Splitter Emphasizes Bulls Need To "Touch The Paint First" On Offense

The Chicago Bulls lost 134-99 to the Boston Celtics on Monday night, their second blowout loss of the season. 

The Boston Celtics used a massive 39-point third quarter to put the game away, with the  fourtrh quarter essentially being all garbage time. Chicago heads back to the drawing board ahead of Wednesday's game with the reigning champion New York Knicks. 

Splitter was brought in to Chicago to connect with a young group that despite still looking to play fast, wanted someone with fresh concepts or at the very least, willing to try a variety of concepts, tailoring his system to the players instead of the other way around. 

While on paper Splitter has been doing exactly that, it may awhile before Bulls faithful see the results of his teaching. The Bulls' roster understands that 3-point shots and fre throws are the most valuable shots in the modern NBA, but they are not always taking the optimal route to generate those aforementioned shots. 

When asked by Gavin Dorsey of Bulls Roundtable if he was happy with the qaulity of shots the Bulls are generating, Splitter stated, "Not all of them. There is early on in the shot clock, [shots] that we don't like, when we don't touch the paint or don't create any shifts in their defense. Those are bad shots and we show 'em we talk to them about those and we gotta get better on that."

Chicago currently ranks 1st in PACE (108.25 possessions per 48 minutes), 1st in free throw attempts per game (34.5) and 4th in 3-point attempts (42.0). 

As Splitter said, they are getting the right shots, the next step in converting at better clip. The main difference as compared to last season is that the Bulls are much more competent when it comes to getting to the charity stripe and converting. Chicago is shooting 80.4% (9th) from the free throw line on top of leading in attempts. However, the Bulls leave quite a bit to be desired elsewhere offensively. 

The Bulls are dead last in 3-point accuracy (23.8%) and FG% (40.6%) despite having a desirable shot profile.

Caleb Wilson helps put pressure on the rim and is a great shot creator, but it is rare for a rookie to be able to post any sort of respectable offensive efficiency while shouldering the massive load that Wilson does.

Wilson has posted a usage rate just north of 28%--which is in the superstar range--but possesses a terrible 49.9% True Shooting Percentage (factors in FTs, 2PAs, and 3PAs). He is clearly talented but is tasked with doing too much at this stage, somewhat by design consdering where the Bulls are as a franchise. 

For now, the Bulls will need to ramp up their minutes of their best downhill drivers to juice. this offense. At this point, that means Splitter needs to find a way to funnel playing time and usage to three specific players: Tre Jones, Josh Giddey and Leonard Miller. 

Per Basketball-Reference, Jones (52%), Miller (51.4%), Awaka (50%) and Giddey (39.4%) are the Bulls top players in terms getting shots at the rim. 

We've already seen Jones closer over Giddey, Miller receive ample opportunity and Awaka play a small role with his rebounding prowess, so Splitter is clearly watching the numbers closely and adjusting on a game-to-game basis.

Chicago's next three games are against the New York Knicks, Phialdelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. Over that stretch, the Bulls will see two of the league's top teams in terms of defensive efficiency in Philadelphia (5th) and Boston (10th). 

Things will continue to look rough for the Bulls' offense if they can't find a consistent way to drum up open looks.

Norman Powell and Wilson are talented half court shot-makers, but not to the point where they can carry a team to great heights as a No. 1 option--or at least, not yet in Wilson's case--and that means more will be needed from Giddey especially.

The 6-foot-8 Australian guard leads the Bulls in assist rate by a massive margin (43.6% for Giddey with Jones 2nd on the team at 26.2%). Giddey has trouble beating his man off the dribble, which makes it tough for him to fully leverage the advantage that should come from his immense passing ability. 

Whether Splitter crafts more off-ball screens to get Giddey going downhill before he reveives the ball, or simply adjusts his rotation to get more Jones and Miller closer to 25 minutes per game, the Bulls must do something to fix their offense. Chicago's offensive woes appear to be more fixable than their defensive issues based off of personnel, but it all starts with getting back to the basics, which means starting every offensive possession off by breaking down the defense with a simple paint touch.