Starters
| Player | Grade | Reason |
 Joakim Noah |
B+ | Noah didn’t live up to his defensive player of they year billing due to his lingering foot issues, but he still played well. His physical play and presence in the paint caused various Cavs to settle for jump shots when they could have easily driven to the paint. Offensively Noah wasn’t fully there but his passing ability created many opportunities for Chicago. For someone hobbled and on a minutes restriction, it was a solid game. |
 Pau Gasol |
B | This grade may seem a little generous. Gasol repeatedly lost positioning to Tristan Thompson on the boards and shot a poor 33%. Though the poor positioning is inexcusable, Gasol’s offense is. He made all the right passes, was in all the right places, and was dominant working one-on-one. The only issue was he put too much power into his shots all night. He’ll improve vastly in the near future. |
 Mike Dunleavy |
A- | Dunleavy came through on offense by spacing the floor with his strong three point shooting. But more importantly, Dunleavy really came through on defense. Though he was burned by Lebron James on various occasions (expectedly so) he did hold his own on many occasions and forced Lebron (and others) into some ill-advised shots. |
 Kirk Hinrich |
A | National TV Kirk showed up for the world once again. Under the spotlight, Kirk played solid defensively and lit it up on offense. Towards the end of the fourth, he put the team on his back and forced overtime with 8 points in the final 2 minutes. |
 Derrick Rose |
B+/INC | Two grades for Rose. When he played in the first half, he was looking great. He pushed the pace and really got the Cavs rotating on defense trying to keep up with him. Unfortunately he landed on Kyrie Irving’s foot in the second quarter and didn’t play much to at all in the second half of the game. |
Bench
| Player | Grade | Reason |
 Taj Gibson |
B | Gibson played well defensively as usual, so I have no qualms there. Offensively he did kill several possessions as soon as he got the ball in his hands. Gibson had opportunities to pass the ball for a much more open shot but would often choose to settle for a contested mid-range jumper or would try to work in the post against what would eventually become double teams. |
 Aaron Brooks |
B- | In the absence of Rose, Brooks filled in admirably and created opportunities for himself and the offense as a whole. Unfortunately he didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities he made for himself. Defensively he seemed average, but against Irving things could have been worse. |
 Nikola Mirotic |
INC | Mirotic didn’t play enough to get a grade |
 Doug McDermott |
B- | McDermott was exposed a little bit on defense and wasn’t able to convert the shots he took on the night. However his presence did space the floor a little more. Additionally his constant running in circles created fits for the defense. |
 Tony Snell |
B | In his second year, Snell is looking much better already. Defensively he was strong regardless of who he was matched up against. Offensively his shot is looking much smoother. Additionally he demonstrated far more aggression which led to some second chance opportunities and/or trips to the line. |
 Jimmy Butler |
N/A | Butler did not play in this game |
Team
 |
A- | Despite the team losing in overtime, there’s a lot of positives to take away from this game. Though the defense was porous at times, it could have been much worse. Thibodeau’s defensive system is renowned for having a very steep learning curve. In last night’s game, four of the ten who played were new to the system and are in the midst of learning on the go. Despite this the defense was still sound.
Offensively, the team looked better than it has in years past (granted the bar was set very low). There is far better floor spacing (41% three point shooting), the team isn’t so one dimensional with point guard play, and things just look more fluid. As the team gels in the coming months and cuts the silly mistakes, it should improve. But most importantly, the Bulls kept it together and stuck around despite the early obstacles. Without Rose for the second half, no Butler for the entire game, and Noah hobbled by his foot (and on a minutes restriction until the end of the fourth and overtime), the Bulls could have been taken out of the game very early. That they were able to keep pace despite all the early season growing pains is very encouraging. |
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