Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Hornets
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bulls secured a 102-97 win against the Hornets on Friday night at the United Center, buoyed by wing Jimmy Butler scoring a team-high 27 points. Here are the notes and observations.
1. There was much made about Hornets coach Steve Clifford admitting to having conversation with former Bulls coach and good friend Tom Thibodeau before Charlotte's 130-105 against Chicago on Nov. 3.
The Bulls were so atrocious in that contest and the Hornets so relentlessly attacked the overmatched duo of Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol in the pick-and-roll that some wondered/joked about how much advice Thibodeau may have given Clifford. Even though nothing the Hornets did was rocket science, they were clearly well-prepared.
On the biggest play of Friday night's game, it was the Bulls who were best prepared.
With 38 seconds left and trailing 100-97, the Hornets had possession on a dead ball with a full shot clock. Out of a timeout, they ran a Hammer play, in which one player – using a screen or simply creating on his own – drives on one side of the floor while a shooter gets a screen and flares to the corner on the opposite side, where he then receives a pass zipped across the baseline from the dribbble penetrator.
The Hornets executed it that part well, with Kemba Walker driving right and firing a dart to Jeremy Lamb in the left corner. But Bulls wing Tony Snell was all over Lamb, forcing a miss, and a Butler jumper sealed it on the other end.
The Bulls had seen in on film multiple times and expected it.
"They're scored a couple baskets on that play," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said. "And Tony defended it well. He got knocked off a little bit and kept pursuing. He gave a great contest."
2. The Bulls committed around $95 million to Butler last July not just to be a big-game player and go head to head with LeBron James for the next four to five years – but also for nights like Friday, when a close, ho-hum game easily could've turned into a loss if not for a max-contract player playing like a max-contract player should.
Butler scored 20 of his team-high 27 points after halftime, providing a jolt Chicago needed and relentlessly attacking the hoop en route to an 11-of-14 showing at the free-throw line that he coupled with 8-of-16 shooting from the floor.
As the Hornets drained 15 of 33 3-pointers, the Bulls needed to keep pace, and Butler made sure they did.
"The thing I loved about Jimmy tonight was he was in attack mode, pretty much from start to finish," Hoiberg said.
3. Still picking up the finer points of Hoiberg's system, the Bulls still don't have an answer to the question of what their identity is.
But after moving to 6-3, at least the alarm bells aren't reverberating like last Saturday night after a lackadaisical loss to the Timberwolves.
"Our team identity?" Gasol said, pausing. "We're a team with a lot of talent. When we play well, play hard and play together, we're tough to beat. We try to play up-tempo. We try to play with pace and flow offensively, but I don't know if there's an identity per se … I don't know if anybody's labeled it."
"We're fine," Butler added. "I like the direction. Everyone's going to get normal, comfortable as the year goes on."
It's worth noting that Gasol said the offensive system of Hoiberg's is more difficult to pick up than the defensive principles, which he added were similar to those of Thibodeau (if not executed as well).
Joakim Noah was a big reason for Chicago showing more pep Friday, as he was the first Bull to have 16-plus rebounds and six-plus assists off the bench since Dennis Rodman in December 1994, according to Jeff Mangurten via basketball-reference.com.
Noah's final stat line: three points, 18 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block in 23 minutes.
"Jo was awesome," Hoiberg said.
4. Hoiberg has indicated that he'll be liberal in switching around the lineup combinations he uses early in the season, including the starting lineup if need be. His plan Monday was to start Noah alongside Gasol at Philadelphia before Noah was a late scratch with knee soreness.
Noah and Gasol logged around five minutes together Friday across two stints, both of which went well. It wouldn't be a surprise if Hoiberg turned back to Noah in the starting lineup soon.
Hoiberg and his staff will also rely on advanced metrics – such as net rating (plus-minus per 100 possessions) of different units and individual on/off-court ratings – when the time comes to set a starting lineup and rotation in stone.
Nine games in, there just hasn't been enough minutes played to put any weight in the advanced numbers.
"Right now, it's a small sample size, but we do get reports on it all the time," Hoiberg said. "You're always looking at it to see what lineups work well together, their on/off vs. (ratings) as well.
"It's a piece. It's never been, at the end of the day, something that weighs heavier than other metrics. For us, it's a piece of it, and we do get reports after every game, and we evaluate and try to make changes accordingly."
5. Rose had 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting while adding eight assists against three turnovers Friday.
After the game, he said his double vision is persisting in his left eye following late September surgery to repair a fractured orbital. Rose continues to wear a protective mask and doesn't know when the double vision will go away.
"It's still the same," he said.
Rose is now 1-of-18 on 3-pointers this season. Entering play Friday, his Player Efficiency Rating was 60th out of the 70 qualifying point guards in the NBA, per ESPN.com.
Rose was also taken out of the contest with 38 seconds left for defensive purposes, with Hoiberg wanting to get Snell on the floor to provide more size. Hoiberg elected to keep guard E'Twaun Moore on the floor on a night he was strong on both ends of the court.
"I'm not worried about that at all," Rose said of getting subbed out. "I believe in Coach."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
