Looks like the Butler/Dunleavy/Snell combo has filled in the gap. Butler is a top notch defender. Dunleavy and Snell are picking up the lost offense. Thibs is utilizing DJ/Hinrich 2 guard sets more. Noah has really picked up his play. Bulls look to be playing pretty well without him. Its shocking at times how resilient this team is.
The term "needs to 'step up'" is overused, but Noah sure as hell has done it since Deng was traded. I'm very proud of him. Statistically, the team's defensive rating has gone from 98-something to 100.2, but they still rank behind only the Pacers. I don't remember what their offensive rating was, but I'm guessing that it's gone up about as much as their DRtg, but their still 4th-worst in the league. I'm in the "too early to tell" camp insofar as the effect of Deng's absence. Other than the Phoenix win, the Bulls have beaten teams below them in the EC standings. They've lost twice to the Wizards, which frankly is kind of disappointing. I'd love for the Bulls to continue their post-Deng 70+% winning ways, but it would surprise the shit out of me if the team ends up over .500 this season. Of course, a lot depends on team health since this team is now very thin.
Yes, I'm looking at this from a complete "eyeball test" perspective at this point. There have been few times when watching these games I've thought to myself, "wow, we really miss deng out there." Have y'all been thinking that much? We'll know a lot more 15+ games from now.
I really hope you're right about this since it'll mean that the Bulls key remaining players will stay healthy for those 15+ games. Because if the team suffers an injury(ies) to key players, we won't be able to isolate the Deng variable.
A couple of 5 game win streaks could put us on pace to win 47 again. 47 with him last year, 47 without this year.
Noah has really been playing well! Snell has been much more aggressive on offense. That is a good thing. Augustin is a solid pt guard offensively and in running this team. The schedule gets harder very soon. We shall see what will happen to this team during that stretch.
This may sound strange, but I miss Luol most when I watch the Cavs. I feel like fans gave Deng a lot of crap for not being able to create his own shot, and I think there's something to that. But when you compare his handling and creation ability to say a MDJ, Snell or Butler . . . he's just at another level. The Cavs haven't really installed sets for him yet, so he's basically freelancing, and he looks surprisingly good. I'm not sure if the move will impact the record much and I don't really care. You need someone of Deng's abilities in the playoffs. The Bulls are a giant step farther away from being a contender.