Anatomy of a mess
Chicago Tribune Article - 11/12
There's no shortage of reasons why the Bulls are 1-5 out of the gate

Scott Skiles cracked a small smile as he settled behind the podium late Saturday night. He spread his left palm upward to open the floor for questions and glanced downward at one of the ugliest box scores in recent memory.

"Do you even know where to begin?" he said to the assembled reporters.

Yes.

In honor of the Bulls' shockingly inept 1-5 start, we'll match the loss total with analysis of five critical breakdowns and also match the victory total with one reason for hope.

And for those wondering, if the Bulls struggle on the upcoming six-game trip to arrive at, say, 3-9, the loss total could be matched again with areas of breakdown quite easily.

There's that much wrong with the Bulls these days.

Breakdowns
1. Point guard play
Kirk Hinrich owns an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 2-1 and leads the Bulls in personal fouls. The fifth-year guard threw one pass Saturday night against the Raptors that a youth basketball coach would stop a practice to criticize, a one-handed, cross-court pass across his body.

"Offensively we aren't sharp, and ultimately that's my responsibility," Hinrich said. "I haven't been playing very well."

Worse, Hinrich's foul trouble has forced Ben Gordon into a primary ballhandling role for long stretches. Gordon's decision-making remains suspect, to which his three-turnover average attests.

Also, Thabo Sefolosha has struggled, with 21 percent shooting and eight turnovers in four games. That means the Bulls continue to employ a smallish backcourt that is getting burned defensively.

2. Shooting slumps
Hinrich, who revealed late Saturday he has a sprained ligament in a knuckle on his non-shooting hand, is firing away at 31.8 percent.

Gordon is at 35.4 percent. Luol Deng is at 44.4 percent, but that's well below his career percentage of 48.0.

And the Bulls, second in the league last season in three-point shooting, are converting just 26.4 percent from that distance.

Rare is the time when Hinrich, Gordon and Deng slump concurrently. Now is that time.

"I don't feel like I'm pressing on every shot," Gordon said. "It just seems like it's contagious. We need to reverse it by playing together."

Indeed, some games the Bulls have left the page offensively and tried to go one-on-one. Other games they've moved the ball well and simply missed open shots.

Call it equal-opportunity ineptitude.

"Offensively, we've been so inept that it's taken the spirit out of the whole team," Skiles said. "The more we continue to discuss our offensive ineptitude, it becomes self-fulfilling and it gets worse.

"We have to get back to basics."

3. Coaching communication
Contrary to his image as a screaming taskmaster, Skiles always has displayed the ability to recognize when to coddle and when to cajole.

This season, he has allowed Ben Wallace to wear his headband and sounded out of character at times, at least publicly, by giving players outs.

"Not to make excuses for the guys, but when you're constantly going down and missing shots and turning the ball over and coaches are in your ear that we can win the game defensively, it's pretty tough," he said Saturday.
Skiles still demands accountability, as his five-man substitution against the Raptors or his benching of Wallace in fourth quarters suggests.

But when players consistently talk about failing to follow the game plan, either execution is non-existent, something is getting lost in translation or a little of both.

4. Wallace's woes
Slowed through four games by a sore left ankle, Wallace hasn't come close to resembling the dominant rebounder and defender he can be. Already, he has sat for three entire fourth quarters, although the other four starters joined him for Saturday's blowout loss.

In the two games since Wallace has said his ankle is better, he has just 12 rebounds. That used to be one night's work—and often then some—for him.

"Coaches make decisions [about] who plays and who doesn't," Wallace said. "As professionals, we have to live with that. Those guys who came in the game work just as hard as the starters, so they deserve an opportunity too. All we can do is sit on the sideline and cheer for them."

5. Mental fortitude
The "Kobe! Kobe!" chants are now as much a part of home games as Benny the Bull. The multimillion dollar extensions for Deng and Gordon went unsigned. The Eastern Conference is stronger.

Distractions exist every day in the NBA. The players are saying the right things about not letting them affect their play. But their unfocused and inconsistent performance suggests otherwise—or just massive regression.

Either way, the subject is enough to worry Skiles.

"I would hope that we had a reached a level where with bad play or a chant, we could stay on course," he said. "But it's possible that's not the case."

Hope
1. No splintering
Five-man substitutions can rub the wrong way. But at least publicly, players agreed with Skiles' action and vowed to stick together.

"Whatever we're doing now isn't working, but we're on the same page," Gordon said. "I don't want to say it's the coaching. It's the guys on the floor.

"We have to have better effort."

Skiles, too, is exuding more calm than consternation.

"The only thing you can do in these moments is work the problems," Skiles said.

The Bulls, who began 3-9 last season, have three practice days to do that before beginning their six-game trip on Thursday in Phoenix.

"As a group, we've faced our share of adversity," Hinrich said.

"If I didn't know these guys and their character, I would be worried. But we'll bounce back."