Bulls need Robin Lopez’s production to take back control of series

Robin Lopez is the clear mismatch for the Chicago Bulls against the Boston Celtics. Instead of finding a way for Jimmy Butler to be effective, Fred Hoiberg should be looking to destroy the physical Boston front with the best big man the Bulls possess.

The Chicago Bulls got duped into trying to contain Isaiah Thomas in Game 4 and so lost the game playing catch-up instead of trying to set the tone. Fred Hoiberg already had part of the solution in place when Isaiah Canaan matched up with Thomas and got their vaunted 3-point shooting game into a funk.

All the Bulls needed to do from there on was to run their offense because all the Boston Celtics could do after that was trade two points for whatever the Bulls could do. But hindsight is always 20/20.

The huge advantage of the Bulls in Games 1 and 2 was negated by the Celtics when the Bulls started playing Jimmy Butler as the team’s point forward. Jimmy would walk the ball up and shoot jumpers, costing the Bulls Game 3.

In Game 4, Jimmy would walk the ball up and drive to the rim for free throws. The thing with taking the ball to the free throw line all game long is that your team’s offense never gets into sync to shoot the 3-ball nor pass for 30-plus assists, which are must-haves for Hoiball to click.

In Game 3, the Bulls had 14 team assists and Jimmy had none. This is not him having a bad game.  It’s Butler assigned to a role he does not excel at, namely sloooow, one-one-one ISO.  In Game 4, the Bulls had only 19 assists where Jimmy was walking up the ball so much all game long and going to the free throw line that he got gassed at the end and his teammates never got into sync shooting in rhythm because of the sloooow ISO game.

In fact the Bulls were able to score from the perimeter fast and easy when Jimmy’s first option was to hand off immediately to the shooter, preferably Nikola Mirotic and Isaiah Canaan’s open looks. But, Jimmy opted to take most of the possessions for himself instead of feeding his teammates more.

Now, Chicago must take a deep breath and let Robin Lopez knock the Celtics back into the floor with his stronger offensive game in the paint (63.6 shooting at the rim). Lopez is also the better sniper from what we’ve seen from him in Games 1 and 2, shooting 70 percent of his mid-range jumpers.

Why is Butler playing that role instead of going off-ball to attack the rim via lobs and diving for offensive putbacks? Lopez had 32 points and 18 rebounds in the first two games of the Celtics series. A strong Lopez game opens up the floor for both Jimmy and Dwyane Wade to hit uncontested shots.

Lopez is the one player on the Bulls roster that Boston cannot defend one-on-one given the same ISO game or movement trap offense Hoiberg can work for him. All Hoiberg has to do is set up plays to free Lopez under the rim along with another big like Bobby Portis or Paul Zipser to pound the paint. Rajon Rondo still knows something maybe Fred Hoiberg doesn’t really understand yet, but is slowly getting there. It takes 15 guys on your roster to win. Digging deep for Isaiah Canaan was the first part of the solution.

Now, Fred must reorient his offense around Robin Lopez instead of anyone else and let the Marquette Alphas play off Robin for 90 percent of the time they have a scoring opportunity. That should open the perimeter for open looks by everyone else concerned.

Lopez is key to taking back this series with his scoring and not anything else. Easy baskets for the rest of the team will come when it becomes Boston who has to adjust to a sure basket in the paint by RoLo.

It should never be the other way around with the Bulls falling for the trap of sitting Lopez because he can’t defend a Thomas pick-and-dive offense. Bobby Portis can cover the pick-and-roll blitz and must meet Thomas up high with Canaan hounding the Celtics playmaker all game long so Stevens’ half-court set is out of sync all the time.

If Chicago has Lopez primed for a 30-point game on Game 5, they can stick it to where it really hurts for Boston: in the paint.

But, be wary of Kelly Olynyk because he got Kevin Love’s shoulder dislocated by armlocking Love as they were posting up for the rebound. Boston is known for cheap shots and taunting (Isaiah Thomas II jawing at Michael Carter-Williams in Game 4) and physical fouls if it means taking a player’s focus out of the game. Robin Lopez can deal ably with cheap shots.

The best thing he did in Game 4 with a Jae Crowder leg-lock trip where Lopez lost his shoe was untie the shoelaces of Boston stretch-forward.

Next: Bulls vs. Celtics Game 4: 3 takeaways from the 105-94 loss that tied the series

Nobody gets into the head of RoLo. He’s a superhero.