Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Bucks
By Cody Westerlund-
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Bulls easily dispatched the Bucks, 87-71, on Monday night at the United Center in what was an uneasy sight on the eyes.
It was so ugly throughout (108 total missed shots) and so jarring to see the Bulls actually do what they were supposed to do – handle an inferior foe at home – that I was personally thrown out of sorts. I didn't know what to topic to write about, so you're getting five stream-of-consciousness thoughts.
Here goes.
1. If you needed a reminder of why playoff seeding matters, Monday provided it. There are five quality basketball teams in the Eastern Conference, no more. After the Hawks, Raptors, Bulls and Cavs, the Wizards sit at 33-23 in the fifth spot. The records don't completely tell this story, but the gap is significant between that quintet and the Bucks, who are the sixth seed at 31-25 and will almost certainly finish in that spot, as they're still six games clear in the loss column of the seventh seed.
Still young and inexperienced, Milwaukee isn't a playoff team to be feared, and after the trade of top player Brandon Knight to Phoenix, it can't claim to be making this year a priority. Bucks coach Jason Kidd brushed off a pregame question about whether he's entertained thoughts of a 3-6 matchup against the Bulls in the first round. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau would likely scoff at such a query as well. But rest assured, Chicago knows the importance of grabbing a top-three seed and staying out of a dangerous first-round matchup.
2. The Bulls match up really well with the Bucks, from whom they've taken the first three contests of the season. The main reason: Milwaukee doesn't have much, if any, low-post bulk. So Pau Gasol and Chicago's fellow bigs easily have their way – as evidenced by the Bulls grabbing a season-high 62 rebounds Monday.
In scoring a career-high 46 points against the Bucks in January, Gasol wasn't double teamed. Milwaukee made the expected adjustment Monday, doubling Gasol hard in the first half. It also didn't work, as Chicago got quality looks time and again after Gasol made the right pass out of the double team. Kidd had to be shaking his head, because there's no easy answer.
On top of that, Milwaukee is merely an average offensive team (17th in offensive efficiency) – and perhaps worse than that with Knight now gone. The Bulls have notably struggled on defense often this season, but they can still get away with less-than-optimal effort against the Bucks and be fine.
3. Tony Snell has made a really strong case for continued (meaningful) playing time, even when Kirk Hinrich comes back after missing two straight games with an illness. On Monday, Snell had a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Since Feb. 1, Snell is shooting 57 percent on 3-pointers, flashing the consistency that coach Tom Thibodeau previously cited he needed to see. Thibodeau has emphasized recently that playing time is performance-based, and Snell is the reserve guard performing best. It's time for Thibodeau to live up to his word, which he gave Monday after the win.
"He's playing very good basketball," Thibodeau said. "You don't have to worry about Tony being in the rotation."
In the postseason, the rotation will get squeezed, but with close games likely awaiting, even a bucket or two from an eighth man in his three-minute stretch can prove crucial. Right now, Snell's the one most likely to provide that jolt.
It's not as if Hinrich or Aaron Brooks have been models of consistency, anyway.
4. Derrick Rose's sporadic play has been concerning all season, but the heat will now turn up again. On Monday, Rose shot 1-of-13, which matched the worst shooting performance of his entire NBA career. He was 1-of-7 on 3-point attempts and didn't make a 2-pointer.
In the Bulls' chase for a championship, we know what All-Stars Gasol and Jimmy Butler will provide on a nightly basis. Joakim Noah is showing more signs of being his energetic self, saying he's feeling healthier in the past two weeks than he has all season. Someone on the bench usually steps up on a given night as well.
What remains the huge question mark, the massive X-factor, is Rose's play. After he scored at least 20 points in five of the six games prior to the All-Star break, it felt like he was coming around. That's not the case. After taking five days off over the All-Star break – the most he's had off in two years – Rose has shot 8-of-34 and averaged 10.7 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 turnovers in the three games back.
It's been really ugly, and there's no version of these Bulls that can go deep in the postseason with him playing like that.
"I'm not worried about that, missing shots," Rose said. "I've shot worse before. It's nothing big."
If Rose has shot worse before, he must've been referring to high school, AAU or college.
5. The random, anecdotal observation of the night with nearly zero research to back it up: The Bulls must be among the NBA's worst at finishing alley-oops. Against the Bucks, Rose tossed a long pass to Mike Dunleavy, who appeared surprised in trying to catch it with one hand, unsuccessfully. Later, Butler tossed up a poor oop to Snell in transition.
It's wasn't just a Monday problem, either. The Bulls failed to connect on five alley-oops Friday against the Pistons, according to Chris Terzic of Blogabull.com. And in general, it just feels like most high-level oop attempts will end badly if Butler isn't on the receiving end or Rose isn't passing it. This hunch fits nicely too with what we already know – the Bulls are a team that plays below the rim.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
