1. Experience under their belt
Yes, the Bulls were a difficult team to watch for a good majority of the 2017-18 campaign. In fact, the team produced losing streaks of at least five games on five separate occasions.
Bearing that in mind, few people were surprised when Chicago finished near the bottom of the league in several defensive categories, including points allowed per game (27th); defensive rating (24th) and opponent field goal percentage (27th).
Needless to say, those numbers were unacceptable for a ball club that was one of the top-five defensive teams in the NBA under the previous coaching regime. It was because of the team’s ineptitude at the end of floor that led to several early season losses, as Chicago struggled to put its opponents away despite holding sizable leads late in those games.
The good news is with a year of experience under Hoiberg’s belt, this squad knows what it takes to put teams away when they have them on the ropes. In other words, the Bulls should win a lot of the games they lost last season.
These factors, combined with the fact that the East is now wide open thanks to LeBron James‘ departure to the Los Angeles Lakers, should translate into the Bulls grabbing one of the lower seeds in the conference playoff race.