A few scattered thoughts...

Having been a Bulls fan for the entirity of my basketball watching life, even out here in California, and watching through the Jordan years, the abysmal years following His Airness' exit, getting excited and watching us squander picks and give away players that would produce for other teams...this year has been testing my patience more than any other.

Know why?

These lineups are way more scattered than my thoughts.  We have a player in Derrick Rose, that can alter a game in a number of ways, and we're doing nothing to accentuate his strengths and hide/downplay his weaknesses.  A rookie point guard comes in and has a shining talent (getting to the basket and finishing with either hand), can pass the ball, and outside of one bad game, has been brilliant.

So why haven't we started looking to offload some deadweight to get him some backup?  We have the worst supporting cast for him, both in terms of players and in terms of play style.  Having done some coaching before, not on the NBA level for sure, but more coaching on any level than VDN had before this year, I'm starting to see where changing our offense would hide the weaknesses of nearly every player good enough to overcome them.

We have a pure shooter in Gordon.  Why not pair him with Rose, and have him moving off of screens set by our less athletic players (looking at Noah, especially Aaron Gray, even Gooden), running a bit of the two man game with Rose and TT, making them choose between Rose in the midrange or Tyrus at the cup would raise some questions for a defense.  Knowing that Gordon could be lingering behind a screen or in motion around the court keeps a defense honest, and knowing that we've got the potential for Rose to get to the rack at any time should make the pick and roll deadly if used with the right player...meaning that Tyrus is rolling and Gooden might be shooting the short jumper.

The best part about changing our offense to a more dribble drive, slashing, drive and kick type offense is that it instantly makes the best 8 or 9 guys to play apparent.  Now, this won't be popular, but Larry Hughes would be able to thrive in a system where he doesn't have to take the long jumpers (I know he still would do it, much to the dismay of BAB and Bulls fans worldwide).  Anything that makes his trade value better with an expiring contract next year is great news for us.  Basically, at the end of this year, I want to be in a better position to win, which means that we need to answer some serious questions.

Firstly, with the emergence and continued brilliance of Derrick Rose, where does Kirk Hinrich fit into the picture?  Does he back up Rose, or does he start at the two?  If we have a dribble drive offense, then Hughes should be at the two to start off games, then maybe if he can get things down, Thabo in relief.  Even better, this allows Kirk to play with Thabo, which means we cut down on his handling the ball (not a strong point for him).  I'm assuming that even with a decent offer, that Gordon is out after this year.  So moving to the 3, Luol Deng will have to get back to form here, or we'll be left with next to nothing there.  I mean, Nocioni is passable as long as he's not firing at will, or being a matador, but if we don't get something done in terms of trading him for either a capable 3 or decent to middling 4, then he's gotta be short stints, maybe with Thabo at the 3 for stretches.

Looking down low, I see we have Noah and TT as our young learning "bigs" and not much in terms of true depth.  Something that needs to change and quickly is the production of the front court.  We're leaving Aaron Gray out there at times, and it's been seen over and over again that he can't defend the rim much, not a very effective rebounder, doesn't move his feet quickly, and can't seem to get up and down the court any faster than 2 steps behind every other person on the court.  So why not get a glut in the front court out of the picture and improve down low?  I'm kind of stumped as to why Noah isn't really producing...really stumped actually, because I had high hopes for him this year.  Same for Tyrus, but we see it in the comments every day.  Either he's shooting too many jumpers, or he's not strong enough to finish at the rim, or he's got the basketball IQ of a limp noodle.  Maybe it's all three.  But he needs to put it together soon, because as it stands, he's a space cadet, Gooden is a space cadet, Aaron Gray can't cut it, and Noah is not playing up to his potential.  This is distressing.

I really like watching this team when Derrick Rose is on the court.  I can also see which players will fit when he's there.  I just hope that the front office does too, and we start moving until we have guys to compliment Poohdini.