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http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/12280131/jimmy-butler-blame-chicago-bulls-scuffling-defense

"I'm not going to lie, I thought it was going to be easier than it is. But to go on one end and produce and then go on the other end and have to stop the best player on the opposing team is not always an easy task.''

Found this interesting to hear from him and makes total sense now that we've seen his offense improve that he has less energy to put into defense.

I certainly wouldn't blame him for all the problems on defense, given Noah's health, the addition of Pau and Rose playing badly. I also think this a sign of leadership Butler's end, especially since I think he's the first one to really say "blame me" this year instead of saying they are all the problem.

What I think now is that we should most likely expect less scoring from Butler (even less than his Jan average) moving forward as he begins to spend more energy playing tougher defense like he does most fourth quarters.

Hopefully him upping his defensive intensity puts a fire in others and catches on.

I don't think it's his fault, but this is precisely why we need a second wing defender. Butler can't always guard the best scorer.

I agree with homo. Snell who cant shoot is our best hope at the moment which sucks.

Also, this is what happens when a guy who plays elite D with muscle and effort (as opposed to playing it with length and instincts) is trying to score with muscle and effort also.

He might have some kind of point here. When Deng left, Jimmy pretty much picked up the wing defensive slack from the get. Now that he's 'feeling himself', he's been getting lit up by elite and non-elite wing players.

"I think it starts with me, to tell you the truth,'' Butler said before Wednesday's game against the Houston Rockets. "I'm supposed to be this prime-time defender and I don't think I've been holding up my end of the bargain lately. So I think whenever I start kicking it up three, four notches on defense and not worry about offense as much, I think it'll all turn around.''

But HomoSap is right, need another strong wing player. I want to see Jimmy continue to excel offensively as well. Those streaks of 26 + per game really made you believe we could win it all. I think we need that type of production. D-Rose won't probably get back to elite status until atleast late in the season, if not next season. We need another elite player. Do ur thing G Buckets.

Anyone who was hoping he could be a primary scorer option and play as hard as he does on D every night had unrealistic expectations.

His workload on both ends is too big, even for someone as highly conditioned as Jimmy. Comes right back to our central issue - help on the other wing.

Leadership...thats what I heard when Butler owned up.

The simple solution is to play him less minutes. If you play him only 32 -34 and ask him to go balls-out on both ends.

The key is to get another SG/SF backup. Hinrich can absorb some of those SG minutes.....but its the SF backup minutes that is the real issue.

Maybe just Maybe Thibs for stop playing him 40 mins a game and he wouldn't be so tired

Just saying and waits for well who else is he going to play well we wouldn't know because he don't really give players chances and his window of error for them is VERY SMALL and they're taken out very quickly

now that's leadership....

HomoSapien wrote:I don't think it's his fault, but this is precisely why we need a second wing defender. Butler can't always guard the best scorer.

Yeah, he can't put the blame on him though I do think that his game has slipped some over the past few weeks, especially after his bereavement leave. Perhaps that is part of the reason, and perhaps his upcoming free agency and extension is starting to both him too.

I don't blame him if his contract situation is affecting him, because his livelihood is on the line and being that he bet on himself and started the season off so well, perhaps his patch where he struggled affected him and as he said, he was too concerned about his scoring which compounded to affect his defense also.

Again, I don't blame him for the defensive struggles because the entire team has been struggling on that end the ENTIRE SEASON even when we were winning games on a regular basis, but it's nice to see a player step up and take the blame and take it like a champ. He'll eventually be on our leaders of the team if he isn't one already. He has a great head on his shoulders and we're lucky to have him.

Butler's putting too much blame on his own shoulders. If the other 4 guys on the floor aren't doing their job defensively, the Bulls would still have trouble on that end of the floor even if Jimmy's own defense had not dropped off from where it was last season.

There's a reason why there are very few guys who are bigtime scorers AND all-NBA defensive players. It just takes a lot out of guys to have to expend that much effort and to have that much responsibility on their shoulders on both ends of the floor. So it's unfair for expect Jimmy to be able to be elite at both things. Especially when he isn't getting much help from his teammates on defense right now.

Jo's struggle to rebound from his knee injury is a big reason for the defensive problems. So is Kirk's decline on that end of the floor. So is Pau's and Derrick's inability/unwillingness to play strong defense. Etc etc etc. It isn't just one thing or one player that has caused the Bulls to fall off so badly on the defensive end of the floor.

I appreciate Jimmy's willingness to step up and be accountable, though.

It's a great thing to say but it isn't the problem. It really is the full team D that's the problem. Like Butler going back to being a lock down defender and using all his energy on that end sacrificing his scoring isn't the solution either. He has to find a balance because that is where he adds value is as a 2 way player, that's what we really lack on this team is guys that can play both ends of the floor. If we do need consistent lock down defense it's better to bring in a specialist since they are cheap. Butler can do it say in the playoffs or end of games but if we need another lock down wing guy snell or we have to pick someone up or maybe even better is get another two way player on the wings if possible so we don't need the lock down perimeter defense as much but can handle things with solid help and rotations. But I'm a big believer that our problem with D is really in the paint and even caused by a lack of communication on that end calling out screens etc. I think our Perimiter D has to improve but our interior D is where we fell off a cliff. It is nice for him to take responsibility but this isn't remotely the problem IMO.

And this is why we need all star caliber Rose to show up consistently. Jimmy's defense is hugely important to us.

kulaz3000 wrote:

HomoSapien wrote:I don't think it's his fault, but this is precisely why we need a second wing defender. Butler can't always guard the best scorer.

Yeah, he can't put the blame on him though I do think that his game has slipped some over the past few weeks, especially after his bereavement leave. Perhaps that is part of the reason, and perhaps his upcoming free agency and extension is starting to both him too.

I don't blame him if his contract situation is affecting him, because his livelihood is on the line and being that he bet on himself and started the season off so well, perhaps his patch where he struggled affected him and as he said, he was too concerned about his scoring which compounded to affect his defense also.

Again, I don't blame him for the defensive struggles because the entire team has been struggling on that end the ENTIRE SEASON even when we were winning games on a regular basis, but it's nice to see a player step up and take the blame and take it like a champ. He'll eventually be on our leaders of the team if he isn't one already. He has a great head on his shoulders and we're lucky to have him.

Kulaz, I actually think Jimmy is done with the contract stuff.

He, the FO and Thibs worked together to get him crazy minutes and go easy on D. This helped him show (Proof of Concept) that he can be the second guy on offense as well.

He is an All-Star now...and his max is pretty much certain.

Now he can focus on Bulls basketball. I dont begrudge him the half a season of Jimmy ball he played. It helped us get some quality wins as well.

A trade is definitely coming now. Get Jimmy some help!

NecessaryEvil wrote:We need another elite player. Do ur thing G Buckets.

Durant.

A man can dream......of a world in which the NBA didn't have a cap.....

I'm glad he's come to terms with what we've all known: the Bulls troubles this year are all his fault.

He needs to buckle down, think of the contract and play like he was earlier in the year 30/10 games is what we need out of you Jimmy

Our former try hard players no longer rely on trying hard to bring value to the floor. Same with Taj and Noah. In Noah's case, he was actually the point guard of our floundering offense the past two years and released so much energy doing that. It's a long road up to get that energy back while still being effective everywhere else.

musiqsoulchild wrote:Leadership...thats what I heard when Butler owned up.

The simple solution is to play him less minutes. If you play him only 32 -34 and ask him to go balls-out on both ends.

The key is to get another SG/SF backup. Hinrich can absorb some of those SG minutes.....but its the SF backup minutes that is the real issue.

I would strongly prefer if someone/anyone other than hinrich picked up those minutes.

Red Larrivee wrote:Our former try hard players no longer rely on trying hard to bring value to the floor. Same with Taj and Noah. In Noah's case, he was actually the point guard of our floundering offense the past two years and released so much energy doing that. It's a long road up to get that energy back while still being effective everywhere else.

It's crazy how they all took a step down @ the same time. Like I said, I think the Bulls are trolling and they DEFINITELY have other gears to hit with Pau, improving Niko, All-Star Jimmy, former MVP Rose etc.

If we go back to our elite defense during the postseason, we are going to win the NBA Championship.

That's why the analysts & commentators aren't worried about our bad losses like most Chicago fans. We have all the ingredients.

My biggest issue is the extremely incredible level Lebron James plays on. How we are going to overcome that is up to the team.

lastmanstanding wrote:

musiqsoulchild wrote:Leadership...thats what I heard when Butler owned up.

The simple solution is to play him less minutes. If you play him only 32 -34 and ask him to go balls-out on both ends.

The key is to get another SG/SF backup. Hinrich can absorb some of those SG minutes.....but its the SF backup minutes that is the real issue.

I would strongly prefer if someone/anyone other than hinrich picked up those minutes.

Our preferences about this issue do not matter.

This is the truth....we should all get used to it. You will too. You will learn to live with it and not OD on drugs. Or shoot the TV.

RememberLu wrote:I'm glad he's come to terms with what we've all known: the Bulls troubles this year are all his fault.

He needs to buckle down, think of the contract and play like he was earlier in the year 30/10 games is what we need out of you Jimmy

No, no, no.

That was the problem to begin with....his defense sucked when he was scoring silky smooth in Nov and Dec. It was an abomination...he and Derrick were pretty bad.

Accentuated by the 3rd turnstile - Pau.