Feb 1, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) and guard Raul Neto (25) battle Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson (22) for the ball in the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Chicago Bulls 105-96 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
The 7-4 Chicago Bulls are coming off their best game of this young season, a 25-point shellacking of the 7-5 Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
On Thursday night in Utah, the Bulls continue their final Circus Trip in Salt Lake City, against Quin Snyder’s revamped Utah Jazz (7-5), their old NBA Finals foes from the late 1990’s.
(Bobby Portis was three during those Finals, just so you know.)
Can the Bulls — these weird, long-range shooting-starved Bulls — put their collective boot on Utah’s throat the entire game, as they did in the Pacific Northwest?
Here are three keys to getting another win tonight.
Nov 15, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez (8) grabs a rebound away from Portland Trail Blazers forward Mason Plumlee (24) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
1. Maximize second-chance scoring opportunities
The Bulls are, by far, the best offensive rebounding team in the league.
The Jazz, despite their prolific rebounding back court of Rudy “The Stifle Tower” Gobert, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward, rank 26th.
The Bulls convert just the 24th-most 3-point attempts in the league, although they rank 13th among all teams in terms of 3-point sniping accuracy, so there’s that.
Nov 14, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) defends against Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33) during the first quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
2. Get Rudy Gobert into foul trouble
A healthy Gobert would always give post-knee scope Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol fits when the Bulls would face his Jazz.
His ridiculous length, strength and athleticism would give most dudes fits. The 7’1” French Rejection is averaging 9.6 points, 10.2 rebounds (9th-best in the league) and 2.2 blocks in just 29.8 minutes a night.
Why is he playing such limited minutes, considering that he’s the Jazz’s second-best player (after Gordon Hayward) and their main rim protector? Fouls.
He has already been whistled for five or more fouls five times in 12 games, and has fouled out of two. Yes, the Jazz have won four of those games, but limiting Gobert’s time on the hardwood would come to bear more significantly here than it has in any prior game this season, against the best offensive rebounding squad in the NBA.
Gobert is averaging a whopping 7.3 defensive boards per game. His front court neighbor Derrick Favors (averaging 5.2 defensive rebounds per) will miss Thursday’s game with left knee soreness. That means, beyond Gobert, the Jazz’s best bigs will be Boris Diaw and Trey Lyles (probably the fill-in starter), a fairly green late lottery pick in 2015 from Kentucky.
It is up to Robin Lopez (averaging 7.5 rebounds a night), Taj Gibson (8.7), Jimmy Butler (6.1 rebounds and a whopping 9.3 free throw looks) and Dwyane Wade (4.2 rebounds and 4.1 free throw attempts) to draw as much contact from The Gobert Report as possible in the first half, disrupting his rhythm and freeing up space for them to all go to work inside against an inferior supporting cast.
Nov 15, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jerian Grant (2) posts up against Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) during the first quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
3. Win the battle of the starting backup point guards
What exactly do the Bulls have in Jerian Grant? After having his second-best scoring game as a pro, and perhaps his most complete contest at this level to boot, can the Bulls’ temporary starting point guard build on that performance?
Rajon Rondo sat out Wednesday’s practice as he continued to nurse the ankle injury that sidelined him Tuesday. His official status for Thursday is still up in the air. Utah will be without their own starting point guard George Hill (man, can you imagine how much better the Bulls would be if we had George Hill and his $8 million contract right now?), still rehabbing a sprained thumb.
In his place is jumbo-sized 2014 lottery pick Dante Exum. The Aussie isn’t exactly a scorer (he’s averaging 6.7 points a night on 43.3% shooting), so Grant doesn’t have to worry quite as much about that element of his game. Plus, though Exum at 6’6” with a 6’9.5” wingspan poses a big defensive threat to most point guards, Jerian Grant at 6’4”, with a 6’7.5” wingspan, is also on the tall side for a typical point guard, so hopefully that can mitigate some of Exum’s nominal defensive edge.
The ceiling for both players is typically thought to be good defensive backup off-guards. Grant has, more often than thought, shown flashes of promise amidst some very raw play. He was the MVP of the Bulls’ championship-winning Summer League team, but that was his also his only good game of Summer League.
After such consistency at Notre Dame, where he was a first-team All-American, it’s frustrating to watch his NBA play be so erratic. Here’s hoping Tuesday was a breakthrough, and that with bad-ass leaders in place now, his talent can be harnessed and fostered.
But, both Grant and Exum will make their bread with defense first. Here’s hoping it gets a little chippy.
And that Grant scores 20 points (which would be his NBA career high). Go Bulls.
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