The Bulls have played over a quarter of their games for the 2009-2010 season and currently stand at 8-14. Here is my grades for each individual player on the Bulls.

Luol Deng - A-

Luol Deng has been able to get his game back on track, scoring 17.5 points on 51.9 TS% and grabbing 7.8 rebounds per a game. Deng is only scoring the ball at a mediocre efficiency this year, but I think this is largely a result of Deng being asked to be option 1B (Derrick Rose is 1A) in the offense, rather than as the 3rd or 4th scorer, a role which he would fit very nicely. Where Deng has really excelled so far this year is on the defensive end of the court. Luol Deng has been the one Bull that can be depended on this year to give a good defensive effort on his man, while also rebounding the ball well. With Deng’s performance so far this season, and his ability to stay completely healthy, the Bulls should be able to move him with little difficulty.

Joakim Noah - B

If Joakim Noah keeps his averages of 10.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per a game to the end of the season, he will be the first Bull since Elton Brand to average a double double. That is a big if, however, as after a hot offensive start, Noah’s offensive production has tanked. Noah has been one of the best rebounders in the league, which is valuable to a team, but he has struggled defensively at times when matched up against bigger centers. Overall, Noah has been a net positive for the team.

Taj Gibson - C+

Taj has done a good job offensively for the Bulls, consistently knocking down the midrange jumper. Unfortunately, Gibson possesses little ability to make a free throw or defend the ball, and the latter really hurts the Bulls when they have Gibson out on the court. Still Gibson has surpassed all expectations.

Brad Miller - D

Age has caught up with Brad Miller too fast, and this even slower version of Brad Miller isn’t all that effective. Still, Brad Miller can make nice passes to setup his teammates, and provides better interior defense than anyone not named Joakim Noah on the team.

Derrick Rose - D-

Rose is the definition of raw talent right now. Every time it seems like he is going to break out of his bad play, he follows up his good play with some terrible games. While Rose has shown more ability to create for his teammates this year than last, it is still not something he excels at doing like someone like the elite point guards in the league, and the overwhelming majority of his assists are just passing to someone who hoists up a jumpshot. The assists he are getting are no different than the one’s Kirk Hinrich would get a few years ago, when he would just pass the ball to Deng and Gordon, who would hit a jumpshot. Anyone can make that pass. While Rose has shown some improvement on the defensive end, he is still a bad defender.

The Bulls didn’t make life easy for Derrick when they got rid of Ben Gordon, but that doesn’t excuse Derrick Rose for playing as poorly as he has. It’s unacceptable for a team to have their leading shot taker scoring at 48.7 TS%. That is a recipe for a bad offense. While the driving lanes are more clogged than last year, Rose is still getting to the basket. Rose would be having a much easier time on the basketball court if he had put in the work this summer to make his three point shot respectable. Given that he is shooting 12.5% from three, and looks scared to even attempt a three point shot, I am going to guess that he didn’t put in the necessary work this summer, and because of this, rendered himself as a bad offensive player.

Don’t believe Derrick Rose is a bad offensive player? He has -0.1 offensive win shares on the season.

Kirk Hinrich - F

While Kirk Hinrich has been solid defensively, he has been one of the worst offensive players in the NBA. He is scoring at 40.6 TS% and has -0.8 offensive win shares on the season. There is no level of defense that Kirk Hinrich can play that warrants him seeing an NBA court with offense this well.

John Salmons - F

John Salmons has been ineffective scoring the basketball in the early going of the season. While he is averaging 13.8 points per a game, he is doing it on an unacceptable 48.0 TS%. A basketball team can simply not be competitive when one of it’s main offensive players, in Salmons, is performing this poorly on the offensive end. Unfortunately, Salmons brings little on the other side of the court, as he is one of the worst defenders at the shooting guard position in the entire league.

Jannero Pargo - F

And there’s the sweep. All three guys who Jerry Reinsdorf said Ben Gordon would struggle to get playing time over get failing grades for the first quarter of the season. When you have a reputation of being a player who can’t play defense, but is valuable to a team because of your ability to score, you better be able to score. Pargo, however, is scoring at 45.1 TS% and has -0.3 offensive win shares on the season.

Aaron Gray - F

While Aaron Gray has been injured most of the season, he has used his five games back to show fans his best Dalibor Bagaric impression.

James Johnson - F

Johnson, like Rose, is an example of raw talent. He has shown some flashes on both ends of the court, but has struggled to put together a good performance on both sides of the court. On most nights, he is bad on both sides of the court.

Lindsey Hunter - F-

I’m not sure if you can actually give someone an F-, but I am going to try here. I’m not a fan of John Hollinger’s PER statistic, but when you have a -2.0 PER, that has to be bad, right?

Tyrus Thomas - Incomplete

Tyrus Thomas only got to play in four games before breaking his arm in a freak weightlifting accident. Thomas struggled offensively, but it is too small of a sample size to really judge him on. In his four games this season, Thomas played really good defense. Thomas probably deserves a B grade for the small set of games he played this year.

Closing Comments

The grades may seem a little harsh, but they are a reflection of the reality of the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have the 24th best record in the league, are ranked 27th in the Dabullz.com Power Rankings, are ranked 28th in SRS, 28th in Pythagorean W-L, and are ranked 29th in John Hollinger’s power rankings. When you are receiving marks that low as a team, there are going to be a lot of players failing out.

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Tags: 2009-2010 Season, Aaron Gray, Brad Miller, Dalibor Bagaric, Derrick Rose, grades, James Johnson, Jannero Pargo, Joakim Noah, John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich, Lindsey Hunter, Luol Deng, report card, Taj Gibson, Tyrus Thomas

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