Biggest Concerns Over Chicago Bulls Final 11 Games

Biggest Concerns Over Chicago Bulls Final 11 Games

Found yourself want another episode of Locked on bulls the Chicago Bulls are still under 500 and I’m going to tell you today why the 500 Mark really should not matter to fans as much as what it does especially in this season we’re also going to look at the week ahead for

The Chicago Bulls and the Bulls bring the woo back javante green is a Chicago Bull once again we’re going to talk about all and more right after this you are locked on bulls your daily podcast on the Chicago Bulls part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day thank you for tuning in lockon Bulls member of the locked on podcast Network where it’s your team every single day uh today’s episode is brought to you by prospects the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to prospects.com locked on use code all lowercase locked

On NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 my name is Hayes host and creator of Chicago Bulls and Chicago Bears Central and uh let’s go ahead and get into it so the last time me and Pat Uh were on the show the Bulls were one game

Below 500 we were asking the question can the Bulls get to 500 again in the game against the Houston Rockets and the Bulls went on to lose both games since that time to the Houston Rockets and to the Boston Celtics the Bulls sit once again three games below low 500 now

There’s a couple of different reasons why right when you look at this once again the Chicago Bulls um they’re just they they just don’t stand up to the moment when you look at in that game against Houston Rockets specifically that was one of those games where the

Bulls you know they had they were in the game at points in times they did have a chance to win that game but it was just execution down the stretch the Houston Rockets in that game just really seemed to wanted more and then when you look at

The Boston Celtics of course the best team per record in the NBA the Bulls just didn’t have it when you look at the second chance points that we gave up against the Boston Celtics um and the three-point shots right the discrepancy from three-point range that Boston Celtics team scored 63

Points out off the three-point line alone and that leads us back to kind of the things that really hurt this bull Team right now that is you know rebounding in key moments even though we’re a really good rebounding team it seems like always those momentum changing rebounds rebounds you kind of

Look to gain momentum down the stretch of a tough game we just don’t have then our defense the Bulls defense over the this month of of March has been one of I think the third worst defense in the NBA over that stretch and so it’s just those

Things really and you know it’s it’s at this point it’s built into the roster right we’re not a roster that has a lot of Rim protection the rim protection we kind of really would like to see a little bit more from this team and then we just don’t match the three-point

Shooting and when you aren’t a three-point shooting team because we’ve seen teams even this season that aren’t necessarily the highest volume or three-point uh attempts per game you got to be effective in a couple of areas you got you have to be effective on the boards you have to win off fast break

Points you got to attack the defense before they get a chance to set up you have to be really efficient on offense yourself and even with the three-point shots that you do make you want to be efficient with those as well and those are areas that really kind of hurt the

Bulls a lot right and we’re missing a few a few players that really would help the Bulls three-point shooting and Patrick Williams we look at the percentage he shoots it at from three even though the volume isn’t quite there and then Zack LaVine his ability to

Stretch the floors as well and that has just led to this environment and situation where the Bulls just they don’t really have it and I know 500 we keep looking at that 500 Mark and me and Pat have continually said hey this 500 Mark may not come and it’s not really

About getting just getting to 500 alone it’s about being able to stay at 500 and even if the Bulls were to get to 500 this season in all reality they’re probably going to stay the uh the night seed if that’s the case anyway so I mean

At this point it’s more so tighten up the things that you can tighten up specifically on that defensive side of the ball getting Kobe white back into Rhythm two games back so far for Kobe white hasn’t looked necessarily the best but again he avoided a major injury that

Injury looked extremely nasty and so you know it’s going to take some time to get back in Rhythm yeah Iowa has really stepped up over that time as well uh we lost de Mar Rosen in that game against the Houston Rockets so there’s a lot of

Things you can kind of look at and point towards that just listen it’s going to be tough for the Bulls to get to 500 I I say all that to say this now the thing that the Bulls are doing right now at least they’re maintaining their advantage over the Atlanta Hawks right

Now uh would sit two and a half games behind the Chicago Bulls but with 12 games left on the season the Bulls got to tighten some things up and um that’s going to come through like kind of figuring out that defense that that rotation as well Off the Bench uh I

Don’t expect gavonte green to play a whole hell of a lot we we’ll talk about his return here towards the the back half of the show but I think it really comes down to those situational moments from Billy Donovan as well in the game against the Boston Celtics Nic lavich

Had two rebounds two that’s just not going to cut it and you know not to say that uh Andre German played too much better either in that game against the Boston Celtics but he was released rebounding the ball better and so that situational um substitutions Billy

Donovan kind of fails at it’s going to be something to really look at more more closely before the season ends but you can only fix so much over 12 remaining games right some of this is just baked in to who this Bulls roster is and who they’re going to be over this

Stretch of time is it unfortunate hell yeah it’s unfortunate right um because we know that the talent this team has and we’ve seen this team and how they perform at times especially defensively we have that second gear that we are able to get into Times defensively but

It seems like over the teams that just won’t go away it really it really hurts the Bulls a little bit more so you know like I’ve said before I’m not going to ever say that I want to see my team lose I’m not going to ever

Say that I want to see my team you know fail down the stretch not make it out the playing because listen I’ll be the first one here excited screaming um if if this team is able to make it out the playing tournament but the thing that

I’ve been telling you guys for a while is that if the Bulls don’t it’s not the worst thing in the world right we own our own draft pick this year so if we don’t make it out that playing tournament we get a lottery Pick and and that’s perfectly fine right it’s I think

When you look at spe specifically the the position uh that the Bulls are of need right with which is the center position or or a big man maybe even the power forward position there are quite a bit of solid prospects in this draft we know that this is a weaker draft but if

You if you Scout right things like that even weaker drafts you can still find Diamonds in the Rough and I’m not saying that that player needs to turn into a superstar level Talent or anything like that but you could find you a a a a player that can start at start for you

For years and years to come if you play it right right KH wear is out there Tyler Smith somebody who’s go slated to go right towards the end of the lottery that if the Bulls do make it you know to the plane and kind of get eliminated uh

I really like to see them go he’s with the g-league ignite right now 611 power forward 215 pounds um talked a lot about Kyle fosi from duke uh he’s a center there so there are there are prospects that the Bulls really can look at that have some ready-made NBA skills that can

Come in and help you right away so if the Bulls don’t you know make it out there playing it’s not the worst thing possible now I think this team is going to fight I think this team is going to compete um and this isn’t a team that’s

Going to go that’s going to back down right or just not try to win games so you know if they can great I’m not saying that they shouldn’t attempt to or try to but it just comes down to what the Bulls are missing what’s been the shortcoming of

This team that giving up Corner threes the Bulls give up the most points to an opponent generated from the corner three which has become one of the most efficient shots in the game of basketball and so those things all kind of combining to make a you know a

Perfect storm of of negativity around the Bulls are there and I mean as the Bulls go forward as you know they face the better teams things like that those issues those shortcomings are going to become louder they’re going to become more evident they’re going to become

Things that stick out a little bit worse right and then you get these teams uh playing really well on the back end of the season you know like your Houston Rockets team that’s won what eight games in a row I think they have the the longest right now as of this recording

Winning streak in the NBA besides the Boston Celtics when you have teams that are playing with that level of confidence we’ve seen it it’s it’s been proven every single time The Bu it’s going to give the Bulls fits and you know our inability to really hold on the

Leads is is something that’s stuck out this whole season uh yeah we’re one of the better clutch teams in the NBA but then when you start factoring in how many of those clutch situations we’ve put ourselves in right where if we were able to hold on to leads they wouldn’t

Even been technically a clutch game right per that that stat so you know the Bulls have hurt themselves in a lot of way ways the defense specifically in pick and roll defense at times the lack of adjustments that situational rotations from Billy Donovan that fall

Short a lot of times as well all those things breed a perfect scenario where the Bulls are just left you know not as the clear right as as clearcut as what we would like even against some of the games that are supposed to be easier games on our schedule and that’s just

Unfortunately that’s just where we are this season and it’s up to AK and ever Le to really see this see this what our struggles over the season and make the decision on how much of this do they feel they can realistically change this offseason an offseason in which you’re

Really tied up against that luxury tax um if you bring back most the most of the players that are that are uh free agents or up for extensions like a Patrick Wills or demard Rose and an Andre Drummond if you end up bringing most of those players back that’s your

That’s your off season you’re not you’re not going to be able to add a whole hell of a lot other than that in your draft pick so um this front office got some tough decisions to make here as we as we head towards the end of the season and I

Don’t know how much more these 12 games are going to be used for evaluation at this point you kind of you kind of know who these players are of course there are some players with the young ones um and dalen who’s really stepped up gotta give dalen credit for that that stretch

He went on against the Boston Celtics but yeah there are some players here that definitely can still Step Up considerably um it still take an a step up but you got to ask yourself just how much of that are you willing to bet on and we’ll see with that we’ll see what

Comes with that but uh next up though uh we’re going to talk about the Chicago Bulls and the week ahead the schedule that we have the week ahead we’re we’re we’re basically in the last three weeks of the season and so we’re going to take

A look at this this next week up which we have four games against Some solid opponents at but before we get into that I got to talk to you guys about a couple of our sponsors and the first one up got to talk to you guys about Robin Hood did

You know that even if you have a 401k for retirement you can still have an IRA Robin Hood has the only Ira that gives you 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robin Hood gold but get this now through April 30th Robin Hood is even boosting every

Single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match that’s right no cap on the 3% match Robinhood go gets you the most for your retirement thanks to their Ira with a 3% match this offer is good through April 30th get started at robinhood.com Boost

Subscription fees apply and now for some legal info claim as of quarter 1 2024 validated by radius Global Market Research investing involves risk including loss limitations apply to IRAs and 401ks 3% match requires Robin Hood go for one year from the date of the first 3% match must keep Robin Hood Ira

For 5 years the 3% match on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions Robinhood Ira available to us customers in good standing Robinhood Financial lsse member sic is a registered dealer broker dealer all right with that said I also got to talk to you guys about

Another one of our sponsors and that is eBay Motors passion drive and patience what brings home the winning trophy is also what keep keeps your ride or die alive e Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Pink performance from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights

And more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you always find exactly what you’re looking for and with the eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time

Or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available

To us customers all right Bulls fans so with that said I want to take a look at the week ahead for the Chicago Bulls because this going to be interesting week for the Bulls right you know especially with us trying to hold off the Atlanta Hawks

From passing us up and you know the Bulls right now are are have a 21% chance of making the playoffs Which is higher than their chance to be eliminated from the playoffs um they don’t really I think they have like a 2% chance of moving up uh to the seventh or

Eighth seed which you know I know at one point in time especially when we were closer to 500 it looked like that could have been a possibility for the Chicago Bulls to kind of move up and get that it doesn’t look as likely now right and that’s perfectly fine the Bulls just got

To finish their season the best way that they can uh not and even even with it said if the Atlanta Hawks were to pass up the Bulls at number nine we go to the number 10 spot okay now we play on the road Bulls don’t necessarily have the

The best home record we’re 18 and 18 at home so it’s a 500 record at home we’re worse on the road so we’ll see what that turns into for the Bulls now of course you want to play at home give your home crowd that opportunity uh to see that

That that extra postseason game and let let the chips fall where they may but when you look at this this this week coming up for the Bulls first up we got the Washington Wizards going down tonight and this is a team that of course we beat before but this is also a

Team that’s given us fits before it really depends on who’s going to be available they’re missing a lot of players they’ve already ruled out Kyle kman is not going to play tonight lry Shaman’s not going to play tonight uh Eugene who V did the two small on is not

Playing tonight uh Jordan P pole is uh P Jordan P I’m sorry is questionable and then you have tyus Jones also who’s already been ruled out for the Washington Wizards but the thing with that is is that we know that this Bulls team cannot take any team for granted

Right I don’t care who’s suited up who’s not yeah the Washington Wizards is going to be missing most of their players but let’s not act like the Bulls have not gotten cooked by absolute role players on some teams before right so uh that’s going to be a tough thing for the Bulls

Right so they’re going to have to stand up you’re gonna have to be prepared defensively to see how they can Denny uh is still playing in this game he’s a player that I really do like one of the my favorite players on this Wizards team uh absolutely but other than that

They’re missing a lot of their top scores so you know it it does present the Bulls an opportunity get back in the win column get some momentum going maybe Kobe white can get you know closer to being the Kobe white that we uh need to

See on the back half of the season but we don’t have very many games left man we don’t have very many games left we’re we’re approaching the final 10 games left of the season in a season that’s been so up and down it’s been it’s honestly been ridiculous just how up and

Down the season has been for the Chicago Bulls but you know 11 games left I think I said 12 earlier 11 games left get this game out the way and then you’re in your final 10 games of the season and this is where you know you want to finish strong

Heading into the plan gain some momentum where you can and and just figure some things out and so you know it’s up to the coaching staff it’s up to the players to really understand what this moment is and so you know against the Washington Wizards is a game to kind of

Really get in tune um start your week off really solidly right play really well against that team because then you got the Pacers coming up after that on Wednesday we play We face the Indiana Pacers this is a team that always plays as close whether we win or lose against

The Pacers that’s never an easy game for the Chicago Bulls we did win the last game against them we had to go into overtime we end up winning that by three that’s going to be a tough game for the Bulls absolutely so they got to be on their PS and q’s defensively especially

In that game and you’re gonna hope that you got everybody kind of back in rhythm with Kobe IO everybody’s kind of all all on their cylinders at that point in time then we got the Brooklyn Nets Friday now the Nets are an interesting team because right now theet I think have lost their

Last six games you the only six game losing streak they’re two- eight in their last 10 games and this is a team that in the Brooklyn Nets that has seemed to kind of come to the realization on what their season’s going to be the fact that even though they’re

They’re uh technically the 11 seed they don’t seem like they’re going to be catching up right now they’re uh five and a half games behind the Atlanta Hawks for that 10 spot with 11 games left on the season so you know they don’t have a whole hell of a lot to

Fight for but you don’t want to allow that team to be the one that comes in with more fight right you know teams that are playing with house money that season has kind of been uh determined the Bulls have definitely faltered against those teams before so that’s

Another team that you cannot ease up or or take um that you can avoid so when it comes down to that you just you can’t allow a team like that to come in and have more fight than you and then you have the Minnesota Timberwolves in the

In the week on Sunday while we had did beat the the Timberwolves before right uh you know they were missing players and they’re going to still projectly be missing players it’s still a game that we had to go into overtime to beat them uh uh when we did before right so all

These games this week really present interesting scenarios for the Bulls where these are not teams that you can let up on by any stretch of the imagination you cannot come into these games lack a day school and that’s that’s sometimes where where we see the Bulls don’t always execute the way that

We would like to see them execute right and uh that’s really what this week has to be right is is this every week from now on you got to go 500 at the minimum right that’s what I would like to see from the Chicago Bulls over every one of

These last games of the season is 500 needs to be the minimum for the week you know we we had the phrase before kind of towards the end of last season we said win the week and so if you can win the week right which is having more wins

Than losses in that week or finishing 500 which don’t look at winning the week but you didn’t lose the week don’t lose these last three weeks and that’s really what is going to be important for the Bulls and like I said it’s not even about getting back to 500 at this point

That’s neither here nor there because you could be at 500 and still be the N Seed with everything that the Bulls have faced this season the 4 and 15 start the injuries that we had all up and down the fact that we have been playing with like

A 44 45 uh uh win season Pace basically since December all those things are great those those you can absolutely put that in a notch in your cap that’s all great and find and dandy but finish the season strong and by strong like I said win the week that’s all we’re looking at

You to do is win the week where you can and um get your players in Rhythm keep trusting those young players dalen Terry like that stretch that he had against Boston once again and I keep saying it dalen Terry keeps flashing the allaround kind of mentality that he can be right

And and that swits army knife player that he has the potential to be you want to continue seeing that uh you want to continue finding that balance Off the Bench uh but Tim who has really kind of fallen out of the rotation we’re talking about single digigit minutes the last

Couple of games for the Chicago Bulls you know does he get himself back into the rotation we need that shooting right for whatever reason Billy Donovan stopped playing him and stopped trusting him at a time where Billy was trusting btim uh even in kind of clutch moments

He was out there in fourth quarters now for him to fall out of the rotation in the manner in which he has you know leave some questions but cany get that get find that way back in that rotation and you’re really kind of looking at these young players for the remainder

Part of your season and you’re really trying to determine which one of these players are going to have a role that we going to pencil in for having a role you still want them to go through training camp and earn it but you’re going to look at these young players and ask

Yourself which one of these guys are we are we betting on earning roles heading into next season and that’s really what this week that’s what every week remaining out of these last 11 games for the Chicago Bulls that’s really what we’re looking at but next up we’re going

To be looking at the return of the Woo which vonte green returning to the team before we get into that though we’re going to talk to you guys about one of our sponsors and that is prize picks prize picks is America’s number one fa fantasy daily Sports app with over 3

Million members we are the easiest and most exciting to play daily fantasy sports it’s just you against the numbers you pick more than or less than on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in it’s demon time on prize picks you can now win up to 100

Times your money with as little as four correct picks you can turn $10 into $1,000 demons and goblins are the newest and most exciting way to play prize picks squares marked with with Red Demons or Green Goblins get you different payouts you can now win up to

100 times your money with as little as four correct picks go to prix.com lockon NBA and use code lockon NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 that’s prix.com locked on NBA to use promo code locked on NBA for first deposit match up to $100 all right

Y’all now with that said we got to get into something feel good right these first two segments haven’t necessarily felt the best to talk about or been the most positive topics because this is being real about the Chicago Bulls so you know that comes with its own positives and negatives but the bull

Brought javante green back on a 10day contract which a lot of bulls fans were really excited about javante green a player who um you know we’re familiar with the coaching staff knows and that’s why you saw the Bulls make that move for a 10-day contract and some Bulls fans

May ask well why were they able to sign Javonte green well there’s a a provision in the NBA that if you have um at least three players out that are projected to miss more than two weeks you get a uh extra roster spot that you can sign a

Player two with Julian Phillips expected to miss last two weeks that allowed them that opportunity to sign Javonte green to that 10day contract and the reasons why like I get it you were the players out there still in the free agent Market with more size yes technically there

Absolutely was but javante green is familiar you don’t have to get over the learning curve if you have to play him uh he’s already familiar with the system he knows that Billy Donovan knows him he’s familiar with the players there’s chemistry there already so you know javante a player who Bulls did not

Retain in the offseason mainly due to his injury concern he’s been spending most of the season rehabing with the Golden State Warriors g-league team um and the Bulls you know basically allow that time and once they have that extra spot they reached out Chante and brought

Brought him back home uh so this gives the Bulls him for 10 days which they’ve uh that was like two or three days now this point we basically have him for basically remainder of this week um and I don’t I won’t be surprised if they give him a second 10-day contract

Especially with the Julian Phillips injury and that’s what really that signifies to me is that Julian Phillips is going to be out some time and maybe the Bulls aren’t as confident as Julian Phillips returning this season as maybe what they once were and I’m not I’m not

Reporting on that but that’s just kind of speculation and thought process in my head in adding javante green um he he averaged about 11 I think 11 to 12 points down in the G league so you know he he he proved himself to be healthy

And if you do play him he’s going to be energy guy Billy Donovan already said his first game back was against Boston they already pointed to and said hey it’s not it’s not a high chance that he’s gonna play in this game um and he didn’t play and that’s even with Alice

Cruo going down at one point he was able to tape up the ankle he came back don’t expect Javonte green to play a lot for the Chicago Bulls on this 10-day contract he’s there kind of has a debt piece has some insurance if you do need

To play him but it seems like Billy Donovan is content at playing the young guys at this point right playing you know OB not a whole lot of minutes Dal Terry’s getting a lot more minutes now and Andre Drummond those are your main three players coming off the bench we

Didn’t see Javon Carter in the last I think two games if I’m not mistaken so uh when that comes down to that’s what javante is but it does feel good to bring javante green back to this team right it does feel good to do that he’s

Somebody that a lot of bulls fans wish that we hadn’t let walk away again the injury was was kind of the biggest uh reasoning for that more than anything else the Bulls basically let Javonte green go out rehab somewhere else get paid for the season right and then we’re

Still we we brought him back to be here and that’s a great story everybody loves to see Javonte back in the Bull’s uniform see him back on the sidelines doing the silly dance and things like that so you know that’s that’s really what that signing is I don’t want to

Make it seem like it’s more than what it is because I just don’t think we’re going to see Javonte play a whole hell of a lot for the Chicago Bulls now if they if he does play we know he brings energy we know he brings defense we know

He’s gonna he’s going to be able to get deflections all things that help the Chicago Bulls team get the wins we need to see on the back half of the season but he’s just not projected to be somebody who’s going to play a whole

Heck of a lot for the Bulls but glad to have woo back in the building back in the UC back in the red and black and that’s you know a good it’s S A feel good way to end this show man but thank you guys so much for tuning in make sure

You’re following uh you can follow us collectively at lockon Bulls you can follow me at CEO Haze you can follow Pat the designer at Pat the designer um but yeah that’s it man for us lockon Bulls is free and available on every podcasting app and platform of your

Choice as well as YouTube and the Odyssey app for p the designer I’m Hayes this has been locked on bulls and we out y’all peace

Haize discusses the Bulls’ inability to get over the .500 mark while also looking at the week ahead. Haize also talks about the Bulls burning Javonte Green back.

Call or text the show: (331) 979-1369

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBulls?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

Follow Locked On Bulls on Twitter
Locked On Bulls: https://twitter.com/LockedOnBulls
Haize: https://twitter.com/CEOHaize
Pat: https://twitter.com/PatTheDesigner

Support us by supporting our sponsors! | Offers from our sponsors:

Amazon Fire TV
Fire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV

Nissan
Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
New customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)