Following a deflating 108-94 Monday night road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, an incensed Derrick Rose said the Chicago Bulls were simply not competing.
Teammate Taj Gibson’s solution for his team’s recent plight is to simply work harder.
Gibson says the Bulls — losers of two straight, and four of their last five — can find answers to their problems on the practice floor. (Practice was called off Tuesday.)
Per ESPN:
“We got to practice harder,” Gibson said. “We can’t be taking days off. We’re going to go through rough stretches, but we got to practice harder and we got to play with some energy.”
But why, after the Bulls rattled off 13 wins in 15 games last month, would things suddenly take such a turn for the worse? Why would a team that usually plays so hard start rolling over and not fighting back for long stretches? Why would a team defined by intensity go long stretches without showing any? […] “That’s a great question,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We’re going to continue to look at it. [We have] a lot of moving parts, hard to build continuity. We have to find some continuity. Maybe we look at different people. I’m going to think about it, study the film, and try to come up with some answers.”
“It comes from within,” Gibson said. “There’s nothing more you can say. It’s all about how much heart you have and how determined you’re going to be. Like Thibs said before, we got to practice harder. We can’t take days off. […] Like Thibs said, everybody’s got to put a little bit more into the jar.”
