What Ben Gordon's departure means for DRose Options

[Balta1701-B]

This is an excellent read from Arnovitz, even if you disagree with him.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Well it's going to be all on him next season. He will have to put up "Chris Paul" like numbers if this team is going to make the playoffs.

[Sanitarium]

This is an excellent read from Arnovitz, even if you disagree with him.

not much to disagree with if you ask me. great read. if only espn's football analysts were as good as their basketball ones.

like he said hinrich is probably going to be playing alot of the 2 this year, and along with Rose and Salmons will all get heavy minutes night in and night out. Salmons and Kirk are going to have to knock down any open looks they get beyond the arc, because lord knows we're going to need them.

[Balta1701-B]

not much to disagree with if you ask me. great read. if only espn's football analysts were as good as their basketball ones.

like he said hinrich is probably going to be playing alot of the 2 this year, and along with Rose and Salmons will all get heavy minutes night in and night out. Salmons and Kirk are going to have to knock down any open looks they get beyond the arc, because lord knows we're going to need them.

I don't mind Salmons and Hinrich and Rose splitting minutes going 30/30/40 with Salmons getting some extra minutes at SF. If everyone stays healthy that's a solid rotation I can live with; big defensive upgrade from last year. Especially if Rose can take a step on defense.

The thing that IMO is going to determine whether we're a top 4 seed or miss the playoffs is going to be how Deng and our PF slot perform. We're really counting on Deng to take that step we were hoping he'd make 2 years ago; staying healthy and becoming a genuine threat on the scoring end to both drive and shoot. And we really need TT and the draftees to produce some offense in the post.

[ZoomSlowik]

Well it's going to be all on him next season. He will have to put up "Chris Paul" like numbers if this team is going to make the playoffs.

He doesn't have to be THAT good unless we have injuries/serious sucking in our lineup. Our late-season lineup averaged about 73.5 PPG, and that was when their offense was great. Subtract 16 a piece for Salmons and Deng, 10 for Thomas, 8 for Noah and 18 for Rose and that leaves them 5.5 points below that total. None of those totals are out-landish (you can argue that a few are conservative), plus with better D at the 2 you can afford to be a bit under that. It's still highly possible that they make the playoffs even without any massive leaps forward.

That said, the scenario above also counts on Luol Deng being healthy and productive, which could turn out to be quite painful. The production of Deng and Thomas will have a HUGE impact on their final record, if Rose flat-out dominates they can get by with a lot less from those spots.

[SoxFan1]

I think people forget about the natural development from Rose and hopefully Tyrus and Noah when thinking about how we'll replace Gordon's scoring. Obviously Salmons and Kirk will have larger roles, and Rose will hopefully be a bit more aggressive now and not have Gordon trying to run the offense. And from what I heard, Noah is down in Florida(?) working on his jumpshot and apparently he's made a lot of progress. No more side-spin on the ball.

[Sanitarium]

I think people forget about the natural development from Rose and hopefully Tyrus and Noah when thinking about how we'll replace Gordon's scoring. Obviously Salmons and Kirk will have larger roles, and Rose will hopefully be a bit more aggressive now and not have Gordon trying to run the offense. And from what I heard, Noah is down in Florida(?) working on his jumpshot and apparently he's made a lot of progress. No more side-spin on the ball.

thats cool in all but we need back-to-the-basket scoring

[Balta1701-B]

thats cool in all but we need back-to-the-basket scoring

Not exactly. We need scoring in the paint. There is a difference. Or at least there can be.

[motownbull71]

This is a very good article. The pressure will not be on Rose because of Ben's departure. It will be on him because he is a phenomenal talent with high expectations. I think not having Ben opens up options for the team in late game situations. Last year, whenever there was a late game situation, Gordon shot the ball, no matter how poor it was. Next year, I expect better decision making and better shots.

Ben did provide a lot of firepower. However, when you look at the numbers, Salmons' production was comparable to Ben's. We also have to look at the extra possessions we will have without Gordon's turnovers. Salmons will also play better defense. Also, Salmons shot a comparable three point percentage.

I disagree with the assertion that Kirk is a below average offensive player. He is a good ball handler and shooter. He is not explosive to the rim, but that doesn't make him a bad offensive player.

Overall, I think we will be in good shape with these three as our guard rotation.

[Balta1701-B]

I disagree with the assertion that Kirk is a below average offensive player. He is a good ball handler and shooter. He is not explosive to the rim, but that doesn't make him a bad offensive player.

Overall, I think we will be in good shape with these three as our guard rotation.

I'm not sure on Hinrich. His problem is he's been ridiculously inconsistent as an offensive player. Look at his FG % ages and 3pt. %ages.

YR TM G MIN FG% 3P% AST PTS
03-04 CHI 76 35.6 0.386 0.39 6.8 12
04-05 CHI 77 36.4 0.397 0.355 6.4 15.7
05-06 CHI 81 36.5 0.418 0.37 6.3 15.9
06-07 CHI 80 35.5 0.448 0.415 6.3 16.6
07-08 CHI 75 31.7 0.414 0.35 6 11.5
08-09 CHI 51 26.3 0.437 0.408 3.9 9.9

His first couple years he was trending upwards and improving. Then he took a giant inexplicable step backwards in 2007-2008, he went from being a solid offensive threat to a crap one who couldn't shoot. His fall-off was a huge part of the disaster that was that season. He shot better last yera, but was also hurt for a good chunk of the year. You get the 06-07 and 08-09 version of Hinrich shooting and keep him moderately healthy for the season and he's a solid offensive option. You get the 07-08 version and you may as well bench him.

[rockren]

Not exactly. We need scoring in the paint. There is a difference. Or at least there can be.

Eh...we need someone we can throw the ball into and let them go to work every once in a while. A guy that can draw a double team and open up lanes for Deng and Salmons to slash through would be a big help to their games.

[rockren]

This is a really good read and nearly impossible to disagree with because it offers both sides.

The article's biggest advocate of Rose missing BG is the ability of BG spreading the floor along with BG taking the ball in crunch time.

The Bulls will eventually find other people to spread the floor if Salmons and Hinrich (or Pago) aren't capable of doing it. As for the ball in crunch time...I didn't want it in Gordon's hands as much as it was late in the year last year. Salmons and Rose both are much more capable of creating their own shot and I would scream at the TV when Rose didn't take the big shot at the end of the game in the Boston series.

Rose was going to take off and be an All-Star caliber G at the age of 21 with or without BG.