Bulls Defense Lackluster at Best

It seems as far away as #23 and 33 roamed the court that the Bulls were known as a defensive team. Yet just 3 years ago, the Bulls were among the best in the East at stopping teams.

Much of the core of this team is still there yet the Charlotte Bobcats, yes the CHARLOTTE BOBCATS shot 48.7% from the field against the Bulls and won the contest.

So what happened?

The problems with this Bulls team started before the game. The Bulls clearly do not understand their opponents roster. For instance, Raja Bell is a notorious three point shooter, yet Ben Gordon consistently left him to help out on Raymond Felton, yes Raymond Felt. Bell Finished the first half with 18 points shooting 100% from downtown and 7-11 for the game.

Gordon was forced to help on dribble penetration as Derek Rose could not stop Felton who went
6-11 from the field and 5-5 from the line. He added 9 dimes along the way. Derek has a lot to learn on that end of the court and Bulls fans will have to be patient with the young rookie, but it is difficult to see players such as Felton run up the scoring numbers against the Bulls.

We cannot lay blame on the Rookie though as the coaches put him in tough situations.
The Bulls did not press while trailing in the 4th quarter allowing the Bobcats to walk the ball up and down the court using clock and finishing with high percentage shots. The Larry Brown style of basketball would be a welcome change in a lost Chicago system. Yet any new system would be welcome....

Either way, the Bulls could use some coaching help. We see too many awful stretches of basketball with Ben taking early shots outside the flow of the offense leading to transition buckets on the other end. Plays like this deflate teams and occur too much in this system.

Though early shots become necessary when the Bulls become lacadazial on offense and out of control. The Bulls lost the ball 17 times, 5 of which were on Ben. With 5:00 to go in the 4th the Bulls may have still been in the game. On that possession they had 3 tries on 2 offensive rebounds, both off missed Ben Gordon 3pointers, on the third possession for the price of one, Ben Gordon threw the ball away and Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas looked deflated their efforts went unawarded. The Bobcats went down the court and scored and the next possession when desperately needing a counter, Ben Gordon pulled up and missed the shot. The Bulls were down 14 before they knew it.

The Bulls were outplayed but more importantly outcoached. The 2-3 zone did not work and the Bobcats shot nearly 50%. The Bulls only played 2 quarters in this game, the first and the fourth and it was not enough to win. I am for all being patient with a rookie guard, but can we do the same with a rookie coach? We are talking about the Chicago Bulls. If we're going to have a rookie coach, why not Stacey King? The man does know what to do every step of the game...