The Chicago Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals Thursday night beating the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. Here's what we learned about the Bulls in Round 1. Here's what you should know.
1. JIMMY BUTLER IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM FOR EVERY TEAM
One thing to remember about everything the Bulls were able to do against the Bucks in this series is the Bucks have one of the best defenses in the NBA. They utilize versatile lineups that can switch everything and use their length and athleticism to make life hell for any scorer. Aside from a really bad Game 5 by Butler in which he scored 20 points but needed 21 shots to do it, he was a phenomenal go-to scorer against some pretty good defensive wings on the Bucks. For the series, Butler's six games saw him average 24.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.5 steals while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from 3-point range.
While he had to chase around Khris Middleton on the perimeter and make sure Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't have a big series in the first round, Butler's defensive assignments were relatively easy. He didn't have a lights-out scorer he had to track all night long and adjust to throughout the series. He'll have that assignment in the second round against LeBron James, but we don't know just how much that will affect his scoring efficiency.
2. WE THINK THE DEFENSE MAY BE BACK ON TRACK BUT THERE IS HESITATION
It's really hard to judge the defensive numbers the Bulls put up in this series for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's such a small sample size with six games that the 120-66 win in Game 6 greatly skews the final efficiency and accuracy numbers by the Bucks' offense. The Bulls were giving up just 93.6 points per 100 possessions heading into Game 6 and that number dropped to 90.0 for the entire series after the blowout. They allowed just a 41.9 percent effective field goal percentage by the Bucks in the series as well. Secondly, it wasn't like the Bucks were an offensive juggernaut heading into the playoffs.
They were the fifth worst offensive team in the NBA after the trade deadline and they were the sixth worst for the entire season. The Bulls stopping this Bucks team night in and night out wasn't exactly a tall order as long as they didn't allow a bunch of easy fast break opportunities.
For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the Bulls finished outside of the Top 10 in defensive rating. Dealing with injuries and trying to fit several new players into the rotation helped drop the Bulls to 11th in defensive efficiency this season and it was a pretty shaky effort for them throughout the year. It doesn't mean they're all of a sudden a bad defense, but going from facing the Bucks' offense in this series to the Cavs' offense in the next series (even without Kevin Love) will be a stark contrast.
3. DERRICK ROSE LOOKS PRETTY CLOSE TO HOW WE WANT HIM TO PLAY
There were a few ineffective stretches for Derrick Rose in this first round series win over the Bucks, but for the most part, the Bulls and Bulls fans have to feel pretty good about what they saw from the franchise player. He wasn't quite the MVP winner from 2011, but his quickness was there, he shot a good percentage from 3-point range, and his passing was mostly good. His averages across the board: he put up 19.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds. He also had 4.3 turnovers per game though. He shot 41.0 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range.
The question you have about Rose from this series: Is he actually back or was he taking advantage of his match-up against second year guard Michael Carter-Williams? Going into a series against Kyrie Irving will be completely different than what Rose saw in the first round. There could be a pressure to keep up with Irving's scoring and you've got to find a way to slow him down. At least we know it looks like Rose is capable of putting up consistent scoring on the board.
4. THE BULLS HAVE A POTENT OFFENSE THAT IS SLOPPY WITH THE BALL
This number will be skewed by the 28-turnover performance in Game 4, but the Bulls' turnover rate in this series was an unacceptable 17.5 percent. The Bucks' length and athleticism typically force a lot of turnovers, as they were the best team in the league this season by forcing a turnover 17.2 percent of the time. This Bulls' sloppiness was in-line with what the Bucks do well against opponents. The Bulls had the 12th highest turnover rate in the NBA this season, so it's not crazy that they turned the ball over like they did in this series.
Outside of that, the Bulls' offense clicked in a way that you can feel pretty good about them going up against the Cavs in the next round. The Cavs aren't a bad defensive team anymore, and should be better defensively without Love out there. But going from the Bucks' long-limbed defense to a much more traditional schematic resistance will probably feel like they size of the court is doubled. That can change if LeBron is roving around like a maniac on defense, but as long as the Bulls take care of the ball, the offense should be potent.
5. THE BENCH LOOKS SHAKY RIGHT NOW FOR CHICAGO
Like I mentioned earlier, the Game 6 blowout skews a lot of the overall numbers in this series. For the sake of examining how the Bulls' bench played overall, let's take a look at how their numbers looked in the first five games when the team wasn't winning by 54 points. That may be unfair to ignore one of the six games, but it's also unfair to pretend it didn't have a profound impact on the numbers. In the first five games of this series, the Bulls' bench didn't really appear to be very good. The Bucks feasted on those reserves and that's what kept a lot of the contests close.
Nikola Mirotic (minus-2.2 points per 100 possessions) averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18.8 minutes while hitting just 29.6 percent of his shots. Tony Snell (minus-5.1 points per 100) averaged 4.6 points on 33.3 percent shooting in 17.4 minutes. Taj Gibson (minus-11.1 points per 100) averaged 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 20.8 minutes while shooting 42.9 percent. And Aaron Brooks (minus-16.1 points per 100) averaged 5.0 points and 0.8 assists in 10.6 minutes while shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range.
In the next round, the Bulls will need at least two of these guys to offer up some better production and be consistent contributors. We know these players can be better than what we saw this past round, but they've got to show it in the postseason atmosphere soon.
