Chicago Bulls: What To Make Of Up-And-Down Start

The Chicago Bulls are 3-2 after five games. Here is how you should perceive their pecuilar start to the 2016-2017 season.

After the Chicago Bulls started the season 3-0 for the first time since 1996-97, then lost their last two games to drop them to 3-2. It’s only been five games, yet it’s already been a rollercoaster of a season for the Bulls.

Through the first three games, the Bulls looked like the best-case scenario and then some when the front office formed this team this summer. Jimmy Butler led the team on offense with Dwyane Wade acting as his sidekick, and Rajon Rondo dropped dimes left and right that made the Bulls’ offense look like the best in the league.

Their defense looked sharp, as well, holding teams to 101 points or fewer. Help defense negated Rondo’s gambling in the passing lanes. Plus, the new-look bench gave the second unit life that hasn’t been seen since the bench mob days early in Tom Thibodeau‘s tenure with the Bulls.

Sure, the Bulls played an injured Boston team and Indiana, who both were playing their second game of a back-to-back, and the underwhelming Brooklyn Nets, who haven’t looked terrible this year but are still not considered a great win. But they still looked sharper and better than anyone expected.

However, there were still doubts. For good reason, too. The Bulls looked sharp but had not played a full strength playoff team, and the level of play that Butler, Wade and Rondo played at was something not even general manager Gar Forman could have imagined. Still, the Bulls did something that hadn’t been done by the franchise since Michael Jordan led them, and that was reason enough to be at least a little excited about what could be in store.

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Now, the Bulls are on a two-game losing streak and have rematch with the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night. The 3-0 start seems like ancient history, new problems have arisen for the Bulls, and this time Chicago will be the team coming off a back-to-back. When looking at the Bulls’ past two games, they might have trouble this time around with the Pacers.

The last two games are what most people expected from this team. Well, besides Wade’s Stephen Curry-esque five threes against New York.

Even with Wade connecting on 5-of-7 threes against the Knicks, the Bulls only shot 34.9 percent as a team from deep over the past two games. Plus, Butler, Wade and Rondo only shot 34.8 percent from deep, and a mere 18.8 percent if you take away Wade’s insane shooting night.

Other than Nikola Mirotic, their bench has struggled to get anything going on offense over the past two games. Doug McDermott only scored six points in 26 minutes against the Knicks, and Jerian Grant was the only bench player to score more than five points outside of Mirotic against the Celtics.

The loss of Michael Carter-Williams has left a hole in the second unit that might not be able to be patched up by splitting minutes between Isaiah Canaan, Jerian Grant and Denzel Valentine.

They have all had their moments in the early season, but Carter-Williams allowed the Bulls to keep a Rondo-like guard on the floor at all times to lead their offense. With him out, the Bulls rely on a score-first guard in Canaan to run their second unit, despite Canaan thriving as a two-guard in the first couple of games.

However, the Bulls defense has been the biggest problem in the past two games. Despite Boston being without Al Horford and losing Jae Crowder for the game in the first half, Boston managed to score 107 points and shoot 47.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep.

In the fourth quarter, Isaiah Thomas, who finished with 23 points and 10 assists, got Butler into foul trouble and did whatever he wanted on offense. Thomas was able to consistently get into the lane for an easy layup or kick it out to an open shooter like Amir Johnson, who hit all four three-pointers he attempted, yet the Bulls still didn’t feel inclined to guard him.

Then, against New York, the poor perimeter defense continued and manifested into poor transition defense in the first quarter. The Knicks shot 42.9 percent from deep and scored 18 fastbreak points.

Sure, Rose’s homecoming stat line of 15 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds stands out, but it was more than just Rose showing flashbacks to what he once did at the United Center with the Bulls. From Kristaps Porzingis getting open threes to Joakim Noah getting easy baskets in the paint, Chicago allowed all five Knicks’ starters to score at least 15 points.

Putting aside the poor play from the Bulls at times in the past week, they could have been undefeated if they simply played better defense in the fourth quarter. The Bulls have their problems and aren’t the great team everyone hoped for after the first three games, but it’s not all bad.

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While it’s easy to look at a seven-point loss to a depleted Boston team and a 13-point loss to New York, who came into the game 1-3, and think the Bulls are exactly who we thought they were — an average team like last year that might sneak into the playoffs — remember that they’re still trying to find their footing after overhauling their roster this offseason.

The fact that for once in a long time there is no drama going on in the locker room is huge. It doesn’t matter how Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler truly felt about each other as teammates, the ongoing drama that the media put out there between the two players didn’t help the locker room.

This year, the bench goes crazy for every three and the non-stop passing is evidence to the chemistry on the court, which is still building between newly acquainted players.

Also, the fight that the Bulls showed the past two games is something that was non-existent last year.

After being down 86-70 to Boston with 10:41 remaining in the game, the Bulls clawed their way back to tie the game at 100 with just under two minutes left. Against the Knicks, the Bulls seemed to never be out of it until Carmelo Anthony drained a three with 50 seconds left and made it a 10-point game.

Chicago couldn’t complete either comeback, yet the never-give-up attitude is a side of the Bulls that has been missing in recent years and something the Windy City loves. It’s what won the Chicago Cubs a World Series, and is what will keep the Bulls from becoming the dreadful product that they became last season.

Next: Ten Players Exceeding Expectations Early in 2016-17

The Bulls aren’t going to win a championship, or even make it to the NBA Finals, but Chicago basketball is fun again. That makes the roller coaster season that Bulls’ fans are about to embark on more manageable than a team that rolls over at the first sign of adversity.