While Coach Boylen says he’s taking responsibility, his players are feeling some as well. Thaddeus Young expressed to his teammates that ‘at some point it’s got to hurt…When it starts to hurt too bad, that’s when we’re going to win games.’
One enduring image from the Bulls’ epic collapse Tuesday night in their 118-112 loss to the Lakers came when Jim Boylen whistled at his team as a 19-point lead disappeared, motioned his hands to calm players down and mouthed words about being fine.
But things weren’t fine.
That’s now three fourth-quarter collapses in eight games. That’s three blown double-digit leads. That’s a trend that’s begging for answers and, in some fans’ minds, heads to roll.
“I’m the head coach of the team. And I’ll take responsibility of the fourth quarter,” Boylen said. “I got to do a better job of getting guys to understand winning basketball. We’re a young group.”
The Bulls are the second-youngest team in the NBA. But this was the season Boylen and management touted playoffs as the goal and suggested improvement in Year Three of the rebuild was coming.
It’s not. At least not yet. And such losses lend themselves to plenty of second-guessing.
Such as: Why did Boylen not substitute a starter until nine points of the Lakers’ 16-0 run that changed the game in the fourth had been scored?
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“Because I’m going to develop this bench and develop this team. I got 15 guys to develop. I’m going to play them in those moments and they’re going to learn how to play winning basketball,” Boylen said. “I’ve never yanked guys. I’m not doing that. We’re going to develop that second group and have a bench here in Chicago.”
Or: Why didn’t Boylen take a timeout until the entire 16-0 run — all scored by Lakers reserves and with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the bench — had transpired?
“We gotta figure it out. We gotta learn and settle down. I want to see somebody take control and take over the thing. That’s where we gotta grow,” Boylen said. “(A timeout) was on my heart. It was on my mind. Timeout has nothing to do with a free-throw line boxout. Timeout has nothing to do with moving (the ball) to the next guy.”
Or: Why is Lauri Markkanen only attempting eight shots, second-fewest of the starters?
“We do take some bad shots at bad times that can change the course of the game,” Thad Young said. “For the most part, guys are still trying to move the ball. It’s about playing a certain type of basketball. They haven’t played that certain type of basketball in the past couple of years. We’re not the team with several different superstars on our team. We have to play team basketball, move the basketball, get ourselves in a good flow and be tough on the defensive end.
“I came in and talked to the guys and told them, ‘At some point, it gotta hurt.’ When it starts to hurt too bad, that’s when we’re going to win games.”
Young is in his 13th season. He has seen some things. He fielded a question about whether he thought it’s unusual for a coach not to burn a timeout in the fourth quarter as the game changed so dramatically.
“Sometimes it is. But then you have some coaches who try to let the guys figure it out. They put the trust into the guys. I think that’s good that he’s putting trust in us to figure it out,” Young said. “Whatever Coach sees fit to do, that’s what we have to continue to go with. As a team, we do have to figure it out.”
Zach LaVine watched the first 2 minutes, 44 seconds of the fourth quarter from the bench. He broke the Bulls’ scoring drought at 4:02 with a jumper.
“We tried to come in and stop the bleeding. But it was too late,” LaVine said. “You want to jump in the game. You gotta wait. There are substitution patterns. That’s not my job.
“It’s been our M.O. for the last couple of years. We haven’t won games in the fourth quarter. We have to learn how to finish. Some of that is on us.”
And some of it, according to Boylen, is on him.
Watch Jim Boylen's full press conference:
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