Time Is a Flat Circle and Other Bulls Bullets
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- Raise your hand if you were confident the Bulls would win after going up 26 points last night? I’m going to go ahead and assume nobody raised their hand, because I can’t see you through your screen (… or can I!?). Not one ounce of me felt comfortable about a Bulls victory last night, even when the team headed into the locker room with an impressive 68-49 advantage at the half. I can sit here and yap about how the Bulls were playing their best basketball of the season in the first half, but the reality is, it doesn’t matter. As long as time is a flat circle, the Bulls will experience the same outcome night in and night out.
The Bulls finished with 38 second-half points after scoring 37 in the first quarter.
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) December 17, 2019
- A look at the Bulls “we’re the most unclutch team in the NBA” resume at the 29-game mark.
#Bulls’ meltdowns:
at Hornets: blow 10-pt lead in final 5:04
at Knicks: blow 8-pt lead in final 3:11
vs. Lakers: blow 13-pt lead in final 11:46
vs. Warriors: blow 9-pt lead in final 11:04
vs. Raptors: blow 8-pt lead in final 6:02
at Thunder: blow 26-pt 1st-half lead
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) December 17, 2019
- The inconsistency is shocking and comprehensible all at the time … especially when Jim Boylen is your head coach. During the offseason, I gave this team a fair shake (as many did across the NBA landscape). Off the court, he dusted off his reputation a bit by visiting players across the world and having those players speak favorably of him. That said, I always made sure to reference his in-game coaching capabilities as a MAJOR question mark. And since that in-game coaching has started up, he’s managed to, once again, cover his reputation in bull–uh–crap. Disgusting.
- Against the Thunder, Boylen mismanaged the heck out of the second half. The head coach shorthanded himself by dumping his timeouts quickly, leaving himself with none in the final 1:22. He also pulled an extremely bizarre move by taking Wendell Carter Jr. (the team’s best rebounder) out of the game for Coby White on Steven Adam’s final set of free throws. Adam missed the shot, and OKC recovered the offensive rebound. Ridiculous.
Critical play: Boylen pulled Carter for White before this FT. Carter likely would have been on the block vs. Schroder instead of LaVine.
This is another reason why you don't burn all your TOs w/ 1:22 left. Could have made offense/defense subs and advanced the ball with a TO. pic.twitter.com/x664Pr0yVE
— Stephen Noh (@StephNoh) December 17, 2019
- The players can’t blow a 26-point lead, but when the man in charge is this naive when push comes to shove, how can we truly expect the players to be any different?
- Thanks for reminding me, Zach.
Chris Paul absolutely destroyed the Bulls in the second half tonight. So much classic CP — 3s over bigs on switches, steals in the back-court, rip-throughs in the bonus.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) December 17, 2019
- Chris Paul scored 19 points in the 4th quarter on 5/5 shooting from behind the arc. That’s all I’ll say about it.
- Is it time to talk trades? The Athletic’s Stephen Noh outlined the reasonable trade pieces for the Bulls this season. If things continue on this course, it’s fair to wonder if some of these veteran players should be shipped off in return for draft picks. I don’t really trust this front office to pull off the appropriate transactions, but it may be worth giving it a shot.
- Yay … woohoo … congrats.
The Bulls 17 steals tonight were the most by any team in an NBA game this season.
Nine Bulls had at least one steal, led by Kris Dunn and Tomas Satoransky who had 3 each.
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) December 17, 2019
- ALSO, I’M STILL HEATED OVER THIS BEING A FOUL ON WENDELL!?
Wendell Carter Jr. is called for a foul during a jump ball. The coach's challenge clearly shows Adams committing the foul, but the call on the floor is allowed to stand. pic.twitter.com/N6W9Bibydw
— The Render (@TheRenderNBA2) December 17, 2019
- The refs sucked last night. No excuse for losing that game, but wow those refs were an utter disaster.
- Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. posed for a picture with Chris Paul after last night’s game. I’ll admit, I understand the frustration that surfaced right away on social media about this, but it all kind of goes back to being bigger than basketball. Both players have some kind of outside relationship with Paul, and White’s brother made sure to remind folks of that on his Twitter after the game. If you need any background on that whole thing, check out NBC Sports Chicago’s article here.
After Monday night's 109-106 loss to the Thunder, Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. were criticized for taking a picture with Chris Paul.
White's brother came to their defense: https://t.co/5a3ubpds00
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 17, 2019
- It’s becoming harder and harder to be excited about these LaVine performances.
ZACH ATTACK!
39 PTS (15-25 FG)His 6th game this season with 35+ points. pic.twitter.com/FdguAYPpM8
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 17, 2019
- This. Face.
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) December 17, 2019