Oct. 29--The Bulls improved to 2-0 with their 115-110 road victory over the Nets. Here are three observations:
Jimmy Butler fared well in a ball-handling role
In the fourth quarter, Butler assumed some primary ball-handling duties because the Nets pressured Derrick Rose fullcourt. Butler found Mirotic for two of his six assists and also scored 10 points in seven fourth-quarter minutes without a miss.
"Jimmy was phenomenal," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Markel Brown did a really good job of pressuring Derrick so Jimmy handled the ball coming down the floor a few times. We wanted to get the ball in his hands so he could make plays."
After taking 22 shots in the opener, Rose halved that amount against the Nets, matching Butler and Pau Gasol for team-high honors. Per his vision issues, Rose basically begged Butler to take a more aggressive approach.
"I love the way Jimmy's playing but I want him to shoot more," Rose said. "I guess he knows what he's doing. He's a pro. He's a grown man. So I'm going to let him gear his game. He has a good pace how he's playing. He's coming down with the ball in his hands, making decisions, making plays. He looks great doing it. He just needs to get more comfortable doing it."
Rose's shot selection continues to be effective
Rose's first seven attempts were on drives or floaters and none outside 7 feet. He didn't attempt a jumper until the fourth quarter. He has taken just three 3-point attempts in his 33 shots over the first two games.
Some of this is due to Rose's vision. Some of this is Fred Hoiberg's offense.
But for all the talk of Rose taking ill-advised 3-pointers last season, when he shot a career-low 28 percent, some of that was a function of the offense. With Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol starting, defenses sagged into the lane consistently, not even bothering to honor Noah's offense. This clogged the lane and prevented driving lanes.
With more shooting on the floor, particularly Nikola Mirotic in the starting lineup, Rose is seeing more space.
"Right now, I can't see (well) so I'm getting in the lane, being creative, shooting floaters, trying to get contact," Rose said. "Usually, when I have the ball and create, the defense is so keyed into me that a lot of guys are open for shots. That's why I want Jimmy to shoot more 3s like he did tonight. He can shoot those shots. Sometimes, he just chooses not to."
E'Twaun Moore could stay ahead of Kirk Hinrich in the rotation
That's a 10 points-per-game average and 9-for-13 shooting in just over 15 minutes per game for the journeyman guard, who definitely possesses a shoot-first mentality. But he's scoring for now.
Hinrich didn't play in the opener and then logged just five fourth-quarter minutes against the Nets. For now, Moore is ahead of the veteran in the rotation.
"E'Twaun has done some nice things," Hoiberg said.
