Bulls having tough times on offense and defense

Offense, defense ... where to start?

The schedule finally granted the Bulls back-to-back practice days for the first time since December 10 and 11. They haven't been playing well lately and need to take advantage of the league's two worst teams, Washington (7-27) and Oklahoma City (5-31), visiting the United Center this weekend.

Coach Vinny Del Negro chose to allocate most of the practice time to defense, which has been bad all season. But the Bulls have been oddly out of sync on offense, too, with three straight games of shooting below 40 percent from the field.

Before this stretch, the Bulls shot less than 40 percent as a team just once in 20 games.

Following Tuesday's ugly 99-94 win over Sacramento, point guard Derrick Rose suggested the players were still getting used to some new schemes.

"(We're) just thinking too much now," Rose said. "We know some sets - if they make a basket, what we're supposed to do; if they miss, what we're supposed to do. It's like reacting instead of thinking a lot."

Asked for his impressions, Del Negro had a slightly different account. But the first-year coach did stress he's set out to simplify everything the Bulls do, on both offense and defense.

"I think in the last few weeks, if anything, we've been pretty cut and dry what we want to do on makes and on misses," he said. "I think that's helped the guys a little bit. In timeouts, I'll diagram some plays and stuff that we've practiced a lot.

"But it's real, real simple - not mostly for Derrick, but just for everybody. Basketball's an instinct game. You have to go out there and be able to react. I think at times on both ends, we get caught in that, 'Am I supposed to go here or there?' "

Of course, a simple rule of thumb all season for the Bulls has been the better they share the ball, the more points they score. The Bulls are averaging 20.1 assists per game, 20th in the league.

During a Thursday morning interview on WSCR 670-AM, general manager John Paxson complained about the team's tendency to throw up quick shots, but listed defense as the greatest weakness.

"The defense on the floor has been poor and that's where Vinny and the staff and the players have to get on the same page and work daily in practice on it," Paxson said. "Vinny and I have had excellent talks about this and how we can try to get better. I think in his mind right now, we need to simplify what we're doing out there."

It's easy to point to how well the Bulls played defensively under coach Scott Skiles from 2004-07. But they had veteran big men on the roster back then. Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray are still learning the ropes while playing significant minutes.

"Being able to practice definitely helps," Del Negro said. "We're not changing any of our coverages. We're not changing our philosophy of what we've been doing since Day One. But just having some time to kind of revisit some things and go over them and get everybody on the same page."

Cold as ice

The Bulls have shot under 40 percent from the field in three straight games.

Date, opp. Result FG%

1-6-09, Sac. W, 99-94 .386

1-3-09, Minn. L, 92-102 .393

1-2-09, Cle. L, 92-117 .366

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