Proud Defenders

Considering how married Tom Thibodeau is to the defensive side of basketball, he has to be proud that two of his players have been so honored for that this season.  To the surprise of no one, Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah was the top vote-getter for the NBA's All-Defensive first team with 105 first-place votes.  Jimmy Butler, having just finished his third season out of Marquette, made the second team thanks to 44 first-place votes.  Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich received votes, but did not make either team.

I talked about Noah's defense in length when he won his previous award, but just as a reminder, he was sixth in the league in rebounding (11.3) and 12th in blocks (1.51).  For good measure, he added 1.24 steals and joined Detroit's Andre Drummond and New Orleans' Anthony Davis as the only players this season with at least 10 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.  He is the true definition of what makes Thibodeau's philosophy work and will continue to be as long as both guys are together.

Jimmy Butler came of age in last year's playoffs, but with a full season of this incarnation of his play under his belt, it was time for him to be recognized for that.  As part of his everyman role, defense is especially key and he just locks down every time his man has the ball.  Though far from the most talented player on the team, his sheer will and determination to get the most out of what he has is admirable and the NBA would be a lot more fun to watch if every player adopted that style of play.  That's just a pipe dream, but his style has worked enough that he'll have a long, productive NBA career as long as that productivity remains.  I get the feeling most of his success comes from whatever style his head coach preaches and since Thibodeau relies on defense, that's the area where he most excels right now.

There's little left to prove for the Bulls' defense, so now, the focus shifts to improving the offense.  As nice as these honors are, we learned in these playoffs that the most impressive defense in the league is in vain if you can't score.  As the Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love rumors continue to swirl around this team, Gar Forman and John Paxson must take the goal of pursing that second primary scorer seriously if they want to bring another championship to Chicago.  And of course, they must make sure Thibodeau is on board with this because the last thing this franchise needs is animosity between management when a history already exists in that area here.  As Mike Kellams, the Tribune sports-turned-business editor, likes to say, go get 'em.

Here are the full two defensive teams, courtesy of NBA.com:

2013-14 NBA All-Defensive First Team

Position | Player, Team | 1st Team Votes (2 pts) | 2nd Team Votes (1pt) | Total Points
Center | Joakim Noah, Chicago | 105 | 13 | 223
Forward | Paul George, Indiana | 65 | 31 | 161
Guard | Chris Paul, LA Clippers | 64 | 28 | 156
Forward | Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City | 54 | 44 | 152
G/F | Andre Iguodala, Golden State 57 | 34 | 148

2013-14 NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Position | Player, Team | 1st Team Votes (2 pts) | 2nd Team Votes (1pt) | Total Points
Forward | LeBron James, Miami | 57 | 20 | 134
Guard | Patrick Beverley, Houston | 44 | 24 | 112
Guard | Jimmy Butler, Chicago | 29 | 45 | 103
Forward | Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio | 16 | 57 | 89
Center | Roy Hibbert, Indiana | 15 | 46 | 76