A sluggish 8-11 start to the season has Bulls fans in a frenzy, wondering if the season is in a fast downward spiral. Although their winning percentage has been .500 or below at the 10 and 15-game mark so far, there’s a silver lining worth holding stock in. Against the last four Eastern Conference Champions, the Bulls have a record of 5-2, including an undefeated 3-0 record at home. Not significant? Try again, last year they were an abysmal 3-20 against playoff seeds of either conference, a win percentage among the likes of the worst in NBA regular season history. They also averaged a 27-point losing margin in their 0-2 homestand during the 2021-22′ playoffs.
“I THINK WE’VE BEEN WAY MORE COMPETITIVE IN THOSE GAMES THAN WE WERE A YEAR AGO” -BILLY DONOVAN WHEN ASKED ABOUT WHAT’S CHANGED AGAINST TOP SEEDED TEAMS.
Early Season Woes
The 2022-23′ Chicago Bulls have been held together by Demar DeRozan and the second unit. DeRozan is averaging a team-high 25.9 points, 4.4 assists, and 34.4 minutes per game in his second season as a Bull, continuing his MVP-caliber play since coming to the Windy City and needs some help. His miraculous 41-point outing in Milwaukee last year earned the Bulls their lone playoff victory and the franchise’s first since 2017. The bench is boasting a +/- of over +200, and the features of Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond, and Javonte Green are proving to be one of the top second units in the NBA this season.
The issues have mainly lived in the chemistry department. Losing a starting point guard before the season, and a starting shooting guard being in and out of the lineup never bodes well, and for the Bulls, it has turned into a disaster. On their way to being under .500 through 20 games, Chicago sorely misses the facilitating defensive mogul Lonzo Ball. With Ball out until January at the earliest, the Bulls need to get creative on filling his shoes until he’s back. A combination of young guards Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Alex Caruso have been deployed thus far in efforts of accomplishing this, but none has quite filled the void. Not ignoring Dragic, he’s been excelling in the sixth-man role and supplies a different skill set than what’s missing in Ball’s absence and should be left out of this equation.
Zach Lavine and his inability to perform consistently at his 2x all-star level roots many of these chemistry issues. Averaging fewer points, rebounds, assists, and lower shooting percentages from three, the free throw line, and the field than last year raises serious concern. It should be noted that Lavine’s lingering knee issues from an off-season surgery have kept him in and out of the lineup, missing over 25% of the Bulls’ games this year. In a shocking turn of events, he was announced out of the season opener hours before tip-off and hasn’t looked back to form since. Despite only sparingly being on the official injury report, he hasn’t yet looked or played like the all-NBA caliber shooting guard that the Bulls nation has grown to know and love. Nor the one that the front office just doled out a 5-year, $215.2 million dollar deal to this past off-season.
There’s Still Hope
The light at the end of the tunnel is success against the heavy hitters. Boston and Milwaukee have been Chicago’s biggest roadblocks in recent years, and Miami and Toronto can be mentioned in the same breath. Starting this year with a 5-2 record against those familiar foes, including a 3-0 record at the United Center are huge steps forward for the Bulls. A team that won only three games against all 16 playoff teams the entire last season out of 23 chances. The last two top-team matchups this season have resulted in a 14.5 average margin of victory, on the back of DeRozan’s 32 points per game during that stretch.
Seeing that the wins against the top teams in the Eastern Conference are coming from a multitude of directions, the Bulls are proving they can be versatile when firing on all cylinders. Against the Celtics, the starters were a combined +79, with all five in double figures in points and only seven turnovers as a unit in the statement win. In the five-point victory over the Bucks, the reserves were a combined +22 with only two turnovers and six of the team’s nine steals. As seen in recent years, the most physical and versatile teams who can also rely on a “closer” are typically the most successful when the postseason arrives. With the combination of the newly revamped bench depth, the proven “closer” in Demar DeRozan, and the all-star potential that Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic have shown to be capable of, Bulls fans should be very optimistic about their team in April.
Where To Now?
Simply put, head coach Billy Donovan needs to instill discipline in the 2022-23′ Chicago Bulls. With the slimmest negative point difference in the NBA at -.1 points per game, the Bulls are on the verge of an entirely new narrative for the season. Averaging nearly three more turnovers per game as a team, fewer assists, and a lower field goal and three-point percentages than last season’s numbers, it really is about the small stuff with this young and talent-filled roster. Luckily for Chicago fans, the saving grace of Lonzo Ball happens to excel the team in each of those categories and is slated back for a second-half surge. Gaining Ball back and improving the 3-3 record they hold against sub-.500 teams are going to be the difference moving forward for a Chicago team primed for a deep playoff run. Currently .5 games out of the play-in tournament, the Bulls head out west where they’ll face two playoff teams in the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz, featuring the re-established familiar face Lauri Markkanen and his all-star-worthy start to the season.
