Is a 50-win season and a second-round exit good enough to stand pat? The Chicago Bulls thought so. Besides their first-round draft pick, they enter the 2015-16 season with a roster that's literally the exact same as last year.
Chicago Bulls 2015 roster: Fred Hoiberg tries to change cycle of early exits
The Bulls have the same squad back this season, but with a new coach at the helm. Can he bring additional playoff success?
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
What is different is the man on the sideline. Gone is Tom Thibodeau, a move that had been brewing for months after constant disagreements with the ownership and in his place the Bulls have brought in Fred Hoiberg.
Will that be enough? Hoiberg is a proven college coach from his time at nearby Iowa State and played with the Bulls before that, but the transition to the NBA as a coach is always difficult. Chicago has made the playoffs in seven straight years, but they only have a single Eastern Conference Finals appearance to show for it, which came back during their 62-win season in 2010-11. Hoiberg is a change on the sidelines, but changing the team’s postseason success is a much more difficult task.
LAST YEAR
RECORD: 50-32 (third in Eastern Conference)
PLAYOFFS: Lost 4-2 in semifinals to Cleveland
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 104.7 (10th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 101.5 (11th)
ROSTER
No. | PLAYER | POS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AGE | COLLEGE |
| 0 | Aaron Brooks | PG | 6'0 | 161 | 30 | Oregon |
| 1 | Derrick Rose | PG | 6'3 | 190 | 27 | Memphis |
| 3 | Doug McDermott | SF | 6'8 | 225 | 23 | Creighton |
| 5 | Bobby Portis | PF | 6'11 | 230 | 20 | Arkansas |
| 12 | Kirk Hinrich | SG | 6'4 | 190 | 34 | Kansas |
| 13 | Joakim Noah | C | 6'11 | 232 | 30 | Florida |
| 16 | Pau Gasol | PF | 7'0 | 250 | 35 | |
| 20 | Tony Snell | SF | 6'7 | 200 | 23 | New Mexico |
| 21 | Jimmy Butler | SG | 6'7 | 220 | 26 | Marquette |
| 22 | Taj Gibson | PF | 6'9 | 225 | 30 | USC |
| 34 | Mike Dunleavy | SG | 6'9 | 230 | 35 | Duke |
| 41 | Cameron Bairstow | PF | 6'9 | 250 | 24 | New Mexico |
| 44 | Nikola Mirotic | PF | 6'10 | 220 | 24 | |
| 55 | SG | 6'4 | 191 | 26 | Purdue | |
Coach: Fred Hoiberg
Assistant coaches: Randy Brown, Charlie Henry, Mike Wilhelm, Pete Myers, Jim Boylen
OFFSEASON CHANGES
IN: Bobby Portis
OUT: Nazr Mohammed
The only real addition to the Bulls was the hiring of Fred Hoiberg.
DEPTH CHART
POINT GUARD | SHOOTING GUARD | SMALL FORWARD | POWER FORWARD | CENTER | |
STARTER | Derrick Rose | Jimmy Butler | Mike Dunleavy | Pau Gasol | Joakim Noah |
RESERVE | Aaron Brooks | Kirk Hinrich | Tony Snell | Taj Gibson | Nikola Mirotic |
RESERVE | E'Twaun Moore | Doug McDermott | Cameron Bairstow | ||
RESERVE | Bobby Portis |
THE KEY QUESTION
What difference will Hoiberg Make?
Hoiberg was hired because he once sold Gar Forman his house. But it’s a fortunate coincidence that Hoiberg also professes to bring a high-tempo, free-flowing offensive style as a counterpoint to Thibodeau. The ‘stagnation’ in Thibs’s offense may have been a bit overblown (the guy knew three-pointers were worth more points than two-pointers), but it’s certainly true that his offensive philosophy was to have coach-controlled plays nearly every possession. Hoiberg’s teams have historically been more loose when possessing the ball, employing the players to read and react to the defense (and quickly) instead of spending a majority of the seconds of the shot clock to get into their set plays.
Another major change should be the minutes allocation. This was the biggest point of contention that the front office had with Thibodeau, where they believed their coach was over-using his best players in the regular season at the expense of a healthier squad heading into the playoffs. The minutes restrictions they imposed on Noah and Rose rankled Thibs all of last season, and while there’s no such formal limitations this year it should be understood that the Bulls won’t be relying as much on them (plus old-timers like Gasol, Dunleavy, and Kirk Hinrich - who returned for his 87th season as a Chicago Bull) to free up opportunities for Mirotic, Snell, and especially McDermott. McDermott has deep Iowa ties to Hoiberg and Forman, who after a disastrous rookie season following his lottery selection has a chance to thrive (or just not be awful?) given Hoiberg’s need for 3-point shooting.
-your friendly BullsBlogger, Blog A Bull. (Read the full preview here)
PREDICTIONS
BEST CASE: Hoiberg brings needed change to Chicago’s culture and is a good luck charm, too, as the Bulls stay relatively healthy most of the year. They challenge Cleveland for the No. 1 seed and have a viable chance to come out of the Eastern Conference.
WORST CASE: Rose breaks his entire body and misses the year. The defense only gets worse with a slowing Noah and a slower Gasol. Kirk Hinrich plays 82 games.
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