Lack of 3-point shooting might be biggest reason for Bulls' struggles
At some point last season, while trying to make an argument for Ben Gordon's value to the Bulls, I pointed out that one of common traits of bad NBA teams was a lack of 3-point baskets.
Well, the Bulls are supporting that theory with gusto this season. Their outside shooting has been miserable.
Through Saturday, they rank 28th in the league in 3-point baskets per game at 3.6, leading just Memphis and New Jersey. In 3-point percentage, the Bulls are tied with the Clippers for 27th at 29.5 percent, ahead of Minnesota and the Nets.
In case you haven't checked the standings lately, the Nets and Timberwolves were a combined 5-42 through Saturday.
The Bulls (8-14), meanwhile, have lost 10 of their last 12 games. Granted, seven of those defeats came against teams with one of the league's 11-best records. But just two of the losses were by less than 14 points.
The Bulls' lack of competitiveness is alarming and their disappointing start can be summed up by one easy equation: No low-post threat plus no reliable 3-point shooting equals a struggling offense.
"We don't take a lot of threes, it's not the way we're built right now," coach Vinny Del Negro said after the latest blowout loss, 106-80 to Boston on Saturday. "It doesn't stretch the defense when you're not able to make some threes and open up some lanes and things. It makes it harder, but you just try to do things to compensate for that by being more efficient."
I also ask myself why I thought the Bulls would be a decent team when they were ready to start the regular season. At the time, they seemed like a confident group that had two good players at every position.
It hasn't quite worked out that way. John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich, Jannero Pargo and Brad Miller haven't played very well, while rookie James Johnson hasn't been ready to make a positive contribution.
Without much offensive firepower, the Bulls needed to play stellar defense to win games and they did during a 6-4 start. Since then, I don't think it's necessarily that they stopped giving the same defensive effort. They lost their edge during a rough road trip that featured four straight games against the Lakers, Denver, Portland and Utah, and haven't been able to get it back.
In theory, the Bulls should have been able to make up for Gordon's scoring with the return of Luol Deng from injury, along with more playing time for Salmons and Hinrich.
Last season, Salmons shot 41.7 percent from 3-point range, while Hinrich was at 40.8 percent. Looking back a little further, though, sheds some insight on this year's struggles.
Two seasons ago, Salmons shot 32.5 percent from 3-point range and never surpassed 40 percent in his career until last year. Hinrich's career 3-point percentage is .380, while Pargo's is .365.
Teammates also play a role in shooting percentage. Fred Hoiberg was a better 3-point shooter in Minnesota a few years back than he ever was on the Bulls, simply because with Kevin Garnett on the floor, he got more open looks.
The Bulls don't really have any proven long-range shooters and have no interior offense to create open looks. Maybe they can do a better job of playing off Derrick Rose's skills, but it could be a difficult task turning things around, whether Del Negro remains the coach or not.
Here's one interesting fact to keep in mind. Even by adding Gordon, Detroit isn't much better at shooting 3-pointers than the Bulls. The Pistons rank 25th in 3-point baskets per game and 26th in 3-point percentage.
Anyway, for an outside perspective, Boston guard Rajon Rondo had an interesting take after Saturday's game.
"I'm sure they are missing Gordon," he said. "He's a great scorer for them. He's a guy that made plays. He made tough shots after shot after shot, especially in the series we played them. I think they're missing that guy, but they made their decision and that's what they've got."