Even wth Thompson, Bulls' height issues not going away
The fourth quarter of Friday's loss to Milwaukee reinforced maybe the Bulls' biggest issue:
There's only so much they can do to combat a lack of height.
Coach Billy Donovan tried adding Tristan Thompson to the starting lineup Friday. Thompson and center Nikola Vucevic also played together late in the game, but it didn't help much.
The Bulls had chances to win, but 7 offensive rebounds in the final quarter, points in the paint, trips to the foul line - it all added up in a 118-112 loss.
Most of the late-game problems were just simple basketball physics. Giannis Antetokounmpo or a taller wing like Khris Middleton jumped over the Bulls for rebounds. The Bulls would try to give help and watch the ball get kicked out for an open 3.
Then there were the free throws. The Bucks shot 12 in the fourth quarter, while Antetokounmpo went to the line 19 times overall. It's another reality of NBA life. Antetokounmpo creates constant contact, and a two-time MVP playing for the defending champion will be giving more leeway for physical play by the officials. It's been NBA life for a long time.
"They don't foul, but they're very, very physical," Donovan said after the game. "That's like the trick that we've got to try to figure out. We a lot of times try to be physical and we foul. Some of it's because of lack of size. But when you've got Giannis out there and (Bobby) Portis and even Middleton, (Jrue) Holiday. They've got a lot of length and size and physicality. So they're good at those things."
The Bulls tried using Thompson more and it didn't work out particularly well Friday. Thompson was in foul trouble and the Bulls were minus-25 during the 20 minutes he was on the floor. Then again, this was only Thompson's fifth game with the Bulls.
"It's not fair to those guys, in my opinion, just because they haven't been able to be together a lot on the floor a lot working on it," Donovan said. "I'm kind of going on the fly here a little bit with them. You just have to have a bigger body on him. I like the idea of having Tristan start the game, he's obviously played against Giannis quite a bit and then just have a presence there.
"Overall, I think it could be something we're going have to build out. Our spacing challenges offensively needs to be better. I think it's just the lack of time we've had together to work on those things."
Looking ahead, Patrick Williams is probably the better option to help out at power forward. But even if he does return from wrist surgery in a few weeks, it's probably not fair to expect any miracles from a second-year pro who's been out for four months. Also, the Bucks are expecting to get center Brook Lopez back from back surgery in a couple weeks, so they could be even taller if these teams meet in the playoffs.
Maybe the best answer is to look at the third quarter, when the Bulls used a 14-5 run to take the lead. They were getting steals and scoring in transition before the defense was set. Maybe with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso back on the floor, they'll be able to do some of that with a game on the line.
In the meantime, they'll keep working with what they have. This week, the Bulls will face Philadelphia center Joel Embiid, a Detroit team that just added Marvin Bagley, then Cleveland with its three 7-footers on the front line.
"We were just playing harder than them (in the third quarter)," Derrick Jones Jr. said. "That's what I feel like. We wanted it more at that point and we've just got to play like that for the whole 48 minutes. We can't have no lapse in the game, we've got to keep pushing as much as we can and have as much energy and keep working together."
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