Bulls Get “Bull whipped” By Mavs

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

In a game without Luol Deng for the fourth straight time suffering with an Achilles injury, The Bulls got ambushed by the Dallas Mavericks 105-83. It was ugly early, it was ugly in the middle and ugly in the end. Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bulls sent Mr. Noah down a dark alley with nothing but a mean look on his face.  Everyone else pretty much mailed this one in on the offensive end. This is a shame especially with Joakim coming in with a hip injury that almost sidelined him last night. The Bulls were close in the first quarter before the Mavericks went on a 15-2 led by Vince Carter who scored 7 points in the stretch to end the first quarter and game basically was a rout after that.

This game is a sign of things to come for the Bulls if they are not careful. We all know that the team will play hard and I’m not saying they did not tonight. They struggle to score and they do not have someone that can create a shot for himself or his teammates. With Derrick rose out, Luol Deng was the only one that could consistently create offense for the Bulls. This was very evident last night. Want some examples? How about 38.9% shooting for the first half of the game along with 13 turnovers? How about shooting a putrid 1-6 from the land of three? That adds up on the scoreboard to a 61-34 halftime deficit. This is a game you would quickly hit the reset button if you were on X-box or on PlayStation. The Bulls were down 30 points 86-56 going into the fourth quarter before Dallas called off the dogs.

Let’s kick the Bull-istics here. The Bulls are going to have to deal with the backcourt situation. Talking about Luol Deng’s trade status is the sexy subject right now, but the guard situation right now is atrocious on BOTH ends of the court. We’ll start on the defensive end. Monta Ellis scored 22 points for the Mavs. Cool, no problem, that’s his job. Now when Vince Carter starts dominating you, now THAT’s a problem. He scored 18 points plus the aforementioned seven points that put the game out of reach. Not acceptable. Jose Calderon had an efficient game setting up his teammates for easy scores. All of this adds up. The Bulls lack of scoring puts so much pressure on the defense (that is if they have a chance to set up based on the brick laying that was showcased last night) that eventually the team defense will break down later on in the year. Kirk Hinrich was not quick enough to stay in front of the Mavs guards, plus his 35% shooting from the field does not justify him being on the floor for long stretches. Oh by the way, he finished with 5 points. Jimmy Butler, who by the way is my favorite player on the Bulls, finished with 11 points on 2-10 shooting which includes  1-7 from three point land with seven turnovers.   What does those stats tell me? They tell me he was not aggressive. When your shot is off, go to the basket, draw fouls and try to get to the line. Long three point shot misses starts fast breaks and as the score shows us Dallas had a lot of fast breaks in this game. Tony Snell came off the bench to score well.. let me put it this way, close your eyes. What do you see? Nothing? That’s what Tony scored from the field. Outside of two free throws, Tony Snell line was 0-8 from the field including 0-5 from the three point line ugh!

Next up for the Bulls is the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bulls are going to have to find a way to get easy buckets or their chances are going to be hanging with Elvis. The Dallas Mavericks are not known for their defense. This just in to the Pippen Aint Easy website….the Grizzlies are.  Keep it locked to Pippen Aint Easy for all of the Bulls news, views and reviews. Also check us out on Facebook and please follow us on twitter @BullsBeatBlog.