In the first half of this season, the gap between the teams has not been widened, especially in the East, which looks like a group of heroes, and the strength is unusually close. However, after the deadline, the gap is still reflected, and some teams that performed well at the beginning of the season appear to have a lack of back-end, and the Chicago Bulls are the most typical examples. Against defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, the Bulls suffered another disastrous away defeat and looked like they were completely overwhelmed against the league's top teams.
According to statistics, the Chicago Bulls have a disastrous record of 0 wins and 16 defeats against the top three teams in the division so far this season, which is really incredible. This game against the Bucks, the gap between the Bulls and the other side was completely exposed, on the one hand, the team did not have a top supergiant such as "alphabet brother" Giannis Antetokounmpo, and in the headwind stage, often no one could stand up and score. And in terms of lineup depth, the Bulls are far less powerful than the top teams like the Bucks, with a total of 7 players scoring double digits, of which the Bucks started the five Tigers and simply all double-doubles.
The Bulls got DeMar DeRozan last summer in a sign-and-trade manner, and the reason why the team was at the top of the Eastern Conference at the beginning of the season is inseparable from DeRozan's outstanding performance, especially deRozan's continuous three-point whistle-pressing to kill the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards. However, after the All-Star Weekend, DeRozan's form declined, and he only had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, which was obviously not enough to help the Bulls compete with the powerful Bucks.
Compared to DeRozan, Zach Lavin's performance may be more disappointing. When he was with the Timberwolves, Zach Lavin's physical qualities and athleticism were impressive, but he was just considered a big dunk. After joining the Bulls, perhaps because of the serious injuries, to a certain extent, Zach Lavin practiced his skills and became the bulls' star.
However, since Zach Lavin entered the league, he has never played a playoff with the team, and the team and him are obviously responsible for this. Since the second half of last season, the Bulls management has been recruiting everywhere, and they have brought in many powerful reinforcements such as Nikola Vucevic, Demar DeRozan, Ronzo Ball and Alex Caruso. From the basic statistics, Zach Lavine has averaged 24.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game so far this season, and the shooting and three-point shooting rate is more than 40%. But his ability to tackle tough problems is still relatively lacking, as the core of the team and the hope of the Bulls' future revival, it is clear that Zach Lavin needs to take on more responsibilities.
Of course, the Bulls did suffer serious injuries, with backcourt sapper Alex Caruso having just returned, and starting point guard Langzo Ball having been absent for two months because of knee surgery. To know that Langzo Ball before the injury, can average 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, among the players in the same position, Langzo Ball's organization and defense is the top level, not to mention that his projection ability has improved significantly in the past two years, so far this season, Langzo Ball's three-point shooting rate has reached 42.1%, if the opponent still dares to empty him, it is bound to pay a painful price. And Langzo Ball's injury means that the Bulls can't even find a reliable starting level point guard, and the record will naturally decline.
In addition, the Bulls' internal strength should also be relatively poor in the playoff level. While the Bulls brought in All-Star center Nikola Vucevic in the middle of last season, he didn't have the right replacement behind him. The more serious problem is that Nikola Vucevic's starting partner was chosen, and the Bulls were ready to correct the 2020 first round No. 4 pick Patrick Williams, but as a result, he was out of the game for a long time due to injury this season, only played a total of 7 games, and just returned not long ago, the state was obviously not adjusted. In addition to Patrick Williams in the fourth position, the bull can only use Javent Green, but his strength is also very general, the fourth position loophole is so large, the bull is naturally easy to be targeted by opponents.
In the end, apart from DeRozan and Zach Lavin, the Bulls have no other reliable scoring points, especially the second team can not continue the firepower. Kobe White is back on the bench this season, but he's clearly not far from being the super sixth man. Against the Bucks, Kobe White shot 2-of-10 and scored just five points. And he averaged 13.1 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game throughout the season, and no one was able to drive the second team very well. In this case, the Bulls are vulnerable once they encounter real powerhouses, and now their ranking has fallen to the fifth place in the East, and the gap between the Cleveland Cavaliers and toronto Raptors behind them and the Bulls is also small. So even if you finally get the playoff tickets as you wish, the Bulls, whether they meet the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks or the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, I am afraid they are powerless to resist, and the momentum of the Celtics in the second half is also very fast, plus Tatum feels that it is really unstoppable, the Bulls really encounter more than ji, I am afraid that if they really enter the playoffs, the Bulls will be difficult to escape the fate of the first round of the tour.