By: Steven Rawnsley
The biggest x-factor every season is health. For the most part there is nothing you can do to prevent injuries. It is just part of the game. The Bulls have been hit with injuries all year, but Game One of the NBA Playoffs brought forth the most devastating injuries the NBA has ever seen. Not only is a torn ACL terrible, but it happened to the leader of a title contender.
The injuries that always worry me the most are non-contact injuries. The most recent injury of this kind I can think of is Ryan Howard of the Phillies making the final out in the NLDS. He tried to run out of the box, and tore his Achilles. Same thing happened with Rose when it comes to non-contact injury. As Derrick Rose landed after a jump stop his knee went in, and the result was a torn ACL. (Iman Shumpert tore his ACL also on no contact.)
The good news for the Bulls is two-fold. First and foremost, torn ACL’s are usually not career ending injuries anymore. Technology and knowledge have helped surgeons out, so that is good news. He is supposed to be out 6-8 months, so the timetable says, he could be back as early as the end of October, just at the start of the season. The other good news is they are used to playing without him.
The past two seasons the Bulls have had to prove that they are the deepest team. Last year, Boozer and Noah missed significant time. This year Richard Hamilton missed thirty-eight games, Luol Deng missed twelve games, and Derrick Rose missed twenty-seven games. However, in the twenty-seven games Rose missed the Bulls went 18-9.
Obviously, CJ Watson is going to be asked to step up. He started twenty-five games this year. In those games he averaged 11.3 points on 35% shooting, 4.6 assists, but 2.4 turnovers. He will need to play better than that if the Bulls want to make a deep playoff run.
Now, the most important player for the Bulls in my opinion is Boozer. The Bulls have good outside shooting, and they got a lot of open outside shots because of Rose’s penetration ability. Instead of running the offense through Rose’s penetration, the Bulls will now look to run it through Boozer in the post. He will need to force the 76ers, to double him in the post to open up the shooters like Korver.
Not only is his post play extremely important, but his screening will be big. Small things win in the playoffs, and this will be even bigger for the Bulls. The Bulls will now run a lot of plays for Richard Hamilton coming off of screens. In Detroit he was known for coming off of multiple screens to get his deadly mid-range shot. Boozer, Noah, Gibson, and Asik will be setting more screens for Hamilton, as the Bulls will call his number more often now. Same thing will most likely happen with Kyle Korver also.
The Bulls can do everything correctly strategically, and it will not matter though. We have seen injuries really alter the outcome of the playoffs.
Bynum was hurt in 07-08 and the Lakers lost in the finals. Two seasons later Kendrick Perkins tore his ACL in game six for the Celtics, and the Lakers dominated inside to beat the Celtics in game seven. Manu Ginobili was not 100% going into the playoffs last season, and the Spurs got upset in the first round. Who knows how history is changed if not for injuries. The Bulls will be no different. Health is the biggest x-factor for teams, and the Bulls have lost this x-factor. This injury has taken them out of the contender status.