The Chicago Bulls Continue to Struggle

Man oh man have the Bulls been hard to watch these last few games. The Bulls have lost four straight and their record is now 30-30. No that is not a misprint....... I would have laughed in your face if you told me before the season started that the Bulls would be a .500 team. If the playoffs started today the Bulls would not be in it. This was a talented team entering the season but unfortunately they have been plagued by injuries. Joakim Noah was lost with a season ending injury in January. Nikola Mirotic and Jimmy Butler have been out these last few weeks as well. And of course Derrick Rose has missed a handful of games over these last few weeks. Every other day it seems like Derrick Rose is hurt............ (But that is another story for another day)

Pau Gasol looking to pass against the Magic (Photo Courtesy of chicagosuntimes.com) 

The Chicago Bulls looked horrible the last two games against the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. The Heat's shooting percentage against the Bulls was 67.5%. That set the franchise all-time record for shooting percentage in a game for the Miami Heat. When I saw this stat my jaw dropped. Give some credit to Miami, but over sixty percent?! This tells me two things 1) The Heat shot the ball extremely well & 2) A lot of that also had to do with how poorly the Bulls defense has been playing. The Heat scored 129 points and 74 of those points were in the paint! That is ridiculous!  Against the Orlando Magic it was no different. The Magic kept getting WIDE OPEN shots! That can't happen! I noticed guys from the Bulls not getting back on defense and not making the proper rotations on defense. These are two fundamental concepts that need to be executed at all times. And a lot of it just has to do with effort. Besides Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah there are not really any other good defensive players on this team. But what you lack in talent you need to make up with effort and right now the Bulls are not doing that. I don't see that same fire/passion this year that I have seen from previous Bulls teams.

Derrick Rose looking to drive against the Heat 

The good news Bulls fans is that Jimmy Butler should be returning in the next week or so.  And when he is back the Bulls should be able to string a few wins together and hopefully that will get them going. But getting Jimmy Butler back does not fix everything. Other guys on this team need to step up as well. As the old saying goes, "There is no "I" in team!" The Bulls need to WAKE UP FAST!!! Because if they don't they willing be sitting on their couches come playoff time instead of playing.



Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bullsssssssssssssssssssss

Ryan


Game highlights: Bulls vs Heat  Bulls vs Magic

Great article about the Bulls recent struggles: Have the Bulls hit rock bottom?