In the offseason, the Chicago Bulls made a new commitment to defense. They were going to be a team that beats other teams with their defense, not their offense. However, after a dominant defensive start, the Bulls are quickly becoming one of the league’s worst defensive teams.

The Bulls are currently ranked 20th in the league in defensive rating, posting a defensive rating of 107.6. Their defensive rating is better this year, than last year, when they posted a defensive rating of 108.7. However, relative to the rest of the league, they are worse this year than last year. Last year they were ranked 18th in defensive rating.

Their actual defense is probably worse than last year’s as well. It should be taken into account that the league is worse as a whole offensively than it was last year. Teams are scoring 1.6 fewer points per 100 possessions this year than they were last year. If you adjust the Bulls defensive rating to the better offensive production of last season, than it is clear that the Bulls are probably around the same or worse defensively this year than last year.

The league wide drop in offensive production is likely a result of more team’s penny pinching. With the economy the way it is, team’s are going to be less likely to spend money to get good bench players for their teams. This problem is seen with the Bulls, who let Ben Gordon walk in free agency, did not sign Derrick Byars after training camp, and passed on signing Allen Iverson, all in efforts to avoid spending more money, and keep profits up.

But how are the Bulls worse defensively? Shouldn’t having a proper sized shooting guard in John Salmons improve the Bulls defense drastically over last year’s team, which featured the shorter Ben Gordon at shooting guard? The truth is that perimeter defense is overrated in the NBA.

Ben Gordon did everything that is needed of an NBA guard. He did a good job staying between his man and the basket, and contested shots. The difference between him, and Kirk Hinrich, who is a great defender, in what the opposing shooting guard scores and on what efficiency is going to be minimal, as ever since the rule changes before the 04-05 season, which allowed for no contact on the perimeter, good offensive guard when going up against good defensive guards usually put up their normal numbers.

Where a good defensive team is made is in the front court. Brad Miller and Joakim Noah both have negative Player Efficiency Rating differentials at the center position, where they play the majority of their minutes. Taj Gibson, who plays 42% of the team’s power forward minutes is especially bad, posting a PER differential of -9.7.

The one bright spot is Joakim Noah at the power forward position, where he plays 28.6% of his minutes. Noah has a +7.1 PER differential when playing the power forward spot.

Joakim Noah’s problem at the center position is that he is too small. He has a shorter standing reach than most centers, and because of his weight, he can have some difficulty holding position in the low post.

The Bulls should look into moving Joakim Noah to the power forward position and starting Brad Miller in order to improve their defense. If the Bulls continue to play the way they are playing, they may play themselves into a high draft pick, which could land them a real center, such as Kansas’ Cole Aldrich, who would provide a long term solution for the Bulls at the center spot.

However, the Bulls’ defensive problems are miniscule in comparison to their offensive problems. The Bulls are currently ranked 27th in the league in offensive rating, with an offensive rating of 99.5. Now there is nothing wrong with a team being a defensive focused team, but there is a problem with a team being as bad on offense as the Bulls have been.

In order for the Bulls to have an even point differential, they would need to have a defensive rating of 99.5 also. If the Bulls were to have that defensive rating, they would be the 2nd best defensive team in the league. So in order to have just an average team with an offense this bad, a team needs to be one of the league’s best defensive teams.

If the Bulls wanted to be a good team, say as good as the Atlanta Hawks of last season, they would need to have a point differential of 1.7. In order to have this point differential with this offense, the Bulls would need a defensive rating of 97.8. If the Bulls were to post that defensive rating, they would be the best defensive team since the rule changes in 04-05.

So in order to be as good as last year’s 47-35, second round and out Atlanta Hawks, the Bulls would need to be one of the best defensive teams of all time, if they were to continue playing at their current offensive level.

If the Bulls want to get better as a team, they will need to get better offensively. It is impossible to be a good team with an offense this bad

How can the Bulls improve their offense? The most obvious way is to start shooting more three point shots. The Bulls are currently last in the league in three point field goal attempts and makes. One of the simple truths of basketball is that making a three point shot is better than making a two point shot, because 3 > 2.

This is one of the main facets of an offense like Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni encourages players to shoot wide open three point shots, even if they don’t shoot the best percentage. If a player shoots 33.3% from three point land, that is equal to shooting 50% on two point field goals. If a player only to take threes when they take jumpshots, and shot 33.3%, taking 7 three point shots a game, while making 70% of their baskets close to the basket, and taking 3 of those shots per a game, they would score at an efficient 56 TS%.

Making three pointers is key in boosting up offensive efficiency. So the best way to improve the Bulls offense will be to start hoisting up more three point shots. Rose, Deng, and Salmons need to stop passing up the wide open three point shot, as taking that shot is the right basketball play to make.

John Salmons and Luol Deng in particular need to start taking more three point shots. Salmons is a career 35.9% (53.9 TS%) three point shooter. Luol Deng has made 41.8% (62.7 TS%) of his threes over the past three seasons. These guys have shown to be good enough three point shooters to have free reign to jack up the open three point shot.

The Bulls need to implement these changes fast, because if they fail to improve their offense, they are going to be a bad team all year long.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Kirk Hinrich will visit a specialist on Monday or a thumb injury that he suffered while practicing before the Bulls game against the Blazers.

On the one hand, an MRI revealed the injured ligament remains attached to the bone, unlike last season when Hinrich tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and missed 31 games after surgery.

On the other, Hinrich is visiting a specialist Monday, five full days after suffering the injury at a Wednesday practice in Oregon. Coach Vinny Del Negro wouldn’t rule Hinrich out for Monday’s game, but the fact he didn’t practice Saturday and still has swelling doesn’t bode well.

It is hard to get a read on how serious of an injury that Hinrich has right now. It sounds like the injury isn’t quite as bad as what he suffered last year, but how bad the injury appears to be up for debate. The following quote from Vinny Del Negro sheds some more light on the uncertainty of Hinrich’s injury.

Asked if the Bulls have any plans to sign an extra guard, Del Negro demurred.

“We’re going to wait and see what happens with that evaluation on Monday and then make a decision,” Del Negro said. “We weren’t even sure if Jannero was going to practice because of a little shoulder impingement.”

It sounds like the Bulls are completely uncertain of the extent of the injury right now. It sounds like the Bulls won’t truly know how badly Hinrich is injured until the specialist sees him.

If Kirk Hinrich is out for any type of significant period of time, it is pertinent that the Bulls sign someone, as the team will simply fail because of their lack of backcourt depth.

The Tribune lists Wally Szczerbiak, Jerry Stackhouse, and Antonio Daniels as some of the options. Another option that goes unmentioned is Rashad McCants.

Wally Szczerbiak averaged 7.0 points on 58.1 TS% last season in 74 games for Cleveland, shooting 41.1% from three point territory. Unfortunately, Szczerbiak is still rehabbing from knee surgery, and may not be able to give the Bulls immediate help.

Antonio Daniels averaged 3.1 points on 53.1 TS% last season in 61 games with the New Orleans Hornets.

Jerry Stackhouse averaged 4.2 points on 33.3 TS% last season in 10 games for Dallas.

Rashad McCants averaged 10.3 points on 55.3 TS% in 24 games after being traded to the Sacramento Kings at the trade deadline. McCants failed a physical with Houston to begin the year.

The Bulls should immediately cross Antonio Daniels and Jerry Stackhouse off their list of options. Neither player appears capable of positively impacting an NBA team at this point, and would both likely be a downgrade from Jannero Pargo.

Wally Szczerbiak is probably the most intriguing of these options because of his size and ability to shoot the three point shot. However, if he is rendered useless because of injuries, he is not an option. That would leave Rashad McCants, who has health questions of his own.

Even if McCants is healthy, he will not do much to positively contribute to the Bulls. His sole positive contributions would just be being better than Jannero Pargo and Lindsey Hunter, which isn’t much of a contribution of all.

The Bulls of course could explore signing Allen Iverson, but the Bulls front office is unlikely to sign a player like Iverson, and there is also strong rumblings that the 76ers might sign Iverson, so he may not be an option for the Bulls in a few days.

One thing is for sure, if Hinrich is out, the Bulls have to sign someone, and if Hinrich is out, the season will probably get ugly.

According to Chris Broussard of ESPN, the Bulls interest in Allen Iverson is real.

Broussard said that the Bulls would be looking to bring Allen Iverson in on either the biannual exception or on the veteran’s minimum.

Broussard also said that a sign and trade deal for Iverson to Chicago, is very, vey, very unlikely.

Allen Iverson would be an interesting signing for the Bulls, and probably a good value on the LLE or veteran’s minimum. If Iverson has a good year, the Bulls would probably be able to sneak into the playoffs. At the very least, Iverson would give Bulls fans something to talk about, in what looks to be a bad year for Bulls basketball.

I think the reason for a sign and trade being unlikely is that the Pistons don’t want to make a deal with the Bulls. If the Bulls were to do a sign and trade with the Pistons, with Ben Gordon going to the Bulls and Allen Iverson, on a cheap contract, going to the Bulls, the Bulls would receive a trade exception. The Pistons aren’t going to want to help out a division rival by giving them a trade exception.

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Detroit Pistons 104 to 98 last night in Detroit.

The Bulls lost in large part because of the referees. The referees chose to call ticky tack or non-existent fouls on the Bulls all night long. One gregarious call was a reach in call on Ben Gordon to give him his fourth foul, where Gordon got caught on a pick, putting Iverson out of his reach, making a reach in foul impossible.

Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, and Andres Nocioni all fouled out.

Ben Gordon had a nice game, finishing with 18 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds. He did have 6 turnovers, but it wasn’t as bad as it looks when you take into account that some were on unfair offensive fouls, and one was on an inbounds pass where Gordon was the inbounder and no one went to go get the ball.

Derrick Rose was solid, finishing with 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Rose was frustrated with foul trouble all night long.

This was a game where Luol Deng should have stepped up with Rose and Gordon in foul trouble, but he didn’t. Deng shot 2-7 and only scored 6 points. If Deng doesn’t begin to turn it around, Paxson might need to look into trading Deng early on in his contract.

Tyrus Thomas, once again, had a good game. Thomas had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Hopefully this is Thomas starting to put things together. Thomas is a player that makes an impact on the game, so it is good to have him get going. The Bulls will still need to address the center position, and get a defensive anchor there, but the more we play Thomas over Gooden, the better our defense will be.

Larry Hughes and Andres Nocioni also put in good games. Hughes had 19 points and 5 assists and Nocioni added in 18 points.

Rodney Stuckey was completely unstoppable. Stuckey burned the Bulls for 40 points. It didn’t matter if it was Gordon, Hughes, Sefolosha, or Deng guarding him, he was going to score no matter what.

The Bulls held Allen Iverson to only 5 points, but Iverson did his damage to the Bulls in concert with the referees.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 13-15 on the season. If this is as good as the Pistons are with great help from the referees, than no team should fear them in the playoffs.