|
CHICAGO -- It's late Saturday night, and the Chicago Bulls' locker room is open. A crowd of reporters gathers around Jimmy Butler's locker. Butler just set a career high with 32 points in an otherwise listless 99-90 loss to the undermanned Indiana Pacers. His contract year is off to a rousing start. Forward Taj Gibson sits a few lockers away looking at the stat sheet on Nazr Mohammed's chair. Gibson did not have a career game, and he looks a little down. He had two points, on 1-for-6 shooting, and six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. The Bulls got out-rebounded 46-34, marking the seventh time in 10 games the Bulls have been beaten on the boards. If you think that's an anomaly on a Tom Thibodeau team, you're right. Last season, through their first 10 games, the Bulls won the rebounding battle nine times. After getting worked by the lowly Pacers in an off shooting night, it's not surprising that Gibson isn't happy.  "If you want to rebound the ball, you rebound the ball," Gibson said. "We're just going at it half-assed. Can I say ass?"
Sure, he's told. Gibson manages a smile. He is very honest after games, which is why reporters flock to his locker after they're done with Butler. "It's edge, it's matchups," Gibson said of why the Bulls are getting out-rebounded. "There are a lot of different things you can say. It takes five to rebound, and it's frustrating." While fans are starting to understand that Derrick Rose's road back to the top is going to be bumpy -- he's out for Monday's game against the Clippers with a strained hamstring -- one thing you should be able to count on is the Bulls controlling the paint and playing defense. The Bulls can score now, even without Rose, so every game isn't a grind-it-out morass. If Rose can make it through the season -- not to mention if the rest of the team can -- this is a real championship contender. But if they want to be in that position, they've got to make sure their underdog mentality, that teamwide dedication to doing the dirty work and playing responsible defense, stays intact. While we've been dying for the Bulls to pick up the pace on offense, they can't forget what got them here. The Bulls got off to a 7-3 start thanks to an improved offense -- they've scored 100 or more points seven times already -- but they've also lost twice when scoring 100-plus. Last season, they went 23-2 when scoring more than 100. The negative rebounding trend is something to focus on as the team goes off on its seven-game "circus trip." Gibson said he doesn't think the problem is effort, which I suppose can be differentiated from "edge" if you're really into semantics. He also wonders if it's just random right now. "Sometimes you go hard so much trying to go after the ball, some days it just doesn't bounce your way," he said. "And at times, it's frustrating. It's not like we're not trying to put effort into rebounding. We really are trying to get it and I was really going to the rim almost every time tonight and it just couldn't go bounce my way." As Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau likes to say, every game has its own story, so it's hard to pinpoint why the team is having troubles rebounding. But early-season health is surely part of it, especially when Joakim Noah has to move around so much, challenging shooters on the perimeter and retreating to the post, on a still-recovering knee. Gibson has also had ankle problems. And then there are typical fall struggles, such as Pau Gasol and the rookies, fitting into Thibodeau's style of play. Going into Monday's game against the Clippers, the Bulls were 26th in rebounding differential at minus-2.5 (Last season they were seventh at plus-2.8). They were giving up 44.7 rebounds per game, tied for the third worst in the NBA. They were one of nine teams getting less than 10 percent (9.8) of their own offensive rebound chances, and they're dead last in opponents' offensive rebound percentage at 13.5. It helps that teams have misses to gather. The Bulls are still playing Thibodeau defense, allowing teams to shoot 42.8 percent, which ranks near the top in the NBA. So that's good news. The dearly departed Carlos Boozer was adept at defensive rebounding and starting the break -- partly because he was allowing others to do the dirty work defending. The addition of taller Gasol has worked even better than expected as a rim protector and shot blocker, and he's averaging 10.6 rebounds per game. Playing on a surgically repaired knee, Noah is still averaging 9.5 rebounds per game, but he's up and down. He had 14 boards in a win against Detroit, but just 12 in the past two games. Conversationally, Thibodeau uses edge more often than a Ginsu salesman, and while to some it's more an ephemeral concept, to Thibodeau it's simply the product of preparation, both mental and physical. Edge is about confidence and maturity, not running wild. He was hopeful the road trip would give the Bulls more time to focus on "their craft" and doing the little things that put them in position to rebound and run the floor. Gibson thinks it will turn around on this trip, as the Bulls were eager to get away from a slow home start. "We work hard," Gibson said. "Guys are eager to put in the work, eager to win games. We've just got to focus a little bit more." If they do, watch out.
|
