Mixed preseason performance by Chicago Bulls fails to remove reservations due to absence of Derrick Rose – NBA Feature
The Chicago Bulls have had the most demoralizing past few months out of any team in the NBA. After finishing with the best record in the league for the past two seasons, the Bulls lost their All Star point guard Derrick Rose in game 1 of their first round playoff series last season against the Philadelphia 76ers. Rose tore his ACL, underwent surgery and was sidelined for 8 to 10 months. Without him, the Bulls lost to the Sixers and crashed out of the playoffs in the first round.
Problems continued for the Bulls in the offseason when most of the role players, who had been dubbed “the bench mob” for their consistent and effective performances, left to join other teams. Kyle Korver joined the Atlanta Hawks where as Omer Asik was picked up by the Houston Rockets. Chicago lost C. J. Watson and John Lucas III, their back up guards, as well. They then acquired Kirk Hinrich, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed and Vladimir Radmanovic to fill out the vacant spots.
With a new roster and without their star player, the Bulls were no longer contenders for the NBA championship in the upcoming season, and were expected to have a mixed season with the extent of their success heavily reliant on how early Rose could return to the team from his ACL injury. And the preseason has proven just that, as the Bulls have put up a mixed performance in the preseason games so far.
The Bulls won three of their first five games in the preseason, which included a humiliating loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They tried different starting line-ups in those games, and tried out different players in different roles. However, as of yet, they still do not have a clear outline for the upcoming season, and are expected to have a roller coaster ride of wins and losses till the time their All Star point guard returns.
The man with the responsibility of holding down the point guard spot till the time Rose returns is Kirk Hinrich. And up till now, he has not proven to be very successful, with a few average performances over the preseason games. Hinrich played in four out of the first five preseason games, and averaged 9.8 points and 6.5 assists while shooting 37.5 percent from the field. He has not had a 20 plus point game so far.
Marco Belinelli has been more or less a bust so far, averaging 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes of average action over 5 games. Nazr Mohammed has looked relatively impressive, averaging 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in 19 minutes of action per game as a backup center. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes of action against the Memphis Grizzlies on October 9th.
Nate Robinson has been more impressive than Hinrich as a guard, averaging 11.4 points, 4 assists and 1.8 steals in the first five games. He was started in place of Hinrich in the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and finished with 24 points and 13 assists as he helped the Bulls secure a victory.
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