Coach Fred Hoiberg believes Nikola Mirotic‘s return has given the team confidence, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com relays.
“You see our bench really rallying behind him when he’s out there making plays,” the coach said. “You see the guys on the floor celebrating together when he makes the big plays. … Niko’s been in pressure situations a lot over the course of his basketball life.
“And it’s great to have an experienced player out there with our young guys to help close some of the close ones. I give Niko a lot of credit; he’s been awesome, especially since he’s been back in the lineup. When you’ve got guys out there playing with confidence, that rubs off on the whole team.”
Chicago has won every game since Mirotic returned to the lineup, going 7-0 after a 3-20 start.
“The biggest thing is [Mirotic is] playing the right way,” Hoiberg said. “…his overall game has been a huge lift to our group.”
[RELATED: Fantasy Hoops: Mirotic, Gasol, Hollis-Jefferson]
Here’s more from Chicago:
- It appears the physical altercation between Mirotic and Bobby Portis is behind the two players and the incident no longer has any lingering effects on the team.“They hashed it out,” Kris Dunn said (via Friedell in the same piece). “They brought that positivity back into the team.“
- Mirotic sees a difference in the team’s energy since he returned, as Friedell passes along in the same piece. “Before I came [back], everybody was like a little bit with their heads down… But now I think we are much, much better. We come [to] the games with a different energy,” Mirotic said.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders if the Bulls‘ win streak is going to ruin the franchise’s rebuilding plan and argues that dealing Mirotic once he becomes trade-eligible may be the team’s best move.
- While many view the Jimmy Butler trade as a loss for the Bulls, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune believes it was a good deal for both sides. He notes that the front office made the trade with 2018 in mind.
- Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf believes the team has the right combination of executives in the front office, as we passed along earlier today. He also touched on why Chicago decided to go with a rebuild, citing a desire to stay out of the league’s middle ground and become championship contenders.
i am not happy about the winning streak, but looking back on the trade i am happy w. the return. initially i hated it.
I agree. It is terrible when the team you root for wins consistently. Just awful.
I glad winning a few meaningless regular season games gives you a warm fuzzy.
The Bulls do this all the time. They win enough games to barely make the playoffs and get demolished in the first round. At some point you have to acknowledge truth: the roster is mediocre and needs to be rebuilt via high draft picks.
Well, there is one pretty big difference with THIS Bulls team, as opposed to previous versions..
This team is full of younger players, instead of older veterans, on fairly sizeable contracts, like the majority of the previous Bulls rosters..
This team has a decent core of younger players that actually enjoy playing with eachother. This team’s chemistry is MUCH better than previous year’s teams…Dunn is greatly improving, Nwaba is improving, Grant is improving, and even Valentine is making some strides shooting…
Also, Portis and Mirotic are both making huge strides, and Markkanen is learning how to play at the pro level..
That isn’t even including LaVine, who very well could come back, and improve this team even further. LaVine coupled with Dunn should form a very solid guard combination that’s effective defensively, and both are capable of driving to the basket, drawing in the defense, and dishing out to others who are left open at the 3-Point Line…
The Bulls are starting to use their own Death Lineup of Dunn, Nwaba, Holliday, and then 2 of the three out of Portis, Markkanen, and Mirotic.. If you add LaVine into the mix, and take out either Holliday or Nwaba, that is actually a very solid, all-around line-up…
Next season, hopefully they are still able to get one of the excellent Freshman in the upcoming draft…Whether it’s Bagley, Doncic, Ayton, or especially MPJ…MPJ would fit perfectly onto this improving team’s roster…They need a versatile playmaker that can also guard multiple positions..
If they go into next season with a starting line-up of Dunn, LaVine, MPJ, Mirotic, and Lopez..I think that’s easily gets the Bulls into the #4-#5 spot in the East…Also, by adding a Lou Williams, and by their youngsters improving this Bulls team could suprise alot of people..That line-up, coupled with solid bench play from Williams, Nwaba, Holliday, Valentine, and Portis should make this Bulls team as one on the rise!!
He said bulls have the right executives in front office that lets you know the commitment to winning is a dead issue/Mirotic will be traded next month they want a top pick You can’t achieve that with winning