Mediocrity, Thy Name Is Bulls
Nothing backs up an argument like cold, hard numbers. If the argument here is that the Bulls are painfully mediocre (which is the worst place to be in the NBA), these numbers are hilariously on point.
The Bulls are currently 21-21. They are 13-8 at home and 8-13 on the road. Nice symmetry there. They are 15-13 in their weak conference, and 6-8 in the West. Against their Central Division foes, they’ve won 5 games and lost 6. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Hoiberg’s crew is scoring 101.5 points per game, which ranks 23rd in the NBA. Guess how many points they’re allowing their opponents per game? 101.5. I’m not kidding. Their current +/- ratio scoring against opponents is literally 0.0. The Bulls have scored 4, 262 points thus far this season. Their opponents have collectively scored 4, 261 points. 42 games later, the “three alphas” and their sidekicks have one more point than their foes. One. Damn. Point.
Chicago’s offensive rating (107.1) ranks 19th in the league, while their defensive rating (107.1) ranks 12th. If you average those rankings, you get 15.5 among 30 NBA teams. Their 565 turnovers rank 15th in the league. The Bulls’ effective field goal percentage (which factors in the extra point on a made 3) of 50.6% ranks 13th, and their defensive rebounding percentage of 76.2% ranks 18th. More mediocrity. I could continue, but I won’t. I can only subject myself to so much pain and suffering.
Buckets Or Bust
The really ugly part of this situation is becoming fully aware of just how much worse off the Bulls would be without Butler this season. Fans got a glimpse of that recently when Jimmy missed a string of games due to illness. It wasn’t pretty. But let’s look at the bigger picture, as in the Bulls’ numbers with and without him all season.
Thanks to ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh, we have those numbers. With Butler on the floor this season, the Bulls outscore their opponents by 3.1 points per 100 possessions. When Butler is off the court, that number dives dramatically to -10.9 per 100 possessions. Based on Haberstroh’s win projections, that’s the equivalent of the Bulls being a 48 win team with Jimmy and a 10 win team without him.
Speaking of wins, Butler had the highest win shares total (8.9) of any player in the league when Haberstroh made that report last week. Seriously. He now sits at 11.2, and superstars like Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant have edged past him. But that still speaks to just how vital Butler is to the Bulls. Without him, the Bulls go from being painfully mediocre to agonizingly bad.
You have to feel bad for Jimmy, who must be aware of this fact. You’d never hear him say as much around the media, but this team he’s playing for is junk without his services. He’s trying to be a better leader, and Wade is helping in that regard. But the guy is wasting an MVP-caliber year on a team that isn’t going anywhere in the playoffs. If they get there.
GarPax have to recognize these signs of mediocrity and make moves at the deadline that will help Butler and Hoiberg next season. If they opt instead to keep the roster as is for a pointless playoff appearance, they’d be doing the organization a serious disservice. Fortunately for that duo, Reinsdorf doesn’t seem to care. It’s frustrating for Bulls fans, who very recently saw Reinsdorf’s other team make logical steps in a new direction. What the hell is he waiting for with the Bulls? This mediocrity isn’t helping anyone, and it’s only passably entertaining on most nights.
You know, in that “staring at a trainwreck” kind of way.
