NEWSLETTER
This game felt like exactly how we thought the Bulls might be this season.
The defense was very spotty at times. The turnovers just seemed to be endless, especially in the second half. Zach LaVine looked really good for the most part. Josh Giddey gave us his full experience. They tried to play faster, though at times didn’t push the ball enough. They tried shooting more threes at least in the first half, but outside of LaVine, no one could really hit them consistently
After a few fun runs and highlight-reel moments, the bad defense and turnovers ultimately cost the Bulls in their season opener.
The first half was a lot of fun, but it was mostly because of Zach LaVine. #8 was perfect from three in the first half going 5-for-5. He was explosive, confident, and looked like an All-Star. I think the biggest positive from tonight might be that LaVine looked like his old self. He’s the Ankin Law “Making it Personal” Player of the Game.
But that’s also the problem with what we saw tonight. Outside of LaVine, no one was overly impressive. At least not anyone we would like to consider as potential core members of this rebuild. Coby White had a bad night shooting the ball and he had four turnovers. He finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. So at least if he wasn’t hitting shots he was grabbing boards and finding ways to be productive, but at the same time, the turnovers really hurt.
Josh Giddey as mentioned above was just about every bit as advertised. He did have 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting which isn’t too bad for him. But he also turned the ball over three times (it felt like more) and was pretty brutal defensively finishing as a -22.
So after the roller coaster of a first half, thanks to LaVine’s effort the Bulls found themselves down by only one point. But in the third quarter, New Orleans came out firing and took advantage of the Bulls’ turnover issues. Chicago committed 12 of them in the second half and 21 total for the game. A 36-25 quarter gave them a 12-point advantage heading into the final frame and Chicago never really did threaten to make it a game after that.
Tonight was a reminder that this season might be a long one. As I mentioned above, it seemed as if every issue that we were worried about was magnified.
Josh Giddey was all over the place. Coby White had a brutal night shooting the ball. Patrick Williams looked like the same head-scratching version of himself we’ve seen for the majority of his time in a Bulls uniform. Matas Buzelis played less than five minutes (though he wasn’t afraid to get open shots up). The team went just 10-for-34 (29%) from three, and if you remove LaVine’s 5-for-8 performance they were just 5-for-26 (19%). Several of our biggest concerns heading into this campaign seemed like they were smothered with a highlighter and glitter.
If we’re looking at positives, again the first one is obviously Zach LaVine. If he plays like this consistently, someone will want him, and he’d be perfect for the Lakers. Jalen Smith I thought was impressive off the bench with 15 points in 17 minutes in addition to five rebounds. Lonzo Ball played just a shade under 14 minutes in this one, but I thought he looked pretty good finishing with 5 points and four assists including a sick alley-oop lob to LaVine.
All in all, it wasn’t a great night to kick off the new season. Having said all of that, Chicago is still trying to break in a new offense. They’re trying to play a new style of basketball. The worst thing they can do is revert back to what was comfortable last year and settle back into an old system that we know doesn’t work. Friday night in Milwaukee, keep pushing the ball. Keep shooting threes. Try to clean things up defensively and let’s keep working on correctable issues.
At least things get a little easier coming up with…a back-to-back against Milwaukee and OKC!
One down, 81 to go!
Bulls vs Pelicans Final Box Score
