The Bulls loss felt like when my kindergarten girlfriend dumped me. I was sad for about 10 minutes, but then I remembered I had some new Legos at home, and I was all good.
So as the anger subsides for you, let’s talk about it.
In many ways, I feel like if we didn’t see the Bulls in the preseason, last night’s loss to the Hornets wouldn’t have stung (cheap pun intended) quite as much. Think about it this way: what did we actually see? Well, we saw the team put up 125 points, throw up 30 three-pointers, and have Lauri Markkanen post a historic Bulls opening-night stat line (35 points, 17 rebounds). We also saw the Bulls outscore the Hornets 78-42 in the paint.
Oh, and Coby White absolutely balled-out in his first real NBA game (look at those assists!).
Coby White has 17 points and 7 assists tonight. The last Bull to record 15 and 5 in his career debut was another UNC guard: Michael Jordan.
Now, what didn’t we see? A powerful Zach LaVine, three-point makes (9-30), efficient Otto Porter, good perimeter defense, and good transition defense. Fortunately, I think we can all agree those first three things aren’t anything to worry about just yet, but those last two are certainly scary. I was already worried about how the Bulls would compete on defense, and last night’s effort sure didn’t help. As of now, only Kris Dunn and (maybe) Wendell Carter Jr. look to be the two reliable players on the defensive end … everyone else looks lost.
On 39 of the Hornets' 44 3-pointers last night, the Bulls' closest defender was at least 4 feet away (the NBA considers that "open"). They shot 51% on those attempts.
20 of those were "wide open," meaning the closest defender was 6+ feet away.
Go ahead and watch the highlights, practically every time the Hornets knock down a three-ball, a Bulls player is nowhere in sight. It all starts with the poor transition defense, when the only solid play came via a chase-down block from Satoransky (which was awesome). Don’t you dare let Boylen hear me say this, but I feel like the Bulls lacked hustle? At times, players just didn’t fill their lane appropriately and it allowed for some quick, easy makes. With the Hornets’ confidence up, and the Bulls confusion rotating/inability to close out, it rained three’s in the Spectrum Center.
NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson gave his biggest takeaways from the game, and I think a quote from Markkanen in there describes the Bulls’ problem well: “I don’t think we contested shots well enough. And transition defense hurt us. We didn’t communicate the way we want to so they got a couple of open looks and they definitely got comfortable. And then it didn’t matter even if our hands were up. They were making shots. Twenty-three 3s is way too many.”
A lot of good notes from The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry on the loss, so check it out. In the post, he shares LaVine’s and Jim Boylen’s thoughts on the team’s final possession when they were down three with a chance to tie. The Bulls still had 11.3 seconds on the clock, and with a team (supposedly) full of shooters, LaVine ended up driving to the basket and settled for the two with 4.5 seconds left. Ugh. Why?
That's a bad decision by Zach LaVine to take the easy 2 with 4.5 seconds left. The #Bulls don't have a timeout left, so they won't get nearly as good of a look at a 3.
LaVine said after the game “he had to get something,” and I totally agree … if that something is a three. As bad as we suspect the Hornets will be, they weren’t going to foul LaVine at the rim for the + 1, and even Jim Boylen said he was hoping LaVine would kick out or take the shot himself. Considering the whole game felt like an off night for LaVine, I’m not going to pick it apart too much, but the decision making has to be better there.
Coby White – 17 points, 7 assists. Certified Baller (I don’t care it’s only one game, he gets the certification). The rookie is looking GOOD. I know it’s early, but if it’s a close game like this, why not have him on the floor in the final minutes? I suppose his defense and inexperience are a point of concern, but he’s a legitimate scoring threat. Eventually, we’ll be seeing it, but I wonder when? And who sits out?
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
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