Jan. 24--Late Saturday night in Cleveland, Derrick Rose recalled meeting Taj Gibson for the first time, a December 2007 game in which his Memphis Tigers outlasted Gibson's USC Trojans in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
Gibson remembered the game and that he guarded Joey Dorsey for much of it. Asked how he played, Gibson's smile from walking down memory lane faded.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "We lost."
Behold Taj Gibson, whose workmanlike, team-first ways sometimes get overlooked or taken for granted in places outside the Bulls locker room.
Talk about a low-maintenance player. Start him, bring him off the bench, play him 35 minutes or 15 and you'll typically get what you get -- defense, rebounding and an honest night's work.
"Taj, man, I just love to see him do well," Rose said. "He's someone who is very professional, not a headache or anything. He doesn't need the ball to produce. He just plays. I'm happy to see good things come to good people."
Following offseason surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left ankle that he played on, Gibson is one of three Bulls along with Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic to play all 43 games this season. Promoted to a starting role on Dec. 9 in Boston, he is averaging 8.6 points, eight rebounds and one block in his 25 starts and 7.8 points and seven rebounds overall.
After taking a blow from Isaiah Thomas to his right eye on Friday in Boston, Gibson received postgame medical attention and saw only black.
"It was scary," he said. "I didn't know if I was going to be able to play. My vision was still a little blurry, but I wanted to play. I wanted to help the team get a win."
So what did Gibson do? He wore a protective contact lens, donned goggles and flew around all over the place against the Cavaliers. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
"Playing with goggles was frustrating," he said. "But I just kept playing, trying to be gritty, be around the ball."
With his offseason rehabilitation and Joakim Noah and Mirotic seemingly stronger options at power forward alongside Pau Gasol, it's surprising that Gibson quietly has already started the second-most games of his seven-year career. In his rookie season, Gibson started 70 games while playing all 82, taking over for the mercurial Tyrus Thomas.
Coach Fred Hoiberg has lauded Gibson's impact and said there are no plans to change his role. His big-man partner applauds that.
"He brings a defensive presence that is important for our starting lineup," Gasol said. "The hustle that he brings and the way he works both ends, his unselfishness, his ability to sacrifice for the betterment of the team, those are things that are hard to find. And Taj brings them to the table."
kcjohnson@tribpub.com
