The Chicago Bulls are now 1-2 in the preseason as they dropped weekend matchups with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves on back-to-back nights. In three exhibitions, the Bulls looked good on the defensive end, but on offense – especially in the half court – it’s been a challenge.
Much of the struggles on offense stem from the reserve unit. The group that has been dubbed "Bench Mob 2.0," has yet to develop any sort of continuity and chemistry on the court, and once the starters check out, the flow of the game changes as the new players work to try and figure things out.
Beyond that, the team as a whole isn’t shooting the ball very well, especially from beyond the three-point line. The Bulls are just 6-20 from deep (.130 percent), and Marco Belinielli who was supposed to replace Kyle Korver as the team’s best shooter, is just 6-20 from the field and 0-6 from beyond the arc.
Despite the shooting struggles, there are some positives worth noting.
Considering the team's turned-over roster, the Bulls seem to be suffering very little on defense. Taj Gibson and Nazr Mohammed look to be a great rebounding duo off the bench, and Jimmy Butler appears to have made great strides in improving his game.
But the fact remains, victories still haven’t come and the team has a lot of improvements to make. Life without Derrick Rose won’t be easy and the Bulls seem to be finding that out the hard way.
The team returns to practice on Monday as they prepare to take on the Milwaukee Bucks in their next preseason game at the United Center on Tuesday.
