The spring is broken at the Bulls

Something is broken with the Bulls. But what ? That is the question. In the middle of the season, when the matches follow one another at high speed, it is difficult to have the perspective necessary to highlight this evil (or these evils?). But the visual truth of the ground doesn’t lie, and something is definitely wrong with these Bulls. Sportingly, we can think of the absence of Lonzo Ball to explain the ineffectiveness of the attack, too often predictable, without much variation.

“Our collective mentality must be much better than that” judges the Chicago coach. “We must be able to overcome the obstacles that we do not control. »

Precisely, Billy Donovan could also be singled out, with rotations still imprecise after a quarter of last season and not always very consistent, and a game plan that does not change despite clearly disappointing results. We can also target the leaders who had chosen, this summer, not to modify their workforce.

“It’s going on in our head right now”

“Personally, I don’t feel that way” Donovan replies. “I think the character in this dressing room is good. We must collectively show more determination. I still think we can be better in those areas and have been. Will we show determination? It’s going on in our head right now, and we have to deal with it. »

In the head, the evil seems deeper. We think in particular of a lack of desire, aggressiveness and will, with for example this absolutely mind-blowing differential in free throws last night: 32 attempts for the Knicks… against 8 for the Bulls! We think of body language, the famous “body language”, of Nikola Vucevic, as in this action in the third quarter when the pivot of the Bulls, in his racket, is completely dominated on the offensive rebound by Mitchell Robinson, who plants a huge dunk behind. And “Vooch” to lower his head, as if disillusioned, kicking the ball with his foot towards his teammate for the throw-in. The Montenegrin pivot, after having shown a gesture of humor after an unfair referee decision to his taste, also suffered a technical foul in the first half. Just like DeMar DeRozan. A sign, perhaps, of leaders starting to get seriously frustrated with the end product on the pitch.

“Our situation is not ideal, but the greatest stories begin with an element of tragedy”

” It was awful ” loose Zach LaVine. “We have to do better, and we know it. The only thing to do is try to do better next time. You have to believe in what you do. I trust myself and my teammates because we work hard. If you doubt it, you shouldn’t be here… Obviously, these are difficult times, and we do everything not to play like that. We have to recover, and try to play better. »

For DeMar DeRozan, frustration took over, but he remains convinced that the team will come out of it stronger. ” The only way to react is to fight. We let ourselves be dominated by frustration. Our situation is not ideal, but the greatest stories begin with an element of tragedy. »

With a record of 11 wins for 17 losses, the Bulls are 11th in their conference. They have only two victories less than the Raptors, for the 10th place synonymous with play-in. On the other hand, 6th place, which qualifies directly for the playoffs, is far away. And it is the Knicks, doubly executioners of Chicago this week, who hold it with 16 wins for 13 losses.