Coby White discusses underlying Bulls defensive problem
For the past few years, the Chicago Bulls’ offense has been pretty one-dimensional. They’ve been a mid-range-heavy team thanks, in part, to the play of DeMar DeRozan. However, last season, they managed to earn a place as the fifth-best defense in the league. This year, they rank 20th, and since the All-Star break, the Bulls are the fifth-worst defense in the league.
As of now, the Bulls are almost certainly going to play the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the Play-In Tournament. Since that’s the case, they’ll need to lock in on defense. That said, Coby White doesn’t see their entire defense as the issue but rather a niche part of their defense.
He recently noted that while the Bulls have been playing good first-shot defense, it’s been their inability to close out possessions that’s giving them problems. (H/t Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune)
“Our first-shot defense has been good,” White said. “It’s just the offensive rebounds, which lead to the kick-out 3s and wide-open 3s and defensive breakdowns. We’ve just got to limit them to one shot.”
Chicago needs to do a better job at ending possessions with a rebound.
