3 Chicago Bulls players who deserve a midseason award
By Ryan Heckman
Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso is deserving of an All NBA Defensive Team honor
The Bulls’ number one fan favorite on this team might just be Alex Caruso, and it is because of all the little things he does. While Caruso has only appeared in 28 of the Bulls’ 40 games this year, due to injury, he has made an irreplaceable impact.
Without Caruso, the Bulls have had to work extra hard, defensively, in order to pull away in many games.
Digging into the numbers, Caruso is still tied for second in the NBA in steals per game (1.9). The Spurs’ Dejounte Murray leads the league with 2.0 per game, however there is one distinct difference between the two of them.
Caruso steals the ball at a higher rate than Murray. While Murray is a starter, Caruso comes off the bench. With Murray on the floor, 2.8 percent of Spurs possessions end with a steal. With Caruso on the floor, 3.4 percent of the Bulls’ possessions end with a steal (Basketball Reference).
To stretch it further, Caruso is averaging 2.5 steals per 36 minutes while Murray is at just 2.1.
Caruso is also the Swiss Army Knife of Billy Donovan’s crew, filling in at just about every position 1-4. He’s stepped in and started at power forward at one point this year, and has also handled back court duties in many games.