Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Magic
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) – Despite going scoreless for nearly four minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter and allowing the Magic to go on a late 14-0 run, the Bulls held on for a 92-87 victory on Sunday night at the United Center to improve to 3-1.
Here are the observations and notes of the night.
1. Derrick Rose still is experiencing double vision after late September surgery to repair a fractured left orbital, and he admitted what was readily obvious – his play was affected by it Sunday. Rose scored six points on 2-of-8 shooting and time and again looked to pass instead of shoot when he navigated into the paint.
"There's not point to shoot the ball like that when I can't see," Rose said in reference to shooting a lot and from deep.
Rose played a floor game that coach Fred Hoiberg lauded. He had a season-high eight assists and could've easily had 12 if teammates had finished open shots. He also had seven rebounds.
"He can barely see, and he's making the right play every time," wing Jimmy Butler said.
"My teammates are giving me confidence to play the well I'm playing," Rose added.
Rose admitted to having some frustration with the double vision, and when asked how long it will be before he gets full vision back, he responded, "I don't know."
So his current probe-the-defense, pick-his-spots approach could continue for some time. Rose has shot just five 3-pointers this season in four games after averaging more than five attempts per game last year.
2. Perhaps the most fascinating subplot to follow in this Bulls season is who they run their offense through late in games. That's money time, and it shows who a coach and team trusts on any given night and in general.
When healthy, Rose has long been Chicago's go-to guy late. Last season, that often came in the form of isolations under former coach Tom Thibodeau.
Save for Rose's ill-advised, ugly missed jumper at the regulation horn in a loss to the Pistons on Friday, the Bulls have largely turned to a two-man pick-and-roll game in crunch time of early season games. In a win Wednesday at Brooklyn, Chicago ran five consecutive possessions through Butler, while Rose largely stood in the corner and watched. The plays were wildly successful too, with those five plays resulting in 13 points – albeit against a porous defense.
On Sunday, the Bulls turned to Rose to create late to hold off the Magic. In a span of three consecutive possessions inside the three-minute mark, Rose got Gasol an open elbow jumper that was converted and Mirotic and Tony Snell quality looks at 3-pointers that were missed off of laser passes.
There was also a traditional post-up for Gasol in which he made a quality move but missed a shot at the rim after some good help defense from the Magic.
Many of the sets late involved Rose in the pick-and-roll. Rose had been probing the defense well all night, so the Bulls rolled with what worked instead of being wedded to the name of the back of a jersey.
That could well be the case all season long under Hoiberg.
3. Hoiberg has praised power forward Nikola Mirotic for "battling" on defense early in the season. In my view, Mirotic has been solid defensively and everything the Bulls could've hoped for on that end.
Mirotic is by no means a standout or game-changer defensively, but he's done more than enough there to earn the minutes to let his offensive gifts shine. Unlike second-year wing Doug McDermott, Mirotic isn't having any head-scratching defensive breakdowns. Unlike with veteran big man Gasol, foes aren't putting Mirotic in the pick-and-roll blender. It's simply not worth the time to stray from their normal system to probe for a small advantage they may have in forcing Mirotic – who can move well – to make decision after decision. Except for the Cavaliers on opening night for a few plays with Love, there hasn't been much success in attacking Mirotic with traditional post-ups either.
And of course, we know the move to start Mirotic is working out offensively. He's shooting 46.4 percent on 3-pointers and has made 13 of them this season – second in the NBA, trailing only Warriors star and reigning MVP Stephen Curry (17). Mirotic is averaging 18.8 points, second to Butler (19.5) on the team.
4. The Thibodeau cloud will hang over the Bulls for the entire season, because of how much success he had and how the cold war played out between him and the front office. With the Bulls bringing back a nearly identical roster to 2014-'15, the Thibodeau era has naturally been a point of comparison for reporters.
For his part, Rose understands the line of questioning, but he's also tired of it.
"Thibs is the past," Rose said in responding to a question about the biggest difference for him playing under Hoiberg . "I don't even want to talk about Thibs no more."
Rose's tone was one of weariness, not anger or anything. He just simply wants to move on.
On an semi-related note, Hoiberg – who in his first year has often credited the foundation Thibodeau set in Chicago – again on Sunday night pointed out that the Bulls have been taught "extremely well" in the past few years on the defensive end.
5. Before the game, Hoiberg spoke of getting McDermott more shots after he'd attempted just 15 combined in the first three games of the season. McDermott heeded his coach's point of emphasis by displaying a quick trigger.
He scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and was primed to shoot every time he caught the ball. McDermott was also called for a charge on a drive to the rim.
"He was more aggressive," Hoiberg said. "I thought our pace got him some shot too, just by us getting the ball up the floor.
"Doug's shooting the ball with a lot of confidence."
Ten Bulls played Sunday, and nine of them scored at least six points, led by 16 from Gasol and Mirotic.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
