Oct. 28--Former Bulls coach Doug Collins said he thinks Doug McDermott should start over Mike Dunleavy to stabilize both units.
"It looks like Mike Dunleavy maybe to start the year, but that second unit has got to get an identity," Collins said on a conference call. "I thought in the preseason they were very inconsistent.
"When you had (Doug) McDermott out there, when you had him out there with (Nikola) Mirotic, two rookies; you had Aaron Brooks, who was a new guy; you had Taj (Gibson) out there; and you had Kirk Hinrich," Collins noted. "So I thought they were struggling to find who they needed to be. I'd go on record and say I feel like at the end of the day, if somehow Doug McDermott can be a starter, I think he's going to get better shots with that starting unit being out there with Pau Gasol and with Derrick Rose. And it's not going to depend so much on Jimmy Butler having to make as many shots.
"And then I think Mike Dunleavy is a guy who has played off the bench in his career, and to me with him out there and Taj Gibson and Kirk and Aaron Brooks, you've got a little bit more of a veteran feel to it."
Collins long has been considered one of the game's most astute observers. He likes how deep the Bulls are but points out how different they are from last season's team.
"When you look at the Bulls, I don't think people realize that you have a lot of the same pieces back, but they're a very different team," Collins said. "To me, when I see Pau Gasol out there playing as a center and I see Joakim Noah playing as a power forward, his (Noah's) defensive role has changed. Last year, he was the Defensive Player of the Year as a center. Now you're going to see him playing at that four spot a lot when Pau is in there as a five. You'll see him (Noah) play as a five when he's out there with Taj Gibson. But so much of what they did last year, their offense, they played through Joakim as an offensive player, not necessarily to score but to facilitate.
"Now he's (Noah) got to find his role in that offense because the ball is either going to be in Derrick Rose's hands or it's going to be in Pau Gasol's hands in the post. So that's a little different."
