons. Back in December, Deng broke his left thumb — in practice, of all places — but played through it.

Back then, Deng said: “The injury is affecting me a lot, mostly my shot and dribbling, and there are times I’ve thought about not playing. … Last year when I was sitting (with a stress fracture in my right tibia), I made a commitment to play all 82 games this season. Even though it wasn’t my fault last year, I didn’t want anyone to say anything about me being soft anymore. That’s why I don’t want to take any game off all year. I just want to do my job.”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do his job through this calf strain.

There are still people who question Deng’s mental and physical toughness, not to mention his worth. That’s what happens when someone receives an All-Star contract (six years at over $70 million) without quite delivering All-Star production. Although it’s worth noting that Deng’s output this season has nearly equaled what he did during his mythical 2006-07 season.

Deng has been solid (if not spectacular) all year. His shooting is only in the mid-40s — too many jump shots from 16-23 feet — but he’s given the team scoring, rebounding and sturdy defense at the SF position. Next to Vinny, Deng was probably the most criticized Bull coming into the season. Other than taking too many long jumpers (and maybe a lack of leadership), he hasn’t given fans many reasons to complain this season.

Now he’s hurt. Again.

Deng has played all 82 games only once in his six-year career, back in (not surprisingly) 2006-07. Mind you, he’s only 24, so these should be his healthiest years, right?

That’s nothing against Luol. I’ve seen him play too hard this season to question his desire. But some players struggle to stay healthy. It’s biology, not psychology. Going forward, I wonder if the Bulls will have to continue dealing with recurring absences for the duration of Deng’s contract. If so, they’d better start developing James Johnson. It would be nice to have a security blanket at SF.

Some people are wondering whether the Bulls have given up on the playoffs. I don’t think so. First off, unless Chicago wins the draft lottery or manages to lose enough games to (gulp) earn the 10th worst record in the league, the Bucks are going to switch draft picks with the Bulls (they have that right thanks to the John Salmons trade). So there probably won’t be much benefit to missing the postseason.

It seems more likely that, as I said above, the Bulls are simply waiting out a tough stretch of games that would have been tough to win even with a healthy roster. If the team had gone all out to win these games but lost anyway and someone got hurt even worse, that would have cost the team a chance of making a run down the stretch.

It’s all about gambles. The Salmons trade was part of the long-term gamble for landing a big name free agent this summer (although the draft pick switch is going to sting). Holding players out, in addition to putting their health above winning, seems to be part strategy. I have no idea whether it will work. I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks.

The post Rose is still out and Deng is hurt worse than we thought appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.