The Chicago Bulls were seeking their second road win as many nights when they faced the Golden State Warriors on December 26 ^th. Last year, when these teams met on the Warriors’ home floor, the Bulls did not have a good showing, falling 100-91. Well history would repeat itself, as Golden State jumped on Chicago early, leading by as many as 19 points, before holding on for a 99-91 victory. Here are my reasons as to why the Bulls came up short against the Warriors for the second straight year.

Poor offensive execution:

The Bulls were not very sharp with their offensive sets. They only had 16 assists against the Warriors after totaling 18 against the Lakers in the first half alone. Regardless of the opponent, when you settle for outside shots, it is easier for the opposing team to defend you. Also, the Bulls were very sloppy with the basketball, committing 20 turnovers. Needless to say, even an average team can win when given so many extra possessions to work with.

Solid defense on Derrick Rose:

When these teams met last year, the Warriors did a good job of hounding rose into a sub-par game as he scored just 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field. This time around, the Warriors’ defense was just as effective, limiting Rose to just 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting. While Rose is the best player on the team, the Bulls tend to rely too much on his ability to score. I know this is only game, but Chicago needs to be more balanced on offense if they expect to take the next step this season.

Lack of defensive intensity:

The Bulls’ defense was lazy in stretches as they gave up a lot of uncontested baskets, which allowed the Warriors to connect on 47% of their field goal attempts. As one of the top defensive teams in the league last season, it was disappointing to see the lack of effort by the Bulls on the defensive end of the court.

Hopefully the Bulls will improve on those lapses because a lot of their success will have to come from being sound both defensively and offensively. As Stacey King mentioned during the telecast, Chicago will not be able to sneak up on teams like they were last year. If they don’t bring the necessary intensity each night, they could be on the losing end of a lot of games against teams they should be able to beat.

James Tillman is a resident of the Chicago-land area who has been a Bulls’ fan since the 1987-1988 season. James is also a fan blogger on Yahoo Sports and NJFFL Dynasty. For interesting discussions about the NBA, NFL and MLB, follow him on Twitter @jtillman9693.

Sources:

Curry leads Warriors to 99-91 win over Bulls

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On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, the NBA announced the revised 66-game regular season for all NBA teams. Games this year will start on Christmas, finish on April 26, which is a little later than usual, and the playoffs will last from April 28 until the latest June 26. For the Golden State Warriors, the team has been dealt an interesting abbreviated schedule this season.

Opening series

Recently, the Warriors were added to the Christmas Opening Day slate of games with a home game against the Los Angeles Clippers on ESPN. For new Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, he will benefit from the supportive home crowd at Oracle Arena with four games against the Clippers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers before coaching his first road game against the Phoenix Suns on January 2.

Only one back-to-back-to-back series

As a part of the new agreement, each team is required to play on three consecutive nights at least once during the season. For the Warriors, they will only have to worry about this burden once against the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, the team will have this crucial series on the road and near the end of the season (April 20-22), meaning these games may affect whether or not the team makes the playoffs this season.

A visiting (or returning) Chris Paul(notes) to New Orleans

The Warriors have been involved in many major free agent and trade talks this offseason with the likes of Tyson Chandler(notes), Marc Gasol(notes), David West(notes), DeAndre Jordan(notes), and others. However, no talks have been more important and series than those involving a trade for New Orleans Hornets point guard Paul. Whether or not the Warriors make a trade for one of the best players in the NBA, two of the Warriors’ games against the Hornets take place during an eight-day span in March could feature some homecoming games for Paul, Stephen Curry(notes), Ekpe Udoh(notes), and any other players that are involved in this possible trade.

All NBA marquee Eastern Conference teams are coming to Oakland

With an abbreviated schedule, the Warriors will only play 18 games against Eastern Conference teams. Fortunately for Warriors fans, the team will play their lone games against the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Knicks, and Orlando Magic at home this season.

Seventeen nationally-televised games

The Warriors are expected to play on national television 17 times this season, including six games on ESPN, four games on TNT, and seven games on NBA TV. Some of the big games on national TV include a game versus the Magic on January 12 and the team’s final two games of the season against the Hornets and San Antonio Spurs on TNT.

Sources:

Shorter NBA schedule has 42 back-to-back-to-backs, AP

2011-12 WARRIORS SCHEDULE, Warriors.com

More from this contributor:

Fan’s Take: Will Warriors’ Amundson have comeback year with Jackson in charge?

Warriors Head Coach Mark Jackson’s Coaching Debut on National TV: Fan’s Take

Fan’s Take: Should the Warriors Use the Amnesty Clause and for Whom?

Austin is a lifelong resident of the bay area, a lifelong basketball fan and Golden State Warriors supporter, and a contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow this contributor on Twitter @_austinchang.

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New Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson will have plenty of input on the bench. The Warriors on Thursday hired five more assistants for Jackson, a former NBA point guard who has no coaching experience. Joining Michael Malone on the team’s staff will be Pete Myers, Wes Unseld Jr. and Jerry DeGregorio as assistant coaches and Darren Erman and Kris Weems as assistant of player development, the team announced Thursday. Myers, a former player, had worked for the Chicago Bulls the last 12 years, primarily as a scout. Unseld, the son of Hall of Famer Wes Unseld, had been with the Washington Wizards for 13 years.

The Warriors coaching and player development staff is complete and its got some pretty good basketball pedigree. Over the last few months, Joe Lacob has been busy adding an new blood into the formerly lifeless Warriors body. The revamped coaching staff includes a short list of accomplished and also inexperience, a mix that could be possibly be part of Lacob’s strategy to open his tenure as owner. But one of the Warriors assistant coaches, Pete Myers, may be the most intriguing coach on this roster given his ties to the greatest of all time.

Warriors.com and SFGate.com report the full Warriors assistant coach roster and according to SFGate.com, part of Pete Myers claim to fame is that he “replaced Michael Jordan as Chicago’s shooting guard when Jordan decided to play baseball instead.” 

I don’t quite remember whether Myers stepping into Jordan’s position was a pressure filled situation for him (Chicago Bulls fans, please chime in) for him. Myer’s career is not defined by this moment during his playing days. But I find it intriguing that this marks the second time (in my memory at least) that the Warriors have signed someone who has such ties to Michael Jordan’s playing days.

I’m sure we all remember (or choose to forgot) the hype over forward Jason Caffey, whose claim to fame at the time of the mid-season trade was that he played on two Jordan-led championship Bulls team.

Something tells me Myer’s tenure with the Warriors won’t be so overstated. And Jordan’s legacy probably won’t cloud fans’ expectations of what Myer’s can do with players. 

But knowing Myer’s history, do you think being that close to Jordan and becoming his eventual replacement will have anything to do with his coaching strategies?