Chicago Bulls Rookie Snell's Off-Season Prep Focuses on Defense

Tony Snell seems amazingly comfortable in the gym at the Berto Center, the Chicago Bulls practice facility, despite just being drafted by the Chicago Bulls 20th Overall in this past July's 2013 NBA Draft.

Snell's strength training program has already added 3-4 more pounds of muscle since the NBA Draft, a practice he began as a sophomore at New Mexico.

Snell's former coach at New Mexico, Steve Alford, vouches for Snell's work ethic and habits, saying that Snell is usually the first to arrive to practice, and that he was a hard-worker. Snell has continued to do the things that caught the eye of the Chicago Bulls by keeping up with his workouts and getting positive feedback from the coaching staff.

But Snell obviously knows what his new head coach, Tom Thibodeau, expects most out of him in his rookie season.

“My main thing was defense,” said Snell of his primary focus heading into the summer. “To me, defense wins games. I love playing defense. I’m just trying to get used to defense at this level, being in the spots I need to be, and helping my teammates. That was my main priority. My offense is going to come around, but I’ve got to be consistent with my defense.”

Snell's humble, hard-working, and defense-first approach to the game is reminiscent of the Chicago Bulls new starting shooting guard, Jimmy Butler. Butler's meteoric rise brings great optimism to the Chicago Bulls organization and fans when they consider how good Snell could one day become.

There will be a long learning curve, if past experience is any indicator. As with most coaches at the helm of a championship contender, Thibodeau seldom plays his rookies very significant minutes.

However, Snell's first NBA opportunity gave fans a glimpse worth getting excited about.

Snell had impressive averages of 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals while playing 34.4 minutes/game in five Summer League games.

During NBA Summer League play, Snell averaged 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals playing 34.4 minutes/game in five games (the Bulls went 4-1).

In Chicago’s final contest of the tournament (vs. Dallas), Snell showed the touch from outside that the Bulls drafted him for, and he put up 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, to go with seven rebounds.

The Chicago Bulls front office seems to have drafted another late round gem willing to polish his game to fit his role on this championship caliber team.

What do think of the Chicago Bulls recent draft picks? How good do you think Tony Snell can be in the NBA? Let us know what you think in the comments below!