Long Offseason Begins For Bulls
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 11, 2012 3:20PM
The Bulls have a lot of questions to answer after becoming the fifth top seed to be eliminated by an eighth seed in NBA playoff history in a 79-78 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night.
The game itself was uglier than a pair of bowling shoes, as both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field. The Bulls held a 56-33 edge in rebounds and Philly didn't collect its first offensive board until the 9:49 mark in the final quarter. The Sixers led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter before the Bulls came back to take a three-point lead with 25.9 seconds left. But a Thaddeus Young layup cut the lead to one. Omer Asik missed two free throws, but Philly's Andre Iguodala made the winning free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining. A CJ Watson shot at the buzzer missed, and the Bulls left the court to ponder what could have been. Iguodala led the Sixers with 20 points. The Bulls were led by Luol Deng and Rip Hamilton with 19 each, while Taj Gibson added 14. Carlos Boozer scored 3 points on 1-11 shooting.
Chatter on WSCR-AM this morning has focused on the injuries to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and speculation that Tom Thibodeau may have worked the remaining players too hard and, with Rose injured, may have lost the team. Let's put the latter to rest, shall we? If anything, this Bulls team showed tremendous heart and fought from tipoff to final buzzer, in a scrappy style reminiscent of the Dick Motta-coached Bulls teams of the mid-70s. Thibodeau has certainly earned a contract extension. But GM Gar Forman and VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson have some other decisions to make in the offseason.
There is some merit to the criticisms of Thibodeau running his players ragged in practice. A good coach should recognize that and adapt. Some of the key players on this team may not be around next season as the Paxson and Forman look to keep the team among the Eastern Conference elite while avoiding salary cap issues, with Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Rose's new contract all counting against the salary cap next season. They have a team option with Kyle Korver, which means Korver could be gone. Ronnie Brewer could also have played his last game in a Bulls uniform. With Rose expected to be out at least half of next season recovering from his torn ACL, the team needs to find a quality point guard to back him up and facilitate the offense.
Comcast SportsNet's Mark Schanowski told WSCR's Dan McNeil and Matt Spiegel that the Bulls may also bite the bullet and amnesty Carlos Boozer while they look for a power forward who can, you know, bang in the paint. Then there's Deng, who told reporters after the game he plans to play for Great Britain in the London Summer Olympics before he has surgery on his injure wrist tendon. With an expected rehab of 3-6 months on that, the Bulls could go from championship aspirations to a middling playoff team.