There are many ups and downs throughout an NBA season. The Chicago Bulls have had their share of enjoying sample-sized good stretches and blockbuster trade transactions. However, the Bulls have mostly endeavored the entire season, on the second game of another back-to-back on April 12 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
And another dismal outing, a three-game winning streak is followed by a three-game losing streak. The Bulls lost another winnable contest 101-90. The game was much closer than the final score suggests. Making it difficult to stay positive, night in and night out watching the Bulls collapse in the final minute of regulation.
With only 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Bulls need to start attaining some sort of consistency. Preparing for a playoff push becomes the most important part of this last stretch. Ending the 20-21 season strong is crucial in the development and likelihood of becoming an attractive free-agent destination.
The good in the loss for the Chicago Bulls
Even with the late-game meltdowns, the Bulls are growing as a unit. Slowly learning how to play together, sometimes hard to see the growth, steady as it may not appear, many good things, outweigh the bad.
The Bulls came out aggressive from the jump ball against the Grizzlies, showing urgency and an understanding of what’s at stake if the losing continues. Again playing good basketball for three quarters.
One of the more positives for the Bulls is center Daniel Theis, he finished the loss with his best performance since becoming a Bull. Theis went 8-of-12 shooting, with 18 points, and four assists off of the bench.
His physicality and rim protection have helped the Bulls with interior defense. Lack of shot-blocking and strength down low stalled the defense, and scoring points in the paint were a weakness before the trade deadline.
All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine showed he is capable of being a solid on-ball defender. He played with a rare sense of urgency on the defensive side of the ball, encouraging for the first year All-Star.
The Bulls finally involved All-Star center Nikola Vucevic in the post, recognizing mismatches, it was promising, I suspect much more coming from Vucevic. He is a capable dual-threat when utilized correctly on both ends of the floor.
Veteran forward Thaddeus Young had a very productive offensive game, he went 10-of-15 shooting, his 20 points were needed. His leadership is displayed on a nightly basis, though still frustrated due to the loss, Young always stays positive and finds ways to keep his teammates from getting down on themselves after so many close losses this season.
The Bulls played a flawless third quarter for their standard. Sharing the basketball, showing aggressiveness on the defensive end. Reading the defense and utilizing their interior bigs on offense. Those are indications of their growth as a unit, translating that to winning is the next step in the development process.
The bad in the loss for the Chicago Bulls
A lot of empty possessions are a cause of major concern going forward. Finding ways to overcome the lack of a play-making guard has shielded the progress of the back-court. Making an already challenging assignment impossible for a team trying to find balance.
Rookie forward Patrick Williams has hit a slump, playing unsure of himself as well as making costly mistakes on both ends. Forward Laurie Markkanen has found himself being moved to a more limited role due to his struggles.
Guard Tomas Satoransky is trying to overcome a shooting slump, with his most recent ineffectiveness, he is now passing up open looks or missing wide-open shots all together. Another change in the starting line-up may be a possibility if his struggles continue.
Unforced turnovers are catastrophic for the Bulls, these errors are creating adversity that this team cannot withstand, finding ways to overcome that adversity is still a work in progress. Self-inflicted wounds are created by sloppy play and lack of effort.
First-year head coach Billy Donovan needs to get creative in finding ways to get his young players more involved in the offense. Defensive inadequacy is more of a lack of communication, and team effort adverse to pointing blame on individual players.
Defensive rebounding needs to get better, on the part of the Bulls. No excuses now that we carry size, strength, and physicality in the frontcourt. Second-chance points are given away, without boxing out and contesting put-backs, teams are allowed multiple chances at the rim resulting in too many easy baskets.
The ugly in the loss for the Chicago Bulls
A lot of ugly in the recent three-game losing skid. Creating a narrative to stay optimistic is not all that ugly for me. I am a fan first so I speak from the heart. The fourth-quarter doom Is a revolving showcase of the lack of confidence on this team.
Having the ability to stay in games against the best teams in the league, to just completely fall apart in the final minutes is not going to go away this season. The Bulls were outscored 31 to 16 in the fourth quarter.
Sorry Bulls nation, but until the roster is fine-tuned, you should expect many more late-game breakdowns. Donovan’s lineups are still confusing, the Grizzlies played minutes with a four guard/wing rotation, Donovan then countered with two bigs, resulting in an uncontested three from the corner. Very bad in-game adjustments have been a head-scratcher all year long.
Coby White’s defense, or sorry, the lack thereof, is a huge liability when he’s on the court. There were many sequences in which Coby wasn’t able to move past screens that were not even set. He finds himself sprinting to contest wide-open shots, fouling open shooters with no chance of blocking their shot, or giving up open layups on cuts because he is lagging on defense.
Then, you have the biggest concern on the Bulls, player involvement mixed with terrible line-ups. Satoransky, Markkanen, White, Williams, Troy Brown Jr., and Denzel Valentine played a combined 123 minutes and scored a total of 14 points, that is a losing recipe and why the Bulls lost to the Grizzlies.
Bulls fans I am right here with you, win or lose, things will work themselves out. This is not the end of the world and the Bulls will have plenty more opportunities to change trajectory, building a winning team and creating a new culture and identity doesn’t happen overnight.
This wild ride is who the Bulls are, embrace the process and limit your expectations. This rebuild has just begun, take the good with the bad and accept the ugly. We are exactly where we need to be. A chance to advance to the play-in-tournament.
Up next is the Orlando Magic on April 14. A matchup featuring Vuvevic against Wendell Carter Jr. will be interesting and unique. The old versus the new, with a much-needed win at stake. Make sure to keep tuning in as this saga continues to be a wild ride!