Keep calm, Chicago. Tom Thibodeau has brainwashed more than half of Chicago’s fan-base to believe every game matters, even in the preseason. The concept of preseason is for players to get their legs underneath them, and young players to get some playing time. By no means does it mean every game must end with a victory. If that was the case, Fred Hoiberg would be finishing his games with Miortic, Butler, and Gasol. Instead, Hoiberg is doing a great job of providing late-game meaningful preseason minutes to Brooks, McDermott, and Portis. Three players who’ll unlikely see the court in late game situations.
Summer league and preseason is almost the opposite case as regular season and the playoffs. Essentially, the best teams in preseason are actually the worst teams in the regular season. The concept behind it is simple. The worst teams are filled with young talented players, most likely a lottery pick, and they’re being played heavy minutes in the preseason to develop their game. Meanwhile, the good teams are stacked with veterans who opt to rest towards the end of preseason games, which is when the good teams are forced to put in players who’ll be lucky to see the floor during the regular season.
A prime example of this is the Bulls loss to the Hornets. Players like Jeremy Lin, Kemba Walker, and Al Jefferson all finished the game for the Hornets and will continue to finish games off for them during the regular season. However, the Bulls opted to rest Gasol and didn’t play Mirotic and Gibson despite playing strong games. The Bulls were more focused on developing McDermott and Moore instead of putting their best players to win the ball game.
As soon as the regular season comes, Rose, Butler, and Gasol will headline the Bulls closing lineups, not E’Twaun Moore.
