NBA Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls Must Be Smarter In Handling Injuries This Season

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By @Kristen_Fazio

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The Chicago Bulls are just three games into the 2014-15 NBA season and have already suffered three injuries, albeit minor, to key players. In past seasons, the Bulls have been heavily criticized when it comes to the handling of injuries, and they must take a conservative approach this season in order to be at full strength when the playoffs begin.

Derrick Rose stopped hearts when he came up limping after tweaking his ankle by landing on Kyrie Irving‘s foot against Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bulls made the right decision sitting him the next day against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Taj Gibson also sprained his ankle in the same game. Both of them probably could have played, but the Bulls handled things correctly.

Jimmy Butler sprained his thumb during the preseason and missed the first two games of the regular season. It felt as though he was being rushed back instead of allowing the injury to heal completely. Butler was hampered by a turf toe injury last season, and you don’t want to have a repeat of that again.

Fans scratched their heads a little bit when Joakim Noah was allowed to come back in to play in overtime against the Cavaliers after he had already, presumably, reached his minutes limit decided upon by the team’s medical staff. Noah still doesn’t seem to be moving well after having “minor” arthroscopic knee surgery in May.

The Bulls now have a reputation of allowing players to play hurt and pushing them to the limits. Who could forget Luol Deng playing with a stress fracture in his leg in 2009 or a botched spinal tap procedure during the 2013 playoffs that put his life in jeopardy. Not to forget playing through a torn wrist ligament the same season. Omer Asik was allowed to play a in Game 4 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals on a fractured tibia.

Yes, players play hurt all the time, but there reaches a point when it begins to hurt the team rather than help. You want your players healthy when it matter most, and if that means sitting players for minor injuries or giving players maintenance days or veteran’s days off then so be it.

The Bulls’ warrior mentality is admirable and endearing to fans and it has become part of their identity, but you can’t win in May and June if the team is suffering from injuries to core players.

Tom Thibodeau‘s “more than enough to win” mantra allows the Bulls to win even when they are shorthanded, and they have a roster that is built to withstand injuries during the regular season. But he must be smart when it comes to the handling of Rose’s and Noah’s minutes. There is a difference between being tough and being smart, and the only thing standing in the way of the Bulls’ title aspirations is injuries.

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