Bulls Update- 4/28/17

It's been a long time since my last blog post, so I'll just summarize the end of the Bulls' season and primarily discuss their performance again Boston in round 1 of the playoffs.

The Bulls finished out the end of their regular season strong, beating both the Orlando Magic and the Brooklyn Nets to clinch the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference allowing them to make the playoffs once again.  Only a few people said the Bulls would win the series against the number 1 seed Boston Celtics as the Bulls barely made the playoffs due to their poor coaching, lack of depth in their roster, and inconsistent players.

These fatal flaws were disguised in Games 1 and 2 of the series, but became evident again in Games 3, 4 , and 5. The series started out in Boston, but the Bulls were able to win both of their first two away games. They were led by their veteran starting point guard, Rajon Rondo.  He set the pace of their offense, set up many plays and was a leader on and off the court. Their All-Star small forward, Jimmy Butler also contributed to their surprising victories with 30 points in the first game and 22 points in the second game. The Celtics did not look like a number 1 seed in those games as they were dominated on the offensive boards and couldn't play solid defense.

However, the Bulls' winning streak was snapped in Game 3 as the Celtics came back and defeated the Bulls 107-84. The question is, what changed between Games 2 and Games 3? The answer is simple, Rondo got injured in Game 2 and didn't play in Game 3. Without Rondo, the Bulls continued to skid and blow their 2-0 lead by losing to the Celtics in Games 4 and 5 of the series as well. Rondo not only provides scoring and assists, but he has experience and leadership on the court that the Bulls desperately need. Rondo broke his thumb in Game 2 and had been previously playing through a wrist injury earlier in the series. With a wrist and thumb injury on his shooting hand, he is not likely return in this series.

In all three of those games, the Bulls completely lost their composure in the fourth quarter. This was especially true in Game 5, as Butler, their leading scorer, practically did nothing in the fourth quarter. Butler has been their finisher all season long, scoring a lot of points and making great plays to help the team pull out a victory. Apparently Butler has been having some knee soreness since he collided with a Celtics player in Game 4. This is very bad news for the Bulls as he is their only hope for winning Game 6 so they have a chance at winning the series in Game 7.

Another factor that has led to the Bulls losing three straight games is their head coach, Fred Hoiberg. He may have been a highly regarded coach at Iowa state, but in the NBA he is viewed as one of the worst coaches in the league.  He got their team into the playoffs somehow, so their front office will decide to keep him. However, his flaws became very clear in this playoff series. He continues to switch up lineups and the majority of the lineups he puts on the court are very ineffective and don't make any sense. Also, his inability to create plays to stimulate the Bulls' offense also has deeply wounded them. The Bulls are not a three point shooting team, since none of their players can consistently hit threes. Dwyane Wade, Rondo and Butler are not great shooters and they all drive to the basket and hit mid range shots.  Nikola Mirotic, their starting power forward is supposed to be a three point shooter, but he is so inconsistent and he cannot seem to hit wide open shots. The Bulls make up for their lack of shooting with rebounding, but they couldn't seem to get enough rebounds in the last couple games.

 It's not Hoiberg's fault that he was stuck with this roster, but having his players shoot threes, when he knows their not good shooters, is terrible coaching. He also doesn't call timeouts to readjust their plays until the Bulls are down by too many points to come back. Their strategy seems to be passing the ball to Butler and having him score himself. No other players have stepped up to assist him which is another flaw.

Dwyane Wade is a veteran and has won many championships like Rondo, so he is expected to step it up in the playoffs and carry the team to a win. Unfortunately this hasn't happened, and it may be attributed to the fact that he's 35 and can't give it all every game like he could when he was younger. Also, no other point guard can seem to step it up in Rondo's absence.

The Bulls have one more chance to redeem themselves and tie the series 3-3 if they can win Game 6 tonight. They have gone from wining the series 2-0 to being down 3-2. Butler is playing even though he has knee pain, so hopefully he isn't hindered too much by his soreness. In order for the Bulls to win tonight and push for a Game 7, Hoiberg needs to figure out his lineups and other players need to step up to assist Butler as Rondo will remain on the sidelines.

I'll provide updates soon on how the Bulls end their series with the Celtics. That's all for this week!