Bull's Struggles Are Not Over

Bulls fans sighed in relief after the Texas road trip. Chicago handed Houston their worst lost of the season and out executed the Mavericks down the stretch in the 4th quarter. After the recent losing streak and team chemistry struggles Derrick Rose gave an honest interview. In the interview he essentially called out his team for not wanting to win bad enough, which has not been a problem in recent memory in the Windy City.

The team stepped up and played two of their best games in the big state of Texas. Things were turning around for Chicago and the team was returning home. Their home stand was against the team lacking their king. The Miami Heat and Dwayne Wade were coming to town.

I was confident going into the match up that the Bulls stood a good chance of defending their home floor. They had a huge advantage in the front court and another one with the depth of their back court. The Heat did however have a trick up their sleeve. Hassan Whiteside saved his break out performance for the Chicago Bulls.

Whiteside a basic unknown out of Marshall University had bounced around the league and even over seas the past few years. He had a triple double against the Bulls with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks. I however am not going to chalk up that lost to just a freak performance. Chicago had every chance to continue their trend of progress but the Bulls took four steps back. Rose went 7-17 from the field and Pau wasn't much better going 6-16. The Bulls offense was stagnant especially in the 4th quarter which is where they showed so much success in Dallas.

Chicago is not exactly looking like a title contender since the new year. Making the playoffs is not in question but as things sit right now they would play Cleveland in the first round. Aggravating. If the Bulls don't get things turned around they could see another early exit in the playoffs even with a healthy Rose. Chicago has always been a defensive rebounding team and with the addition of 2 shooting big men, Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, you really can see a philosophical change.

The team has become too guard oriented and too reliant on the jump shot. Chicago's offense and playing style for years was AT the rim. They defend the rim. They attack the rim.  They don't settle for long jump shots. Wouldn't it be nice as a Bulls fan to see Rose attack the rim when the shot clock is winding down instead of the pull up three we have become accustom too? Things need to change in the windy city. The Bulls need to find themselves again otherwise nothing will change and we will be talking about free agents moves again in the off season or if Derrick Rose can be the star of this team. Do we really want to hear that again?