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불행하게도, 시카고 불스는 제가 ESPN Insider 필진 중 가장 한국어로 옮기기 까다로워 하는 두 명 중 하나인 브래드포드 둘리틀이 작성했더군요. 그래도 나름 열심 정제하여 옮겼으니 잘 봐주세요.
Despite missing Derrick Rose for most of the season, Chicago finished with a record of 48-34.
시장에서 들러리 역할을 단골로 하던 팀이 이번 여름에도 카멜로 앤써니의 2 지망이었던 듯 하지만, 불스가 갖고 있지 못한 것보다는 갖고 있는 것에 초점을 맞춰 보는 것이 낫지 않을까 싶다. 시카고는 지난 두 시즌 동안 지긋지긋하게 인원 부족을 겪었던 로스터를 마침내 채워 놓게 됐다. 저 재능 부족에서 데릭 로즈가 겪은 무릎 부상들은 오직 부분적인 이유밖에 되지 않았다. 이 불스란 팀이 과도한 사치세 지불을 피하기 위해 자금 운영을 조심스럽게 해왔던 팀이다. 그리고 또 그런 한편으로 이번 여름 한 방을 터뜨리기 위한 창을 계속 열어두고 있기도 했다. 그리고 정확히 저대로 일이 일어났고, 평범한 오프시즌이었더라면 불스는 리그에서 가장 향상된 팀으로서 2014-15 캠페인에 들어갈 터였다. 그러나 디비젼 라이벌 클리블랜드의 행보때문에, 이번 오프시즌은 전혀 평범한 오프시즌이 아니었다.
로즈의 오랜 회복기간 동안, 이 팀은 원래 능력을 넘어선 모습을 보여줬다. 탐 티보도의 단단한 수비와 훌륭한 팀 케미스트리 덕분이다. 과연 이런 요소들이 앞으로의 일들에도 가시적인 효과를 미치게 될까? 강화되고 개편된 과정을 거친 불스가 만약 큰 성공을 거두게 된다면, 우리는 지난 두 시즌 간에 필요했던 핵심 요소로써 단련됐던 터프니스에 대해 회고하게 될 것이다. 하지만 결국 지난 세 시즌 230 경기들 중 단 49 경기만 플레이했던 로즈라는 주춧돌이 건강을 (그리고 생산성을) 되찾아 돌아오는 일이 다른 무엇보다 중요한 일이다. 그리고 이 2010-11 MVP는 리그에서 가장 큰 와일드 카드로서 이번 시즌에 들어가게 된다.
Tom Thibodeau's defensive-minded approach led the Bulls to the playoffs last season.
지난 시즌을 들어가던 무렵 불스에게는 열의는 있지만 뭔가 내키지 않는 분위기가 있었다. 시카고는 로즈가 돌아오게 된다는 생각도 있었지만, 계약의 레임덕 상태에 있는 루올 뎅이 있었고 부져의 하락세 생산성과 기용하기 석연치 않는 벤치가 있기도 했다. 그래도 만약 로즈가 로즈였더라면, 그럼 괜찮았다. 어쨌거나 동부는 그리 강하지 않았고, 그래서 시카고는 인디애나의 바로 앞에 2 위로 마감할 것으로 전망을 받았었다. 반면 다른 의문 부호들과 로즈가 (불과 컴백 열 경기 만에) 시즌 아웃된 사실을 감안했더라면, 불스는 플레이오프 하위 시드 정도의 성적으로 마감하리란 전망을 받았을 테다.
W-L: 48-34 (Pythagorean W-L: 48-34)
Offensive Efficiency: 103.9 (28th)
Defensive Efficiency: 101.9 (2nd)
Pace Factor: 89.0 (28th)
Highest WARP: Joakim Noah (14.0)
한 동안은 이들이 저런 상태로 향하는 듯해 보였었다. 시카고는 페이서스를 이기면서 6-3 성적의 출발을 만들었지만 그 두 경기 후 로즈가 다쳤다. 이후 불스는 16 경기 중 13 패를 당했다. 다시 반등하여 일곱 경기 중 5 승을 올리기도 했지만, 그 다음 뎅이 클리블랜드로 보내졌고 그 반대급부로 로테이션 플레이어가 돌아오지도 않았다. 전에 불스가 뎅과 재계약하려던 어느 정도의 시도가 있었지만, 뎅이 요구하기로 결정한 금액은 캡 관리에 너무나 걸림돌이 됐고, 저 당시에 모든 것이 여름에 초점이 맞춰져 있었다. 그래서 상황판단이 빠른 운영이긴 했지만, 플레이오프는 잊어야 했다.
그런데 재미있는 일이 벌어졌다: 올 NBA 센터 조아킴 노아가 이끌고 시즌 중간에 사인했던 DJ 어거스틴이 공격의 활기를 되살리면서 불스가 계속 이겼던 것이다. 이들은 1 월 20 일에 .500 에 복귀하여 두 주 가량 저 승률 근처를 까닥까닥거리다가 올스타 브레이크 무렵부터 시작된 23-7 짜리 난을 터뜨렸다. 불스는 48 승을 거두며 퍼스트 라운드의 홈 시드를 차지했고, 그 다음엔 결국 가스가 바닥나면서 워싱턴에 퍼스트 라운드 패배를 당했다. 수비는 4 년 연속 탑 파이브 안에 들었지만, 28 위짜리 공격을 갖고 불스는 달려야 했다. 이것이 그래서 여름에 들어가면서 팀의 설계자 존 팩슨과 가 포먼이 수정해야 했던 사항이었다.
Pau Gasol will team with Joakim Noah to give Chicago a pair of All-Star-level big men.
With a healthy Derrick Rose, the Bulls should challenge for the top spot in the East.
Projected Offensive Rating: 108.2 (14th)
Projected Defensive Rating: 104.8 (1st)
SCHOENE Projected Record: 57-25
Real Plus-Minus Projected Record: 55-27
원문은 아래 더보기 클릭
The perennial marketplace bridesmaids may have been the second choice of Carmelo Anthonythis summer, but maybe it's better to focus on what the Bulls have rather than what they don't. Chicago restocked a roster that has been chronically short-handed the last two seasons. The talent deficit was only partially because of the knee injuries suffered by Derrick Rose. This is a team that has managed its finances carefully, hoping to avoid excessive luxury tax expense, while keeping open a window to make a splash this summer. That's exactly what happened, and in a normal offseason the Bulls would enter the 2014-15 campaign as the league's most improved team. Given the moves made by division rival Cleveland, this was no normal offseason.
During Rose's long recovery, the team overachieved, thanks to Tom Thibodeau's stubborn defense and terrific team chemistry. Will that have a tangible effect on what's to come? If the revamped and renewed Bulls win big, we might look back on the toughness forged by necessity the last two seasons as a key factor. Still, a return to health -- and production -- from franchise cornerstone Rose, who has played in just 49 of 230 games the past three regular seasons, is paramount, and the 2010-11 MVP enters this season as the league's biggest wild card.
The good news is the Bulls have built a decentralized roster in lieu of the former Rose-dominant model. Thibodeau always says his team has more than enough to win with, and the Bulls are hoping this time around, that's actually true.
There was grudging enthusiasm about the Bulls entering last season. Chicago thought it was getting Rose back, but it had Luol Deng on a lame-duck contract, Carlos Boozer's declining production and a questionable bench to deal with. If Rose was Rose, then fine. The East wasn't that great anyway, so Chicago drew a projection to finish second, just ahead of Indiana. Given other question marks and the fact that Rose went down for the season -- just 10 games into his comeback -- the Bulls would have projected to finish somewhere at the bottom of the playoff bracket.
That seemed like where they were headed for a while. Chicago started 6-3 after beating the Pacers a couple of games before Rose was hurt. The Bulls proceeded to lose 13 of 16. They rallied, winning five of seven, but then Deng was sent to Cleveland, with no rotation player coming in return. The Bulls had made some attempt at re-signing Deng, but decided his financial requirements were too cap-clogging, and at that point, everything was about the summer. It was shrewd management, but forget about the playoffs.
Yet a funny thing happened: Led by All-NBA center Joakim Noah and a resurgent offensive boost from in-season signee D.J. Augustin, the Bulls kept winning. They got back to .500 on Jan. 20, bobbed around that mark for a couple of weeks, then exploded on a 23-7 tear that wrapped around the All-Star break. The Bulls secured a home seed for the first round, winning 48 games, then finally ran out of gas in a first-round defeat to Washington. The defense finished in the top five for the fourth straight year, but the Bulls made that run with the No. 28 offense. Entering the summer, that's what team architects John Paxson and Gar Forman had to fix.
The biggest splash of the summer was the signing of Pau Gasol, to whom the Bulls turned after Anthony opted to remain in New York. Gasol gives Chicago a second super-skilled big to go with Noah, and a versatile inside-outside scorer to pair with Rose. In addition, the Bulls may feature the two most-ready-to-contribute rookies in the league in European star Nikola Mirotic and college super scorer Doug McDermott. Mirotic was drafted a few years ago and left in Europe to develop into a star. McDermott is the most accomplished college player entering the league this season, and the Bulls sent their pair of first-rounders to Denver to get him.
Rose was back on the floor this summer as Kyrie Irving's backup for Team USA. He looked good physically, though he shot just 25 percent from the field and was largely nonproductive. Given a full set of physical tools, the Bulls are understandably optimistic that Rose will put up numbers. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be overlooked that Rose's long absence not only cost Chicago plenty of wins, it also deprived him of key development time at a time of his career when he should have still been on the upswing. Who really knows what to expect from him? The uncertainty is a little maddening, but the range of possibilities includes a lot of good stuff.
The good news is that a Chicago roster that was once fully constructed to augment its young star is as deep as ever, but also more versatile, with the potential to decentralize production away from a Rose-dominant model. It's telling that the Bulls project to give Cleveland a run for the top spot in the East despite a mostly tepid forecast for Rose. Part of the reason for that is Gasol, who wasn't an obvious target. An all-in wooing of Kevin Love was one possibility that the club could have pursued. Besides, Chicago has excellent big-man depth as it was. Still, Gasol gives Chicago a second offensive foundation player. His defense declined considerably toward the end of his time with the Lakers, but the supporting cast in Chicago and the demanding style of Thibodeau addresses that concern.
More than anything, the Bulls were able to stay afloat during Rose's absence thanks to a tight-knit core of players who expanded their respective games and became one of the most mentally tough groups in the NBA. Noah blossomed into a first-team All-NBA center, Taj Gibson is one of the league's best reserves, and Jimmy Butler has become the prototypical Thibodeau workhorse. No team can match the star power of Cleveland's newcomers, but adding Gasol, Mirotic, McDermott and, most importantly, Rose to the mix is an awfully nice haul.
SCHOENE loves what the Bulls have accomplished. The defense remains forecast for the top of the league. The offense is projected to move into the league's upper half, and again, that folds in a very tempered expectation for Rose.
For all of Chicago's offseason efforts, a healthy Rose is the headline addition. Unlike last season, which had a number of question marks, this season, it's really only about Rose. Everything that's happened since his MVP year has pointed to this season. Rose's health may determine whether the Bulls will be good or great, but at least great is back on the table.
첫댓글 어우 좋은 글 정말 잘봤습니다ㅎ 무엇보다도 긍정적인 점은 불스가 로즈만이 해결사가 아닌 여러 해결사가 있다는걸 보여줄수 있다는 거겠죠ㅎ 내일 캡스와 경기가 있는데 과연 어느정도 보여줄지도 기대되구요ㅎ 올시즌 조용히 급부상하는 팀이 되길!
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