Pippen Ain't Easy
Fansided

Bulls Need Killer Offense More than Defense to Make Playoffs

By Michael RENE KANOY

Dec 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic (44) drives on New Orleans Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham (44) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic (44) drives on New Orleans Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham (44) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Many sports media outlets and disgruntled fans are deriding the Chicago Bulls for their lack of defense as the main culprit for their lack of success.  But if we look carefully at those losses, it is when the Bulls miss shots that their opponents build insurmountable leads.

The Bulls need to really figure out how to run their offense.

Fred Hoiberg is responsible for plenty of tweaks to the offense recently: from BLOB plays to Spurs-like Hammer plays and even variations of the “Point Center” offense that Tom Thibodeau ran so well with Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol.

Unfortunately, the Bulls have dry spells that you wouldn’t expect from a Hoiberg offense.

What gives?

The two losses to the New York Knicks, of all teams, prove a point.  The Bulls were leading in the first quarter of the first game of a back-to-back with the Knicks.

Then, inexplicably, the Knicks scored more than 60 points off of 14 makes from three-point land (in 25 attempts). The Bulls were missing badly until a desperate fourth quarter were Nikola Mirotic went nuts and finished with nine threes.

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In the second game of the back-to-back, the Knicks were missing shots, but the Bulls were not able to convert on those crucial possessions.  Inevitably, we’d see one bad shot after another. Mirotic missing a kick-out three, then Aaron Brooks missing a fastbreak three, then Jimmy Butler missing a long two, and so on and so forth.

The Knicks came back on offense and the lead ballooned until it became an insurmountable advantage that could only be overhauled by lights-out shooting.  In those games, the Bulls had the stronger post men against the Knicks, but they kept chucking up long bricks instead of getting to the free throw line with their big men or having Doug McDermott post up and shoot his sweet fadeaway jumpers.

One crucial factor may be Fred Hoiberg’s own fault.

At the beginning of the season, Hoiberg told his team that if they had an open look and made a shot attempt and missed, it was OK. Because of this admonition, the Bulls have a nasty tendency to coast on offense and waste precious possessions with hurried shots and bad shots when they should be working for the best scoring play.

The Bulls are now unfortunately a team that loses good leads and allow 42 points in fourth quarters against weaker teams. Running Hoiball should be a system that guarantees baskets on every possession.  Knockdown shooters should play more minutes and have offensive sets run for them instead of putting in a defensive team and wait for the enemy to miss shots. The team already makes stops, but they can’t convert on the next play.

In Thibodeau’s more defensive-oriented system, every possession counted as gold, so the only way the Bulls would lose, was to miss horribly. Think back to Game 6 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year’s playoffs when Thibodeau rode the starters and benched all shooters and they couldn’t get a basket.

Hoiberg has to realize that the Bulls can’t just turn it on whenever they are behind.  Every possession is precious. Phil Jackson‘s own triangle offense guaranteed that every possession was a good score. If the opponent missed, the Bulls would score until they slowly built a decent lead and their opponents couldn’t recover. Even with Michael Jordan on the team, the Bulls had a system that guaranteed a basket on every possession.

It might be time to retool Hoiball that way if the Bulls still want to win.

Take care of possessions.  Run sets for the shooters on the team like McDermott.  Start the shooters for God’s sake, so they warm up in a jiffy.  If some players are playing sub-par because of injuries, rest them. It’s better to have them fit for the playoffs than playing the team out of the running and players aggravate their injuries further.

When sets are slower over the course of a game, run some “Point Center” looks instead of the pick-and-roll to get plenty of looks at cutters and open shooters. The Bulls can already defend to an extent, especially with Cristiano Felicio inside, forcing travelling turnovers on post-ups and Justin Holiday doing a good job guarding passing lanes in the New York losses.

The only thing the team should make sure of now, more than ever, is that they can’t waste possessions.  Add up all those misses and you’ll see why New York built a nasty lead in both games.  If the Bulls didn’t miss as badly as they did, they’d have a ballgame.

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If the Bulls don’t want to tank in the last 10 games, Hoiberg should play his best shooters every time, run plays for them and knock down every possession like Hoiball is supposed to work.

The Bulls need killer offense.

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