Three Ring Circus

James Johnson is not a bust (yet)

Now I'd like to see the Bulls actually blow out a team to give James real minutes so we can see what he can do for more than two minutes at a time, but right now he isn't showing enough to stay on the floor (though his limited minutes make it hard for him to show anything), and when Tyrus is back I'm sure he'll be out of the rotation completely.  But it's way too early to say he was a bad draft pick, will bust out, or will never make it into the rotation.

If he had been drafted by another team (like Minnesota, who was really hoping to take him at #18) in another system that wasn't focusing so much on defense, he might be playing more.  But he wasn't, and the kind of minutes he's getting now aren't enough to tell us anything.  But from the Bulls perspective, that isn't so bad.  As long as everybody stays healthy, we don't need JJ this year if he is shaky or even decent.  He needs to be good, and on point to warrant time on the floor.

So for the foreseeable future, JJ's going to being doing most of his work in practice, and as long as he's working hard, I don't think it's such a bad move for the Bulls to "Michael Redd" him.  When Redd was drafted by the Bucks (I remember reading this somewhere, and it stuck with me) George Karl gave Redd the once over, told Redd to get a three point shot, and call him when he did.  Redd only played 35 minutes his whole rookie year, but he came back in shape with a 3-ball the next year (He shot 44% from deep and played 20 minutes a game his second year).  The coaching staff should tell JJ exactly what they need from him to earn his place in the rotation (with our current team, the ability to hit corner 3s at a consistent rate, a postup package and weight down around 240 would do) give him those benchmarks, and reward with a rotation spot if/when he hits them.  He has the potential to be a do it all guy, but first he has to learn how to do at least one thing on NBA level consistently.

Leave Rose Alone!

Just kidding, it's always okay to criticize the cornerstone of the franchise.  But honestly, I'm not all that concerned with his recent play and figure you can chalk a lot of it up to twin factors of the ankle injury and the struggles at shooting guard.  I just think it's way too premature for handwringing and questioning Rose's innate basketball makeup.  He got hurt.  It's never happened to him before.  He's trying.  It's not time for Ragnarok

In the Boston series, Rajon Rondo played Loki to Rose's Thor, and frankly ended up getting the better of him with his series of crafty tricks.  Rose's mighty hammer, his Mjollnir, is his insane speed, especially that first step blow-by.  Rose rarely 'danced' with the ball his rookie year to get space (faceup fancy dribbling, static crossovers, etc) because with that speed he didn't need too.  In the last few games I watched he did more dancing than I can remember all of next year. 

So he is Thor without his hammer.  In those situations the hero has to draw on his wits to survive; unfortunately for Derrick, he is still a youngster when it comes to running the point and the game behind the game of getting to the foul line is part of the game he doesn't understand yet and has to learn.  In the interim he has fallen back on his jumper, and done okay with it.  He put in a ton of work on it over the summer and it has kept him afloat in the early season.

Derrick is also facing defenses that are taking away the lane.  Teams are packing in the paint, and given that most sets have him initiating around the top of the key, it's pretty easy to deny Rose's initial penetration.  Boston did a lot of this after Game 1, and it got harder for Rose to find easy buckets and his turnovers went up.  The rest of the league has seen these tapes too, and they are defaulting to this kind of coverage against the Bulls.

One way to break that coverage is to hit three pointers.  So far, no good.  So if Kirk and Salmons can get on track, that should help Rose too.  All in all, the team's current situation leaves me optimistic about the season as a whole.  The defense is great (a problem Rose wouldn't be capable of fixing because of experience) but the offense stinks (the problem Rose needs to take responsibility for if he is going to be the player we all want him to be).  There is room for improvement, but some realistic mechanisms for it to happen.  We just have to wait and watch, and be patient.  Vinny was right, this team won't win the championship this year, but this season remains important as the story of a young team forging an identity, learning and getting better.

Circus trip prediction: 3 wins, 3 losses