Bulls Game No. 40: The good, the bad and the ugly from another loss to the Wiz

Since Tom Thibodeau took the reigns in Chicago, it was the Miami Heat who kept the Chicago Bulls from reaching the mountaintop in the NBA for the first time since the Michael Jordan era in Chicago. Now, it’s another Southeast Division club, who continues to give the Bulls issues.

Let’s make this short and simple: The Washington Wizards are a really good basketball team.

Live Feed

Betsided

Let’s also make this short and simple: The Chicago Bulls do not match up well with the Wizards.

Case and point? Washington’s five-game romp over the Bulls in last year’s postseason, where the Wiz picked up an astounding three wins on the United Center floor in Chicago.

Sure, Derrick Rose was out again for the season with knee issues and Joakim Noah was annihilated by the Washington frontcourt on seemingly one leg, but the Bulls simply didn’t match up well against the talent-filled squad from the nation’s capital.

Last night didn’t help matters in the Bulls’ quest to send a statement to the rising Wizards.

Although there was some good that came from Wednesday’s loss to Washington, the Bulls still have many questions and not a ton of answers right now.

“The Good”: Derrick Rose looked like pre-ACL tear Derrick Rose

“Oh, Derrick. You have the flu right now because you’re sick.”

That’s an exact quote from yours truly after Rose drained a buzzer-beating trey from near half-court to end the opening quarter on Wednesday.

The long-distance prayer from Rose capped off arguably his best quarter of the season. Rose not only played the entire first quarter for the first time all year, he scored 17 of his season-high 32 points in the opening stanza.

Although his defense against Washington’s star point guard John Wall didn’t help matters, Rose was stellar on the offensive end, hitting a career-high six three-pointers in nine attempts and shot 12-for-22 on the night. Even though he missed 10 shots, the jumpers weren’t missing by much (and that’s a great sign).

“The Bad”: Joakim Noah’s health continues to tumble in a downward spiral

The 2014-2015 season continues to be a nightmare for reigning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah.

Noah injured his ankle on the final possession of the half going after a rebound and did not return to action after halftime.

After having offseason knee surgery, Noah did not play much basketball during the summer and it’s clear that his body is nowhere near 100 percent. The heart and soul of the Bulls roster has been lifeless all season long, averaging just 7.6 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game … well below his 11.3 RPG average during his All-NBA campaign last year.

The severity of Noah’s ankle issues is up in the air, but the Bulls know how vital Noah is to their future success.

"“It’s going to be huge when you lose a player like Jo, with his energy, just his size. We’re a big team and have a lot of big guys. But losing a starting 7-footer, it would hurt any team.”-Derrick Rose on Joakim Noah, CSNChicago.com"

“The Ugly”: The Bulls defensively (and Jimmy Butler’s shooting as of late)

Remember how we were keeping things simple in the beginning?

Let’s do that here too: The Bulls are awful defensively right now.

The Bulls are not only giving 99.3 points per game this season so far — which is the worst PPG averaged allowed by a Tom Thibodeau-coached team in Chicago — their defensive rating of 102.0 is the highest for a Thibodeau-coached team.

Losing a veteran wing like Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (out with an ankle issue) hurts the Bulls not just on the offensive end, but defensively on the perimeter as well.

(Another case and point? Bradley Beal got whatever shot he wanted on Wednesday against the Bulls. Beal scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and looked like the silky-smooth shooter that gashed the Bulls in last year’s playoffs.)

Jimmy Butler‘s minutes continue to be a concern, as his offensive production is decreasing rapidly.

Since the new year began, Butler has only shot above 50 percent just once in the last nine games and has averaged just 16.4 points per game in this rugged nine-game span.

(The Bulls are 4-5 in the past nine games.)

While among the league leaders in free attempts and makes, Butler has only attempted an average of 6.6 free throw attempts and hasn’t attempted 10+ free throws in a game since December 29th vs. Indiana.

Before this span, Butler had attempted 10+ free throws in a game on 12 different occasions.

Next up for the Bulls (26-14): At Boston on Friday, Jan. 16th, 6:30 PM CT tip-off.

More from Da Windy City

• Juan Soto appears headed to the Yankees which is not a big blow Chicago Cubs offseason
• 3 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks shootout loss to Nashville
• Chicago Cubs in the middle of chaos that is Shohei Ohtani’s free agency
• The Chicago Cubs are on a roller coaster of emotions chasing Shohei Ohtani
• Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates

Next: Bulls Game No. 39: Five takeaways from a bad loss to Orlando