At one point, the Chicago Bulls were leading the Eastern Conference. With Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and a whole cast of solid role-players, they looked like a real title contender for a while.
Recently, however, the Bulls have slowed down tremendously, with their most recent defeat coming in a 16 point home loss to the Hornets on Friday. It got so bad, that Bulls fans showered their team in boos towards the end of the night.
After the final buzzer, LaVine didn’t shy away from the reality of the situation and even welcomed the actions of the crowd.
(via ESPN)
“They should,” Bulls star Zach LaVine said after the game. “It’s embarrassing. We’re a really good basketball team, and we’re not playing like it. They know that. We know that. It’s understandable. We understand that they have our back, but we got to play better.”
When asked to describe the mood in the locker room, LaVine responded: “Everybody is upset, man. We’re getting our ass kicked.”
“They just jumped on us,” LaVine said. “We singing the same story, and I always try to be very uplifting and try to see the bright side, but I’m tired of talking. We say a lot of words and we say the right thing, but we got to figure it out. We’re not doing that, plain and simple.”
In fairness to Chicago, they are missing several key players (including Lonzo) that usually make a huge difference on the floor.
Still, even before the injuries, not everyone was convinced the Bulls were a real threat to win the title. Back in January, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith brushed off the notion that they belong in the same group as the Nets or Warriors.
“We have seen over the last two games, a team like the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors say, y’all are good, we give y’all your respect. KD said Chicago is back…But there’s levels to this and they’re just not on it yet,” Smith said on NBA on ESPN following the Bulls’ defeat to the Warriors on Friday night.
On a 4-game losing streak, the Bulls have fallen down all the way down to 6th in the East, just 9 games above .500.
As bad as things are now, disappointment and frustration will reach new levels if they lose in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bulls play their final game on Sunday, against Minnesota, before they start their postseason push. The hope is that something will change before then.
