Dec. 06--The Chicago Bulls dropped to 11-6 with their 102-96 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. Here are three observations:
The Bulls' slow start was a killer
They missed their first two shots of the game -- both layups -- and it didn't get much better early on for the Bulls as they fell behind 12-3 just 3 minutes, 26 seconds after the opening tip.
So what gives?
"It's just energy," said guard Derrick Rose, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. "Coming out knowing the play call or just get into it a little bit quicker. We'll be alright. It's nothing to fuss about. Of course we lost this game but we can easily fix our energy level."
Fixing it apparently won't entail some long, drawn-out team meeting.
"We don't really need to talk about it," Jimmy Butler said. "We've been playing basketball entirely too long now. We know we can't come out like we were and expect not to dig ourselves into a hole."
The fact the Bulls rallied to cut the deficit to two at the end of the half was negated when they came out slow again to start the third and soon found themselves down five.
Center Paul Gasol said the onus is on everyone to find the energy level right from the hop.
"Everyone has to come out ready, individually and collectively," Gasol said. "From a players' standpoint, from a coaches standpoint we all have to do our part to start with the right attention... the right attitude, the right energy, set the tone well and be more aggressive."
Rose could be turning the corner with his shooting woes
The veteran has been working diligently with coach Fred Hoiberg during practices to improve his shot and it appears that could be paying dividends as Rose finished 8-for-17 and drained three three-pointers.
Rose looked more confident with his shots and was more square to the basket. He has a tendency to lean to his left a bit when shooting his floater and becomes off-balance. Rose also tends to lean toward the basket in an effort to be closer to it and is tweaking his form to cut that down.
"It was good to see Derrick knock down some shots," Hoiberg said. "He's been working extremely hard at it. Hopefully this will get him going a little bit as we move forward."
The roller-coaster ride continues
At 11-6, the Bulls have matched their start of a season ago. They have impressive victories over the Cavaliers, Thunder and Pacers but have lost some clunkers to the Hornets (twice) and Timberwolves.
"We have a winning record, that's a good thing," Butler said. "We still have a long way to go. (We need to) learn how to close out games, learn how to hold leads and how to start off the game the right way. We better figure it out. We're a good team. We just mess up here and there. We do it pretty often now but we'll fix it."
Bonus observations
What the Golden State Warriors are doing over in the Western Conference hasn't been lost on the Bulls. The Warriors won their 21st consecutive game to start the season and are ahead of the NBA-record 72-win pace set by the 1995-96 Bulls.
"That's unreal, that's unreal," Rose said. "They're playing good basketball, man. You can tell everybody is locked in, everybody is focused. Steph (Curry) and everybody else on that starting five play a huge role. That starting five has been playing together for numerous years and they believe in one another. That's what drives them."
Meanwhile, Gasol played in his 1,000th career regular-season game Saturday night and Rose was shocked to learn about the milestone.
"Oh wow, that's a lot of games," Rose said. "Man, that's a lot of games. That's a huge accomplishment, especially in this league and especially for an overseas player. He deserves it with the way he plays, his I.Q. of the game and his hard work that he puts into the game. I wish him nothing but the best. Hopefully I can get my 1,000th game under my belt but that's a long way from now."
