The Chicago Bulls thumped the Atlanta Hawks to bring their record to 3-6. But in the loss a night before, we saw familiar struggles.
This exercise proved futile when first executed. Whoever that team was in the preseason, the regular-season version of the Chicago Bulls has looked nothing like them. Their efficiency has plummeted, the ball is sticking, and they are getting killed on the glass. And they still haven’t quite figured out the free-throw line.
It should go without saying the most important stats are wins and losses and, as such, the Bulls are falling well below expectations. The start to the season was, after all, thought to be the easiest portion of their schedule; only two of their next 11 games come against non-playoff teams (seven of them are at home though).
Aside from wins and losses, though, there are other numbers for the Bulls that count.
26
The first troubling number should be the easiest one to fix and that is the Bulls terrible conversion rate at the free-throw line. They are only hitting 70.9 percent of their attempts at the charity stripe putting them 26th in the NBA. That is down from where they were to start the season when they were 19th in free throw percentage.
They were also 19th in free throw attempts and have fallen in that category as well to 21st. While it is a team-wide issue, the biggest transgressors have been Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, the team’s top offensive threats. This poses obvious issues before even diving into the flaws in their games.
2
This is how many games forwards Chandler Hutchison and Daniel Gafford have played this season. The two youngsters figured to be big contributors to the Bulls in 2019 but that hasn’t been the case. Hutchison just returned two games ago and is averaging seven points and 3.5 rebounds. Not outstanding numbers but good enough to be eighth in scoring on the team.
Gafford has seen only six minutes of floor time across his two appearances (Hutchison is averaging 16 minutes) but fans have clamored for more. The rookie’s energy was evident in the preseason and the Bulls could certainly have used some added toughness defensively. His bull-in-a-China-shop offense could be what is keeping him down though.
4.2
That is the number of fouls second-year big man Wendell Carter Jr. is committing per game. The Duke product leads the Bulls and is seventh in the NBA in the category. He finished last season with an identical ranking, albeit on fewer fouls per game. He has had four or more fouls in six of the Bulls nine games, fouling out twice.
It is a shame because Carter has raised his field goal percentage this season, though he has not been immune to the team’s free throw struggles. He has gotten into game shape after missing nearly all of the preseason and his production has shown that; he averaged 15.7 points and 10.2 boards over six games before fouling out after 13 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bulls next play Saturday against the Houston Rockets. Projecting a win is a lot to ask but improving upon these numbers is not. Hutchison will certainly play more but Gafford needs more playing time too. The team’s free throw percentage and Carter’s foul trouble need to improve if this team is going to improve over last year’s marks.