Coach Thibs says he is also to blame for not preparing them well enough.
With the headlines still dominated by the question of when Derrick Rose will return, the Chicago Bulls are slipping in the Eastern Conference and were embarrassed by the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
The Kings have one of the worst records in the NBA, as they sit near the bottom of the West at 23-43. However, that didn’t stop them cantering to a 121-79 win over Chicago.
The Bulls are desperate for Rose to return, even though the absence of the likes of Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson isn’t helping matters.
The Bulls have lost four in their last five, and 11 in their last 17, while their shooting percentages in the last four outings have been below 40%.
Coach Tom Thibodeau seemingly had seen enough against Sacramento, as he vented his frustration after the game.
“Our level of intensity is very poor. Our readiness to play is very poor. I was the most disappointed in myself. My job is to have them ready. We can’t come out like that. That’s on me,” he told the media as reported by NBA.com.
“You have to be ready to play. This is a competition. It’s not a show. It’s a competition. You’ve got to compete. You’ve got to play with an edge. You’ve got to go after people,” he added.
The Bulls are now 35-29 for the season, with both the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks holding an identical record.
Should the slide continue, they could see themselves in seventh spot in the East before long and risking a potential match-up with the Indiana Pacers. Should their demise extend further, and an opening round clash with the Miami Heat could even be a possibility.
“You have to ask yourself. ‘Are we prepared as we need to be?’ And that’s my job. I’m going to make sure that happens,” Thibodeau concluded.
The coach will need to do something – and quickly – in order to prevent the Bulls’ regular season from becoming a disaster ahead of the play-offs.
Check out the highlights video from the Bulls clash with the Kings below:
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