The Bulls are stumbling over a soft part of their schedule, losing Friday at Charlotte after falling to New Orleans and needing a late rally to top Washington by a single point, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required). After a fast start that included wins over Detroit, New York and Cleveland, Chicago has fallen back to .500 at 9-9 and may be headed for another mediocre season.
Teams have been taking advantage of the Bulls’ defensive weaknesses and lack of physicality, which Cowley points out have become more prominent with Isaac Okoro missing the past three games due to a back issue. Okoro is the team’s most versatile defender, and his absence limits coach Billy Donovan’s options on that end of the court.
“With Isaac being out, and there’s times with Isaac that we can put him on different players, and he’s an outstanding defender, and he’s guarded some of the best players in this league throughout his career,” Donovan said. “But with him being out, we don’t have the luxury to just rely on one guy stopping one guy.”
There’s more on the Bulls:
- Coby White is sitting out tonight’s contest against Indiana, but Donovan said in his pre-game meeting with reporters that this will be the last back-to-back of the season that he’ll definitely be held out of, relays KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). White’s availability for future back-to-backs will be determined on a situation-by-situation basis. He has appeared in five games since returning from a strained right calf.
- Jalen Smith (hamstring strain) and Noa Essengue (shoulder contusion) were both added to the injury report for tonight’s game, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). Donovan said Essengue hurt his shoulder in a G League contest.
- Injuries have forced the Bulls to rely more on their bench players, notes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required), who adds that the roster isn’t built to withstand the loss of multiple rotation members. Donovan bemoaned the lack of “sustainability” earlier this week, but Poe suggests it’s a matter of not having the players available that he was counting on. Ayo Dosunmu believes the recent slump is a result of repeating the same basic errors. “Coach has been telling us a thousand times to box out,” he said after the loss to the Pelicans. “But on film, we’re going to the glass, not boxing out, just standing around. Coach is telling us to get into the ball. Coach is telling us what we have to do physically. We keep saying the stove is hot, and we keep touching the stove.”