When the
Chicago Bulls have had to play without
Derrick Rose in past years, they've been able to rely on one of the NBA's best defenses. Chicago has ranked in the league's top five defensively in all four seasons since hiring Tom Thibodeau in 2010, leading the NBA in defensive rating twice in that span. With Rose limited to 10 games a season ago, the Bulls ranked second, helping to earn center
Joakim Noah Defensive Player of the Year honors.
While going 3-4 since Rose was recently sidelined by a torn medial meniscus that required arthroscopic surgery in his right knee, Chicago hasn't been able to summon that same defensive effort. In fact, after surrendering 116 points to the
San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, the team's defensive rating in Rose's absence ranks 24th in the NBA, per NBA.com/stats.
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Pau problems
There's no denying that
Pau Gasol has been rejuvenated after signing with the Bulls as a free agent last summer. Gasol is averaging 18.3 points and a career-high 12.1 rebounds per game, and he was voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter. However, many of Chicago's defensive issues can be tied to Gasol's presence.
With the Spaniard on the bench, the Bulls are forcing turnovers on 13 percent of opponents' plays, which would rank 20th. When Gasol plays, that rate drops to 10.9 percent of opponents' plays, which is not only the lowest mark in the league but would be the third lowest for an NBA team since turnovers have been recorded. The worst mark, not coincidentally, belongs to the 2011-12
Los Angeles Lakers, who also started Gasol next to a traditional big man (Andrew Bynum).
As fellow ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan points out, Gasol's lack of mobility is a hindrance on defense.
"He's relatively immobile laterally," said Elhassan. "Pau is more comfortable defensively when the action is funneled toward him and not when he had to move and rotate over."
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Unlike past seasons, Rose is coming back, giving the Bulls the opportunity to get back to the level at which they were defending before his injury. But their inability to lock down in Rose's absence might prove costly in terms of playoff seeding.
