Chicago Bulls Need Attitude Adjustment To Beat Golden State Warriors
By Chris Peterson
@thepackersguru
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bulls have been missing something, and it’s not just Mike Dunleavy Jr. They are missing the edge they possessed for two years while Derrick Rose was out with an injury. They are not playing with the passion that has defined them for so long, and frankly seem to lack heart.
That needs to change, and that change must to start with their game on the road against the Golden State Warriors, who own the best record in the NBA and are an incredible 21-1 at home so far this season.
The problems with the Bulls recently, including last Sunday’s bad loss to the Miami Heat, go well beyond basketball fundamentals or talent. The bigger issue has been the team’s mentality, and if they are going to upset the the best team in basketball, their mentality must change.
Chicago teams never used to get out-hustled, and now it’s happening routinely. Against the Heat, the Bulls were outrebounded, out-defended, out-everything’d. They are losing the stronghold they once had on the NBA’s Central division, and unless they rediscover themselves soon, they may be just another afterthought when the playoffs come around.
Part of the problem has been injuries, particularly the ones to Joakim Noah that have limited him greatly this season even when he’s been on the court. The 2014 Defensive Player of the Year looks to be getting healthy, but still seems to be a shell of himself. To start winning consistently, the Bulls desperately need him to find his game.
The Bulls have struggled, but make no mistake: This team has the talent to win it all. Maybe the challenge of beating a team like the Warriors, on the road, is exactly what this team needs. This is the kind of game they live for, one in which no one gives them a chance. Chicago loves to be the underdog, but this team is not an underdog — not when the lineup has four bona-fide All-Star players in Noah, Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler, as well as another in Taj Gibson who is not far off.
The Bulls have the talent to beat anyone, anywhere, at any time. Their 16-6 road record, second-best in NBA, is evidence of that. They just need to find their identity again. They need to be those pesky, annoying Bulls who defend like crazy and drive opponents nuts, the team that dives for loose ball and does whatever it takes to win.
Until they do that, the Bulls will continue to play mediocre basketball and their season will continue to go in a downhill spiral.
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