Taj Gibson embarrassed by the Chicago Bulls' play

With his personal strength being defense for so many years, Taj Gibson knows with certainty that the Chicago Bulls are terrible defensively in 2016. Even worse, the team seems to be showing no fight despite being in a race for the last two playoff spots in the NBA Eastern Conference.

After the Bulls lost its 2nd loss in a row to a 30-win New York Knicks team, Gibson told told Nick Friedell “Hell yeah, I’m embarrassed… it’s frustrating when we come up short, and we look at ourselves, we’re losing to … I don’t want to criticize any[body], [but] trash teams.”

While Bulls are middle of the pack in terms of Defensive Efficiency (13th) and Opponent PPG (16th), and near the best in the league as it comes to Opponent FG% (t4), this Bulls squad is nothing like that of the prior few years when the Bulls were at least feared by opponents who knew it would be a battle.

“Teams are more eager to play us. [In years prior,] it was vice versa. They knew we were coming in to punch people in the face and keep playing. It’s just, it’s hard, man. It really eats me up inside. It’s really hard to sleep at night knowing it’s coming down to the wire, and our effort isn’t there. It’s really frustrating.”

He refused to make excuses for the new system from new coach Fred Hoiberg, and went so far as saying he’s out there fighting for Hoiberg, but he definitely seemed to be calling out the team in general. We can fully assume he’s at least calling out former MVP Derrick Rose who is essentially questionable every game despite having no clear injuries, but one has to wonder if he’s also calling out all-star Jimmy Butler as well; while Butler’s work ethic has never been questioned like Rose’s has, it feels as if this should have become Butler’s team whereas in reality it doesn’t feel that way.

It is certainly possible that Derrick Rose is an organizational cancer at this point and that Butler is waiting for Rose to leave for Free Agency after this season before taking control. What collateral damage will be done by Butler taking a passive approach to the clear leadership void, though, is less certain, and Gibson — along with the city of Chicago — seems fed up.

“At times, I think we lose track of what we’re playing for. We’re not just playing for ourselves — we’re playing for the city of Chicago, and we’re playing to wear that ‘Bulls’ across our chest.”