Timberwolves Take Full Advantage of Shorthanded Bulls

It's never a good sign when you go to a Bulls game knowing your team's chances are pretty much shot.  Even before my first trip to the Target Center, my spirits were dampened by the news that Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade would miss Sunday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a bruised right heel and swollen right wrist respectively.  Nikola Mirotic had back spasms and Paul Zipser was dealing with both food poisoning and a sore ankle.  It should come as no surprise that the Bulls lost, 117-89.

Except for the first few possessions, the Bulls had no chance against a young, athletic team without their two playmakers.  The defense constantly broke down, especially in the paint, and the offense gave itself no chance with poor decision-making and inability to take care of the ball.  Tom Thibodeau had no sympathy for his former team.  His team played well from start to finish per his trademark style to sweep the season series.

Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 27 points, driving on every opportunity he had and finishing more often than not.  Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 and Gorgui Dieng had a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds, as did Ricky Rubio with 17 points and 11 assists.  Just for good measure, Nemanja Bjelica chipped in 16 points and Shabazz Muhammad added 12.

Bobby Portis and Doug McDermott tied for the Bulls lead with 16 points, and everything about that statement should depress you.  Michael Carter-Williams wasn't far behind with 12.  Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo chipped in 10 apiece.  Obviously, there was nothing too exciting to come of that.

All you need to know about this game is the Bulls had a 4-on-1 break and completely screwed it up with a bad pass.  Only these Bulls could find a way to mess up such an easy opportunity.  Never mind that they were missing key personnel.  The fact that two points could be thrown away just like that is absolutely mind-boggling.

This game really exposed the Bulls as to how thin they are.  Take Butler and Wade out and you're left with a bunch of role players that have no clear direction.  Granted, they don't do well against young, athletic teams anyway, but when nobody's playing well enough to hide your collective flaws, everyone can see you for what you truly are.  It's further evidence on why a new direction not only needs to be considered, but is overdue.

Having finished the Disney on Ice trip at 2-4, the Bulls will return to the United Center on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors.  They've won 10 straight in the series, though the Raptors dropping to the fourth seed in the East makes it a little less surprising.  Still, any series with a streak that long suggests the team on the losing end has a mental block that grows larger for each passing game.  Anything to get this team back on track would be much appreciated, even if it has to come at the expense of an opponent you've beat up on recently.

How Low The Bulls Go

I was working during the Bulls' back-to-back clunkers with the Milwaukee Bucks, but that doesn't mean I don't know how bad they were.  One of the things about my new job is I have to break during my first five hours.  On Thursday and Friday, I chose the start of the Bulls games to take them.  Despite only being able to watch the first quarter closely both times, they were all I needed to see.

I'll get to why in a second, but to add to all the drama, Nikola Mirotic missed Friday's mandatory walkthrough and could be fined.  This came one night after he received the first "DNP - Coach's Decision" of his career.  While he apologized, he was still confused as to why Bobby Portis had taken his spot in the rotation.  It's not like Portis has performed much better than Mirotic has of late, but with a qualifying offer on the table for next year, don't be shocked if Mirotic is done in Chicago after this year.

But the Mirotic chapter looks rather small compared to the bigger issues facing the Bulls.  After a nice start to the season, they are now 13-13, having lost six of their past eight games.  They are becoming the team many like me were in denial about during the summer:  mediocre and right in the middle of the NBA.  It shows how wrong and indecisive Gar Forman and John Paxson have been in their decision-making.

Yeah, about that.  Remember when Forman said the Bulls were going to get "younger" and "more athletic", only to stop just short of that when it came to the core?  Doing more talk than walk on the matter came back to haunt him this week when bot the Bucks AND Tom Thibodeau's Minnesota Timberwolves beat his team with the very makeup he said he would pursue.  Meanwhile, Forman's young guys, all on the bench, have made little to no progress nearly two months into the season.

I'll give a Christmas cookie to anyone who can tell me with a straight face one young player who not only has improved under Fred Hoiberg this year, but is a viable franchise building block for years to come.  Otherwise, you'll have to accept that Hoiberg is the anti-Thibodeau in that he doesn't maximize anybody's game.  Forman felt he could and decided to give him a five-year contract that's currently in year two. 

Christmas Eve has historically been an exit day for Bulls coaches just not living up to expectations.  Just ask Tim Floyd and Scott Skiles.  We are exactly one week from that day and there's speculation that in the event Hoiberg goes then or on any day, Forman becomes a scapegoat and goes with him.  It would be nice for this organization to hold people accountable and if the Bulls follow their history, it can happen sooner than later.

The worst thing about these past few games is that the Bulls have looked completely disinterested on both ends.  The offense is out of sync and not making smart decisions.  The defense has let anybody and everybody carve it up like Swiss cheese, showing little resistance in the half-court and letting itself get beat convincingly on the break.  The players can talk all they want about improving, communicating and all that, but until they actually show that they care by their actions, they'll get booed off the United Center court as they were Friday.

Many are calling this the low point of Hoiberg's tenure and it's hard to argue against it.  To get back above .500, they'll have to beat the Detroit Pistons on Monday.  Even if they win, the issues with the team's makeup will remain.  And they won't change until the organization decides to actually build a foundation we can all be proud to call our own.

Thibs, Timberwolves Beat Bulls

The above iconic image of Tom Thibodeau during his time with the Bulls has been used many times on social media since it came to be.  It showed up plenty of times last year when the Bulls were on their way to missing the playoffs.  On Tuesday, it made a triumphant return as Thibodeau's Minnesota Timberwolves came from behind to win, 99-94, at the United Center.

Things started well when the Bulls exploited a thin Timberwolves defense down low.  They led by as much as 21 in the second quarter before the visitors, who entered tied with Dallas for the worst record in the NBA, began to look like the team people expected at the start of the year.  Their youth and athleticism, the very thing Gar Forman and John Paxson backtracked on during the offseason, played a large part in making up the entire deficit and eventually, taking the lead.  The Bulls, who scored 38 points in the first quarter, became stagnant on offense and were badly beat frequently on defense to complete the NBA's biggest collapse so far this season.

For the second time in 10 days, the Bulls lost to a team entering with the league's worst record.  Take out the first quarter and it was ugly from start to finish.  They were outscored 77-56 in the final three quarters and shot 24 percent from the field.  And during one stretch, they made just one of 12 3-point attempts.

All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures.  Zach LaVine led them with 24 points and Andrew Wiggins just trailed him with 23.  There were 16 points apiece from Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng, whom the Bulls passed on in the 2013 draft for Tony Snell.  In typical Thibodeau fashion, no Minnesota starter played less than 34 minutes and on this night, it didn't hurt the young team.

Jimmy Butler was the game's top scorer with 27 points and came within a rebound of a double-double.  Robin Lopez had 14, but just four in the second half, though he did get on highlight reels with some emphatic blocks (finishing with 4).  Dwyane Wade totaled 12 on a night he wasn't particularly sharp (4 of 13 from the field) and found himself ejected in the final seconds for clapping in referee Ben Taylor's face.  Taj Gibson added 10.

There's no way this should have turned out the way it did, but Thibodeau's crew had extra incentive to play extra hard when it fell in an early hole.  Meanwhile, the Bulls again played down to their competition and couldn't find another wind once they fell out of the first one.  The shooting was putrid and the defense either collapsed frequently or couldn't get back on fast breaks.  No team can play a game like this and expect to come out on top.

The Bulls will lick their wounds Wednesday before playing a nationally televised road game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the first of a home-and-home.  Rajon Rondo will hopefully be back from a sprained ankle.  But it won't matter if they don't play those 48 minutes of intensity.  I always to channel the late Norm Van Lier, but it becomes necessary when the worst of the NBA is besting what should be an above-average Bulls team and Thibs is laughing all the way home.