There are some similarities between Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky and Bulls coach Jim Boylen these days.
Neither are winning any popularity contests in the city anytime soon.
Where the comparison game ends, however? While Trubisky is worried about outside noise and too many talking heads on the television sets, Boylen remains Teflon.
“Is that what happened?’’ Boylen said earlier this week, when told about the Bears’ signal caller wanting televisions off throughout Halas Hall. “No. I have Netflix man. I can watch what I want.’’
That’s why Boylen didn’t flinch when asked if he should rethink the offensive philosophy with this team after the embarrassing 117-94 loss to Houston.
A loss that dropped the Bulls to 3-7 on the season, and watched them shoot 4-for-32 from long range in the latest black eye. A loss that left the Bulls sitting 11th in the league in three-point attempts (34.8 attempts per game) this season, but 26th in three-point field goal percentage (31.3).
“To come in here and think I’m going to change my system or change what we’ve been doing, it’s not what I’m about,’’ Boylen said afterward.
Something has to change, however.
If not the philosophy on offense, then the players carrying it out.
The ongoing storyline since the offseason has been Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen taking the next step forward, with hopefully stardom somewhere in their near future.
It hasn’t even been close to that.
The Rockets game was just another example of how inconsistent the two have been. LaVine finished with 11 points on 5-for-17 shooting, and didn’t score in the entire second half, including the 36-18 third-quarter run Houston went on.
Heck yeah he’s frustrated.
“I mean mine is always high, especially when we lose,’’ LaVine said, when asked about his frustration level. “I mean I don’t like losing. And when they pile up it doesn’t help either. I didn’t have the night I wanted, either. I don’t think I scored in the second half. I always look at myself, but it’s frustrating. But I’ll be OK.’’
LaVine thinks the offense will be OK, as well.
What he’s counting on? The three-point shooting will turn around, as players will get back to what their career averages are.
A leap of faith.
“It’s shots, you know,’’ LaVine said. “We practice them as much as we can. How many we make [against Houston]? Two or three? Four? That’s obviously not good enough. You got to trust it. I’ll get in the gym and shoot. You got to trust it’s going to go in.’’
And the Bulls also have to trust that Markkanen is not this bad.
The third-year big man was very consistent his first two years in the Association. He shot 43.4 percent from the field as a rookie and 43 percent last season. He shot 36.2 percent from three-point range his first year, and followed that up with a three-point percentage of 36.1 in the 2018-19 campaign.
It’s only 10 games, but Markkanen looks completely lost in this new offense, shooting 38.5 percent from the field, 27.9 percent from three, and averaging almost four points per game less than last year.
Markkanen keeps insisting it will turn around as he finds his way in the new offense, but no one knows when.
“Sometimes when it’s a tough shooting night and maybe the ball isn’t going down for you, I’m going to look at it [on film], but maybe you gotta start putting that baby on the floor and creating and going by people,’’ Boylen said. “But Lauri’s not the only reason we got our butt kicked.’’
And that’s what’s truly scary about this Bulls start.
Markkanen just heads that line of “reasons.’’ A very long line at that.
