The Chicago Bulls Have Run Into the Math Problem….Again

The Chicago Bulls Have Run Into the Math Problem….Again

That was a brutal game to watch a game in which the Bulls dug themselves into a big hole early giving up way too many Second Chance points not hustling for the boards and then not closing out on the shooters which the Cavs have a lot

Of them I won’t lie I didn’t have the Bulls winning this game just because they don’t match up well against this team and the Bulls have been playing a lot of games recently four games and six nights traveling back toback and so I kind of assume the Bulls weren’t going

To be coming away with a win in this game but just when I was about to write this game off and giving it no the Bulls miraculously went on this in insane 21-3 run in the third quarter with a lineup of Drummond and vich playing together we

Saw vuich and Drummond play together all but once one time last season and it was a disaster with the paint being clogged and a slow flowing offense I don’t remember how many minutes they played together in that one instance but it wasn’t much tonight though Billy Donovan

Switches it up puts Andre Drummond and bvic together and they go a plus 18 in their time together in the first and the third quarter playing six minutes the Bulls more or less took the second chance opportunities away from the Cavs by having both Drummond and vich out

There they essentially let Drummond hang around the dunker spot to ensure they could get every rebound that they could but the problem though is after that 21-3 run and the vich and Drummond experiment actually working all that hard work and effort and getting back into the game and potentially stealing a

Win in Cleveland the Bulls had very poor execution on the stretch they started giving up offensive rebounds yet again they didn’t hustle back in transition too many defensive miscues that allowed the Cavs to get open looks from three and so in game which they were able to

Come back and take the lead evaporated in a hurry down the stretch with the Cavs more or less ending the game in a blowout now there were a few things I want to call out and it goes back to this math problem we sometimes talk about which to be fair hasn’t been as

Much of a discussion more recently with the bulls and their Resurgence if you still want to call it that but the last four or five games or so it’s been resurfacing even in the games that they’ve won to the point where you have to be a bit concerned if you’re the

Bulls and why making moves at the deadline are all the more critical I mean we’ve been talking about about the Bulls giving up way too many offensive rebounds that’s been the case for the past few games so in this case not getting enough defensive rebounds the Bulls currently rank 22nd in defensive

Rebound so far the season and when you’re giving up so many Second Chance opportunities and in this instance of tonight the Cavs had 30 second chance points in total a lot of those being threes and when you look at the numbers as a team and how they stack up against

The Cavs the Cavs had 12 more shots than the Bulls did in total the Cavs put up a whopping 57 threes in this game made 20 of them compared to the Bulls nine three-pointers made that discrepancy alone is a 33-point difference but as much as that end of itself is a problem

When your opponent is able to get that many more threes than you the bigger problem is the Bull’s inability to generate enough possessions in a game so many possessions for the Bulls were one and done in this one the Bulls remain dead last in the NBA in Pace at 96

Possessions per 48 minutes and granted the Bulls have improved a lot in their ability to generate better offense and get shots up more quickly but in the game of basketball it’s really hard to win win games consistently when your opponent gets so many more possessions than you do that’s the math problem

That’s what they should be looking at when going into the trade deadline is how do we ensure we’re keeping up with our opponent and getting more possessions than them more shot attempts than them and crashing the glass better than they are like the Bulls this season have one games close games when they’re

Taking far less shots than their opponent and playing with much slower Pace than their opponent to be honest it’s a miracle they’re even able to win those types of games because it requires the Bulls to be so efficient on every possession knocking down their shots and

Not turning the ball over and tonight it almost worked it almost worked for a period of time when they made that comeback but the Bulls got a little too sloppy on offense they turned the ball over way too many times 18 turnovers in total tonight some of them really

Careless unforced turnovers they weren’t able to shoot the ball consistently well they would fly down the court and transition and couldn’t get a shut up before the Cavs could get their defense set again and it cost them the game now the Cavs to their credit they are one of

The better defensive teams in the NBA and they were solid tonight in hounding guys like the mar Rosen and Zack LaVine so naturally this is going to be a game where it’s not going to be easy to be efficient on offense against a team like the caps but regardless the math

Problems still exists the Bulls more or less have to be perfect to win games when they’re allowing their opponent to get significantly more possessions than they do and More Shot attempts Zach was actually decent in this game despite getting double teamed a lot in this one

17 points on seven for 14 shooting three for six from three and then vich was decent as well 17 points 10 rebounds four assists but really really struggled shooting it from outside vuvi has been horrible from the three-point line this season at just 27% and was 1 for seven

Tonight from behind the arc I mean what a difference this team would be if vuvi was able to get back to 40% that he was shooting from three when the Bulls traded for him that would be nice but I think the bigger surprise was demard de Rosen really being a non-factor on

Offense for the Bulls mainly because the Cavs locked him up and deterred his ability to get good looks only six points tonight for Demar de Rosen only took eight shots didn’t get to the foul line once in this game a very unar characteristic game for Demar to Rosen

And usually in these types of scenarios in which Demar isn’t able to get shots up he’s been much more differential in passing the ball but only three assists tonight as well and then Kobe white I mean despite leading the Bulls and scoring tonight with 18 points he really

Struggled to find a shot was five for 15 from the floor one for five from three he did a good job at getting the free throw line though but also had seven turnovers for Kobe which I believe is a season high for him also uncharacteristic for Kobe who has been

So good at taking care of the ball this season despite his high usage and some of the turnovers were just silly ones with him stepping out of bounds on a catch uh Andre Drummond a solid game for him very impactful in helping spark that run in the third quarter eight points 10

Rebounds two Steals and two blocks very active energetic quick hands I mean Drummond and Caruso were really the only players I saw tonight that we giving maximum effort I don’t know what it was I’m sure fatigue is setting in as we hit the dog days of the season in January

But given how much the Bulls have improved their effort and hustle on the court to see them out there looking a little lethargic and indifferent and not as engag was a little concerning to me again I hope it’s just because the Bulls have been hit with a tough schedule in

Terms of the number of games not necessarily their opponent but just the compressed number of games and travel and that’s why we’re seeing them look a little fatigued out there but the good news is the Bulls are going to be getting a lot of days off coming up

They’re off until Thursday where they’ll take on the Raptors in Toronto and then the Bulls only have four games between now and January 25th which is the following Thursday so a good amount of time and rest before they get closer to the trade deadline hopefully we see some

Moves being made between now and then I’ll obviously keep you guys posted with any breaking news on trades as they come through I am curious though and I want to hear your answers in the comments on this do you think the Bulls will stand Pat at the deadline after all this hubub

About making changes do you see a repeat of the last trade deadlines two trade deadlines let me know in the comments as always be sure to subscribe and I’ll see you in the next one

Recapping and reacting to the Bulls loss vs the Cavs

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