It wasn’t hard to guess the Chicago Bulls were in trouble the moment Derrick Rose tore his Meniscus, which meant Kirk Hinrich, Mike James and Marquis Teague were going to have to step up and fill the point guard position. So far, it hasn’t really been happening, especially when it comes to the minutes and contributions from James and Teague.
It’s actually quite a wonder James manages to find himself time and time again with another NBA team. He is 38, in and out of the league, and last year he actually started in quite a few games for the Dallas Mavericks who picked up in the middle of the season. The Bulls thought they might need some insurance and experience, but didn’t really plan on James playing every game and more than 4-5 minutes a night.
James was actually hardly involved before Rose went down, but since then the Bulls are forced to use him from time to time. It has resulted in him shooting 1-of-9 from the field in the last five games, scoring only 2 points and simply being someone the balls go through instead of a point guard who can create something for anyone else. It’s one thing not having a natural point guard on the floor, but its worst having one that can’t contribute a single thing offensively.
Teague? Not much better. The former Kentucky Wildcat played only a few seconds against the New Orleans Pelicans. Thibodeau simply doesn’t trust him, with Teague not scoring a single point since Derrick Rose got injured, missing all of his 13 field goal attempts since then.
Both of them, according to ESPN, have a negative PER – James is at -3.65, Teague with a -7.92. That leaves the Bulls with Kirk Hinrich, who shouldn’t be a staring point guard, playing too many minutes, and currently without a single shooting guard on the team due to Jimmy Butler’s injury. He himself isn’t even a natural shooting guard either.
So what do they have? A couple of backup point guards Thibodeau doesn’t want to use, who have shot a combined 1-of-22 from the field since Rose ended his season (4.5% from the field), and are actually damaging the team’s offense when they’re on the court. Not a whole lot to feel optimistic about.