Jimmy Butler’s outfit was one of maybe 5 things I didn’t hate about this game.
The Chicago Bulls out-tanked the Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center last night, falling 78-74 in a battle of majorly depleted teams.
As it turns out, the Bulls have problems putting the ball in the basket when they’re missing Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah. Who knew?
Anyway. On to the newest (and mostly futile) edition of What Did We Learn?
1. When fully half of the players to play for your team combine for 6 points on 22 shots, you’re going to have a bad time.
To be fair, this is something we probably should’ve known already, but now we know it for sure. Nazr Mohammed — forced into the starting lineup for Noah — Erik Murphy, Marquis Teague and Kirk Hinrich combined for 6 points on 22 shots. Kirk went 0/10 from the field (0/4 from three) en route to 1 point, and Teague went 1/7 en route to 2 points. Though, in fairness to Teague, 6 assists and 1 turnover make this a generally positive performance for him.
Yeah. That’s how low the bar is at this point. And this is coming from one of his most fervent supporters.
2. Tony Snell is fun? I guess?
It’s not good that we’re only on #2 and I’m already mostly out of ideas. Snell went cold in the second half, but he continues to show a surprisingly diverse offensive skillset. His jumper is smooth, he’s competent off the dribble and he can finish at the rim. Even once Butler and Deng come back, there’s no way he doesn’t get solid playing time as part of the second unit. His statline isn’t terribly impressive — 6/14 for 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 38 minutes — but he’s definitely an NBA player.
…somehow that’s all I’ve got. This was a terrible game and I apologize to all of you that endured the entirety of it. Bulls are back at it tonight on the road as they take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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