Chicago Bulls: Jim Boylen still proves incapable of leading this team

There’s not a lot of reason at this point to believe that head coach Jim Boylen can instill any level of success in the Chicago Bulls.

Feb. 20 was the first chance for the Chicago Bulls to right the ship coming out of the All-Star Break. That opportunity came against the Charlotte Hornets at home at the United Center. Yet, when the Bulls didn’t get their usual 30+ point night out of rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine everything fell apart.

The Bulls will get back-to-back opportunities over the weekend to right the ship under Boylen’s direction, but it seems to little too late at this point. Holding a record of 19-37 after their latest loss out of the All-Star Break, against the Hornets, the Bulls don’t have much of a realistic path to playoff contention.

Granted the Bulls didn’t have a realistic shot at making a run to the seven or eight seed in the Eastern Conference standings for a while now. The Bulls are finally starting to fall well behind of the eight seed Orlando Magic in the standings in the East. As of the morning of Feb. 22, the Bulls sit five games behind the Magic. The Brooklyn Nets are a whole seven games ahead of the Bulls for the seventh seed in the East.

However, a bigger point for the Bulls is where the front office and coaching staff goes from here. Boylen shouldn’t be around as the Bulls head coach beyond the 2019-20 regular season, and neither should the vice president of basketball operations John Paxson or general manager Gar Forman.

The Reinsdorfs aren’t likely to make the sweeping changes to the front office and coaching staff that are needed for the upcoming offseason. But at least put a more powerful voice in the front office to surpass Paxson’s influence on the decision making. And get a new head coach that can at least get more out of this roster than Boylen.

When trying times hit, Boylen’s schemes and systems really show their flaws. Given all the key Bulls injuries of late, Boylen’s system is really starting to fall apart. The Bulls are seeing their offensive and defensive ratings take a nose dive of late. They now rank 28th in the NBA in offensive rating (105.9) and somehow still sit at 13th in defensive rating (109.1).

With the Bulls currently missing power forward Lauri Markkanen, small forward Otto Porter Jr., center Wendell Carter Jr., and point guard Kris Dunn, all due to various ailments, there’s not much to hang their hat on. They sit on a seven-game losing streak after falling short to the Hornets on Feb. 20 by the final score of 103-93 at home at the United Center.

This now makes it four teams with a losing record that the Bulls fell short against during this seven-game skid. The usual storyline is that Boylen can’t beat opponents with a winning record during his tenure as the Bulls head coach. But he can’t beat anyone now.

There’s so many reasons why the Bulls should begin tanking, but getting Boylen out of his current seat is at or near the top of that list. Really no excuses exist for why the Bulls shouldn’t be trying to get a slot in the top five for the draft lottery odds this year.

Improper usage of players like WCJ, Lauri, and veteran power forward Thaddeus Young also makes it more difficult on the team’s volume scorers like LaVine and rookie point guard Coby White. The Bulls should be running a trio of 6-foot-7 combo guard Tomas Satoransky, LaVine, and White as their two guards and wing in the starting five.

Furthermore, the Bulls are a horrible rebounding team this season that have little to no solid ball movement on offense. They also aren’t effectively moving their schemes into the modern age of the NBA while maximizing the talent at hand. They rank 29th in the NBA in rebounds, 27th in total free-throw attempts, 24th in three-point shooting percentage, 25th in turnovers, and 24th in assists.

If there’s anything that Boylen proved so far, it’s that his personnel usage and weird antics aren’t any fit for any NBA team looking for a competent head coach. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago recently opened up on the question of whether Boylen would be returning to the Bulls for the 2020-21 regular season. The popular answer to that question would be a resounding no.

Boylen didn’t help the Bulls get anywhere close to the point of playoff contention. He also didn’t help maximize the breakthroughs of players like WCJ and LaVine throughout the regular season. Most Bulls would likely want him to see the door out of the Windy City if the Reinsdorfs actually make some changes to the front office and coaching staff heading into the 2020 offseason.