Chicago Bulls: Team sinking further and Dwyane Wade is more frustrated
With the Chicago Bulls’ loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, they now have a five-game losing streak. As the losses mount, Dwyane Wade‘s frustration grows.
On Sunday, the Chicago Bulls took a beating at the hands of the Boston Celtics, 100-89. The loss was the team’s fifth straight. They are now in tenth place in the Eastern Conference. They are half a game behind the Miami Heat, a team they led by over eight games a just weeks ago.
The Bulls now look like a team that gave up on the season. What life and effort they showed in their winning streak just before the All Star break is now all but gone.
The Bulls missed their first nine shots of the games on Sunday and shot just 3-for-22 in the first quarter. That effort resulted in just nine points for that quarter.
As the number of losses grow, so does Dwyane Wade‘s frustration. After the game on Sunday, reporters asked him about the effect the losses have on the team’s young players.
"I wish upper management could be answering these questions because I’m tired of answering the same ones every game,” Wade said with more resignation than rancor. “I don’t want to say too much. I don’t want to say the wrong thing. I want to get out there and try to play and to lead."
That was the sound of a very exasperated Wade. That is the sound of a player who knows that management hasn’t been doing its job in fielding a competitive team.
Even with the poor showing, Jimmy Butler defended his teammates, saying the team hasn’t given up.
It appears that Wade directed his frustration at the front office and not head coach Fred Hoiberg. He even defended Hoiberg.
"A lot of people have a lot of things they can say about Fred as a coach, (but) I will defend him on this: This is a tough situation he’s put in now. That’s why sometimes I’m glad I’m on this side of the coin and got a jersey on. I don’t have to make certain decisions because it is tough."
Hoiberg used a twelve-man rotation during the Bulls’ loss to Houston on Friday. On Sunday, he used an eleven-man rotation. You don’t have too many good players when you need to use the entire active roster in a game.
It is sad to see a muted Dwyane Wade now. He’s always been a vocal leader, but after he spoke up earlier in the season, talking about effort, the front office fined him, and they had him temporarily benched. Now he watches what he says so it doesn’t happen again. I guess the Bulls wanted a silent leader instead of a vocal one.
This is a problem that will haunt the Chicago Bulls for years to come. Wade is one of the faces of the NBA. Other players around the league look up to him. His words and actions carry weight around the league. Other players see his frustrations here, so why in the world would they want to come to Chicago?
The team is in a similar situation they were in after the Michael Jordan–Scottie Pippen era ended. Other players saw the contentious relationship between them and the front office and decided to stay away. With this front office now fighting with coaches and losing the trust of valuable players, history is repeating itself.
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As long as GarPax continue to make decisions, and as long as owner Jerry Reinsdorf continues to trust in them, things won’t change for this franchise. The losses will continue to mount, and the circus atmosphere will continue to reign at the Berto Center and the United Center.