By ALEX HORTON
Staff Writer
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In the Windy City, where basketball is everything, the past two years for Chicago Bulls fans have been long, excruciating, and heartbreaking. Since that fateful April night, Kevin Harlan’s words, “holding on to his knee, holding onto his knee, and down,” have echoed through the ears of Bulls fans. The 2013 and 2014 Chicago Bulls made the playoffs both years without the help of Derrick Rose. They won by having the most heart, the most grit, and by playing as a true team.
This season is no different. The Bulls will have to play with heart and grit to prove they deserve to be in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. However, they have something this year that they have not had for two full seasons- a seemingly-healthy Rose. So far during this off-season, Rose has showed that he is not only healthy, but that he can get back to the explosiveness and bounce from his days of being the league’s youngest MVP.
The pressure is on Rose, there is no doubt about that, but he does not have to do it alone. This year’s Bulls team is better and plays deeper than the one Rose left two years ago. Joakim Noah, who was titled defensive player of the year last season, has shown that he is an all-star. Jimmy Butler has shown signs that he is budding to be a great defensive presence and that he could be a second scoring option in a Bulls offense that struggled to score last year. Taj Gibson, who was in running for sixth man of the year last year, has shown that he is a great perimeter defender and another large presence in the paint next to Noah.
It’s not only the in-house improvements that the Bulls have made that make them better this year, but also that the Bulls made a splash in this year’s off-season. Drafting Doug McDermott out of Creighton and signing four-time all-star and two-time NBA Champion Pau Gasol gave them two more great options. The Bulls are also cashing in on their over-seas prospect Nikola Mirotic, who has been playing for Real Madrid in the Spanish Euroleague. Mirotic won the Spanish League MVP honors in 2013 and was also crowned the Spanish Cup MVP last season.
The Chicago Bulls are also led by one of the best coaches in the NBA in Tom Thibodeau. His smash mouth defense and never-quit attitude suits that of his players and the franchise. Thibodeau forms a deep connection with his players that brings out the best in the coach and his team whenever they are on the floor.
During his acceptance speech of his Defensive Player of the Year award, Joakim Noah credited Thibodeau’s system and leadership as the reason he was receiving his award.
It is quite clear that the Bulls are built to win now, and they are going to need to play that way this season. They are definitely not the most talented team, but they do have a very strong and solid core of players, with role players built to accompany Rose. However, because Rose is coming off of two major injuries, Thibodeau is going to have to limit his minutes and progressively increase them as the season goes on so that he will be ready to handle the playoffs. There is no question that this team can coast right through the regular season into the playoffs as a number two or three seed.
Being a Chicago Bulls fan and knowing how much heart this team has, I know how much they want the number one seed. It will not be easy to obtain now that LeBron James has teamed up with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Rose and company have some unfinished business they need to take care of, and that involves dethroning the King from his place atop the East. If there is one team built to battle the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, it is the Chicago Bulls.
