Rocky start for defense in Donovan’s Bulls debut

The Bulls were in action for the first time in nine months Friday night, and the results, well, mostly looked like a team that had not played a game in nine months.

The Rockets routed the Bulls 125-104 in their preseason opener at the United Center, an overall dud of a performance after months of optimism about the direction of the team.

“I think this was really good for us,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Because we got our ass kicked in, in a lot ofways.”

The Bulls still are a young team coming off an extended layoff with a newcoach installing a new system, so it’s understandable that there will be some growing pains. It just wasn’t clear those growing pains would look like 20 turnovers and 100 points in three quarters given up to the Rockets without James Harden. Still, Donovan looked at Friday’s performance as a good reference point for what the team needs to focus on before the regular season starts.

So while reading too much into one preseason game for a team that was off for almost a year might not be prudent, there were certainly a few noteworthy signs of what could be in store.

Here is one takeaway from the Bulls’ preseason opener.

1. This defense is going to need some work.

The Bulls defense was not very good against the Rockets.

Donovan gave a fine explanation of why: The Bulls didn’t look at much film or tailor a game plan for the Rockets, so he kept the team in a base defense and didn’t make adjustments that normally would have come through the course of a game.

That might be true, but after watching the Bulls’ start to the game, it’s hard not to think the team will be facing an uphill battle defensively all season.

The Rockets’ army of 3-point shooters, even without Harden, made 24 shots on 46% shooting from beyond the arc with plenty of space to operate. John Wall had an impressive Rockets debut with 13 points and nine assists after injuries robbed him of the last two seasons, though the Bulls did little to make it difficult for him or put a body in hisway in the paint.

DeMarcus Cousins missed all of last season with an injury, but he was a force on the pick-and-pop, torching the Bulls for 14 points and knocking down 3 of 4 3-pointers.

“I’m not concerned at all for many reasons,” center Wendell Carter Jr said. “We didn’t go over any scout on Houston. We just went in thinking of the base defense that he put in….

“(Donovan) just wanted us to go out there and basically play. He knew that we haven’t played in nine months, so he didn’t think about trying to put toomuch on us for the first game.”