Bulls' Rose backs decision to start Mirotic over Noah

The Chicago Bulls' newly anointed head coach Fred Hoiberg raised eyebrows across the Windy City with his decision to send fan favorite Joakim Noah to the bench.

Hoiberg tabbed Nikola Mirotic to start in Noah's place instead, and the early returns were promising in an emotional opening night victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mirotic led the Bulls in scoring with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in Tuesday's win. Despite playing just 25 minutes - the lowest of any Bulls starter - Mirotic was also a team-best plus-9.

The 24-year-old's play drew praise from Derrick Rose.

"(Niko's) huge for us," Rose told Michael Singer of USA Today. "That’s why he's starting. That's no knock on any of my other teammates. It's just that Niko is in that position, and we want him to play well. We're going to help him play confident … We expect him out there."

The trade-off between Mirotic and Noah is swapping offense for defense.

Noah is an energetic defender and an inventive passer, but doesn't come close to replicating Mirotic's shooting and playmaking abilities. That's the calculus for Hoiberg, and it worked in the first game of the regular season, as Mirotic repeatedly burned Cavaliers forward Kevin Love on the perimeter.

It also helps that Mirotic's skill set fits well in Hoiberg's up-tempo system, which Mirotic says he enjoys executing.

"I like (Hoiberg's) offense," Mirotic said. "Pushing the ball, scoring easy baskets and sometimes just playing free. We enjoy playing in it. You make the right space, you play for each other, a lot of assists, so it's beautiful how we're playing right now."

Noah, often credited as the Bulls' emotional leader, won Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the All-NBA first team in 2013-14.

As of right now, however, Mirotic is the better fit with the starters, and as long as the Bulls keep winning, no one's likely to complain.