Why Rip Hamilton Gets Me Excited for the 2011-12 Bulls

The Bulls better let Rip wear his headband. I'm serious.

After the Chicago Bulls' devastating 4-1 Eastern Conference loss to the Miami Heat last year, every Bulls fan has spent the offseason wondering what the Bulls needed to do to get past Miami in 2012. The obvious need for upgrade was at the SG position, and while there were several solid FA possibilities, almost all of them came with a disclaimer. Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter are too old and need the ball to be effective, Jason Richardson was too expensive, Aaron Afflalo was a restricted FA, and with most of Denver's backcourt in China (Wilson Chandler and JR Smith), they were certain to match any offer sheet. The more expensive players like Afflalo would have required some kind of trade anyways if the Bulls were to stay under the salary cap, and the thought of the Bulls thinning out their frontcourt depth by trading away someone like Asik or Gibson seems like it creates more problems than the improvement at SG solves.

When Detroit amnestied Rip Hamilton though, he became an inexpensive option that didn't require the Bulls to trade anyone. Sure, there are reasons Rip comes at a discount: at 33, he's on the wrong side of his peak years, and due to his age he doesn't have the same explosiveness and athleticism he had in his championship season with the Pistons in 2004. As Rip's quickness has waned, so has his shooting accuracy in recent years. But Bulls fans who point at these truths as the primary reason the Bulls can't catch up to the Miami Heat this year are using flawed logic; Hamilton's impact at the SG position shouldn't be graded against the stud shooting guards in the NBA, but rather against the Bulls' SG situation last year. No disrespect to Keith Bogans, who is a solid veteran defender, but the way Hamilton compliments the rest of the Bulls starting 5 really opens up a lot of possibilities on both ends of the floor for the Bulls. Here's how I see Rip impacting the Bulls:

1) Rip's presence will allow the Bulls to be one of the best fast-break teams in the league. Chicago's best offense has been their solid defense under Thibodeau; they force turnovers, then get easy buckets in transition. They were great at this last year, but Rip can take this to another level. Bogans isn't nearly as quick or as conditioned as Rip, and he's not nearly as good of a finisher in the open floor as Hamilton is. This is not a knock on Bogans, this just happens to be one of Hamilton's strengths. Now Derrick has someone who can almost keep up with him on the break. Don't forget the Bulls can also run with Deng, someone who can finish at the rim or spot up at the 3 point line in transition, and Noah, who is without a doubt the best center in the NBA on the fast break. The LA Clippers might be Lob City, but if everything breaks right (pun intended), the Bulls could become Layup City.

"A competent coach? This is weird..."

2) More assists, less offensive burden for Derrick Rose. It was annoying to hear over and over again last year, but the Bulls truly were playing 4 on 5 when they were on offense. Bogans stood at the 3 point line, and didn't move without the ball at all, and teams didn't bother to even guard him since they'd certainly rather have him jack an open 3 then let Rose, Deng, or Boozer beat them. Now, Derrick will have another reliable option to kick the ball to when defenses inevitably collapse on him. Bulls fans should try to remember that Rip is a scorer. He's averaged over 17 PPG in his career, and he's consistently put up double digits per game since 2000, despite the fact that the last couple of years he's been a focal point for opposing defenses while playing for a coach that he hated on a terrible team that was awful at moving the ball effectively (this happens when you sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva for way too much money). Now Rip is going to be the 4th offensive option for the Bulls, and since he won't be asked to shoulder too much of the offensive load, the vast majority of his shots will be wide open looks in the flow of the offense: Hamilton's forte. I don't think it's expecting too much to look for an incredibly productive and efficient scoring year from Rip in this offense considering his new circumstances.

3) Matchups. Many teams tried to guard Derrick Rose with someone bigger than their point guard, and they'd hide their small PG defender on Bogans. This won't work with Hamilton, because he can dominate smaller defenders with his above average post game. Hopefully Rip can teach Derrick some of his post moves as well, so Bulls fans can hear Stacy King exclaiming "mouse in the house!" in their sleep.

4) Conditioning. I realize that the players in the NBA are world class athletes, but Rip Hamilton has always been known for his insane conditioning, ala Ray Allen. The benefits of Hamilton's work ethic are two-fold: obviously he doesn't tire out when running around picks all game, but more importantly, he's tiring out the poor opposition who's trying to chase him all around the court. Compare this to last year when players like Dwayne Wade would take a break on the defensive end of the floor standing near Keith Bogans, now players like Wade will have to try to be productive on the offensive end while relentlessly chasing Hamilton around picks on the other end of the floor.

"Here's my ring, show 'em yours Scal"

5) Experience and veteran savvy. Rip has won a championship. He understands how things go in the playoffs. He understands how to draw fouls (and hopefully he can teach Derrick a trick or two in that department). Hamilton is also unselfish and he knows when to make the extra pass (which comes in handy on a very unselfish team like the Bulls). Many of these intangibles might not show up in the stat sheet, but they'll help the Bulls become a much more efficient team offensively, which is really their biggest issue.

Other than Rip Hamilton's impact there are a couple of other things that I think will work in the Bulls' favor this year. The first is Carlos Boozer. Last year was an absolute worst case scenario for Booze; literally everything went wrong, and yet the Bulls still got to the conference finals. I like how Bill Simmons' summed up the difference between Boozer last year compared to this year when he wrote:

"There were real reasons why [Boozer] stunk last year (new team, new situation, injured in training camp, not in the best shape, just never got it going, lost confidence) and real reasons why he'll shine this season (motivated and hungry, a 20/10 guy when healthy, better chemistry with Rose). He's too good to stink twice."

"King James ain't got sh#t on the White Mamba!"

The second thing working in the Bulls' favor is their insane depth. The starting five of Rose/Hamilton/Deng/Boozer/Noah is probably the most balanced starting 5 in the NBA, and they have Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson, Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, and CJ Watson coming off the bench. Those 5 bench guys would start on a lot of NBA teams. And I haven't even mentioned rookie Jimmy Butler or Brian "White Mamba" Scalabrine as designed high-fivers and towel wavers. Compare the Bulls bench to Miami's bench, consisting of guys like James Jones, Mike Miller, Eddies Curry and House, and you realize there is no comparison. I'll take our chances in Chicago with a fresh team coming out with consistent energy compared to Miami having to play their big 3 for 45 minutes per game. The depth will also help in this condensed regular season, with stretches of 7 games in 9 nights, or back-to-back-to-back games. Younger deeper teams will undoubtedly benefit from the grueling schedule.

Sure I'm probably riding optimistically high since the season is finally about to start, but it's fun and exciting to root for a team with great chemistry that's hellbent on winning, and I'm going to continue to expect big things from this group until they finally give me reason not to.