With an early exit, the Chicago Bulls have a lot of work to do in summer – NBA News
The Chicago Bulls have had a shocking end to their 2011-2012 season with a first round playoff exit at the hands of the 8th seed Philadelphia 76ers.
The Bulls were defeated by the Sixers in 6 games that left them disappointed and demoralized. The loss of Derrick Rose to an ACL injury in the first game, followed by an ankle injury to Joakim Noah in game 3 left the Bulls injury
depleted and psychologically inferior.
"Obviously, there's a lot of shoulda, coulda, wouldas. I think every team goes through that when you lose. But listen, we were dinged up this year. We were like a car that was missing a few parts at the end of the season, but we
were still ticking and going and fighting to get from A to B. We just fell a little short” said Carlos Boozer.
Noah was somewhat in a state of disbelief at how abruptly the season had ended for the Bulls, who had the best record in the league.
“I can't believe it's over, 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” said Noah
Omer Asik, who replaced Noah at the centre position and missed two free throws in the final seconds of game 6 that would have given the Bulls the win, left without talking to media persons after the match.
The Bulls now look towards the offseason. Rose has undergone surgery to his knee on Saturday and is looking at a 6 to 8 month recovery schedule. Luol Deng will also most probably undergo surgery to his left wrist to repair a torn
ligament. What remains to be decided is whether he will go for the surgery before or after the Summer Olympics in London. That will leave the Bulls without their two main stars when they being their season in October.
Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah have said that they will use the offseason to work on their health as well as their game. Noah wants to strengthen his ankle, which he twisted in game 3 after attempting a coast to coast layup.
The Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau will have a great deal of work come summer to prepare his team for the next season. His first priority will be to get his team back to full health and work with Derrick Rose to enable him to regain
his fitness. But he will also have to devise a plan for the first few months the 2012-2013 season as the Bulls will be without Rose in that period.
He would ideally want to keep the Bulls in a good position for the playoffs till the time Rose returns, so that he can come back and pick up the team. Addition of a player to the Bull roster is also an option, to give them depth
and cover for the absence of Rose. But they will have to see their options and analyze if anyone can actually fit into the role they are conceiving. A long summer of work lies ahead for the Bulls. Let’s see how they come out next season.
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