The Chicago Bulls locker room was a weird place to be on Monday. They lost 105-102 to the Brooklyn Nets at home, Joakim Noah left the game with a shoulder injury and players had to answer questions about what increasingly looks like a dysfunctional situation. Jimmy Butler said Sunday that coach Fred Hoiberg has to be harder on the players, and at Monday’s shootaround he told reporters he didn’t exactly regret saying it.
“Whether that’s true or not, it’s something you talk about indoors,” Bulls big man Pau Gasol said, via Bleacher Report’s Sean Highkin.
Chicago guard Derrick Rose declined to discuss Butler’s comments.
“We just lost to Brooklyn and they shot over 50 percent,” Rose said, via the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson. “I’m not even thinking about that. I’m mad about this L.” (The Nets actually shot 45.7 percent.)
About the loss, Gasol said that the team didn’t have a sense of urgency, adding, “We all have to take responsibility. We all have to take it personally. This has to hurt. If it doesn’t hurt, then we have a problem that might not be correctable,” via ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
Yikes, yikes, yikes and yikes. The Bulls’ offense has been the major problem all season, but their defense just made Brooklyn look like a competent offensive team. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers have a worse offensive rating than the Nets this year, so that doesn’t happen often.
Chicago has lost three games in a row and it has the next three days off before visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Christmas Day. I’m guessing the Bulls would rather have another game quickly rather than dwelling on all of this drama and negativity.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
