Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Hawks
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bulls' precarious position in the playoff race took another hit Monday night, as they fell 102-100 to the Hawks to fall to 36-37 and 2.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the East. It's the latest in a season Chicago has been sub.-.500 since April 2010, the final year of the Vinny Del Negro era.
Here are the notes and observations of the night.
1. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg liked the fight of his team Monday, which shouldn't ever need to be noted 73 games into a season but is here because they've lacked it far too often.
The main trouble Monday was the Bulls had a horrific second quarter in which they shot 4-of-26 and went 7 minutes, 42 seconds without a field goal. The poor offensive execution then reared its ugly head in the final 60 seconds as well.
Trailing 94-93 with 1:06 left, Hoiberg called a timeout and drew up a stagger screen for Jimmy Butler on a sideline-out-of-bounds play, but the Hawks blitzed him, the timing was off and Taj Gibson ended up with the ball 24 feet from the hoop before the play devolved into Derrick Rose having to create late in the shot clock off the dribble and missing a contested layup.
Down 96-93 on the next possession, Butler forced a hero-ball 3-pointer that was wayward.
After a well-drawn up set led to a four-point play for Butler and helped the Bulls have one last-ditch chance for a tie, Hoiberg used his final timeout while trailing 100-97 with 13.6 seconds left. The primary option out of the set was to go to Butler for a 3-pointer, with the secondary option being Mike Dunleavy for a long-range look. The Hawks were ready for both in defending the arc, and Dunleavy made a back cut for an open layup but botched it.
"We had a play drawn up to give us two looks at the three," Hoiberg said. "They took it away."
It's worth noting that Hoiberg didn't have wing Doug McDermott – the NBA's sixth-best 3-point shooter – on the floor on that sequence.
2. Rose had an awful game, scoring 20 points on erratic 8-of-25 shooting in 34 minutes. Moreover, he was repeatedly beat time and again on the defensive end, both off the dribble and on backcuts by Jeff Teague (26 points, 9-of-18 field goals, seven assists) that helped open up the entire Hawks offense.
Rose's effort lagged at times as well. He showed complete disregard at one point while jogging back on defense as Teague pushed in transition. In a third-quarter sequence, he missed a shot in the lane and – upset by the no-call – didn't get back on defense as Teague hit an easy bucket in transition. Rose then failed to make himself available to Jimmy Butler on the ensuing inbounds pass and stood a good 28 feet from the hoop for most of the next offensive possession before picking up a technical foul for arguing.
Teague hit the freebie free throw. While it's silly to suggest three points in the third quarter decided anything, the Bulls have nearly zero margin for error now, and that was a sequence in which their $20 million man was more preoccupied with pouting than sacrificing for the team. It's reflective of the mental baggage the Bulls carry as well as the physical limitations they have as a team.
As if Rose's detachment needed further illustration Monday, he was asked postgame what his biggest takeaway was from Sunday's rather ballyhooed team meeting that was held to clear the air.
"Who said we had a meeting?" Rose responded.
"Fred," he was told.
"I don't know, it is what it is," Rose said.
3. Butler still isn't right, as he doesn't seem to fully trust his body after suffering a strained left knee in early February. Butler had 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting Monday, the fifth time he's shot 33 percent or worse in the nine games since his return.
Of his physical health, Butler said postgame that he's "all right." Hoiberg provided a little more detail.
"Jimmy's probably not telling you everything, but he is sore, there's no doubt about it," Hoiberg said. "He's out there battling through pain. He did not participate in shootaround this morning just because of his body, just really overall soreness, he's got some stiffness in his back. Nothing structurally wrong with his leg, but he's got some overall soreness. He's battling and fighting."
In his past nine games, Butler's averaging 14.3 points on 38.1 percent shooting.
4. Before the game, Hoiberg mentioned he didn't think anybody left Sunday's team meeting with hurt feelings. Butler had a similar sentiment on what was taken from the airing of grievances.
"About how we need to stick together," Butler said. "If somebody says something to you, you don't take it personally, because it's for the betterment of the team."
5. Monday was a matchup the Bulls really could've used guard E'Twaun Moore in, as Teague got where he wanted against Rose and the Bulls, including reserve guard Aaron Brooks, couldn't check Hawks backup point guard Dennis Schroder, who had 14 points in 18 minutes. Instead, Moore missed his sixth straight game with a strained left hamstring.
Moore has returned to on-court work and parts of practice but hasn't taken contact yet.
"We hope to get E'Twaun back sometimes this week," Hoiberg said. "We're not exactly sure when that will be, but he's definitely making progress."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.