Bulls unable to stop high-scoring efforts
The common basketball strategy of making someone other than the opponent's star player beat you hasn't really sunk in with the Bulls.
Al Jefferson's 39 points in a 109-108 overtime loss Sunday at Minnesota was simply the latest example in a seasonlong trend:
Opponents are finding unprecedented success against the Bulls' defense.
The list of players who have set career highs in scoring against the Bulls this season is long and features a mix of both young stars and run-of-the mill big men.
Detroit's Rodney Stuckey lit up the Bulls for 40 points. Toronto's Andrea Bargnani (31), Charlotte rookie D.J. Augustin (29), Atlanta's Al Horford (27), Cleveland's Anderson Varejao (26) and Boston's Kendrick Perkins (25) have all rung up career highs that still stood as of Monday morning.
The players who have set season highs against the Bulls is an even longer list and contains familiar names: LeBron James (twice), Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Jefferson, Pau Gasol, Travis Outlaw, Stephen Jackson, Mike Bibby and Rudy Gay.
Even ex-Bulls center Ben Wallace piled up a season-high 13 points against his former team on Jan. 2. Wallace has one other double-digit scoring game this year (11 against Denver).
This tells us something that was obvious about the Bulls even before the season began: They have some huge problems on defense with young big men and a rookie point guard.
Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray all have their moments on defense, but none of them seem capable of staying sharp for an entire game or have much success trying to shut down tougher covers.
A primary role of any big man is to protect the lane when an opponent heads for the basket, but they don't do that very well, either.
It also speaks to the value of Drew Gooden, the team's only veteran big man. He never has been considered a great defender, but maybe he's better than advertised.
Most of the big games by opposing big men (Jefferson, Bargnani, Horford, Varejao, Perkins) came when Gooden was out with an injury. The loss at Minnesota dropped the Bulls to 3-11 this season in games Gooden has missed.
No one is sure when Gooden will return from groin and abdominal strains, but it's not likely to happen this week when the Bulls continue their road trip against the Clippers, Sacramento and Phoenix, with three more road games still to come.
It's also no secret that rookie point guard Derrick Rose has plenty to learn on defense. He seems to be getting better but has struggled to stay in front of quick guards.
Likewise, forward Luol Deng has had trouble his entire career when confronted with athletic wing players such as James, Carter, Outlaw and Gay. The Bulls have had some success against Atlanta's Joe Johnson, but at 6-feet-7 he can shoot over any of the Bulls' guards when he gets rolling.
Another apparent flaw is strategy. Anyone who has ever watched a basketball game would know that Noah is going to have a difficult time against Jefferson in the post. Even when Noah did something well, like block Jefferson's shot in the final minute of regulation, the centerpiece acquisition of the Kevin Garnett trade tipped in the rebound for the tying basket.
Where were the double teams? The Bulls did a nice job late in overtime of getting the ball out of Jefferson's hands, sending Deng over to help when the Bulls trailed by 1 with about 20 seconds left.
Jefferson gave the ball up to Mike Miller, who bricked a 3-point attempt against a good contest from Kirk Hinrich, who ran over to help. If the Bulls had done that earlier, the Timberwolves may not have survived to see overtime.
The Bulls also had trouble matching up against both Jefferson and 6-9 rookie Kevin Love, who combined to score Minnesota's final 17 points of regulation. They tried Andres Nocioni and Thomas against Love before finally resorting to a bigger combo of Noah and Gray in overtime.
Even defensive switches failed the Bulls. Matched against Thabo Sefolosha, Minnesota guard Randy Foye used his speed advantage to score the game-winning layup in overtime.
High times against Bulls
Players who have reached 30 points, set a new career-high or a season-high in scoring against the Bulls so far in 2008-09:
Player, team, date Points
LeBron James, Cleveland, Nov. 5 41-s
LeBron James, Cleveland, Nov. 8 41-s
Joe Johnson, Atlanta, Dec. 27 41-s
Rodney Stuckey, Detroit, Dec. 23 40-c
Vince Carter, New Jersey, Dec. 13 39-s
Al Jefferson, Minnesota, Jan. 25 39-s
Pau Gasol, LA Lakers, Nov. 18 34-s
Travis Outlaw, Portland, Jan. 12 33-s
Stephen Jackson, Golden State, Nov. 21 32-s
Andrea Bargnani, Toronto, Jan. 14 31-c
Vince Carter, New Jersey, Dec. 29 31
Mike Bibby, Atlanta, Jan. 20 31-s
Michael Redd, Milwaukee, Oct. 28 30
Zach Randolph, LA Clippers, Dec. 17 30
Rudy Gay, Memphis, Dec. 12 29-s
D.J. Augustin, Charlotte, Dec. 16 29-c
Al Horford, Atlanta, Nov. 11 27-c
Anderson Varejao, Cleveland, Jan. 2 26-c
Kendrick Perkins, Boston, Dec. 19 25-c
Ben Wallace, Cleveland, Jan. 2 13-s
c-career high; s-season high
Source: NBA.com