Jan. 12--The Bulls dropped to 22-14 following a home loss to the depleted Wizards. Here are three observations.
The Bulls struggled against a smaller lineup
The Wizards played plenty of three-guard lineups with Jared Dudley at power forward and the Bulls struggled matching up. On offense, they tended to try to exploit matchups and got into too much isolation. Defensively, they again played pick-and-roll defense passively.
Joakim Noah, back from a nine-game absence to a left shoulder injury, in particular looked less lively defending the pick-and-roll. The Bulls and coach Fred Hoiberg cited poor communication for many of their defensive lapses. But the Bulls also are blowing coverages outright.
It was a mild surprise Taj Gibson didn't play more.
Bobby Portis is coming back to Earth
After a strong entry into the regular rotation, the rookie clearly is landing on scouting reports. Teams are attacking him defensively. And Portis, while still running the court hard to his credit, isn't getting as much opportunity offensively.
The last time the Bulls faced the Bucks, Tuesday's opponent, Greg Monroe abused Portis down low. Portis struggled in pick-and-roll against the Wizards and must play better defensively to stay on the floor.
Turnovers have become a recent issue again
That's two straight games -- and losses -- in which the Bulls have gifted their opponents with live ball turnovers in the open court. The Wizards scored 17 points off 16 Bulls' miscues, many of them unforced errors in which the Bulls were trying to force passes into mismatches.
"We turned it over quite a bit in the first half, especially and that led to run outs and easy fast break points," Pau Gasol said. "Their pressure hurt us; we didn't attack their pressure well. We tried to force things. We just didn't recognize how to attack them and be effective. It's more the pressure, turnovers."
