Chicago Bulls and their self-fulfilling prophesies, is their fate set in stone?

When it comes to this current Chicago Bulls locker room, many question marks arise. Questions that are legitimate, considering the current lack of consistency and mental toughness shown by this team. Mental breakdowns in crucial game situations are my biggest concern.

I also question if this team is mentally strong enough to finish out this season if they cannot fix the major growing pains they are suffering from. I worry that eventually, this young team will break and the constant losing will become too much for them to handle.

Our veterans seem to believe that this young Bulls team is a tough group of guys. These are the leaders and are only saying these types of false statements because that is what the leading voices in the locker room should be saying.

Kicking a teammate when he is down is not the way to uplift a group who are playing well until the fourth quarter, staying positive and saying the right things is a must at this point. I give credit to Thaddeus Young for his comments after the last late-game collapse by the Bulls on March 19 against the Denver Nuggets.

Young mentioned that this is a tough-minded team that is up for this challenge. He said that he would make sure that this team sticks together. Great leadership by the veteran and I truly believe he is telling the truth. Young is the leader in the locker room and players listen when he speaks to them.

Where Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls can proceed from here?

I would prefer to stick with coach Billy Donovan and his deep perception of the struggles and mistakes constantly being repeating almost every game. Play great basketball for 40 minutes, build a lead, make mistakes and then make another mistake, repeat, then lose the game in close dramatic fashion…

"Billy Donovan on the Bulls’ latest collapse: “We play like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”"

That statement to me says a very lot. It tells me that Donovan is running out of ideas to help this team in crunch time. What he is basically saying is he has no answer and as a coach, he can only do so much. The players need to figure this out or he will move to the next guy on the bench.

After these latest hurdles for the Bulls, coach Donovan shared that he got really upset down the stretch at the team. Didn’t like the body language of the players and didn’t think the players were fighting to get the win. He was very heated in a time-out in the fourth quarter in the Nuggets game.

I’m very concerned at this point in the season. We are more than halfway through the season already and are still trying to figure out how to close out games. We still have a need for a one and a five on the roster as well as core players who are still trying to find their rhythm.

Some of the core players in question have been on this team for three or four years already. We are four years into this rebuild and the Bulls still haven’t figured out a direction and most definitely haven’t found an identity.

"Donovan also said that “It kills me for them. These guys played their hearts out for 42, 43 minutes. It’s not good enough.” A clear sign of our coach suffering with the same questions and concerns that all of us writers and fans alike still have."

Concerning as it may be there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m pretty sure a deadline trade will be made and after this season a few of these core players will be moving on to their next NBA adventure.

Neither coach nor the front office had hands in building this roster, and they are smart enough to realize that this is not where we want to be.

Changes will need to be made and until then we should expect the same old late-game malfunctions and lack of consistency. Let’s just hope finger-pointing doesn’t start to begin happening on this team.

I myself have plenty of questions and many concerns. Does this roster fit together? Is it a matter of mental toughness? Should we just be patient, let the season play out, time heals all wounds, with experience?

I have to say I do not agree with that philosophy at all. This Bulls team lacks killer instinct and a will to want to win. The fact that the Bulls have blown seven fourth-quarter leads already this season tells you the story. It is just an embarrassing display and a lack of effort by the entire team and organization as a whole.

There is no excuse for this to continue, and I suspect some more line-up changes are coming. As much as we are looking at the players on this Bulls team, I think it’s time coaches and front office personal start to take some blame.

The lack of honest accountability is becoming deafening. The coaching staff should be held to the same standard as the players. If they cannot fix themselves then it’s up to the coaches to adjust and teach them how to correct it, and build better habits.

ONE TEAM should be the new philosophy moving forward. Until Donovan stops feeling bad for his players they will never figure it out. The time has come to get mad and try a different approach. Bulls fans are impatiently waiting for the real changes for the future to begin.

Settling for a 10th or 11th seed in the Eastern Conference, well that’s the old Bulls or, is it not!