Bulls' Defense Showing Cracks, Cause For Concern

By Cody Westerlund--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Running short on patience and puzzled at what feels like an unanswerable question, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg started Monday night's postgame press conference after an abysmal 114-100 loss to the Wizards at the United Center with an all-too-familiar refrain.

"We didn't come out of the gate with the energy we needed to," Hoiberg said.

Then he uttered a line that every Bulls fan in this city has been hollering on and off since the start of the 2014-'15 season.

"It's beyond me how that can happen," Hoiberg said.

The "we came out flat" line has been an ugly verse to the Bulls' theme song for one-and-a-half seasons running now, a problem that's plagued them on and off. Given the roster's remained the same in that time frame, perhaps it's just an ingrained part of their DNA that's featured here and again.

More worrisome is how Chicago's defense has been leaky of late. The Bulls entered Monday leading the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage, but in their last 12 games, they've allowed an average of 104.1 points. The Bulls have also ranked in the bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency in that stretch after riding their defense to early season success.

On Monday, a Wizards team missing four players – including usual starters Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat – torched the Bulls for 52 percent shooting in the first half and nearly 49 percent for the game.

An offensive surge has helped Chicago go 7-5 in these past 12 games, but even that has an apparent drawback. Wing Jimmy Butler admitted the Bulls have sometimes relaxed on defense because of their better offensive play.

That too is a line we heard last season.

"We forget how important the defensive end is," Butler said.

"We got to man up. Everybody's got to try to win their matchups."

The Bulls (22-14) trace many all of their defensive troubles to miscommunication. They're not talking well enough and thus are a step behind, so the theory goes.

Of course, that only tells part of the story, as clear personnel issues exist, such as Pau Gasol being exploited in pick-and-roll defense. What does carry meaning in the Bulls' words is that they have lesser chance to hide their defensive weaknesses if they don't communicate well.

"It starts with communication," Hoiberg said. "I don't know – the guys on the bench talk more than the guys when they're on the floor, for whatever reason."

Added Butler: "We're not talking like we're supposed to be talking, and you can really tell."

In Butler's view, the burden of responsibility should be placed on the players here, not the coaches.

"We've had a lot of mental breakdowns, and that's on us, because the coaches put us in the right position in shootaround, let us know what the coverage are going to be," Butler said. "But whenever we're out there, we're not talking early enough, loud enough – whether it's the bigs telling the guards what to do or the guards telling the bigs what to do. Nobody knows anyways, because nobody's opening their mouth on that end of the floor."

Hoiberg expressed disappointment that the Bulls have "put our heads down and lose our fight" when faced with adversity in a short two-game skid that's followed a six-game winning streak. It's part of the ups and downs in any season, Gasol pointed out, but for a squad that's shared its championship aspirations from the front office on down to the locker room, it's a troubling habit accompanied by troubling words.

"It's something that if you want to be a top team, if you want to be a contender for the title, you just can't afford," Gasol said. "Championship teams don't do that."

Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.