The Bulls are 14 games into the NBA season and have a record of 6-8. They’ve lost four of their last five and look sluggish on the court. For a team that was supposed to use their offense to win games, they have already been held under 110 points seven times in this young season. That has brought their average points per game to 110.8. The offense looks flat and needs a spark. The Bulls will be coming off three days of rest when they play at the Pelicans on the 16th. They need to work on these three things to get things moving in the right direction.
1.Turnovers.
The biggest reason the Bull’s offense can’t get going is turnovers. They turn the ball over 15.2 times per game, the 8th worst of any team in the league. When you give the ball to the other team, it’s hard to get your offense going. Head coach Billy Donovan knows this team and commented on it after the team’s Monday practice,
“Our transition turnovers and our overall turnovers I think have really impacted our rating,” Donovan said. “It’s hard to have a really good offensive rating (with that many turnovers) unless you’re shooting lights out from [3-point range].”
So how do they fix that? The Bulls need to play smarter basketball to improve offensively. If this team can cut back on the turnovers, they will put themselves in a much better position than in the first 14 games. While limiting turnovers will definitely help, it won’t be the only thing to get the offense going. The second biggest thing the Bulls need to work on is their shooting.
2. Shots need to start falling.
As a team, the Bulls are shooting 46.6% from the field and 36% from three. To make matters worse, even when the Bulls are wide open, they can’t even hit their shots.
The shooting remains a concern for the Bulls. Donovan isn’t happy and believes this team hasn’t played to its capabilities,
“I don’t think that we’ve shot the ball at the rate that we’re capable of” he said.
Donovan is right about that. The players on this team showed last year they could shoot at a higher percentage. They need to get out on the floor and prove that. They have 68 games to do just that; however, it would be best to see them start shooting better sooner rather than later. While this isn’t something they can flip a switch on, hopefully, they improve incrementally. The final focus for this team is something they are improving.
3. Keep sharing the ball.
The Bulls are sharing the ball better than they did last year. They are moving the ball and rotating the offense instead of having one person play the hero ball. This team is averaging 23.9 assists per game. While that’s only good enough for 19th in the league, it’s still a step in the right direction. They have five players on the team who are currently averaging over three assists per game, and center Nikola Vucevic is at 2.9 assists per game. That puts the Bulls at almost six players getting over three assists per game. For this offense to succeed, they need those players to continue averaging 3+ assists per game. This team will find offensive success when they share the ball. No more one-person shows for this Bulls team. If they want to succeed, they need to get and keep everyone involved.
This team has a long road ahead as far as improving the offense. However, they have a roster that can play at a high level. That was shown to everyone last season. If they can get back to that level offensively, they can compete. If they cannot make that happen, I would expect to see some moves trade deadline time.
Coach Billy needs to look in the mirror or read one of Pete Newell’s books on coaching BB.
no reinsdorf owned team will win anything. the white proved that. his idea of a win is signing mid level players make the team a little better with levine and derozen and watch the money rool in with a full stadium every night.
I am really rooting for Ayo, but he played 28 minutes last night and got 4 points and 1 assist. That is abysmal production from your point guard. Dumb luck will get you 1 assist. It’s time to try someone else. If we are going with a point guard who can’t score, let’s give Terry some more minutes. He matched Ayo’s assist total playing only 2 minutes.
The offense is bad when Zach and Demar decide it’s their turn to shoot or they need to get their point totals up.
Donovan isn’t the problem. Of anyone thinks this Bulls team is going to make a playoff run, they’re living on planet delusional. They have a bunch of mediocre players and are no better than a 6th seed and getting boat raced in the 1st round. Zach getting a max deal will assure mediocrity for years to come.