Nikola Vucevic on Bulls offense last year: ‘It’s an issue’
The Chicago Bulls haven’t lived up to expectations for the past two seasons. When they first formed the core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic, many were skeptical. But the Bulls proved the doubters wrong with a hot start in 2021. Unfortunately, they’ve been disappointing ever since, especially since Lonzo Ball has been out.
Last year, the Bulls lost in the Play-In Tournament, missing the playoffs entirely. Their defense was actually solid, but on the offensive end, they were rough, which is counterintuitive considering the talent Chicago has on the roster. And according to Vucevic, that’s simply unacceptable for the Bulls this year.
Vucevic spoke with Will Gottlieb of CHGO on Wednesday about Chicago’s offense and the improvements they need to make.
“It’s an issue to be 24th [in offense] when you have the scoring power we have,” Vucevic said.
He noted that the Bulls are going to play faster and move more off the ball.
“We didn’t run a lot of [off-ball actions] last year,” Vucevic said. “I’m not sure why we didn’t do it. But talking to our coaches and studying our film, we realize it’s something we really need to do. I don’t know why we have been so stagnant in the past. We’re a heavy pick-and-roll team, iso team, which is hard to do all the time. Now, we’re trying to play a little quicker. Play with more pace, more movement, it makes it much harder to defend.”
If the Bulls want to be competitive, the offense needs to get better.
