Hoiberg watching film of Big 3s for ideas for managing Butler, Wade, Rondo
The Chicago Bulls went from having two ball-dominant teammates in Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, to having three of them in Butler, Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg has been preparing for the glut of talent he'll be tasked with managing by examining footage of other teams (past and present) with three players who command a lot of touches and shots.
"I've been watching a lot of film to see how to best utilize the talents of the players on our roster," Hoiberg told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
"Dwyane is a tough matchup for opposing teams with him and Jimmy on the wings and Rajon at the point," he said. "A lot of how we attack will be based on matchups and who the defender is and whose hands we're going to put the ball in to make plays."
Butler led the team in scoring and minutes last season. The All-Star also had the third-highest usage rate (24.4 percent) behind Rose and Pau Gasol, who has since signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
Meanwhile, Wade led the Miami Heat in usage rate (31.6 percent) in 2015-16. At 34, he's still an explosive scorer and crafty distributor.
Rondo averaged a double-double with the Sacramento Kings, leading the team in assists, steals, and floor time. Nobody dished more dimes than he did this past campaign.
Even though he now has a trio of players who are most effective with the rock in their hands, Hoiberg isn't worried.
"Great players always figure it out," he said. "It has to be about one thing, and that's winning. Based on who has the hot hand on any given night, you play through that guy, and the rest of the team plays off him."
Hypothetically speaking, in the last possession of a tie game, who gets the final shot?
"We'll see who has it going," he said, laughing.