Gibson feels Bulls have a shot at having a successful season even though Derrick Rose will be out till the All Star Break and the Bulls changed their bench players ...
The Chicago Bulls were the best team in the Eastern Conference for the past two seasons, and they have the stats to prove it.
Chicago were seeded number one consecutively in the last two seasons, and were said to have the best defence in the league. However, the Bulls lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat in the 2010-2011 NBA season, and
lost All Star point guard Derrick Rose to ACL injury in the first game of the 2012 playoffs. The Bulls went on to lose the series 2-4 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rose is expected to be out till the All Star break next season, and analysts are talking about how good the Bulls will be without him next season, and will they be able to finish with a top four seed in the East.
The Bulls did not improve matters for themselves when they had a mediocre offseason, not adding any star to the roster and being unable to add a scoring option in the front court. The Bulls also dismantled their bench, which was
considered as the deepest and most talented in the league last season. They let go of Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson and Omer Asik. In their place, the Bulls signed Kirk Hinrich, Vladimir Radmanovic, Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed.
None of the new signings can be considered an upgrade from the previous bench players, and the new players are unproven and it is still unknown if they will be able to live up to the expectations. All these factors are signalling
a relatively poor season for the Bulls.
However, young forward Taj Gibson seemed very positive about the Bulls future when he talked to ESPNChicago.com recently.
“We still did good even when we didn’t have Derrick (last season). Our mindset hasn’t changed. It’s about staying focused and taking one game at a time. We understand it’s going to be up and down at the beginning of the season.
We got to look forward to one game at a time and playing to our strengths and just listening to coach (Tom Thibodeau). I know it’s going to be a long season, but I’m really optimistic about what’s going to happen,” said Gibson.
The Bulls still have a good enough roster to post a better than 50 percent win record next season, especially if Rose returns in full form after the All Star break.
However, after the upgrades competing teams have undergone in the summer, it is very difficult for the Bulls to defend their Eastern Conference crown next season.
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