Who/what do you pin this on? Does BD take most of the blame? Is it the players for continuously showing up with no pride, toughness or fight? Does BD and the players share equal blame?
It’s very bizarre…they have 3 all star caliber players and if they play a good team, they’re automatically gonna go down by 20 at some point. Part of me wonders if the team lost all faith and buy in towards BD….but if that’s the case, they’re not winners. Either way, AKME has done a good job moving the needle somewhat, but they need to continue that in the off-season and make some big moves.
I really don't know the answer to your questions or who exactly to blame. I'll just give you my observations, including some you didn't see on TV.
So I had the benefit of getting some rad free tickets that put me pretty close to the court and very close to the Bulls bench... DeMar and Zach yelled at each other on the bench during a timeout to the point Zach walked away and DeMar just sat down in silence. DeMar spent most of the game mad as hell every time he came to the bench during a timeout. He did chill out by the end when it was clear they lost and had many a conversation with Vuc and Tristan Thompson. The team still all seem very supportive of each other. High fives, fist bumps, all that when they came off the floor for subs.
So, really, I can't say. I can't say if that DeMar/Zach thing is anything at all. Media hasn't picked up on it at all, and I feel like they always pick up on that stuff. So could have just been a heated discussion about something happening in game. I couldn't tell what they were saying either, so it could have just been something about what the Celtics were doing for all I know. So I don't know if chemistry has become an issue or not. I was getting this feeling prior to last night's game that DeMar and Zach have stopped trusting their teammates as much as they used to.
As far as the game itself. It just seems like the Bulls had no flow or function to their offense. Boston does have the #1 ranked defense, so they probably easily put together a game plan that stops the Bulls function. DeMar didn't look himself at all, Zach looked absent. Really the only ones who looked like they could function within the offense was a little bit of Vuc (though his shit still couldn't fall), Coby White, and DJ Jr. The rest just looked awful. Ayo himself was probably one of the worst games I've seen from him.
As far as Donovan, I don't have much to say about him other than he yells at Coby White a lot. I can't say if the players have tuned him out or not. I guess we'll see how this team responds next year with what will probably be minor changes. I doubt they'll fire Donovan over this. He gets at least another season.
