The Bulls Defense Is About To Be Tested and Other Bulls Bullets

Elias Schuster

Dec 27, 2019

Chicago Bulls

Is it just me, or has every day this week has just kind of felt like Friday?

The holidays will do that to you.

Bullets time!

Bulls Offensive Rating: 103.5 (30th) … Bulls Defensive Rating: 105.0 (9th)

There's no denying the Bulls have been more competitive this month. But this team won't reach its goals without marked offensive improvements.@KCJHoop on the unit's quest to catch up: https://t.co/hW5AIK6zhL
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 27, 2019

NBC Sports Chicago fairly wonders whether the Bulls offense will ever catch up to their defense this season, but if it does, it’s most likely to be because the two met somewhere in the middle. Indeed, the Bulls surprisingly high defensive rating this season may not be a fluke (so I’m not expecting any sort of massive drop off), but it hasn’t quite been tested night in and night out against the best of the best just yet. It will soon, though.

After Saturday’s game, Chicago will play three of the top-5 NBA offenses (Bucks, Mavericks, Celtics) in a four-game stretch. Not to mention, with the schedule becoming one of the hardest in the Eastern Conference in the new year, it’s tough to imagine the Bulls defense staying within the top-10. Then again, if they do, they’ll have earned some legitimate credit.

The Bulls offense would have to see a major improvement to start working its way up the rankings. While the Bulls have been a tad better recently shooting the basketball and hold a 6-6 record this month, their offensive rating is only ranked 28th during the month of December. Reading NBCSC’s piece, fixing the offense is certainly on Jim Boylen and his players’ minds, but it’s hard to picture a fix that can turn things around. Although, if this team wants to keep talking playoffs (which Boylen and LaVine comment on at the end of the story), turning around the offense is a must.

Forbes’ contributor Jason Patt talked about the Bulls’ competition for the 8th seed. While talking about the playoffs feels like playing tennis with a racket that has a giant hole in the middle of it, the Bulls are right in the mix of teams fighting for a spot. Again, the tough schedule could change this quickly, but for now, the Magic nor Pistons are proving to be anything special.

Hutch is running. That’s about all we got.

Chandler Hutchison ran but didn’t participate in contact portion of practice.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 26, 2019

THAT’S SO MAGIC, BRO.

https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1210316793778233344?s=20

JUST DON’T CUT IT!

New look for Coby? #Bulls pic.twitter.com/bQmaGRlB7m

— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHBulls) December 26, 2019

It may not be the hot topic you want, but it’s the one you get. Kris Dunn has proven to be a defensive anchor any team would love to have, but that doesn’t mean just any team is going to trade for him. If the Bulls don’t send him off somewhere else by the deadline, an extension might very well be the best choice.

If They’re Not Going To Trade Him, Should the Bulls Consider an Extension for Kris Dunn?https://t.co/oCO6MPFCqW

— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) December 26, 2019

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott – Zach LaVine (probably)

Leaders in Field Goals Missed

James Harden – 416
Bradley Beal – 359
Trae Young – 358
Donovan Mitchell – 340
Russell Westbrook – 336
Zach LaVine – 336
CJ McCollum – 329
Devonte Graham – 320
Buddy Hield – 315
LeBron James – 309

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) December 26, 2019

The Daily Herald’s Mike McGraw talked about the Bulls’ camaraderie, and we got this hilarious quote from Boylen: “The thing I like about our group is in the meal room on the road there’s eight or 10 of them who sit at the same table and they just talk and they laugh. I just sit there and listen to them and watch them. It’s awesome …” Oh, boy(len). Is it just me, or does it totally sound like Boylen is not at the cool kids’ table, but thinks he is?

“One time during practice, Sato told me if the ball is bigger then my face, I’ll be the Bulls head coach forever. I put it up by my face to check, and then Denzel came over and just smacked the ball right into my nose. Awesome. So funny. Pax is paying for the medical bills. Gotta love the camaraderie on this team. So close.”

THE WORM’S BIG DAY!

Rebound king. On this day in #Bulls history in 1997, Dennis Rodman collected 29 rebounds — a record for most ever in a game at the UC — in a 97-90 win over Atlanta.
Presented by @BudweiserUSA #ThisBudsForYou #LegendaryMoments pic.twitter.com/owoXnZqYSV

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 27, 2019

Don’t show the post-up truthers this!

a righteous, all-time coaching rant from Rick Carlisle reacting to the TNT broadcast's criticism of Porzingis includes him calling KP's offense "pretty fucking cool to me" pic.twitter.com/cYLE8IXO75
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) December 27, 2019

Rick Carlisle is so great. I’m having head coach envy.

Rick Carlisle sent a post-midnight text to several reporters to note a piece of NBA history. pic.twitter.com/lSFjTxiHUe

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 27, 2019

written by

Elias Schuster

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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The Bulls Defense Is About To Be Tested and Other Bulls Bullets

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