Trouble seems to be brewing within the Chicago Bulls camp of late as the team continues on its downward spiral this season.
Following another defeat on Friday, this time against the Miami Heat, 116-108, Chicago head coach Jim Boylen singled out star guard Zach LaVine for his shortcomings on the evening.
Boylen on flat performance from starters: “It’s frustrating. It’s not right. And it bothers me. Our starters have to play better.”
Boylen said LaVine made “3 egregious mistakes” defensively early.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 23, 2019
It's not everyday that a coach singles out one particular player for his poor play, but as it seems that the frustration is mounting within the team, which may have caused the coach to lash out a bit.
For his part, LaVine did not take the criticism too well.
Told that Boylen said he made "3 egregious defensive mistakes," LaVine said: "Zach LaVine got 13 points scored on him, I guess. Or was it the starting 5? I don’t remember. I thought I was trying to do my job out there."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 23, 2019
LaVine even went on to try and explain himself on one particular play he remembers, reasoning out that it was a defensive decision he made in the moment.
LaVine: "I don’t remember seeing three egregious mistakes. I think I was supposed to show on one. And I didn’t. I told him because Jimmy doesn’t usually set screens. He slips out of them. I didn’t want to show and have him cut right to the basket. The other two, I don’t know."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 23, 2019
This is certainly not a good look for the Bulls, who appear to be nearing an implosion. The team is currently 5-11 to start the new season, and despite what was a relatively positive outlook before the start of the new campaign, Chicago is now heading to the lottery yet again pretty quickly.
For his part, LaVine has not exactly been killing it for his team thus far. The 24-year-old has seen a slight dip in his production from last season, with the former UCLA standout currently averaging 19.5 points (on 41.0 percent shooting), 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.2 steals, while also connecting on 2.3 3-pointers per contest on a 34.3-percent clip.
Zach LaVine is widely considered as one of Chicago's cornerstone players, so it is clear that he will need to show some significant improvement in his play in order to give his team a fighting chance this season.
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