{"id":359822,"date":"2025-11-06T13:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/359822\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T13:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:03:02","slug":"chicago-bulls-hot-start-defined-by-hustling-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/359822\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bulls’ hot start defined by hustling defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls want to be real.<\/p>\n

Their 6-1 record, best in the Eastern Conference, should be convincing enough on its own. Only the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder (8-0) have won more games. Yet the Bulls can\u2019t escape the specter of uncertainty cast by the last three years of mediocre, myopic and ultimately meaningless basketball.<\/p>\n

\n

Photos: Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers 113-111<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Winning isn\u2019t reliable in Chicago. Distrust invades every conversation around the Bulls, a clunky asterisk hanging over the rare delight of winning six games<\/a> in less than two weeks.<\/p>\n

Even the players don\u2019t want to get ahead of themselves. In the locker room and on the sidelines and at the podium, they repeat the same dampening reminders \u2014 the season is long, it\u2019s only seven games, they haven\u2019t proved anything yet.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what is clear about the Bulls so far. The offense is outshining its more optimistic expectations. But it\u2019s the defense that is truly surprising \u2014 and is defining how this team wins.<\/p>\n

By the end of last season, the Bulls had figured out how to run coach Billy Donovan\u2019s new up-tempo offense \u2014 a style that began to thrive after the departure of Zach LaVine. A team-first approach<\/a> is fueling this season\u2019s balanced offense, as the Bulls are fifth in the league in assist percentage (67.4%).<\/p>\n

Coby White remains sidelined<\/a>. Matas Buzelis is still hot and cold as he works through the typical growing pains of a sophomore season<\/a>. But between consistent 20-point performances from Josh Giddey and ruthless 3-point shooting from Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107 \u2014 who is averaging 2.1 3s per game on 48.4% shooting \u2014 the Bulls are cobbling together enough scoring to edge out their opponents.<\/p>\n

The defense, on the other hand, is a strange mix of effort and execution that allows players to outperform their individual abilities in the aggregate.<\/p>\n

This is not a strong defensive roster. Donovan is the first to acknowledge that reality. The Bulls have one player, newcomer Isaac Okoro<\/a>, who is considered a defensive stopper. The rest of the roster is mostly offensive specialists or high-energy utility players who have yet to evolve into truly elite defenders.<\/p>\n

Despite all of that, the Bulls rank 11th in defensive rating (112.5), seven spots higher than last season (115.6).<\/p>\n

For Donovan, the difference comes down to simplification.<\/p>\n

Last season he entered most games prepared for his players to be overwhelmed on the defensive end. The Bulls weren\u2019t physical enough at the point of attack or at the rim. As a result, they found themselves in the passenger seat as various NBA stars caromed through the defense like a bowling ball striking down a light assortment of pins.<\/p>\n

In response, Donovan often switched the Bulls into specific defensive sets \u2014 zone, box-and-one, triangle-and-two \u2014 to alleviate pressure from individual players. Sometimes it worked for a play or two, but by the end of the season opponents had plenty of film on these gimmicky counters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got into a little bit of trouble last year with that,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cSometimes we were trying to scheme stuff too much. You don\u2019t want to be a team that has no identity and all you do is try to trick teams out. Teams figure that out after a couple possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BullsBulls forward Patrick Williams tries to block a pass by the 76ers’ Trendon Watford in the first half Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, at the United Center. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

In the offseason, Donovan embraced the fact he couldn\u2019t shield his players from the reality of their defensive situation \u2014 if they want to stop an opponent, they have to meet it head on. No more passive possessions. No more games lost on the boards. The Bulls had to stop looking for bailouts and toughen the hell up.<\/p>\n

Identity is a bit of a canned buzzword in the NBA. But at its core, crafting a definition for a team \u2014 solid, tangible, repeatable \u2014 is the primary task of the season. Winning games matters. How those games are won matters more. And in the early weeks of this season, the Bulls have defined how they want to win.<\/p>\n

The transformation is visible on the stat sheets. The Bulls rank third in defensive rebounding (36.1 per game). They might not be the savviest team at steals (17th, eight per game) or blocks (14th, 4.9 per game), but they make up for it with simple hustle statistics \u2014 reducing second-chance shots, contesting 45% of all attempts and drawing the second-most charges in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeams are hitting us and we\u2019re hitting back,\u201d forward Patrick Williams said. \u201cBut I think we can hit first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the defensive success still might read as a fluke, especially behind the 3-point arc. Opponents have shot only 34.2% on 3s and were below their season average \u2014 by an average of seven percentage points \u2014 in all six Bulls wins.<\/p>\n

Teams are scoring 54.3 points in the paint per game against the Bulls, leaving this defense vulnerable if an opponent heats up from 3-point range. But so far, that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n

\"BullsBulls forward Isaac Okoro tries to steal the ball from the 76ers’ Trendon Watford in the first half Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, at the United Center. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Okoro believes the opponents\u2019 inaccuracy is a credit to the Bulls\u2019 pace of play, which ranks ninth in the league. Teams are run ragged by the end of games, and Okoro argues that exhaustion seeps into their shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re wearing their legs down to the point where, when it\u2019s time to shoot 3s, they\u2019ve got no legs,\u201d Okoro said.<\/p>\n

If some prefer to label those poor shooting nights as luck? Well, Okoro doesn\u2019t think the Bulls should worry about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you want to call it,\u201d he said with a shrug. \u201cEveryone has their own opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the counter to any question about the authenticity of this 6-1 start: Does it really matter?<\/p>\n

The Bulls are winning. More importantly, they\u2019re fun. They throw down reverse dunks and mean-mug after nasty blocks and draw charges with a gusto typically saved for buzzer-beater shots. This isn\u2019t a team of stars, although the roster certainly has budding talent. Their wins are built off the type of cliched hustle normally reserved for after-school specials.<\/p>\n

So why make room for pessimism? Those first six wins were real. And the foundation of this team\u2019s success \u2014 physical defense, balanced offense, mental fortitude \u2014 is certainly replicable.<\/p>\n

For now, these Bulls are as real as they want to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bulls want to be real. Their 6-1 record, best in the Eastern Conference, should be convincing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":359823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[23604,960,3127,5386,1818,20510,174992,174991,55053],"class_list":{"0":"post-359822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-billy-donovan","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bulls","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-illinois","13":"tag-isaac-okoro","14":"tag-nba-defensive-rankings","15":"tag-nba-standings","16":"tag-patrick-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}