You may have heard that the Chicago Bulls are one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA, but did you know the unusual fashion they’re doing it in? I’ll grant you that teams that rely on the jump shot will run cold, but in their last 4 games (and they’ve only played 5), the Bulls have had a player put up a doughnut, or a goose egg if you prefer, in the shooting percentage category. I’m not just talking somebody in for garbage time, missing their only shot. For the most part, we’re talking players in the game for over 10 minutes, and in 3 of 4 games at least one starter, missing multiple shots.

10/31/08
Nichols 0-2 (3:39)
Total ice cold misses: 0-2

11/1/08
Thomas 0-5 (26:04)
Gray 0-1 (10:33)
Total ice cold misses: 0-6

11/03/08
Deng 0-8 (25:47)
J. Noah 0-1 (4:56)
Total ice cold misses: 0-9

11/5/08
Thomas 0-1 (14:49)
Sefolosha 0-4 (17:35)
Hinrich 0-5 (20:36)
Total ice cold misses: 0-10

For this these 4 games, that’s a total of 0-27 for players that literally couldn’t get the ball in the whole. And this doesn’t include the just plain scary 2-17 Tyrus Thomas had against the Celtics on Halloween.

Is bad shooting infectious? In four straight games the number of shots missed by ice cold player increased each game.

To quote Ian Fleming from his novel, Goldfinger:

Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

Even if you throw out Nichols and his 0-2 on Halloween as too little playing time to count as part of this odd streak, the 11/5 loss to the Cav’s makes it the third time and makes it enemy action.

A lost of players need to get a lot more comfortable in that offense and figure out where they’re catching the ball and when they’re supposed shoot. As for Tyrus Thomas, 2 appearances on the ice cold list and a scary 2-17 on Halloween (5-30 from the field in this 4-game stretch), he might want to consider attacking the basket a little more if the jumpers aren’t falling. The high expectations on him are turning into offensive concerns and his court time is dipping.