What`s next for the Chicago Bulls? – NBA Feature
After crashing out of the Playoffs in six games the Chicago Bulls have vowed to work even harder next year. The way the Bulls bowed out of the playoffs was dreadful, in a sequence that involved Omer Asik missing two free throws
at one end and then going back the other way to foul Andre Iguodala with 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock.
After losing Derrick Rose due to a torn ACL in Game 1 which the Bulls won, many would have expected them to be down and out. Their chances were further depleted when they lost Joakim Noah in Game 3 but the fighting spirit of this
Chicago side remained.
The Bulls battled their way to a win in Game 5 when facing the possibility of elimination and fought till the last seconds of Game 6 before eventually coming up short by a small margin.
So with their season over, another year gone to waste, what lies ahead for the Bulls?
Facing the odds stacked up against them throughout the season, Bulls never gave up and kept on battling throughout. Firstly, with the All-Star Derrick Rose struggling for fitness with all kinds on injuries which made him sit out
27 games of the season, this Chicago side kept on fighting to finish with a regular season win loss record of 50-16 record, tied for the best record in the league with the San Antonio Spurs.
To go along with an impressive record, Bulls also got the honours of being the best defensive unit by allowing their opponents to only score 95.3 points, every 100 possessions. They also had the best rebounding unit in the league.
Come playoff time, many had predicted the Bulls to one up their performances from last year by advancing past the conference finals and lay their claim to the all-elusive NBA Championship. However, losing key figures like Rose
and Noah brought an end to the season in deplorable fashion and becoming only the fifth top seed team in NBA history who failed to advance past the first round.
"I can't believe it's over," Noah said on their end of the season, "but we have to move on. You put all this work and then fall short, it's tough. God works in mysterious ways, I guess."
Such feelings of shock would have been shared by many among the roster and given the circumstances; the lack of presence of a true star among the line up in the playoffs did take its toll, eventually.
Now the Bulls have to face the task of preparing for next year and look to learn from the mistakes they had made this year. Head Coach, Tom Thibodeau who was really instrumental in bringing a never die attitude to the team will
want to come back the same way next year. However a bad taste of defeat after so much promise would make the task a little harder.
Noah has said that he would be working even harder in the off season to strengthen his overall game and return strongly.
“There are always things you can do better," he said. "I have to strengthen my ankles. I've had too many ankle injuries throughout the years. It's frustrating because I feel I worked hard to keep my body right. I feel the ankle
injury was unfortunate. I think going full speed like that and landing on somebody's foot, that could've happened to anybody. It's frustrating. But nobody died. Learn from it and move on."
Such feelings of working harder on their overall game have been shared by team mates like Carlos Boozer, who was not very impressive throughout the series. With Rose set to miss out around 9 months, recovering from the knee injury,
the formula of a defensive oriented unit to go along with an explosive scorer will not be able to work for some time.
So will the Bulls stick to the same approach or add another scorer to their ranks in the off season, the question yet remains unanswered.
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