The 2018 portion of the Chicago Bulls’ 2018-19 season is complete. It wrapped up with a hard-fought 95-89 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Six of the nine Bulls that played finished with double-digit point totals, led by Lauri Markkanen‘s 18. Chicago also held Toronto to 37.0 percent shooting from the field. Nevertheless, Kawhi Leonard‘s 27 points and nine rebounds and Pascal Siakam‘s 20 points and 12 rebounds were enough to lead the Raptors to victory.

The first half of the Bulls’ season has been a whirlwind, with a coaching change at its center. That change that brought a dramatic shift in culture and playing style along with it. There have been highs like their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and a 3-2 record leading into the new year.

However, there have been way more lows for this rebuilding team. Under Fred Hoiberg, the Bulls let Klay Thompson make an NBA-record 14 3-pointers on them. When Jim Boylen stepped in and wanted to make a name for himself, he bizarrely benched his starters twice against the Boston Celtics. This led to a franchise-record loss, and plenty of off-court ugliness that created headlines for a couple of news cycles.

But now, with that in the past, and we can assess the Bulls’ strengths and weaknesses as they enter 2019.

Biggest Strengths:

1. Big Interior Defense – 83.9%
2. Guard Interior Defense – 77.4%
3. Wing Playmaking – 74.2%
4. Team Perimeter Defense – 48.4%
5. Guard Perimeter Defense – 48.4%

Biggest Weaknesses:

1. Team Offensive Rebounding – 3.2%
2. Guard Off-Ball Movement – 6.5%
3. Guard Offensive Rebounding – 6.5%
4. Big Perimeter Shooting – 29.0%
5. Team One on One – 29.0%

STRENGTHS

The Chicago Bulls’ defense is one of the positives to come out of the coaching change. Jim Paxson and Gar Forman made the switch partly because they weren’t pleased with the team’s defensive effort. The new guy has delivered on fixing that issue. The Bulls had the eighth-worst defense in NBA under Hoiberg. They have improved to the ninth-best in the games since Boylen took over.

A major part of that, according to BBall Index, is due to the interior abilities of the bigs (84th percentile) and guards (77th percentile). Each of those percentiles is reflective of the percentage of other NBA teams the Bulls’ position groups grade out better than. On the season, Chicago has held teams to 56.3 percent shooting within eight feet of the rim, ninth-best in the league.  Under Boylen, that mark has improved to 51.3 percent, tied for fifth in the Association.

The Bulls’ wings have also excelled at playmaking (74th percentile). Zach LaVine is a big reason for that. As a true offensive star, he creates plenty of his own scoring opportunities. However, he can also find others in the right position. LaVine averages 9.5 potential assists per game, second-most on the team and 35th in the entire league. Justin Holiday, while not a bona fide playmaker, also does his part to set players up, averaging 4.0 potential assists per game.

Sadly, there is only so much passing going on in Chicago. The Bulls’ 37.4 potential assists and 20.6 assists per game under Boylen are both the the lowest marks in the NBA. There is an unfortunate reason for that.

WEAKNESSES

Basically, the Chicago Bulls’ offense is undercutting their defense.

Jim Boylen has brought the Bulls back to the 2000s on both ends of the floor. The defense is stifling, the offensive sets are very post-centric and run at a relatively slow pace. Mark Karantzoulis at Blog-a-Bull found that the team’s offensive profile matches the San Antonio Spurs, a team that Boylen and the front office set out to emulate.

Now, running a slower-paced offense is not a crime. However, when that slow-paced offense lacks variety or some modicum of ball movement, you’re going to get bad results.

For one, the Bulls are bad at rebounding, particularly on the offensive glass. Their total and defensive rebounding rates under Boylen are bottom five in the league. However, their offensive rebounding rate is the worst of all, putting them in the NBA’s third percentile. This lines right up with their talent grades as a team when it comes to rebounding.

That futility on the offensive end is partially by choice. The Bulls elect to get back on defense after a missed shot instead of crashing the glass. That’s an odd decision for a team that runs such a methodical offense. One would think they would want second chance points. More offensive rebounds would help them control more possessions and further dictate the tempo of the game. Alas, Boylen’s dedication to defense has led him to direct his team to get back off misses.

Off-ball movement is the Bulls’ other major problem, specifically among the guards. The slow pace, coupled with the offense consisting of post-ups, high pick-and-rolls, and isolations, has bogged things down. It’ll take more creative usage of players off-ball as cutters and shooters off of screens for better performance in this area. Despite being second best as a team on cuts off of screens, the Bulls are just 22nd in screen cut possessions (per Synergy). The team is second most efficient on flash cuts and tied for fifth in attempts, so at least Chicago is getting production in that regard. The data is less appealing when it comes to shooters coming off of screens, where the team is decidedly below average.

Things tend to not get going until 15 seconds on the shot clock. From the ball-handler is forced to spend the rest of the clock creating his own shot. As a result, the guards are left to stand and watch until it’s time to get back on D. It’s no surprise that the Bulls are the only team with a sub-100 offensive rating in the games since Boylen took over.

Unfortunately, this style is exactly what he wants. Even in the face of low efficiency, he likely thinks the solution to the problem is to simply try harder within the game plan he gives them.

The Bulls enter 2019 continuing their rebuild. The team has openly stated they want to emulate a Spurs franchise that won six titles in 16 seasons, including two with Jim Boylen on the sidelines.

The staunch defense and constricting pace are apparent, but the attention to defense has become a detriment to the offense. The front court has made some progress due to the influx of post-ups and screen plays. However, the rest of the offense lacks any variety, movement, and — as a result — efficiency.

Unless there is a change in the near future, the Bulls’ offensive limitations will eventually cap their progress. Still, there is a chance for progress. With 45 games to go in the 2018-19 season, we shall see how much further the Chicago Bulls can excel.