1. Jim Boylen (and John Paxson/Gar Forman)
Boylen and the Chicago Bulls aren’t giving this young roster in the third year of the rebuild much chance to succeed. The usage of pieces like second-year center Wendell Carter Jr. and Markkanen aren’t great and they’re putting too much pressure to shoulder the load on offense on LaVine. Carter Jr. needs the ball in his hands more and Markkanen needs better floor spacing.
The Bulls did upgrade the coaching staff around Boylen over the offseason. The additions of former Houston Rockets assistant Roy Rodgers and the Brooklyn Nets offensive genius Chris Fleming to upgrade the staff during the summer. But the offensive schemes and lack of defensive effort shows that there is still a long way to go for the coaches.
Asked how the team bounces back from this loss Boylen said “You just go to work the next day. That’s all you do. There’s no shame in this game tonight. We played hard and we competed and we battled...This is not the defining moment of our season. We’ll keep playing.”
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) November 28, 2019
The common school of thought in the Windy City holds it that Boylen is holding back the Bulls, but the front office and ownership is where all the problems stem from. John Paxson and Gar Forman upgraded the roster, but the pieces aren’t fitting in place right now. The front office and coaching staff is too chill with losing all these games too.
The mindset that Boylen has that projects the idea that “there is no shame in losing” isn’t going to be it done. The Bulls need a better head coach and GarPax should be on their last legs. The fact that this is one of the easiest playoff races in the East to get in the past decade and the Bulls are so far out shows that GarPax and Boylen aren’t the answer the Bulls need.