Mike Dunleavy Update

[Scoot26]

Mike Dunleavy will miss his 17th straight game Wednesday in Houston when the Bulls' six-game trip continues against the Rockets.

Dunleavy, who actually practiced fully last week, continues to be plagued by soreness in his right ankle when he runs. He skipped practice for a second straight day Tuesday and said he's also dealing with a bone bruise from the injury, which originally occurred Jan. 1. Dunleavy also jammed ligaments in the ankle.

It's more likely than not that Dunleavy sits out all three games on this second portion of the trip. It's also possible that Dunleavy sits until after the All-Star break.

"It's feeling a little bit better. It's just been a long process," Dunleavy said. "It turned out to be worse than anybody imagined and just dealing with it. It's kind of got a mind of it's own. Right now as far as time frame, I'm out (Wednesday) and just unsure after that.

"I don't really see it as something I could do more damage to. I just can't play on it. So that's what it comes down to. I can do a lot of stuff, but I can't run. When I ultimately have to start running, that's a problem."

Dunleavy said he can shoot and move well laterally but experiences pain when he runs.

"What (Bucks guard) Brandon Jenning did with his Achilles, that's pretty much what I did but not as far back," Dunleavy said. "The first thing I told the trainer was, 'I can't believe I didn't tear my Achilles on that.' And then we went into the other stuff that happened and it was just a major, major bruising of the front part of the ankle, ligaments and stuff were stretched or sprained.

"I was able to walk, so I told some people maybe I could play in the next game. But I came in the next day and they had me in a boot. I was up and around for the last month. It's been every three or four days, 'I think I might be able to play soon.' That continues to be the issue.

"I hate not being out there. I feel very guilty about it. But it is what it is. The decision has been made for me."

Dunleavy acknowledged that sitting until after the Feb. 15 All-Star game is possible.

"That may be what ends up happening, but I hope not," he said. "I want to play, whether that's the game before the All-Star break, whether that's this weekend. I want to play as soon as I can without risking any further damage.

"I feel like my foot's going to have frostbite soon, I've been icing it so much. Time heals and that's the mentality, so it's a matter of patience and letting the calendar play out. I've done everything possible to keep my conditioning up, a lot of biking. Actually, I went through a practice a week or two ago and I flet pretty good. But after you've been out five or six weeks, it does become an issues, I'm sure."

The Bulls have had their starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Dunleavy, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol intact just 15 times this season. They are 12-3 in those games.

"We know how important he is to the team," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "When you look at overall how the team functions when he’s on the floor, he makes it go well. His plus-minus per-48 (minutes) is at the top of the list for our team. That says something. And it’s over a long period of time. It’s not a small sample size.

"He does a little bit of everything and he does it well. He can shoot, pass. His team defense is excellent. He’s got a good understanding of the game. But we have a lot of other guys who are more than capable."

Doug McDermott doesn't appear to be in the mix as one of them. Though the first-round acquisition has been back practicing for close to two weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, Thibodeau called McDermott "a work in progress."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...until-after-allstar-break-20150203-story.html

 

[clonetrooper264]

If only Doug could be less of a trainwreck defensively...

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

If only Doug could be less of a trainwreck defensively...

And shoot efficiently offensively. Not ready (like some) to write him off as a failure yet.

 

[BNB]

I wrote of Doug as a failure once we drafted him. Probably premature, but I just don't see it in that guy. Obviously I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I wrote of Doug as a failure once we drafted him. Probably premature, but I just don't see it in that guy. Obviously I hope I'm wrong though.

People were ready to write off JJ Redick too. He put the work in and became solid. I'm sure Doug can do the same. It's not looking good for him this year though unfortunately...

 

[Scoot26]

I wrote of Doug as a failure once we drafted him. Probably premature, but I just don't see it in that guy. Obviously I hope I'm wrong though.

I saw him as a failure. He'll certainly never be a star.. I hold out hope the Bulls can develop him, but him being redshirted this year doesn't bode well for me.

 

[clonetrooper264]

And shoot efficiently offensively. Not ready (like some) to write him off as a failure yet.

He can shoot quite efficiently, he just hasn't yet

 

[Crystallas]

Some closure on MDJ's injury. Now it would be nice to get closure on McDermott's surgery and injury.

 

[The Hawk]

And shoot efficiently offensively. Not ready (like some) to write him off as a failure yet.

You cannot write off any rookie with as limited a playing time as he has had. Especially since he is playing to the Bulls who throw around rookie minutes like never.

 

[clonetrooper264]

You cannot write off any rookie with as limited a playing time as he has had. Especially since he is playing to the Bulls who throw around rookie minutes like never.

He was getting minutes at the beginning of the year and loads more than any rookie I've seen under Thibs in the preseason. He played his way into less minutes by not being a good defender. Along the way he lost his offensive confidence which just made things worse. Then he injured himself at some point. It's not really a shock to see why his minutes were cut and why he's not playing now.

 

[Bear Pride]

If only Doug could be less of a trainwreck defensively...

I just can't hang with this, imo. First, it's not like the Bulls are playing lockdown defense w/o McD. 2nd, how is he supposed to get better w/o playing any minutes? Furthermore, if Dunn is so important to spreading the floor for the Bulls, one would think you'd put in the most 'Dunn like' player in his spot, right? McD is that guy.

I just don't understand that if the Bulls biggest weakness is shooting right now, why wouldn't you play the 'best college shooter' from the draft to help? I'm not saying play McD 30 minutes or anything, but wouldn't you try to get him some minutes. :dunno: I just don't get it!

McD played 12 minutes/game for 17 games. How can we judge anything on this? :dunno: Thib's argument to continue to play Kirk says it all for me. He's been terrible this year offensively. And I just don't see him playing good defense either.

I'd rather see Rose, Moore, or Snell at the 2G and McD at the SF than Kirk keep getting heavy minutes. It also seems that Dunn's injury is worse than we thought. Who knows how he'll come back. God forbid he injures his Achilles badly when he comes back. What will we do then?

I think it's a major mistake to expect Dunn's comeback to just fix everything!

 

[Bear Pride]

You cannot write off any rookie with as limited a playing time as he has had. Especially since he is playing to the Bulls who throw around rookie minutes like never.

I agree. I'm tired of Thib's and his rookie bullshit. McD was drafted #10. Most normal coaches will give their 1st round picks some minutes. Thib's and his 'veteran defensive rotation' is tired and old.

At some point, you have to look at his body of work, and right now, it's a lot of injuries and early playoff exits. Just look at the rookie minutes up until this point.

Keep in mind that McD, drafted #10, and was the #1 College scorer in the nation, and many say that Mirotic would have been drafted as high as #4, and had 7 years of professional experience in Europe:

Minutes Per Game Leaders - Qualified Rookies
RK	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	MPG
1	Andrew Wiggins, SF	MIN	48	34
2	Nerlens Noel, C	PHI	45	30.1
3	Jabari Parker, SF	MIL	25	29.5
4	Elfrid Payton, PG	ORL	51	27.4
5	K.J. McDaniels, SG	PHI	48	25.9
6	Zach LaVine, PG	MIN	43	22.9
7	Bojan Bogdanovic, SG	BKN	46	22.7
8	Marcus Smart, PG	BOS	32	22.7
9	Shabazz Napier, PG	MIA	36	20.7
10	Dante Exum, SG	UTAH	47	19.8
11	Kostas Papanikolaou, SF	HOU	37	19.8
12	Joe Ingles, SF	UTAH	47	19.7
13	Jerami Grant, SF	PHI	34	18.7
14	Rodney Hood, SG	UTAH	24	18.3
15	Nikola Mirotic, PF	CHI	49	17.7
16	Aaron Gordon, PF	ORL	19	16.8
17	Jusuf Nurkic, C	DEN	36	16.5
18	Jordan Clarkson, PG	LAL	26	16.4
19	Damjan Rudez, SF	IND	38	16.3
20	Tarik Black, PF	HOU/LAL	34	16
21	James Ennis, SF	MIA	40	14.8
22	P.J. Hairston, SG	CHA	34	14.7
23	Nik Stauskas, SG	SAC	44	14.1
24	Gary Harris, SG	DEN	22	12.9
25	Travis Wear, SF	NY	37	12.6
26	Kyle Anderson, SF	SA	27	12.6
27	JaKarr Sampson, SG	PHI	43	12.3
28	Johnny O'Bryant III, PF	MIL	21	12.2
29	Furkan Aldemir, PF	PHI	19	11
30	Joe Harris, SG	CLE	36	10.8
31	Nick Johnson, SG	HOU	17	10.7
32	Cory Jefferson, PF	BKN	24	10.6
33	Doug McDermott, SF	CHI	19	10.5
34	Dwight Powell, PF	BOS/DAL	20	8.3
35	Glenn Robinson III, SG	MIN	23	4.1

Meanwhile, Kirk would be 5th on this list with a stat line of (WTF Thib's):

GP	MIN/G	PPG	REB/G	AST/G	FG %
42	27.2	6.7	1.9	2.5	37.0

 

[Naptastic]

The fact that the Bulls are 12-3 with their original lineups is extremely comforting. I don't care how rough the middle of the season is, let Dunleavy heal fully and have the starting 5 ready to go for playoffs.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I just can't hang with this, imo. First, it's not like the Bulls are playing lockdown defense w/o McD. 2nd, how is he supposed to get better w/o playing any minutes? Furthermore, if Dunn is so important to spreading the floor for the Bulls, one would think you'd put in the most 'Dunn like' player in his spot, right? McD is that guy.

I just don't understand that if the Bulls biggest weakness is shooting right now, why wouldn't you play the 'best college shooter' from the draft to help? I'm not saying play McD 30 minutes or anything, but wouldn't you try to get him some minutes. :dunno: I just don't get it!

McD played 12 minutes/game for 17 games. How can we judge anything on this? :dunno: Thib's argument to continue to play Kirk says it all for me. He's been terrible this year offensively. And I just don't see him playing good defense either.

I'd rather see Rose, Moore, or Snell at the 2G and McD at the SF than Kirk keep getting heavy minutes. It also seems that Dunn's injury is worse than we thought. Who knows how he'll come back. God forbid he injures his Achilles badly when he comes back. What will we do then?

I think it's a major mistake to expect Dunn's comeback to just fix everything!

So just never play Kirk and the ship shall right itself

 

[Naptastic]

I wrote of Doug as a failure once we drafted him. Probably premature, but I just don't see it in that guy. Obviously I hope I'm wrong though.

After seeing Snell play decently this year, I firmly believe that these young guys just need some time to get their swagger. There's no way anyone can write off McD while Snell is still a.roster spot. Time to develop is fine, these guys are only 22 when they get into the NBA.

 

[clonetrooper264]

After seeing Snell play decently this year, I firmly believe that these young guys just need some time to get their swagger. There's no way anyone can write off McD while Snell is still a.roster spot. Time to develop is fine, these guys are only 22 when they get into the NBA.

Honestly I think that if McDermott was healthy when Dunleavy went down we'd be pretty satisfied with McDermott. All preseason Doug was the 1st guy up to replace Dunleavy in the lineup. It's very possible he would've regained his confidence by playing 20 minutes in the starting SF role. Point is, guys have looked good when given minutes this year. It happened with Mirotic when he replaced Taj. It happened with Snell when he replaced Dunleavy and McDermott. It happened with Moore when Rose and Kirk were out. If Doug gets some consistent run, I think he'll start to improve just like everyone else on the roster has.

 

[Naptastic]

Honestly I think that if McDermott was healthy when Dunleavy went down we'd be pretty satisfied with McDermott. All preseason Doug was the 1st guy up to replace Dunleavy in the lineup. It's very possible he would've regained his confidence by playing 20 minutes in the starting SF role. Point is, guys have looked good when given minutes this year. It happened with Mirotic when he replaced Taj. It happened with Snell when he replaced Dunleavy and McDermott. It happened with Moore when Rose and Kirk were out. If Doug gets some consistent run, I think he'll start to improve just like everyone else on the roster has.

It definitely is all about letting them settle I'm and find their way. It would be sweet to have the rookies play. And honestly why not given the lack of energy put forth by the starters in some games.

 

[The Hawk]

He was getting minutes at the beginning of the year and loads more than any rookie I've seen under Thibs in the preseason. He played his way into less minutes by not being a good defender. Along the way he lost his offensive confidence which just made things worse. Then he injured himself at some point. It's not really a shock to see why his minutes were cut and why he's not playing now.

Sure that's right too. But he is about the last thing of concern to me with this team. They need to make a deal. This team will not win as is. Talking about them working harder, changing roles, etc., won't work, and if Thibs doesn't role the dice and change line-ups, then it is done.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Sure that's right too. But he is about the last thing of concern to me with this team. They need to make a deal. This team will not win as is. Talking about them working harder, changing roles, etc., won't work, and if Thibs doesn't role the dice and change line-ups, then it is done.

Meh. I think they're not going to find themselves stumbling upon game changing wings that you want anyway.

 

[nwfisch]

Too many white basketball players.