Empty the Bench

After calling for change in the Chicago Bulls backcourt in Thabo Sefolosha’s shout-out above, it may seem like I’m piling on a team that’s obviously in transition and shouldn’t be held to any kind of expectations at this early point in the season. So if it does seem that way, it’s because I am.

First-overall pick Derrick Rose gets high marks for his electric play thus far, and despite his struggles from the field Luol Deng should work his way back into reliably good form before too long. But something about the arsenal of big men in Chicago doesn’t sit right whatsoever, and unfortunately I’m not entirely sure how it can be fixed.

For all the high lottery picks they’ve spent in recent years on frontcourt players, none of them seem to have any potential for sustained offensive dominance. And unfortunately for the Bulls, NBA history has proven that, oh, 95% of championship teams boast at least one consistent scoring threat in the post—ideally two (or three).

With that in mind, take a long look at Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, two top-10 picks seemingly bound to forever come up on the short end of the offensive stick. After a promising effort on opening night against the defensive juggernauts that are the Milwaukee Bucks (15 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, 1 block), Tyrus Thomas has followed it up by going a combined 2-22 from the field over the Bulls’ last two games. The Celtics, especially, were daring him to take open jumpers, and he responded by clanging one brick after another off the back of the rim. He’s going to have his moments where everything is coming up Tyrus on offense, but right now I’m not so sure he can ever be a guy the Bulls can feed on the blocks and expect consistent results.

As far as Joakim Noah goes, coming out of Florida he didn’t exactly project as a future post-up weapon, and though it’s still very early in his NBA career, nothing has changed. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll never be mistaken as a Noah fan, but I do at least appreciate his ability to hustle, to work the glass, and to convert his teammates’ missed field goals into easy putback buckets. But can he be more than one of these so-called “energy guys?” We’ll see, but again—I just don’t see him ever being that player whom the Bulls can turn to when they’re in a pinch and need to go down low for a hoop.

I don’t consider Drew Gooden a part of this team’s long-term future. And as far as second-year center Aaron Gray goes… Aaron Gray? Really?

Some of you Bulls’ apologists out there might be tempted to angrily click back over to Blog-a-Bull to continue consuming pans of piping hot cornbread—and that’s fine. They’re running a good show over there and probably have a much more positive assessment of the Bulls’ current frontcourt situation than I do. But at some point Chicago fans and Chicago management are going to have to face the music: if this team ever hopes to ride Derrick Rose back to the NBA Finals, they’re going to need a lot more than Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, and Aaron f’ing Gray down low to do it.

Tyrus Thomas Photo Credit: Icon SMI

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