Since January 15 (except for two small matches), the Bulls have been deprived of Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. And even if they hold on, still remaining on the Eastern podium, times are very tough for their defense. The figures show it perfectly: for 15 matches (6 wins for 9 losses), the players of Chicago simply display the worst defense in the league with 119.2 points against 100 possessions!
As two excellent defenders are missing in the group, the observation is logical, but Billy Donovan still expects better from his troops. Make the round back certainly, but with a minimum of effort.
“Sit and think that by snapping your fingers, with the return of the injured, the defense will become good again, I don’t believe it”assures the coach at NBC Sports. “All this remains collective. I think Ayo Dosunmu, Troy Brown and Coby White can be good. We are not at the level where we want to be. “
The step is still too high in front of the leaders
Against the Suns, the Bulls suffered on the pick-and-roll and to protect their racket. Obviously, without Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, Chicago cannot have the same aggressiveness and the same pressure on a Chris Paul (19 points and 11 assists). The 2021 finalists therefore enjoyed themselves with 50 points in the racket at 70% success.
“We have to do better on the pick-and-roll”continues Billy Donovan, always for NBC Sports. “We have to win the battle on the screen, otherwise it becomes very hard for us. We have to control the ball carrier better, by being more physical. There, we cling to the screens, we are caught in them and we cannot come back. “
The final score is misleading (124-127) since the Suns were up to 27 points ahead and it was only in the last act, when everything was over, that Zach LaVine and company came back. The Bulls sank minute by minute, as too often when they faced heavyweights this season.
Illinois players have won only one game out of twelve against the seven best records in the league… We remember in particular the slaps received against the Warriors, the Nets, the Heat or the Grizzlies.
“We can learn from these great teams, on what they do very well”explains DeMar DeRozan. “You can’t make mistakes against the best teams in the league. We will pay them every time. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Demar Derozan | 49 | 35.4 | 50.4 | 33.0 | 86.5 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 27.0 |
| Zach Lavine | 44 | 34.3 | 48.6 | 39.7 | 87.1 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 24.7 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 46 | 33.6 | 46.3 | 33.3 | 72.4 | 2.0 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 17.6 |
| Lonzo-Ball | 35 | 34.6 | 42.3 | 42.3 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 13.0 |
| Coby White | 33 | 27.2 | 43.8 | 36.4 | 82.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 12.9 |
| Alex Caruso | 28 | 27.7 | 42.9 | 34.5 | 81.4 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 8.4 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 49 | 24.6 | 52.6 | 42.5 | 66.1 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 7.9 |
| Javonte Green | 37 | 23.4 | 53.3 | 30.6 | 81.4 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 7.2 |
| patrick williams | 5 | 24.9 | 56.5 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.6 |
| Derrick Jones | 31 | 17.2 | 58.2 | 40.5 | 84.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 6.3 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 42 | 17.4 | 42.8 | 33.3 | 76.0 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.8 |
| Matt Thomas | 30 | 13.4 | 40.3 | 38.8 | 73.3 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 4.6 |
| Tyler Cook | 17 | 11.2 | 61.1 | 0.0 | 64.5 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 3.8 |
| Malcolm Hill | 9 | 13.2 | 39.3 | 26.3 | 75.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 3.7 |
| Alfonzo McKinnie | 16 | 12.8 | 39.3 | 33.3 | 16.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 3.6 |
| Tony Bradley | 39 | 11.6 | 58.0 | 0.0 | 76.5 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 3.3 |
| Devon Dotson | 11 | 7.7 | 47.8 | 22.2 | 55.6 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| Mac McClung | 1 | 2.5 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Marko Simonovic | 9 | 3.9 | 26.7 | 20.0 | 72.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Alize Johnson | 16 | 7.5 | 52.2 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Jordan Bell | 1 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
