Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler has given his opinion on what the team needs to rediscover in order to become a genuine threat in the post-season.
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The Bulls are currently without Butler and Derrick Rose due to injury, with the pair hoping to recover in time to feature before the regular season ends in around a month’s time.
Forward Taj Gibson is also out injured, and in their absence the rest of the roster is delivering inconsistent performances after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, but losing to the San Antonio Spurs over the past few nights.
Butler insists that he knows the key behind the Bulls enjoying success from now until the end of the playoffs, and it is rediscovering their defensive identity which has made them a nightmare for teams under Tom Thibodeau.
“I think it’s more about us being able to score the ball so well now that we think we can outscore opponents,” Butler told ProBasketballTalk.
“If we want to win a championship like we say we want to, we’re going to have to start guarding and stop trying to outscore people and just stop them from scoring as a whole.
The Bulls guard added that Thibodeau doesn’t have tell the players for them to know that they can’t afford to be giving up 100 points so frequently, and that is an area that they must improve on sooner rather than later.
Regardless, it starts with the likes of Butler and Rose getting healthy with the former in particular cementing himself as the defensive leader of the team.
However, he is confident that the players filling in currently are good enough to keep Chicago on track until the cavalry returns.
“We just got to be healthy. I think injuries happen but, you know, we just want to get back out there as soon as possible. Until then we have good enough guys and a deep enough team that they can hold the fort down.”
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