The Chicago Bulls need more offensive continuity

The Chicago Bulls need to develop more offensive continuity to turn their season around

© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls are off to a disappointing 6-8 start after 14 games, and they lack the offensive continuity that helped them make the playoffs after a five-year drought last season. The good news is that there’s still plenty of time to turn the season around.

More offense

Basketball is about buckets, this is painfully obvious, but there’s more to it. The Bulls are averaging 110.8 points per game, 18th in the NBA, with a 110.6 Offensive Rating (21st in the league). Seeing the Bulls outside of the playoff picture with an offense like this is not surprising.

On paper, the Bulls don’t struggle to score. Chicago has five players averaging double digits, led by DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic. Ayo Dosunmu and Goran Dragic also average more than 10 points per game. However, the team’s shooting splits reveal their offensive problems.

The Bulls are currently shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 19th in the NBA. In contrast, many teams shoot close to or above 48 percent, and the Nuggets led the league, shooting 50.4 percent from the field.

The stars need easy scoring opportunities

DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic are three of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league, which means that the Bulls are in the bottom half in shooting because they don’t create easy scoring opportunities for their stars. DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic will always lead the Bulls in shot attempts, but the team has to do a better job forcing defenses to collapse, creating open shots out of double teams.

The reason behind the low overall percentage of made shots is clear. The Bulls don’t lack talent, far from it. Their problem is a lack of offensive continuity. The stars and the role players need more open looks, and the Bulls have to work on this as soon as possible in order to turn the season around.