Alex Caruso says the Chicago Bulls must pay more attention to details early in games

Caruso singles out one thing the Bulls have been struggling with all season.

© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Two familiar foes again reared their ugly heads for the Chicago Bulls in their recent loss to the New York Knicks: a lack of discipline and attention to detail. This was pointed out by veteran guard Alex Caruso not long after the Bulls fell at home 128-120 in overtime. 

It was yet another close loss in what is increasingly becoming an unfortunate pattern this season for this Bulls squad.

Lack of attention to details

If there's something the Bulls are consistently doing this season, it's falling behind early and scrambling to get back into the game. While they have one of the best closers in the Association in DeMar DeRozan, Bulls coaches and players have emphasized the need not to go that route as it is not sustainable. Rather, the team has to lock in early and not fall behind as they did against the Knicks in the game's first four minutes.

"We have to do a better job paying attention to details earlier in the game," said Caruso. "Some nights, we're not there for 48 minutes, and then it's a coin flip at the end."

The coin flip that Caruso mentioned did not go the Bulls' way down the stretch, as Patrick Williams missed an alley-oop play with less than a second left in regulation that could have given the Bulls the victory. Chicago then made just one of its seven shots in overtime, while the Knicks made plenty to hack out the victory.

What will you tell your grandkids about this play? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/K0UaUQiEHY

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 15, 2022

Things to get better at

Caruso cited numerous defensive breakdowns they need to work on if they hope to rack up victories to move up the Eastern Conference ladder. As disjointed as the Bulls have played this season, they are only two games behind the eighth-place Miami Heat.

"Sometimes it's been ball-screen coverage or weakside coverage," Caruso said. "I think it goes to show how hard it is to win in pro sports. Obviously, it's something we've got to get better at."

Alex Caruso also hitting on the importance of the Bulls cleaning up details. pic.twitter.com/BJLbvJ5q5Q

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) December 15, 2022

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has often said that every deficit reduces their margin for error. Time will tell if the Bulls can pay more attention to details earlier in games and start winning consistently. Otherwise, their playoff hopes could be dashed sooner than expected.

"We just don't have the margin for error," Donovan said. "We've got to be really disciplined in a lot of specific areas."