Jimmy Butler, not Derrick Rose, is the Bulls Best Player

“I think on this team anybody can score the ball”, guard Jimmy Butler said. Here are three observations.

Butler’s always been excellent at moving without the ball and cutting, not to mention his propensity for getting to the free throw line. “We made good decisions. I know a lot of people have been through it, so just keep working, keep grinding every day”. “So that’s what I did”.

Not surprisingly, Butler has shouldered more of the offense since Rose’s injury, totaling 60 points in the last two. “The big thing is if you cut and move and screen and do the unselfish things, that stuff takes care of itself”, Hoiberg said. Butler seems to have an endless reservoir of energy, which allows him to be effective at both ends while averaging 36 minutes per game.

Still, Hoiberg is going to have to lean on Butler to do even more without Rose on the floor. Following Tuesday’s game, they’ll travel to IN to play the Pacers on Black Friday before returning home to face the Spurs the following Monday.

The veteran guard knocked down six of seven shots to finish with 14 points and six assists with just one turnover in over 23 minutes.

The shorthanded Bulls, playing without Derrick Rose and Aaron Brooks, were within 94-91 with 2 minutes left to play when a Draymond Green layup and two three pointers by Harrison Barnes ended the Bulls’ chances at Oracle Arena. Butler added 10 efficient points to lead Chicago to an 11 point lead, but the Warriors, as is their style, were able to score in bunches to bring the lead down to one at the end of the first. “We have the Pelicans next if I’m not mistaken”. Joakim Noah grabbed 11 rebounds without scoring a point, the first time a Bulls player had double digits in rebounds without scoring since March 11, 2011, when Noah had 11 boards against Atlanta.

Chicago (8-3) improved to 6-1 in their past seven trips to Phoenix dating back to 2007. “I think we’ve been really good from the start of games these past few games, and come up short in a few, but I think if we keep pushing, keep playing hard all the time, we’re going to win games”.

To further go on with this specific example, the Bulls were leading the undefeated Golden State Warriors by one point with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter. “Their record speaks for itself”. Thus, Golden State wanted to avoid running Curry-Green pick-and-rolls as it would’ve created the incredibly rare instance of a team switching its best defender onto Curry, nullifying any true advantage (I mean, he’s still Steph, but you get the idea).

Three draft classes after Rose, Butler arrived in Chicago as a scrappy, defensive specialist, who the team believed would be a solid contributor but never a household name.