Where The Chicago Bulls Are At Right Now

Oh, the month of January. The time after the holidays where its the new year and a new start, so its exciting for a lot of people.

For basketball players, this time of year is probably the exact opposite.

Considered by many to be the “dog days” of the season, January is right in the middle of the schedule where games seem to just pile together and team work ethic and effort can go south in a hurry.

Teams in the NBA tend to struggle during this month, while others will see those struggles and capitalize on them, as the Atlanta Hawks have seemed to do, winning 27 of their last 29 games on pace to finish with over 60 wins on the season.

The Chicago Bulls, a preseason favorite in the Eastern Conference of analysts and fans alike, have regressed and seemed to have lost a lot of the fight they usually have.

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Being called soft is something that any professional athlete usually hates more than anything, but I can’t help in thinking that’s the appropriate word for the Bulls right now.

They’ve simply gone soft, losing six of their last eight games, and three of those losses were by double digits, including their most recent debacle against the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night in which they were beaten by a final score of 108-94.

In their game against Cleveland, the Bulls looked as if they didn’t have any fight in them, not playing the kind of intense defense that head coach Tom Thibodeau has required his players to put into practice. Offensively, the team was most certainly sluggish, only having 12 total team assists on the night.

The Bulls did not come out and move the ball well in the half court and didn’t put in enough effort in the transition game either.

Anytime a team comes out and doesn’t pass the ball effectively, instead relying upon constant isolation scoring, there’s going to be missed shots and opportunities, a big reason why Chicago only shot 37.5 percent on the night.

In fact, over this eight-game stretch the Bulls are only shooting 44.4 percent from the field, which may be good for some teams, but not up to par for an experienced team in Chicago that currently has the ninth-best offense in the entire league in terms of points per game.

The losing hasn’t gone over well for key members of the team, including coach Thibodeau and point guard Derrick Rose. Thibodeau cancelled practice on Tuesday, and Rose came out and voiced his frustration after the Cleveland loss.

“Everybody has to be on the same page,” Rose said. “Until then, we’re going to continue to get our ass kicked.”

Telling words from a player who has had his own problems in this first half of the season. Rose has been a shell of his old self ever since he suffered both of his debilitating long-term injuries, but he has been able to play in a good number of games for the Bulls this season, and it’s clear that he hates losing, no matter who’s fault it is.

With regards to Thibodeau canceling practice, that is not something the coach has done in the past. Thibs has been known to push his players to the absolute max, and preach relentless effort both in games and on the practice court. Him making this move means there could be a real disconnect between himself and the team here.

Or this could just be another slump that every team seems to go through.

All in all, I wouldn’t be too concerned about the Bulls going forward. Everyone goes through growing pains at some point in the season, this may be where Chicago has to look in the mirror and determine what kind of team its going to be moving forward.

This group is full of talented and experienced players who have been here before and know how to deal with the pressure that comes with being a championship contender. Things may seem bad now, but they will get better soon.

This Bulls team has a big run in them somewhere, and it will make it self apparent sooner rather than later. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the Bulls in recent years, it’s that they don’t give up no matter what is placed in front of them. They will overcome adversity and make the most of their bad situations. That’s perseverance at its finest, right?

*Statistics and quotes courtesy of ESPN and Basketball-Reference.