Tales From Rose-Less Land: Why It May Be Boozer’s Year

Boozer has received his share of criticism over the years. For example,. Well, in any case, he disagrees:

“People look at it from the wrong perspective,’’ Boozer said. “This isn’t Utah, and this isn’t just a team with me and [former Jazz point guard] Deron Williams on it. We’re playing with five scorers here, so your touches aren’t going to be the same, your looks aren’t going to be the same. It’s a different system.”

Via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

To his credit, Boozer makes a good point about the system being different. Even with Kirilenko healthy, the Jazz offense went as its Williams-Boozer duo did. There’s also some legitimacy that Derrick Rose isn’t Deron Williams. Williams is close to Rose as a scoring threat (both guards averaging just under 22 ppg), but has mostly been depended upon to initiate an offense with his vision first. Rose is the spark plug on an otherwise dull offense.

In fact, the current rosters of the Bulls and Nets are a great way to compare the two guards. The Nets have guys like Johnson, Lopez, and Wallace who can shoulder the weight of an offense. On the Bulls, Rose is encircled by a starving offense. Though they excel at crucial points in the game, it is up to Rose to pose as a do-it-all threat first and, as a result, ignite team offense.

As it relates to Boozer, the difference in guard play is an understandable reason for his statistical downturn last year (15 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.9 apg-all career lows). But, there is also Boozer’s shot selection to consider. In his first season with the Bulls (2010-2011), Boozer put up 6 of his 14 shot attempts per game at the rim. The following season saw his at-the-rim shot attempts decrease to about 4 per game.

Now, there are two plausible counters here: less shots taken overall last year and Joakim Noah in the middle. The first notion would have more credence had Boozer not also increased his jump-shot attempts from 3 to 5 per game. The second arguments might even explain Boozer’s increase in jump-shot attempts, owing to Noah’s lane-clogging. But Noah’s usage rate (percent of offensive touches used by a player while on the floor) has actually gone down from nearly 17% to just over 15%. The lane-clogging was neutralized last year when Thibodeau opted for a more back-door-cut friendly offense, resulting in Noah being more active without the ball. There were also more isolation plays presented to Boozer, with Noah’s role being more confined to screening for the initiating guard (hence Noah’s lowered usage rate).

Boozer was often criticized for his lack of any defensive presence. For a guy at 6’9″ and an imposing 260 lbs, one would suspect it took little for players to know Boozer was there. Instead, opposing big men found scoring on Boozer to be easier than trying against most other forwards. Yes, there was the problem of having a guy like Joakim Noah get the lion’s share of blocks. But, there’s something to be said about opponents averaging 47% from the field when Boozer is on the floor and 41% when he is not. With the power forward position boasting some of the NBA’s most talented players, Boozer’s defensive troubles at once become both reasonable and regrettable. Though high caliber talent explains his struggle on defense, that same elite talent at the PF position makes his defensive improvement all the more crucial.

To his credit, a number of Boozer’s defensive lowlights involved being a second or two late to a particular spot. He should be in for a year whereby he will become the Bulls primary offensive weapon, for a lack of a better choice. Boozer has the ability to dominate on the offensive side of the ball. His defense makes him the lone stand-out on a top ranked defensive team. Boozer comes across as meekly defensive in his comments to the Sun-Times. But, with an offense now sparked solely by his play, there will hopefully be more to cheer about and much less of this silliness.