The NBA preseason is a time for NBA players and teams to again familiarize themselves with the speed of the game, their new teammates and high competition. A time to work out some kinks before the actual season gets rolling, mistakes can be corrected here. Teams aren’t going full speed; however, you get an essence of what they’ll look like during the regular season. So far, in the two preseason games that the Bulls have played, we’ve seen good but we’ve also seen very bad.
When the Bulls played their first pre-season game against the New Orleans Pelicans, they looked like a team with a message. Zach LaVine’s explosiveness and shooting touch were both evident, while Kris Dunn displayed his defensive prowess and Jabari Parker showed his scoring touch as well. Wendell Carter did the little things on the court that made him as touted as he was coming out of college, and Bobby Portis showed his commitment to being the leader of the bench, tying LaVine and strict-scorer Antonio Blakeney with 21 points en route to a 128-116 win over Anthony Davis and the Pelicans.
The 2nd preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks, however, was an example of just how bad the Bulls’ nights could be this upcoming season. The first NBA game in the new Fiserv Forum ended in a laugher as the Bucks dominated the Bulls from the second quarter on. The Bulls’ shots simply weren’t falling, especially Parker’s. He started the game making his first basket but missed the next 11. “I played like doo-doo”, Parker said following the game, per the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson.
LaVine scored 8 points, but he himself was 3/10 shooting. He also exited early in the 3rd quarter with a thigh contusion, but at that time the game was out of reach with the Bulls eventually losing 116-82.
The Bulls shot 32% from the field and 17% from 3. Typically, on nights like this, teams rely on their defense to stay in games; the Bulls defense was not good at all. According to Johnson, Coach Fred Hoiberg stated that the team’s shooting woes were a big part as to why the game unfolded the way it did. “Our lack of shot-making affected our overall game – defensively, effort, everything.” The game was a dunk-fest for Milwaukee by the middle of the 3rd quarter and Hoiberg was visibly upset with the lack of effort from most of the players. The next day’s practice, which Hoiberg had planned to make easier since the team hadn’t had a day off since the beginning of training camp, was turned into a much more demanding one.
In the NBA, effort is everything and is something that can be corrected, which is what pre-season is for. Though preseason games don’t mean anything in the grand picture, they are important in building an identity, especially for a young team such as this. Bobby Portis says that the Bulls can make the playoffs. For that to become a possibility, however, the Bulls can’t afford to have an effort like the Milwaukee one, preseason or not.
