Chicago Bulls: Five takeaways from the team’s first six games

Chicago Bulls’</a> start to the 2020-21 campaign has somewhat evaporated much of the optimism surrounding the offseason changes in the front office and with the coaching staff.</p> <p>They’re 2-4 to start the season, but don’t let that record give you the idea that this team has exhibited any semblance of competitive fervor. As things stand right now, only three other teams have a worse net rating than the Bulls, and only two rank lower in Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating System (SRS), a single-number metric that factors in a team’s record, point differential, and strength of schedule.</p> <p>If Chicago didn’t have two games against the Washington Wizards, who knows how much worse the discourse around them would be.</p> <p>Of course, it hasn’t been all bad; there are still reasons for some hope with this team. That doesn’t mean we should expect them to mold into a solid playoff team, but it also shows that this year isn’t a lost cause, especially with so much basketball left to play. So, let’s look at some of the good and bad that we’ve seen from the Bulls so far.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 5 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_403097" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-403097" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1189023950.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1189023950.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1189023950-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h3>5. The defense is terrible</h3> <p>Saying that the Bulls play matador defense would be an insult to matadors, and a bit of a lazy mangled metaphor.</p> <p>Much was made about Chicago switching to a more conservative defensive scheme under Billy Donovan, particularly as it pertained to how they planned to defend pick and rolls. Swapping out heavy blitzes and hedges for more drop coverage, Bulls fans and players welcomed the change, but these early games have shown that the personnel matters as much as the scheme.</p> <p>With Kris Dunn and Shaquille Harrison no longer on the roster, the team saw their “dependable defenders” list reduced to nothing outside of Otto Porter Jr. and maybe Patrick Williams, and the results have reflected that so far. Chicago’s defensive rating is 5.5 points per 100 possessions worse than the league average. Specifically, that revamped pick and roll defense is ranked 27th in opponent’s points per possession (PPP).</p> <p>To be fair, two of those troubling defensive performances came against the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks — the two best offensive teams in the NBA so far — and faulting the Bulls for failing to slow those teams down seems a bit unfair given that most teams will struggle to solve those quagmires this year.</p> <p>That said, if the Bulls want to show that these early numbers are merely a consequence of facing good offenses, they must cut down on the 3-pointers they allow (19th in opponent’s 3-point attempt rate) and clean up how they defend ball screens.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 4 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_407911" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-407911" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2104,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1219026938.jpeg" alt="New York" width="3200" height="2104" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1219026938.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1219026938-768x505.jpeg 768w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1219026938-850x560.jpeg 850w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h3>4. The offense hasn’t been that much better</h3> <p>Unfortunately, the substandard defense has exposed how limited Chicago’s offense is. Because the Bulls hand out points like candy on Halloween, they don’t get many chances to manufacture easy points in transition (only the LA Clippers, Portland Trailblazers, and Oklahoma City Thunder average fewer transition possessions per game), meaning they often have to operate out of half-court sets.</p> <p>Suffice to say, that hasn’t worked out early on. The Bulls have scored 3.6 fewer points per 100 possessions than the league average, with their most glaring deficiencies showing up in the pick and roll (22nd in PPP), and in the turnover department (27th in giveaways per 100).</p> <p>Yes, there have been some early successes in this offense. Zach LaVine continues to fill the high-volume shooting dynamo role that will keep fans wondering whether he’s part of the solution or the problem. Lauri Markkanen is sweltering from downtown (47.8 percent on 9.6 attempts per 100). Rookie Patrick Williams has flashed some potential. And Otto Porter looks like the multi-faceted two-way player the team traded for two seasons ago.</p> <p>Still, aside from the two Washington games and their close loss to the Warriors, this offense has remained in first gear for two key reasons…</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 3 </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_392700" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-392700" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1117,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1209578864.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1117" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1209578864.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1209578864-768x536.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h3>3. They need a real point guard</h3> <p>In today’s NBA, you aren’t going to go far without a player who can create easy opportunities for their teammates and possesses the skills to take advantage of those openings.</p> <p>In lieu of drafting guards like Killian Hayes or Tyrese Haliburton, the Bulls took a wing and hoped that giving Coby White increased point guard responsibilities would address the issue. It hasn’t.</p> <p>As mentioned in the previous slide, the Bulls have struggled with turnovers, and their middling-at best-facilitating (19th in assists per 100) hasn’t made up for those follies. This, of course, is the byproduct of placing your offense in the hands of two players who continuously struggle to make the right plays in the pick and roll.</p> <p>Both White and Zach LaVine have two of the 50 highest turnover rates per 100 possession in the league thus far, which is a problem when those two have the ball in their hands as much as they do (Tomas Satoransky, the backup point guard, would rank among the 30 highest if he qualified). Far too often, Bulls’ possessions end like this (White should’ve easily recognized that Giannis Antetokoumpo was too close for this to work)</p> <div style="width: 640px;" class="wp-video"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');</script><![endif]--> <video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-419775-1" width="640" height="360" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/01/03/chicago-bulls-five-takeaways-from-the-teams-first-six-games/2/"https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2021/01/01/0022000073/280/64d34137-158b-488f-d36d-ac2927ed394f_1280x720.mp4?_=1%22>https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2021/01/01/0022000073/280/64d34137-158b-488f-d36d-ac2927ed394f_1280x720.mp4