Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen made a fair assessment of his team after beating the Detroit Pistons on Saturday and getting to the halfway mark of the season with a 14-26 mark, 4.5 games back of the eighth-place Orlando Magic.

“I'm encouraged by the growth of our team. I like the fact we've established a style of play at both ends. I would like as to be more consistent,” said Boylen, giving praise and criticism to his team, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “I'm disappointed in one part of our defense. I think we foul too much. I'd like as to improve at defending without fouling. I'd also like as to improve our defensive rebounding. Those are two huge pillars that would take our defense to the next level. We've missed Wendell (Carter Jr.) in our defense. He's a huge piece. But we gotta move forward on that. Those two guys backing him up have to continue to grow at the defensive end and help us.”

While Boylen is a defense-first type of coach, he didn't leave the offense aside from this review statement.

“Offensively, there has been times where I like the way we have made basketball plays,” he said. “We get backdoors. We're reading and reacting. That's what we're trying to teach and coach here. We do have some inconsistent moments where we're stagnant or we're not organized or our communication is poor. If you have two or three of those in a game, you can maybe win. If you have five or six of them, it's going to be more difficult. We had seven of those in the game Friday night and three against Detroit. That shows where we need to grow. I love how hard we work. I like the fact that we are building a system and foundation at both ends.”

The Bulls started to play some of the best defense they've played in many years to start the season, but soon after they have had their share of inconsistencies.

Their offense was initially predicated in rewarding shooters for taking 3-point shots, but Chicago was among the worst teams in the league shooting the deep-ball — forcing Boylen and his staff to re-think that approach.

They're now a middle-of-the-pack team, shooting 35.5% from deep — which ranks 16th league-wide. The Bulls were among the top-four defensive teams at one point this season, but have since dropped to 11th in points allowed per 100 possessions, falling in the range of good, but not great defense.

The Bulls will have to find a way to improve at both ends if they are to challenge for a postseason spot, but so will Boylen, as some of his post-game comments have left a lot to desire for a coach whom the front office fervently supports.