It's Luol Deng...to the Rescue?, Part 2

Luol Deng is a grown-ass man.

This phrase is not to be taken lightly. Men grow older every day, but as women are fond of saying, not all of them grow up.

Luol Deng used to be one of these childish men. He was soft, content to shoot jump shots and stay out of the lane. He was moody, a sullen figure on the bench in street clothes after his latest injury.

Somewhere in the midst of the 2010 playoffs, Lu grew up.

The Bulls were hopelessly outmatched by the Cavaliers that season, but Lu gallantly went toe-to-toe with an adamant LeBron James. He bodied James, he drove on him, he made plays. I finally stopped yelling obscenities at my television when he touched the ball.

Then, Tom Thibodeau was hired, the Bulls went on their determined run last year, and Luol Deng became the man. He was that most revered of sports terms: the glue. Deng was the indispensable player; the guy that holds the team together, the guy who fills in the gaps.

It was said that Derrick Rose was the MVP of the league, but Luol Deng was the MVP of the Bulls.

Luol Deng is a grown-ass man.

Pacing yourself


When Deng went down with a wrist injury last week, it was the latest in a rash of maladies that had affected the Bulls' roster. Rose had a sprained toe, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah had sustained sprained ankles, Rip Hamilton's groin, CJ Watson's bad elbow. Aside from the astounding fact that Carlos Boozer had remained healthy through all this, the Bulls were severely banged up...but kept winning.

Then Deng went down in a blowout victory, and the injury was revealed to be more than a minor bump: a torn ligament in his non-shooting wrist.

The glue was gone.

The defense became shakier, as the Bulls started giving up big individual games and allowing teams to top the century mark. The offensive options were limited with Hamilton still on the shelf.

The Bulls' steady Winnebago that had been carving a path of destruction across the NBA landscape had become a Yugo, ready to shake itself to pieces at any moment.

The Indiana Pacers knew this, and Frank Vogel's chip-on-the-shoulder upstarts managed to deal the Bulls their first home loss of the season, as Chicago shot 40 percent for the game and scored only 16 points in the fourth quarter. The absence of Luol Deng loomed large as Danny Granger got loose late for several offensive rebounds.

The Last Jedi of (South) Sudan


The Bulls have their early-season marquee matchup tomorrow with the vaunted Miami Heat. Wade has returned from his own injury, LeBron is in usual form (though he still can't consistently hit a three), Shane Battier has given the Heat even more of a defensive presence and Norris Cole is all he was touted to be.

The Bulls would have had a tough matchup to begin with. But with no Deng, LeBron will have a much easier time to work. He might even record a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Proof that kings really hail from the motherland.

The Bulls have shown they can win without Deng, without Rose, shoot, they've shown they can win without half the active roster. But against a Miami Heat team at full strength, they will need every hand on deck, from  Derrick Rose to Mike James. Carlos Boozer will be better than he was last year against Chris Bosh. Joakim Noah will be better. Rip Hamilton will provide scoring and vision much better than Keith Bogans. But a major piece will be most likely be missing tomorrow, and it may be the most important one.

Help us, Luol Deng. You may be our only hope.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS