Chicago Bulls: Five takeaways from the team’s first six games

5. The defense is terrible

Saying that the Bulls play matador defense would be an insult to matadors, and a bit of a lazy mangled metaphor.

Much was made about Chicago switching to a more conservative defensive scheme under Billy Donovan, particularly as it pertained to how they planned to defend pick and rolls. Swapping out heavy blitzes and hedges for more drop coverage, Bulls fans and players welcomed the change, but these early games have shown that the personnel matters as much as the scheme.

With Kris Dunn and Shaquille Harrison no longer on the roster, the team saw their “dependable defenders” list reduced to nothing outside of Otto Porter Jr. and maybe Patrick Williams, and the results have reflected that so far. Chicago’s defensive rating is 5.5 points per 100 possessions worse than the league average. Specifically, that revamped pick and roll defense is ranked 27th in opponent’s points per possession (PPP).

To be fair, two of those troubling defensive performances came against the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks — the two best offensive teams in the NBA so far — and faulting the Bulls for failing to slow those teams down seems a bit unfair given that most teams will struggle to solve those quagmires this year.

That said, if the Bulls want to show that these early numbers are merely a consequence of facing good offenses, they must cut down on the 3-pointers they allow (19th in opponent’s 3-point attempt rate) and clean up how they defend ball screens.