Westerlund: 5 Observations After Bulls-Pacers
By Cody Westerlund-
CHICAGO (CBS) – Playing short-handed yet again, the Bulls righted themselves, at least momentarily, with a 103-86 win against the Pacers on Wednesday night at the United Center. The win moved Chicago to 41-28, good for fourth place in the East, a half-game behind third-place Toronto.
Here are the notes and observations of the night.
1. Nikola Mirotic once again grabbed the headlines with a 25-point game off the bench in which he shot 8-of-15 and was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. With more minutes and offensive responsibility in the absence of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, the 6-foot-10 Mirotic has stepped up by averaging 20.8 points per game in March. Part of the incline in production has been out of necessity – someone has to score on a team struggling to do so – but Mirotic has also shown plenty of growth as well.
And he's certainly making many take notice.
"He's spectacular," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.
"Niko's getting more and more comfortable," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He's got a unique skill set."
Mirotic's goal moving forward is to become more efficient. Though he's had a breakout month, he's only shooting 42 percent for the month and 40 percent for the season.
2. With every impressive and steady performance, Mirotic states his case for more fourth-quarter playing time, and his teammates have noticed.
"The coaching staff has to figure out how to make sure that they take advantage of the players playing at a high level now," Pau Gasol said. "That's the challenge of coaching.
"(Mirotic's) making big plays, earning the trust of the coaching staff as well to leave him on the floor when the games are on the line."
On Wednesday, Mirotic closed at small forward with Gasol and Joakim Noah in the post. So what to expect moving forward, especially when/if everyone's healthy?
Given that Gasol has closed about 90 percent of games this season, you expect he'll be on the floor. If the Bulls are to get stops late in games, they'll also need a re-energized Noah on the floor.
So it's looking more and more like Mirotic's ticket to crunch time minutes will come at small forward.
"That allows us to play Pau, Jo and Niko," Thibodeau said. "The thing I like about it is it gives you great length. You're giving up some things, and then you have a lot of offensive firepower."
Thibodeau has complimented Mirotic more often lately for his defense, and Mirotic's noticeable mental miscues are less frequent. So perhaps Thibodeau will be more liberal in his use of Mirotic at small forward if everyone's healthy.
3. Perhaps most impressive in Mirotic's game of late has been his ability to get to the free-throw line. In 10 games in March, he's attempting 8.0 free throws per game, a rate that for a full season would rank fourth in the NBA. While Mirotic's comes over a small stretch, it's reflective of his offensive versatility.
Mirotic's often-used ball fakes are at the heart of his ability to get to the charity stripe. When foes fall for a fake, Mirotic gets them off-balance and can draw a foul or have a free run to the rim because of his capable ball-handling ability. Those same ball fakes can be a double-edged sword, though – when a defender is disciplined, Chicago's ball movement is stunted.
The decision can be tricky for Mirotic, but he's proved to be a clever player and found success with it.
4. Noah admitted at Wednesday's shootaround that he was frustrated he didn't close Sunday's loss at Oklahoma City. He was back to the crunch time role Wednesday night, but the numbers show he's sacrificed such minutes on 16 occasions this year.
For the real nerds out there, here's a look at how many times each of the Bulls has closed games this season, as I've been charting. It's roughly based on the last four minutes of every game, with a subjective judgment involved too when there are frequent late substitutions. A ".5" of any sort means the player rotated with another player for roughly half the time in crunch time. The latter number is reflective of how many times that player was available to close – in other words, players get a 0-for-0 if they're out injured.
Joakim Noah: 33 for 49
Pau Gasol: 49.5 for 56
Taj Gibson: 22.5 for 41
Jimmy Butler: 44.5 for 46
Mike Dunleavy: 15 for 44
Tony Snell: 15.5 for 59 (2 0.5s)
Aaron Brooks: 29.5 for 59 (5 0.5s)
Derrick Rose: 35 for 35
Kirk Hinrich: 27 for 47 (6 0.5s)
Nikola Mirotic: 16.5 for 59 (3 0.5s)
E'Twaun Moore: 5 for 59 (2 0.5s)
Doug McDermott: 1 for many
One more point worth noting there: Hinrich hasn't closed a game in full since Feb. 27. Thibodeau's almost entirely gone away from him down the stretch.
5. Thibodeau was asked an intriguing postgame question that at its heart was directed at his cold relationship with management. So as not to distort the context, here's the give-and-take verbatim.
Q: I'm not trying to grandstand or create a headline, but the speculation about minutes, just clarify this point – are you as comfortable now as head coach of the Chicago Bulls as you were on Day 1? Do you feel like management has your back as much as they did on Day 1?
Thibodeau: "Yeah, I mean, hey look, I've been around a long time, so I understand when you go through things, it's all part of this. So for me, it's you block out all the noise and concentrate on our job, just go out and do your job to the best of your ability. I have no regrets. I've put in everything I have into each and every day. I'm going to let the results (speak). I'm good with that."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
