The Chicago Bulls have lost three straight games and are 2-8 over their last 10 games, putting them as the 4th worst team in the NBA.
Over the next seven games, the Chicago Bulls face the Bucks, Pistons, Rockets, Pacers, Thunder, Celtics, and Kings. It’s hard predicting the Bulls coming out on top over these teams because of how bad the Bulls’ record is in comparison and looking at the very slim list of opponents they have already beaten.
The Bulls’ can very easily slide into a 10 game losing streak if they are not careful or if they do not steal a win against these upcoming opponents. The Bulls are only half a game ahead of the Suns, Hawks, and Cavaliers and with the Bulls upcoming schedule, they could behind all three teams.
The Bulls team is also plagued with injuries. Denzel Valentine deciding to take season-ending ankle surgery is also a piece of news that may have caused the Bulls some grief.
Before deciding to take surgery, Valentine was only expected to weeks up to a month or two at most but his ankle continued to aggravate him. With Valentine’s presence being gone for the rest of the season and looking at his production from last season he is definitely a player who was underrated on the Bulls roster.
Now going through a quarter of the season without him, he is greatly missed on this seasons’ Bulls roster. Valentine is a quality all-around wing player that does pretty much any and everything asked of him.
The Bulls are at the bottom of the bottom and it will take a miraculous effort to turn things around midway through the season for the Bulls. It is so easy to get into a pattern and patterns and habits are often hard to break.
It usually takes a huge amount of time to turn things around and with 61 games left this season, there would have to be a drastic shift either coming through, a coaching staff change, a trade, or through huge development and growth in one of the Bulls current players.
At the moment none of these seem very likely. It’s very hard to work to the top coming from the very bottom.
Will things actually improve?
Despite how bad the Bulls’ first 21 games of the season has looked, overall there are signs of hope that things might get better soon.
With 61 games left, the Bulls are about 5.5 games back from 8th seed and 12 games back from 1st seed. All it will take is a good swing over a couple of weeks or a few wins in a row to get them in the mix.
However, the Bulls are only half a game ahead from being the worst in the east and also the entire league. It’s still early in the season and there is a ton of basketball left to be played. Here are some positives to look at:
Jabari Parker has been gradually and consistently improving his gameplay. Over the last six games, he recorded three double-doubles and has been averaging around 20 points per game, 9 rebounds, and three assists despite several bulls losses over the six game stretch.
Jabari isn’t given enough credit sometimes when he does play well because of his bad defense and terrible shot selection at times early in the season, but he is producing.
Markannen participated in his first full-contact practice since his injury occurring in the preseason. Markannen’s presence truly has been missed and he should help with the Bulls efficiency on offense when he gets back in the lineup which should be very soon.
Despite LaVine’s highly contested game-winner attempt miss against the Spurs resulting in a loss, the Bulls held their weight against a solid Spurs team and veteran head coach Greg Poppavich.
LaVine is the best player on the team and there is no other player on that roster that I would rather have to take the shot other than Zach.
Even if it was ill-advised and Hoiberg called a different play, LaVine is the catalyst of this team and has been racking up points like he’s a man on a mission. Also, he is looking like a shoo-in for the all-star team.
I expect LaVine will get clutch over time. His efficiency will improve as well when the roster is back fully healthy. I’m almost sure after missing that go-ahead three he went to the gym the next day and worked on his shot in the same spot at least 100 times.
He is a hardcore gym rat and in order to become clutch, you have to take the shots first. These shots will fall late in games in the future for him.
Wendell Carter Jr. is looking great on defense and is finding more confidence in himself on offense as the season proceeds.
He’s definitely one of the top 5 rookies in the league this season once he learns to stay out of foul trouble early and to be more aggressive on offense he will be molded into a star. Despite being very young, he is the leader of the Bulls frontcourt right now. He rarely looks like a rookie when you watch him play.
Keep in mind with all this, Hoiberg has been trying his best to coach and motivate a very young and wounded Bulls team. He has tried almost everything from changing lineups and benching players.
You can literally see him at every Bulls game screaming to the top of his lungs from the sidelines to get his players in the right positions on defense and almost every post game interview he has owned up to his faults.
It would be totally unfair to blame Hoiberg as the ultimate reason for the Bulls failures this season but you can certainly tell he is not giving up.