Bulls' Taj Gibson Accepts His Reduced Role Without Complaint
(CBS) Even before the late-season emergence of rookie forward Nikola Mirotic, no Bull has sacrificed more in recent years than forward Taj Gibson, who despite being a starting-caliber NBA power forward hasn't been a primary starter since the 2009-'10 season and who earlier this season played through a painful sprained ligament in his hand because coach Tom Thibodeau asked him to.
Now, with Mirotic amid a March in which he averaged 20.8 points per game, Gibson has once again been asked to sacrifice. Following a 10-game absence because of a sprained left ankle, Gibson has averaged just 17.0 minutes in the four games back in which Chicago's big man quartet has been healthy.
And in typical Gibson fashion, he's accepting of that.
"At the beginning of the year, Niko did the same thing," Gibson said of sacrificing playing time. "Pau (Gasol) did it at times. Jo (Noah) did it at times. It's just one of those things, you have to understand you're playing for a great team. You can't worry about the me aspect in the basketball frame of mind. You have to worry about the team. Basketball is a team sport, and I've been around for a while. I'm just happy to see guys doing well, and I'm a part of it."
The Bulls are in third in the East at 45-29 entering a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The success makes it easier to sacrifice for Gibson, who's averaging 10.3 points and usually sits in crunch time when Chicago is fully healthy.
Because of the offensive versatility and playmaking that Mirotic brings, it's likely he continues to earn big minutes and close games in the postseason. Mirotic is averaging nearly 31 minutes per game in March.
"We already got an unselfish group as it is," Gibson said. "You look at our front line, we got a bunch of guys who can basically start anywhere. We understand what it takes. We understand that we're trying to go deep. We understand we're trying to win a championship. So sacrifices are going to be made from top to bottom on our team."
In other Bulls news, point guard Derrick Rose scrimmaged and took contact for the second straight day as he continues his recovery from a Feb. 27 surgery to remove the damaged portion of his right medial meniscus. It's not yet known when Rose will return, but Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose felt "good" after his second straight day of going hard.
"He's just got to string some practices together," Thibodeau said.
