After the Bulls beat the Raptors on November 7th, they sat at the 500 mark with a 6-6 record. Since then, they’ve been going backwards. Wednesday night’s blowout in New Orleans was good for their 3rd straight loss, the last two by double digits. I mean, the Nuggets and the Pelicans ARE playoff teams in the West right now, so… it’s OK??? After making the playoffs last year, we were certainly hoping for the same this year, plus some. 15 games into the season isn’t going to decide anything, unless you suck as bad as the Lakers, but so far, not so great from our Bulls. The East has gotten better; have the Bulls?
It has to start with DD and Zach. They are currently the only ones averaging over 20 points per game, although they’re currently both down from last year’s averages; a step backwards, or just warming up? Zach has played in 11 of the 15 games thus far; the Bulls are 1-3 so far in the games without Zach. Yeah, only the shocking season opener in Miami resulted in a W. The most important thing right now for Zach, is that he is on the court. Looking ahead, the Bulls have 3 back to backs in December; are we done with the left knee management yet? It was good to see him dunking in New Orleans; haven’t seen much of that this year. That aggressive finishing of his drives is an important part of his game. He does make some sweet layups, but sometimes, only a dunk will do. Baby steps. As far as DD, I’ll go back to my strategy against him every game; double team him. He says he doesn’t get frustrated, but it looked the other way to me. Forcing someone other than DD to beat you is a smart strategy, even Zach. As Bulls fans, we would expect Zach to beat you more times than not; this is how we essentially combat that. The 1-2 punch remains as important as ever for our boys.
Looking at our third option, it has to be Vooch. At this point, we know what he is, and what he isn’t. He is a talented offensive player with average at best defensive ability; he is not that aggressive most of the time and seems to have concentration lapses out there, where he gets lethargic. I’ve been harping on his shot selection for a while, more specifically his willingness to hang out by the 3 point line and chuck them up, so this next statement I make is tough. Maybe we just have to accept it; this is who he is. Vooch has taken the 2nd most treys on the team; this is initially disturbing. However, he is shooting about 8% better than last year, which would put him close to his best 3 years from out there. Is this reason enough to be OK with him continuing to shoot from out there? I still think he’s better in the paint, both with the ball, higher percentage, post moves, and without, offensive rebounding. But… in this current world of “everybody shoots treys”, I guess he fits in. Problem is, overall, this team does not. Personally, I’m OK with that; we are not a 3 point shooting team. If that is our identity, embrace it, and focus on OUR strengths… forget what everybody else is doing. The Bulls are in the bottom of the league in 3 pointers made, BUT in the middle of the pack in regards to percentage. At the bare minimum, we need to be able to knock down open looks, in the flow of our offense, BUT I don’t think we need to focus/stress on the 3 ball; let it happen organically. Let the mid range game, which is a strength of this team, be our focus; let’s stress getting TO the rim, not standing away from it. The Bulls are 3rd in the league in free throw percentage btw…
So yes, it’s been a frustrating start, but certainly enough time to right the ship. Will we stand pat with who we have? Will changes be made to the rotation? Will AKME add pieces? Time will tell. Let’s end this losing streak for starters. The 4-11 Magic visit the UC on Friday night. Go Bulls!!!
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