NBA Playoffs 2011: Why Are the Bulls Having So Much Trouble Against the Hawks?

We are two games into the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls, each team having won a game apiece. Yet compared to the first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, this matchup has been all but a walk in the park for the Bulls.

In Game 1, the Hawks more or less owned the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference. The score was close at 103-95, but Atlanta was in control for the entire game, shooting 51.3 percent from the field as a team (compared to the Bulls' 44.6 percent).

Guard Joe Johnson scored 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting and was a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range, and sixth man Jamal Crawford scored 22 points off the bench on 8-of-16 shooting.

Game 2 was kinder to the Bulls, as they won 86-73, but both teams shot horribly from the field. Atlanta shot 33.8 percent, and Chicago shot 39.3 percent. This game was won on the boards, and the Bulls out-rebounded the Hawks 58-39.

Still, Tom Thibodeau's squad looked lost against the team that did away with the tough Orlando Magic, and fans are wondering, what has happened to the Chicago Bulls?

Well, I believe I have an answer for that. Let's analyze both teams.

As I have mentioned in previous work, the Atlanta Hawks have possibly the most dangerous and well-balanced lineup out of all the playoff teams. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford are electrifying shooters, and Josh Smith is the kind of forward who is just as dangerous scoring as he is crashing the boards. On top of those three, Al Horford is slowly becoming one of the top big men in the NBA.

The biggest surprise has been guard Jeff Teague, who is averaging 15.5 points on 48 percent shooting in the absence of regular starter Kirk Hinrich.

Long story short, the Atlanta Hawks are the perfect definition of a team. The regulars have been playing together for a long time and have good chemistry together. They are not jealous of one another and share the ball well. As I just said, they play together as a TEAM.

That's not to say the Bulls aren't a great team. Derrick Rose has truly earned this season's MVP award, as he was instrumental in getting his team back to the playoffs. He had lots of help from the veteran presence of Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng, but more often than not it was Rose who put the team on his back throughout the season and the playoffs. He averaged 25 points per game on the regular season and is averaging 26.7 in the postseason.

Yet Rose's taking control of the game could in fact be the reason the Bulls are having so much trouble with the Hawks. In the postseason, Rose is only shooting 37 percent from the field (44 percent regular season) and a far less than average 21 percent from three-point range (33 percent regular season). I understand that he's been playing hurt for most of the playoffs, but that should be reason for him to trust his teammates and hand the ball off.

To put it bluntly, the reason the Bulls are struggling is because their star point guard has a case of what I like to call Kobe-itis. In a big game, when it's crunch time, Rose does his best Kobe Bryant impression and tries to finish the job by himself. He takes bad shots instead of passing to a teammate and thus hurts his team more.

To give you all a better idea of this, consider this statistic: During the regular season, Rose usually took about 19 shots per game; in the playoffs, he's averaging about 23.

The latter stat would be fine if he was nailing all his shots, but he's only making about eight of those 23. Considering he has talent like Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah available to him, not to mention three-point shooter Kyle Korver off the bench, it's puzzling why he doesn't use their availability.

That all being said, Chicago's approach to the offense simply has to change. It can't just be "get the ball to Rose and hope him working his magic pays off." The Bulls need to start playing like the Hawks: sharing the ball with each other and not taking unnecessary shots.

Otherwise, the dream of the Bulls getting a title without the help of Michael Jordan will remain just that—a dream that could have been, but just wasn't.