Kings Make Bulls Look Like Court Jesters…99-70

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Take a look at this picture. Look at his chin. This is the theme of this recap because the Bulls really took one on the chin last night. Well, I can definitely say I saw this one coming. The Chicago Bulls got run out of the gym to Phoenix by the Sacramento Kings 99-70. I have a challenge to anyone that reads this recap. Log on to Pippen Ain’t Easy. Take some time to read the articles on the website. There are plenty of articles to read. If you pay close attention, you will see that the writers ALL SAW THIS COMING! The Bulls are in a load of trouble. Get used to this movie because it is going to be the number one movie in the United Center for a long while. I wondered how long the players could hold up before the bottom falls out. Well Pippen Peoples, my guess is based on this game, the duct tape is worn out.

This game was ugly. The Bulls had no chance straight from the gate. DeMarcus Cousins came back from a six game hiatus with an ankle injury to score 25 points while grabbing 16 rebounds. He set the tone for this game scoring 11 points and snatching seven rebounds in the first quarter alone. He frustrated Joakim Noah into a 4×4 performance. That’s four points and four rebounds before getting tossed in the third quarter. Noah exited to the left with two technical fouls in three minutes. I bet when Isaiah Thomas found out that Kirk Hinrich was in the starting lineup, he sent an early wake-up call to his room, bought him a massage and chartered a limo to make sure he showed up early. In limited minutes, Thomas scored 19 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the line. V.I.P. treatment to the basket Pippen Peoples. Rudy Gay finished with 14 points on 6-12  shooting. How bad a night was this? Jimmer Fredette, who is not in the rotation scored 11 points. This was a guy that I said in the preview was  so far down on the bench he would be watching the game on NBA league pass. Why am I mentioning a guy who only scored 11 points? One, the man did not miss a shot. he was 5-5 from the field including one from the land of three. He also had four assists and two steals. Two, he did all of this happened in the  fourth quarter. The Bulls as a team scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. UGH!!

I am running out of polite ways of saying the obvious. The Chicago Bulls can’t shoot. Seriously. They shot a YMCA out of shape 28% from the field for the game. Couple that with being outrebounded 53-30, I really could stop the analysis right here. Uh, no. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 17 points. That being said he shot only 4-11 from the field. That is less than 40%, ergo this team can’t shoot. Other players you ask? Joakim Noah went 1-6. Captain Kirk shot like Private Benjamin shooting 1-8. DJ Augustin celebrated his banishment to the bench shooting 2-11. Taj Gibson shot 4-11.

Ah, Carlos Boozer. Really dude? Really? First you go out and tell the media you are unhappy about your constant benching in the fourth quarter. I know that made the franchise happy. Then you compound the problem by scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds. Taking a closer look, I noticed that you scored seven in that all extensive garbage time in the fourth quarter when the game was over. So you basically disappeared when the Kings starters were on the floor. Overall Boozer shot 4-15 from the floor. Okay boys and girls, based on the last two paragraphs, what have we learned? THE BULLS CAN’T SHOOT!

Folks, things don’t get any easier for the Bulls. Next up is the Phoenix Suns. Forget the defense, the trades, the rumors etc. You have to put the ball in the basket with some regularity to win. The Bulls scored 70 points against a 16-32 team and got beat basically by 30 points. To all the Bulls fans, I will leave you with this. Michael Jordan is not coming through the door. Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman are not coming through the door, if they do, they will look at this team and cringe. Hey Joakim, be real playa, you tossed on purpose didn’t you? If you did I don’t blame you. I would have too.