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Another basketball season is in the books in the Windy City as the Chicago Bulls fell in the NBA play-in tournament on Wednesday against the Miami Heat. The Heat have now ended the Bulls' season in the play-in tournament three years in a row. Chicago was favored on Wednesday as they were at home and beat the Heat relatively easily last week. Miami ended up winning 109-90, however, holding the Bulls under 100 points for the first time in over two months.
Bulls VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas met with the media on Thursday following the season-ending loss. Bulls fans have been frustrated with the management of this team for multiple years now, but Karnisovas still asks for patience.
“I'm asking the fans for patience because we are in the first year of that transition,” Karnisovas said, according to a video from CHSN. “I thought that the way we finished the year shows some promise. It's hard to win games in this league, and to finish 15-5 isn't a victory lap, but I think there's some positives, and I think we've got to keep on building on this group by adding another player in the lottery, by going to free agency and adding another piece, and obviously going in the summer, that's when the players get better. So, hopefully our young group will focus this summer ongetting better, and come back so we can make another jump next year.”
The Bulls did show some promise after the All-Star break as they went 17-10 down the stretch, and they were playing their best basketball at the right time. Coby White and Josh Giddey both played at an elite level during the past couple of months, but they didn't have that level of play in the postseason. Wednesday's game against the Heat was the worst that the team has looked in a long time.
Bulls fans aren't taking Arturas Karnisovas' request too well. The fans have been patient for a while now as they wait for the team to compete for championships, but there aren't a lot of signs that things are going to change any time soon. Chicago either needs to make a huge move or two in free agency, or they need to embrace the tank so that they can be in contention for the #1 pick in the draft.
In previous years, Bulls fans have heard a similar message from the team. Karnisovas is requesting more patience, but it's unlikely that he gets that from a fan base that is more than fed up.
