Forgive me if I didn’t come into the new NBA season with high expectations for the Chicago Bulls. The offseason proved to be the same formula the team has taken for years – maintain ‘continuity’. Sure, the Bulls added Torrey Craig & Jevon Carter but when you look at what teams like the Celtics and Bucks did to improve you didn’t feel any sense of hope of the Bulls improving on their 40-42 record from last year.
The Bulls opened the season with 3 games in 4 nights where they were run off the court by Oklahoma City 124-104, needed OT and incredibly horrendous play from the Toronto Raptors to steal a 104-103 win and then bullied by a young, physical Detroit Pistons team 118-102.
After the season opening loss, the team needed a players only meeting. A players only meeting after the 1st game of the season is the very definition of dysfunction. Guard Zach LaVine had a brutally honest reaction to the loss:
Center Nikola Vucevic was seen having a heated debate with head coach Billy Donovan during the opening night loss and the players only meeting was described by Donovan as being intense:
In that game the Bulls shot only 41% from the field, were -9 in fast break points and though they put up 42 three-pointers they only made 28.6% of them. Giving up 64 points in the 2nd half also didn’t help matters.
In the 2nd game against the Raptors the Bulls looked just as lethargic as the Raptors opened up the game on a 16-4 run. The Bulls would finally wake up and go a massive 38-7 to take a 19-point lead midway through the second. From that point the Raptors outscored the Bulls 65-29 to take a 17-point lead with less than 5 minutes left in the game. The Raptors then did everything possible to give the game away. Even in the win the Bulls still shot only 38% from the field and an anemic 20.5% from three despite hoisting up 39 shots. Billy Donovan wanted his team to put up more three-pointers to offset what the Bulls lacked last year when they shot & made the least amount of 3-pointers in the league. The Bulls needed every one of DeMar DeRozan’s 33 points and a last second 3-pointer from Alex Caruso to win.
Last night, the Bulls were simply bullied by a younger, hungrier, bigger Pistons team 118-102. The Bulls were -16 in assists, -9 in points off turnovers, -22 in points in the paint and -21 on rebounds. Though the Bulls had their 3rd straight game shooting under 45% from the field(39 of 93 for 41.9%) they did shoot a respectable percentage from 3(11 of 28 for 39.3%). Despite Zach LaVine’s 51-point effort, two Bulls starters(Coby White, Patrick Williams) went scoreless. The NBC Sports Chicago team shared their reaction:
This is still a bad basketball team. They still don’t have an offensive identity. They still depend too much on either DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine to play hero ball. Patrick Williams continues to defer and not move without the ball. Williams is currently locked in a contract extension debate but has started the season averaging 3.7 pts, 3.0 rebs, 2.0 assts on 27.8% FG shooting. The team has started the season shooting a woeful 28.4% from 3-pt range and 40.2% from the field good for 4th worst & worst in the NBA respectively. Their 103.3 ppg average is the 4th worst in the NBA. Their 42.0 rpg average is 5th worst in the NBA. Their -11.6 point differential is the 3rd worst in the NBA.
What has changed from last year? They still can’t shoot the 3-pointer, they allow themselves to get dug into holes because their offense gets stagnant for long stretches during games, they don’t crash the boards and for long stretches in games there is a lack of effort. This was the team that Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley felt comfortable putting on the court. Nikola Vucevic, who got an extension over the summer, understands this could be it for this core. I don’t see how this team can turn this around. We’re on year 3 of this core of DeRozan, Vucevic and LaVine and they have yet to show they can take the next step to be a contender. Why should this year be any different. Run. Rinse. Repeat…
About Author
