Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets: 3 Takeaways from Another Bulls Letdown

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:40 p.m. ET

Fansided, Hunter Kuffel/FanSided via Pippen Ain't Easy

Dec 23, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez (8) argues with Charlotte Hornets forward Marvin Williams (not pictured) while center Cody Zeller (40) tries to separate them in the fourth quarter at Spectrum Center. The Hornets defeated the Bulls 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulls lost in frustrating fashion to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. Although they led after one quarter, the Bulls lost control of the game not long after, and the weaknesses we’re all too familiar were on display as much as any game this season. Let’s break down the game and look at the biggest takeaways from the 91-103 loss.

To find success in the NBA, it’s crucial to be unpredictable, to always keep your opponents guessing. The Chicago Bulls have taken this notion to heart in all the wrong ways.

Opposing teams are indeed always guessing about them. Will the Bulls appear as a squad of in sync veterans who use a combination of deadly cuts, offensive rebounds and smart defense to pummel you into submission? Will they appear as the trappings of a good team but ultimately fall short due to lack of intensity, spacing, or good decisions? Will they appear as a dysfunctional group of big personalities that can’t deliver on their purported strengths or do anything to cover their glaring weaknesses? It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the Bulls themselves don’t know the answer to these questions.

In Monday’s game against the Pistons, we saw the first team. The Bulls secured a decisive victory. They out rebounded Detroit by 14, they broke 110 points, and they even shot 50 percent from 3-point range.

Two days later, the Bulls faced the Washington Wizards, and the story changed. The Bulls pulled only five more rebounds than the Wizards, they didn’t manage to break 100, and they shot 28.6 percent from deep.

Friday night, the Bulls were an absolute mess. Their 14-point second quarter was the lowest point total in any quarter this entire season, and it came as kind of a surprise that it was that high.

Let’s take a look at the three biggest takeaways from a game we’d all just like to forget instead.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Rajon Rondo is Rajon Rondo

We heard the spin over the summer: “He’s had some issues in the past, but Hoiberg may actually be the perfect coach for him.” “He’s hanging with the guys at Summer League. We’ve never seen him this engaged.” “There’s still an all-defensive point guard in there somewhere. He just has to be in the right situation.”

Maybe Chicago would be that right situation. Maybe Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler would be just what Rondo needed to get back to his Boston days.

Rondo, pic.twitter.com/Xj7cVUth3x

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) December 24, 2016

Probably not, though.

Rondo makes the Bulls worse when he is on the court. There’s just no getting around it anymore. Per NBA.com, Chicago has a Net Rating of -3.9 when Rondo plays and a rating of 3.0 when he sits. In other words, the Bulls score 6.9 more points per 100 possessions when Rondo is off the court.

He’s been in and out of the rotation due to nagging injuries, leading to the random Jerian Grant start here and there. It’s difficult to find a consistent rhythm when your starting point guard is in and out of the lineup.

He needs the ball in his hand to be effective, but the Bulls seem to play better when Butler, Wade, or even Grant serves as the primary ball handler.

And then there’s this:

Even though Rondo flirted with a triple-double in Friday night’s game, those stats shouldn’t inspire too much hope. He also shot 30 percent from the field and had five turnovers. It’s hard to see how the Rondo situation turns out well this season.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Trouble Down Low

Though it isn’t usually a weakness for the Bulls, they struggled mightily in the paint against the Hornets.

Per NBA.com, the Bulls shot 37.8 percent in the restricted area against the Hornets, which isn’t good (league average is about 60 percent) . The real problem, however, was the non-restricted area of the paint. The Bulls were 2-for-12 on those shots, good for an abysmal 16.7 percent (league average is around 40 percent).

A big reason for these dreadful percentages was the Hornets’ outrageous block numbers. The Hornets recorded 13 blocks on Friday; an absolutely absurd number.

Roy Hibbert had four by himself. Roy Hibbert. This man.

These struggles in the paint would be frustrating for anyone. It’s no wonder that one of the Bulls would crack eventually.

Robin Lopez goess full heel, gets TWO Hornets simultaneously with elbows to the throat https://t.co/XpxGGA7W8b

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 24, 2016

The Bulls can’t afford to shoot poorly inside because of how few 3-pointers they take per game. They can’t afford to sacrifice points anywhere otherwise they can’t hope to score enough points. It’s crucial that Wade and Butler make enough of a living driving and either laying it up or getting to the line.

The alternative would be that the Bulls shoot a league average number of 3-pointers at a league average rate. This leads me to…

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Mirotic & McDermott

Here’s the thing: Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic are both effective 3-point shooters in their own ways. Those ways are different though, and at the moment, it’s not clear that those differences are being taken into account.

Take a look at this page. According to NBA.com, Doug is shooting 44.7 percent on catch-and-shoot field goals; a near-elite number. He’s only shooting 33.3 percent on pull-up shots though, which means he should probably take more catch-and-shoots and fewer pull-ups, right?

Then comes Mirotic.

He’s actually in the minority of players who shoot a higher percentage off the dribble than in a catch-and-shoot situation. Off the dribble, Niko is shooting 50 percent, but off of catch-and-shoots, he’s shooting only 27.3 percent.

So in an ideal world, McDermott would handle the catching and shooting and Mirotic would handle the pull-ups, right? Obviously it’s not that simple, but it kinda could almost be. The problem is that Mirotic took seven catch-and-shoot 3-pointers in Friday’s game, and he made one of them. Doug went 3-for-7 from 3 on Friday, but there were countless opportunities for him to get more shots up.

Doug sprinting off a screen, catching, and firing away immediately has the potential to be a deadly weapon for the Bulls. He should be getting 10 attempts up every night if possible.

Meanwhile, Will Gottlieb of the The Athletic Chicago has a plan to use Niko as more of a playmaking four and less of a shooting specialist.

The Bulls have a lot of little things that could all help them work towards consistency, and in that, more sustainable success.