Page 6

Chicago Bulls Gameday HQ

DATE OPPONENT TIME Oct. 29 at New York 8:00 Oct. 31 Cleveland 8:00 Nov. 1 at Minnesota 8:00 Nov. 4 Orlando 8:00 Nov. 5 at Milwaukee 8:00 Nov. 7 at Philadelphia 7:00 Nov. 8 Boston 8:00 Nov. 10 Detroit 8:00 Nov. 13 at Toronto 8:00 Nov. 15 Indiana 8:00 Nov. 17 at Los Angeles 10:30 Nov. 20 at Sacramento 10:30 Nov. 21 at Portland 10:30 Nov. 24 at Utah 9:00 Nov. 25 at Denver 9:00 Nov. 28 at Boston 1:00 Nov. 30 at Brooklyn 3:00 Dec. 2 Dallas 8:00 Dec. 3 at Charlotte 7:00 Dec. 6 Golden State 8:00 Dec. 10 Brooklyn 8:00 Dec. 12 Portland 7:00 Dec. 14 at Miami 6:00 Dec. 15 at Atlanta 7:30 Dec. 18 New York 8:00 Dec. 19 at Memphis 8:00 Dec. 22 Toronto 8:00 Dec. 23 at Washington 7:00 Dec. 25 Los Angeles 8:00 Dec. 27 New Orleans 8:00 Dec. 29 at Indiana 7:00 Dec. 30 Brooklyn 8:00 Jan. 1 Denver 8:00 Jan. 3 Boston 8:00 Jan. 5 Houston 8:00 Jan. 7 Utah 8:00 Jan. 9 at Washington 8:00 Jan. 10 Milwaukee 8:00 Jan. 12 Orlando 8:00 Jan. 14 Washington 8:00 Jan. 16 at Boston 7:30 DATE OPPONENT TIME Jan. 17 Atlanta 8:00 Jan. 19 at Cleveland 7:30 Jan. 22 San Antonio 8:00 Jan. 23 at Dallas 8:00 Jan. 25 Miami 1:00 Jan. 27 at Golden State 10:30 Jan. 29 at Los Angeles 10:30 Jan. 30 at Phoenix 10:30 Feb. 4 at Houston 8:00 Feb. 7 at New Orleans 7:00 Feb. 8 at Orlando 6:00 Feb. 10 Sacramento 8:00 Feb. 12 Cleveland 8:00 Feb. 20 at Detroit 7:30 Feb. 21 Phoenix 8:00 Feb. 23 Milwaukee 8:00 Feb. 25 Charlotte 8:00 Feb. 27 Minnesota 8:00 Mar. 1 Los Angeles 1:00 Mar. 3 Washington 8:00 Mar. 5 Oklahoma City 8:00 Mar. 6 at Indiana 7:00 Mar. 8 at San Antonio 1:00 Mar. 9 Memphis 8:00 Mar. 11 at Philadelphia 7:00 Mar. 13 at Charlotte 7:00 Mar. 15 at Oklahoma City 1:00 Mar. 18 Indiana 8:00 Mar. 20 Toronto 8:00 Mar. 21 at Detroit 7:30 Mar. 23 Charlotte 8:00 Mar. 25 at Toronto 7:30 Mar. 28 New York 8:00 Apr. 1 at Milwaukee 8:00 Apr. 3 Detroit 8:00 Apr. 5 at Cleveland 3:30 Apr. 8 at Orlando 7:00 Apr. 9 at Miami 8:00 Apr. 11 Philadelphia 8:00 Apr. 13 at Brooklyn 7:30 Apr. 15 Atlanta 8:00 * All Times Eastern. Sefolosha, and Danny Green. TEAM 2014-15 SCHEDULE The only question is one of continuity. Gasol was Chicago’s big free-agent signing of the offseason, but Gasol is now 34 years old and his defense was not particularly good in his last couple years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Rose will also make his return, but after missing the vast majority of two seasons with repeated knee injuries, it seems unlikely that Rose will be able to play at the same level. Integrating both players into Thibodeau’s highenergy defensive scheme will be a challenge. Even so, Thibodeau is a master of defensive coaching for a reason, and Chicago should have the depth necessary to keep Rose or Gasol from playing too many minutes. Noah and Gibson are still in place, as are Dunleavy, Butler, and Kirk Hinrich. Simply put, there’s no reason to believe the Bulls will be anything other than an outstanding defensive team again this season. Offense While the Bulls had one of the league’s best defenses last season, they also had one of the worst offenses. Chicago was hampered by a roster full of players unable to create his own shot, leading to a tremendous number of tough, contested shots and not very many open looks at the basket. Continued offensive struggles compelled Noah to embrace the role of being a point center, funneling passes to teammates in an attempt to confuse defenses and create open looks. While Noah was very good in that role, it wasn’t an ideal solution to Chicago’s problems. The reality was that nobody in Chicago’s lineup—not Kirk Hinrich, not Butler—was able to command double-teams or at least threaten to punish opponents for not doing so. Clearly the plan was to have a healthy Rose drawing defenses in and creating open looks for his teammates. With Rose first ineffective and then injured again, Chicago had to turn to a plan B. That plan featured an offense that often used up the shot clock but didn’t create very many good opportunities. With that in mind, the Bulls have added a few players who could make the offense more effective. The biggest name among them is Gasol, who still retains serious low-post skills to go along with a functional midrange jump shot. Gasol is the kind of player who can bring Chicago’s offense to life, although he isn’t necessarily the best fit as a go-to scorer at this point in his career. Chicago also brought over Nikola Mirotic, known as the best player in Europe last


Chicago Bulls Gameday HQ
To see the actual publication please follow the link above