After ending the season with a 31-41 record last year, the Chicago Bulls finish off their 2021-22 regular season at 46-36 with the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They prepare to compete in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Off-season signings such as Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan were all recognized as bad signings for the organization, which was quite the opposite. They spent the first couple of month this season being the best team in the Eastern Conference and one of the best teams in the NBA, but fell through due to injuries. The teams inability to beat top teams in the NBA along with key players being out such as Ball and Caruso has had a huge effect on the team’s defense and ability to win.

Going into the series the Bulls are a major underdog after being matched up against the 2021 playoff champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the disappointing news of Ball being out for the rest of the season.

When asked about the Bull’s biggest weaknesses, sophomore Quinn Gilbert spoke about the downhill spiral the Bulls have been on since the season began.

“I think that Giannis Antetokounmpo has been playing too well and the Bulls have cooled off since the beginning of the season for them to stop him. With Ball being out, their chances of winning are low,” Gilbert stated.

As for sophomore Daniel Thannert, defense will be the biggest reason why the Bulls will lose the playoff series.

“If we play the bucks as we did at the beginning of the season, we should have a good chance. But if we continue to play as we have been, it’ll be a sweep. I also believe that defending Giannis will be a major problem for us,” Thannert said.

The Bulls need more of a team contribution from players besides Lavine and DeRozen according to sophomore Peter Mestousis.

“I expect the Bulls to make it past the first round considering Ball being out for the season. I think if the Bulls want to win they need to run the ball through DeRozan and Lavine and use their younger stars because they showed they can lead and win without their big time players,” Mestousis said.

With such a great start to the season and such an underwhelming second half, the Bulls will try to rebound in a huge game two with DeRozan as the main star on the bench. The Bulls will take on the Bucks tonight in game two of the series.