| Deng Leads Talented Young Bulls Authored by Douglas Benton - April 30, 2006 - 2:00 am
With a 109-90 resounding victory over the Miami Heat Thursday night, the Bulls have kept themselves alive in their first round series for at least two more games. Active defense, sharp shooting, and relentless effort by the Bulls proved to be too much for the Heat, who played like they wish they were somewhere in South Beach instead of the United Center.
Still, with so many talented players, and some great ones in Dwayne Wade and Shaq on the Heat, the young, talented core of the Bulls can easily get overlooked. One player that usually does get overlooked, even on his own team, is second year small forward Luol Deng, who is quickly becoming one of the best young players in the league.
Deng’s game has developed rapidly in this his second season, and now is primed to break out into superstar status. Coming out of Duke, Deng had all of the physical tools NBA talent evaluators love in size, length, and athleticism. However, it has been his skills development that has allowed him game to take off.
After a wrist injury that prematurely ended his first season, Deng repeadly said in the press that it allowed him to work on his off-hand skills, which would help him in the future. That is has, as Deng is a totally different player on offense this season by being more aggressive and expanding his game above the slasher he was last season.
Still, it is his defense that has made him a complete player and while he still has room to improve, you can already see that something special is there. His length gives him a decided advantage before he even walks onto the court, but his fluid motion around the floor and his activeness make him an above-average defender at the ripe age of 21.
On the Chicago Bulls, he isn’t the best scorer (Ben Gordon), or the best defender (Kirk Hinrich), or even the most energetic (Andres Nocioni), but his combination of all three aspects makes him the best basketball player.
Even if the Bulls don’t come back and pull off this series, everyone will be able to look back on this series and this season and say that was when Deng went from a good player to an elite player and a consistent All-Star selection. |
