I've whined about the offense for my last couple of morning blogs, but in life, you need to take time to stop and smell the roses as well. My first thought was the team was stocked with defenders, so of course it's playing well. That is, until I started running down the roster.
Derrick Rose's individual defense is somewhere between mediocre and deplorable. John Salmons has size, but no speed. Luol Deng's always solid, but he's not an athletic shut down guy. Tyrus Thomas has made a career out of getting lost on the defensive end and trying to make it up with athleticism while Joakim Noah still can get pushed around by bigger more physical centers.
Off the bench, Kirk Hinrich's always an excellent defender while Miller gives the team some toughness though he lacks speed. Individually, that group doesn't seem capable of becoming a top five defensive team in the league, but so far this season they've rotated beautifully, trusted each other, and the sum has been far greater than their individual abilities.
The guys who deserve the most credit for the defensive turnaround are the coaching staff. I mocked the "commitment to defense" claim earlier in the season when they responded that the new commitment wouldn't come with more practice time devoted to it. I figured if you're not really spending more time working on defense, you're not really more committed. However, maybe the Bulls just needed a year in the system, because they're playing much better.
The biggest difference so far has been the defense in the pick and roll. The two biggest differences there have been the strength in our big men on showing on the pick and roll and the interior rotation to help pick up the big man when they roll to the basket. Joakim Noah and Luol Deng have played their roles in the defense exceptionally well.
All in all, this team appears to trust each other defensively. The defensive rotation has been outstanding and the Bulls have covered up on guys on the interior and still gotten out to defend the perimeter.
Many will complain about Del Negro, they'll complain about his rotations and use of timeouts. I'm not immune to this. I think Tyrus definitely needs to play a lot more minutes and think the Gibson over Tyrus thing going on reminds me of Duhon over Gordon. Lost in the win yesterday was the fact that Del Negro burned all his timeouts by the end of the game, and he wasn't even needing to stop the clock. Had Milwaukee hit a final shot, the Bulls wouldn't have been able to stop the clock to get the ball to half court and have a chance to win. So while I still can find faults with Vinny, give the man some credit.
He's done something that's very difficult, very well. He obviously has the players respect because they're buying in and sacrificing. Managing five minutes of playing time here and there and time out management are minor compared to the ability to get a whole team to defend at a high level, buy in, and trust each other.
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Tags: chicago bulls, commitment to defense, defense, defensive improvement, Vinny Del Negro
"The defensive rotation has been outstanding and the Bulls have covered up on guys on the interior and still gotten out to defend the perimeter."
I don't think this is too accurately descriptive. What our coaching staff noticed is that we were not NEARLY providing sufficient help on penetration or on inside players. We've compensated by more or less paint-packing upon any penetration. It's worked because we've faced some horrible 3-point shooting opponents, bar the Celtics. It will be interesting to see if this strategy will be specifically adjusted for different opponents, or if we mirror the Miami Heat's defensive philosophy of protect the paint above all, then scramble to cover 3 point shooters. The truth is that packing the paint is probably an above-average strategy- not enough teams will make the extra pass to get the completely open shooter. This system does require long and quick defenders to rush back out, but I feel we have that.
i think the bulls were 19th in the league in defensive efficiency going into the milwaukee game. now the bulls are 11th, but this after playing a very weak offensive unit missing their best offensive player. i think we should hold off on the defensive praise for a while since it looks to be only marginally improved from vears 18th place in defensive efficiency.
oops. "marginally improved from last year's".
"..Derrick Rose's individual defense is somewhere between mediocre and deplorable.."
I really wish people would stop writing this type of drivel. First, in almost every occasion when Derrick is supposedly getting beat, there is a pick involved. As another poster stated, the Bulls were TERRIBLE in handling the pick-and-roll. Couple that with the fact that he is usually guarding the fastest position on the floor, and it is unfair to make those comments. How many times have you seen him just get beat, one-on-one with no pick involved?