McCaffrey: Rookies Provide Spark For Bulls
By Brendan McCaffrey-
(CBS) -- Monday night at the United Center featured the unveiling of the 2014-'15 Chicago Bulls, a team with old expectations (win or bust) and new faces. Two of those newbies joining the fold, forwards Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic, offered glimmers of what they could add to a deep Bulls team.
For one night of Bulls basketball, questions of health could be tabled in favor of a look at the future. Derrick Rose shook off a little more rust and left the game upright, and with the help of some cooler heads, Joakim Noah avoided a more serious confrontation than some impolite finger-wagging, courtesy of a confrontation with the Wizards' Paul Pierce.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau describes preseason basketball as a chance to learn more about a team. If they didn't know already, Chicago fans learned in the 85-81 loss to Washington that if nothing else, their two new young guns can shoot.
A first-round pick in last June's draft, McDermott looked comfortable off the bench. After an ugly turnover on the Wizards' end of the court in his first few minutes of NBA action, McDermott recovered by knocking down two of his first three jumpers, including a quick catch-and-release 3-pointer. Seven of his eight points came in the first half before quieting down in the second half. He finished 2-of-4 from the field.
Mirotic's debut proved up and down as well. His nearly eight minutes of action in the first half produced little on the stat sheet save for a 3-point attempt that grazed the front of the rim. He looked stiff and unsure of himself, on both offense and defense. His second half, however, showed some of the potential the Bulls were looking for when they brought him over from Spain this summer after originally drafting him in 2011.
Shooting confidently in the fourth quarter, Mirotic knocked down two 3-pointers before pulling up on a fast break to knock down his third triple of the quarter. He added a runner with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter to cut the Wizards lead to 83-78.
"I try to be always positive," Mirotic said. "I'm young, and I know that at the beginning of the game I made a lot of mistakes. I lost the ball, I missed some shots. Sometimes I forget the plays, but the good thing is that my teammates and coaches help me all the time."
Mirotic finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. He also grabbed five rebounds.
"(My teammates) believe in me and I try to do my best job, and today it was good," Mirotic said.
Was the performance good enough to crack Thibodeau's regular-season rotation? That remains to be seen, and there are seven more preseason games to evaluate. Thibodeau mentioned last week a desire to have a nine-man rotation when the season starts on Oct. 29 in New York. If that holds true, It would be a decent bet that McDermott and Mirotic will be competing for that ninth spot based on Monday's minutes. McDermott logged more than 26 minutes, second-most on the team to Jimmy Butler. Mirotic clocked in at just under 22 minutes of playing time. Returning guard Tony Snell played only 12 minutes, and there are questions whether he will be part of the Bulls' major plans.
After the game, Thibodeau complimented McDermott and Mirotic's performances.
"Doug, I thought played well in the first half, and Niko played well in the second half," Thibodeau said. "So the young guys, I know they have a lot of work to do, but the thing I love about them is that they're workers. It's a start."
Brendan McCaffrey is the sports direction at 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @b_mccaffrey.