Much of the Bulls' struggles have been pointed to a defense that has been uncharacteristically lacking, but is Jimmy Butler the main reason for it? Before the Houston loss, the All-Star said he believed he was. At least he felt it started with him.
"I'm supposed to be this prime-time defender and I don't think I've been holding up my end of the bargain lately," said Butler. "So I think whenever I start kicking it up three, four notches on defense and not worry about offense as much, I think it'll all turn around.''
A member of the All-Defensive Second Team last season, the concerns about Butler's defensive drop are not unwarranted. But do we really want to place the blame squarely on the team's top scorer? Looking at just one player for a collective defensive seems a little extreme.
If you're going to blame anything, you should look to a player's absence, not presence. Mike Dunleavy has been out for a month. Even with Butler not playing up to defensive speed, it's still better than him not playing at all. We don't know how much worse the Bulls would be without Butler, but he's still out there.
More importantly, everyone on the team just needs to stop talking and start walking again. There's been way too much talk about lack of effort, poor communication and insistence of no animosity within the organization. All of these issues would just be background noise if the last month hadn't seen so much inconsistency on the court. But if the team is failing, people are going to look for reasons and start shouting at the powers that be to fix it.
The Frozen on Ice trip concludes this weekend with trips to New Orleans and Orlando. That's hardly a breather considering the Bulls' poor play among lesser teams. The Pelicans aren't even really a break as they just happen to be 26-23 and fifth in the Southwest. The All-Star break just needs to get here and fast.
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