On Saturday night, the Chicago Bulls caught a glimpse of the level at which they have to play to compete for a title. They also had the truth reinforced, that they aren’t close to there yet. The Bulls saw what a championship-level team looks like on Saturday night, in a 112-102 loss to a Golden State Warriors team that was firing on all cylinders. The Warriors were everything the Bulls need to be in order to compete in June. They executed at both ends of the floor, forced 22 turnovers and knocked down 12 three-pointers. “Against a team like this, mistakes have to be minimized,” Pau Gasol said after the game. "Tonight they weren’t.” It wasn’t just this game that was a cause for concern. The Bulls have yet to put together one start-to-finish impressive performance against a playoff team. Players have been in and out of the lineup, which has hurt their continuity. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are still limited to around 30 minutes per game, and Taj Gibson just recently returned from an ankle injury that had sidelined him the previous six games. “We’ve got a lot of newer guys, a lot of young guys,” said Gibson. “They’ve got to figure out the system. We’ve got to have that trust. Guys aren’t having each other’s backs. We’ve got to fix that because these games are going to keep coming, and nobody’s going to feel sorry for you.” The Bulls are 2-5 at home, losing four of their last five games at the United Center. It’s the most troubling part of their recent struggles, and nobody can quite put their finger on it. Even without Rose, the Bulls went 27-14 on their home floor in each of the last two seasons. But their home-court advantage has evaporated. Read more http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-still-far-from-playing-at-championship-level
