On the surface, there are reasons to believe the Bulls have improved since they fired Fred Hoiberg. The Bulls have won as many times in Jim Boylen’s 14 games as they did in Hoiberg’s 24. The defense has been a good bit better under Boylen’s watch.
The idea that Boylen has improved the Bulls is a flawed one though, for obvious reasons. For starters, Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn are back. You try to build a competent defense around Cam Payne and Jabari Parker.
Despite a healthier roster, the Bulls have managed to look noticeably worse offensively. They’ve scored over 100 points just three times under Boylen, regularly electing to take 20 or more seconds off of the shot clock rather than pushing the ball with any semblance of pace.
It would be one thing if Boylen’s strategy of turning back the clock 25 years was leading to wins, but the Bulls have lost nine of the 11 games in which they’ve scored under 100. The atrocious offensive play continued tonight as the Bulls scored just 84 points at home against an under .500 Magic team.
Oh, and the Bulls allowed Orlando, the 6th worst offense in the league, to drop 112 in the United Center.
As badly as we want to watch this young core with hopes of Markkanen, Dunn, Zach LaVine and Wendell Carter one day leading this team back to relevancy, nights like tonight make it hard to stay positive. Nights like tonight don’t benefit anybody.
