NEWSLETTER
The Bulls allowed 44 three-point attempts on Wednesday, and the Hornets sank a franchise-record 23 of them. For a team pegged as second-worst in the league in NBA.com’s Week 1 Power Rankings (the Hornets), that’s a pretty solid start. For the team playing them (the Bulls) … not so much.
Some want to say the Hornets got lucky with all those threes – and maybe there’s something there – but others see it as more troublesome. Unfortunatly, the behind-the-scenes numbers lead us to some compelling, but confusing conclusions:
And 3-point FG% defense is luck more than anything, but it certainly helps to limit the actual number of attempts, and try to make opponents uncomfortable on them. Really slow rotations and few adjustments throughout.
— Mark Strotman (@markstrot) October 24, 2019
For any team to shoot 52 percent from behind the arc and break a franchise-record, there has to be some luck involved. Also, the Hornets simply did shoot well, so they do deserve some credit.
However, the Hornets were able to get into a groove because of the Bulls’ poor defensive efforts. The team lagged in transition, leading to easy looks and quick points. Chicago also failed to close out time and time again, looking lost and crowding the middle.
Regardless of luck or poor execution, it’s the Bulls’ job to make sure it doesn’t happen again tonight, when the Bulls take on the Memphis Grizzlies (one of the rare squads over which they’ve recently had an advantage):
The Grizzlies were one of two teams (Phoenix) the Bulls swept the season series from last season (2-0).
Pregame for Bulls/Grizzlies begins at 6:45 tonight on @670TheScore.
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) October 25, 2019
Fortunately, the issues we saw defensively in the first game should be a relatively easy fix. The issues rotating and closing out will clearly show up in film, so this serves as a great opportunity to see how well the coaching staff can confront noticeable problems.
Moreover, while the Grizzlies may hike up more three-point attempts than they would have after watching the Bulls poor showing against the Hornets, that just isn’t their game. With Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. leading the way, expect the Grizzlies to be pounding the paint more than anything else – I’m looking at you Wendell Carter Jr….Get that swatter ready.
Ultimately, tonight’s matchup will be more telling for the Bulls transition defense than the defense along the perimeter. The Grizzlies have a new pep in their step, and the team saw the second-biggest jump in PACE per 48 minutes from last season to the preseason, per NBA.com. Get back. Get to your spot. Stay on your man. Let’s hope we see it.
