Subscribe
Follow Us
The Chicago Bulls are undergoing a rollercoaster situation this season, with several mind-boggling losses followed by encouraging wins and the headache that comes with assessing what to expect from a team with no clear sense of identity. The Bulls have not been able to put wins together this season besides a two-game win streak against the Sacramento Kings and the Memphis Grizzlies, urging for some level of accountability between players.
The Bulls are young, but with no sense of real leadership rearing their mistakes other than that of Jim Boylen, who has deafened most of reporters with his head-scratching post-game explanations.
Zach LaVine knows the team badly needs a sense of accountability, but he feels the team is not there quite yet.
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” said LaVine, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “I think that’s something with a good team you can do, and it’s almost like the players can hold each other accountable more than the coaches can.”
Thaddeus Young, the senior citizen on the roster, admits he can clearly see the issue at hand, but it takes more than just one man to make accountability a team-wide staple.
“I think guys are not comfortable with that yet simply because they’re just younger,” said Young. “It took quite a while for me to get into the role that I’m in now. But I’m in my 13th season also. I’ve seen so many different situations. I’ve seen so many different coaches. I’ve been through so many different GMs, different organizations. And I think one of the biggest things that’s a lost art in the game is just holding each other accountable. If we can hold each other accountable with the things that we do, I think that makes us into a better team. When you’re holding somebody accountable, you’re not (only) holding them accountable but yourself also. It puts us in just a much better situation.”
Young explained that accountability should follow guys everywhere, on and off the floor.
“It’s in the locker room,” Young said. “It’s when we’re in film sessions guys speaking up and saying, ‘Hey, I think we should do this and do that.’ I’ll speak up in film sessions and say, ‘No, we don’t need to do that. We need to do this.’ But at the end of the day, it’s just about understanding all aspects of the game. Everything counts. All the small things count. That’s what makes good teams into great teams. That’s what makes bad teams get better each and every day.”
The Bulls will need to set aside the formalities and demand a sense of urgency before this season becomes a wash again and shows no visible progress, despite a promising roster at hand.
