The Bulls have played their ninth game of the season. They now have a record of 4-5 after falling to the Sacramento Kings 124-128. G Coby White had a career-high of 36 points, but the defense has been so bad that it’s near impossible for the offense to save them. The Bulls are giving up an average of 120.6 points per game, making them the team to give up the second-most points in the NBA. The only team to give up more points this season are the Washington Wizards.
The Bulls can’t play this kind of defense and hope to make the playoffs. The ten teams which have given the most amount of points are all at or below .500. Even though the league is focused more on offense than any time in NBA history, you still have to play some defense to be a winning team. The Bulls’ have a top ten offense, scoring 115 points per game despite one of their key offensive contributors F Lauri Markkanen being out for the past four games due to the COVID-19 protocols. This team can score; the defense just needs to tighten up for the tides to turn.
I think this team could do right now is sub out F/C Wendell Carter Jr for F/C Daniel Gafford. Gafford has a better defensive mindset. I understand that Carter was a top 10 draft pick, and the Bulls want to get their money’s worth on the court, but it seems that he is more preoccupied with missing 3pt shots than anything else. In my opinion, he needs to get benched. Gafford would provide the toughness this team lacks and maybe even light a fire in Carter and nudge the best out of him going forward.
Head coach Billy Donovan had an extremely tough job when coming to the Bulls. He will have to break everybody out of whatever habits former head coach Jim Boylan had them accustomed to before being able to rebuild. I knew this would take some time, but nine games in, I wouldn’t have guessed this defense would be this bad. There have been some glimpses of progress.
The game against the Portland Trail Blazers this past Tuesday was a great game overall for the Bulls. They gave up 39 points in the first quarter in what looked like another defenseless night. But over the last three-quarters, they held the Blazers to 69 points and came back to win 111-108. The Bulls looked like they were starting to understand the effort needed and the value of playing defense. It was a great victory even though they came right back the next night and gave up 128 points to the Kings. Baby steps.
I know Bulls fans are sick of losing, but this team will require patience while Donovan’s defensive system gets going. Without a doubt, this team can score, and I don’t think that will stop. Even now, with one of the worst defenses, they are contenders. If the Bulls start playing even a little bit of defense to match the offense, I think they have a great chance at the playoffs.