The Bulls are struggling as of late losing their fifth straight game on Monday. It is valid to put some of the blame on the injuries or tough schedule, but if you want to be the best, it’s time to stop making excuses. There are three things Billy Donovan and company can learn from this experience and use to help the team in the future.
Bulls Bigs Should Not Play Together
The Bulls have experimented playing newly acquired big man Tristan Thompson alongside Nikola Vucevic to add size. In theory, this makes some sense. Two big men lineups have been working around the league as the Cavaliers and Celtics have found success. The difference with those teams is that they want to play in the half-court as they rank 24th and 25th in pace. This style of play is not the Bull’s MO. They want to advance the ball quickly and attack the defense before it’s set. So when the Bulls decide to play Thompson and Vuc together, they lose that identity. They don’t know how to run the offense with these two either as driving lanes become clogged for the “Slash Brothers”. I see the philosophy defensively, but it also creates as many problems. It is difficult for two big men to stick with their man when getting back in transition. Many times you find yourself crossmatched and get a big on a small. The Bulls, especially without Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, are not a strong defensive unit. It’s simply adding fuel to the fire when Tristan Thompson is on Trae Young to start a possession.
Bulls P&R Defense
Guards like Caruso and Ball can mask many flaws, and the pick and roll was one of them. Bulls’ guards now need more help from their bigs to hedge higher to slow them down to give them time to get back in the play. The Bulls have been doing this with Tristan Thompson, but Vucevic has been playing drop coverage. When he was in the game, the Grizzlies were attacking him because it allowed Ja Morant to get ahead of steam before a defender even made contact with him. Vucevic has to start coming higher initially, slowing down the ball handler and trusting his backside help. It would also help if Billy Donovan switched up coverages at times. The Bulls should start blitzing (double-teaming) the pick and roll at times to get the ball out of the hot hand and make someone else beat them.
Bulls Finding the Cutters
While the Bulls are a dangerous isolation team scoring 1.04 PPP (most in NBA), it’s still not an ideal offense. Good defenses know how to load up and throw multiple defenders at a player to make them uncomfortable. That is why the Bulls are struggling to score against these great defenses. The Bulls are averaging the ninth most points per game, but that number drops incredibly when they play the best of the best. That is why their record is so poor against the top teams. There are a few areas the Bulls get away from against these great teams. First of all, Vucevic needs to be rolling to the rim and not settling for threes early. He is a two-time All-Star because he is excellent with his back to the basket. The Bulls also need movement off the ball. Moving without the ball will help make this high-volume dribble handoff, space it out offense thrive. Just as guilty, if not more so, is the ball-handlers’ need to find these guys. When Lonzo Ball is in the game, guys move with a purpose. They know there is always a chance they are getting the ball. The same can’t be said about Ayo Dosunmu, Zach LaVine, and others who are not making those reads. The Bulls need to adjust and adapt to add that dimension of the offense back in order to burn the elite defenses.
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