The loss to the Detroit Pistons highlighted what is the most polarizing fact about the Bulls season this year.
Does Chicago build around All-Star Jimmy Butler as ISO specialist for the rest of his contract? Unlike Michael Jordan’s time with the Bulls, there is no “I-in-WIN” for Fred Hoiberg’s choice in sticking exclusively with Jimmy Butler in the clutch. Former Bulls assistant coach, Tex Winter said it himself. There is no I in TEAM. And the Bulls no longer have Michael Jordan. They have Jimmy Butler trying TOO hard to win it all.
The Chicago Bulls have an incredibly talented young team that sputters whenever Jimmy Butler slows down the game and plays hero ball ISO and pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol. All the good effort in the 3 quarters goes south if the team loses gas in the clutch.
Make no mistake. Jimmy Butler is a legit All-Star and he has the skills to compete with the best that the NBA can muster.
But coach Fred Hoiberg’s offensive system is designed for pace-and-space attacks that take advantage of player mismatches and traps. In this context, the team plays better when everyone on the court is an offensive threat.
Playing isolation basketball should only be part of the many options in the Bulls offense. Opponents should be scrambling trying to figure out how to beat Fred Hoiberg’s offense.
Especially during the most crucial stage of the game.
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In the loss to the Detroit Pistons, Jimmy Butler asked for the ball in the last 6 minutes of the game–a crucial stretch–where every possession should be a score. After putting in tremendous effort in the early game, he got tired and shot poorly. The Pistons threw everything at Jimmy as expected. When you are the team’s best player, expect opponents to scout your game and exploit weaknesses. The Pistons forced Jimmy to take bad shots and the team lost. If he played decoy and the team was able to win off other players on the team, all of his effort in the previous quarters would not go for naught. If Jimmy got his baskets because the Pistons were busy chasing Mirotic and Doug out at the perimeter then that would be OK. But no, they saw Jimmy calling for the ball every time for ISO and pick-and-roll with Pau, so they knew what was coming. The Bulls could only muster 20 plus points in three quarters, when previously they were gunning 30 points in at least two quarters every game. Running pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol (7 out of 19) and Jimmy Butler (10 out of 25) and ISOs almost exclusively throughout the game did not give the Bulls shooters a ghost of a chance to get their game going: which is crucial for the team to play stronger.
Do the Bulls stick with an All-Star who looks good at the expense of the other players? The trade rumors aren’t there if something wasn’t cooking on the side.
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GarPax have already intimated that Pau Gasol isn’t a shoo-in for the core of the team for next season. If Jimmy Butler proves to be a bad fit for coach Fred Hoiberg’s new offense, all the trade bait being dangled by interested teams will start to look like the next step in getting past former coach, Tim Thibodeau’s remaining baggage with the Bulls.