Interior defense was the Chicago Bulls’ Achilles’ heel last season. They ranked 30th in points allowed in the paint, 23rd in opponent field goal percentage within six feet, and just 18th in blocks. Most glaring of all, they lacked a true interior deterrent.
Chicago’s lack of perimeter stoppers and absence of intimidating shot-blockers fueled its porous interior defense numbers. Yet blocked shots and opponents’ paint field goal percentage don’t always go hand in hand.
There are other ways for the Bulls to stymie opponents in the paint, beginning with team defense. Chicago rotated well and contested shots effectively, averaging the third-most contests in the association, but too often, perimeter breakdowns left Nikola Vucevic, or a help defender, stranded on an island.