The Chicago Bulls are surprisingly off to a slow start as they are lagging far behind the Eastern Conference rankings with an 11-8 record.
Although that is not bad, the Bulls present a line-up good enough to compete for the top rank in their conference. This might be justified by their ongoing adjustments with their new head coach Fred Hoiberg but he needs to pick it up quick as he and franchise star Jimmy Butler is having a bit of discussion regarding proper substitutions.
Jimmy Butler is not pleased when he was pulled out of the game at the start of the fourth quarter as he can play a couple more minutes to stabilize the energy of his teammates.
"I told Fred not to take me out at the beginning of the fourth," Butler said via ESPN. "I wanted to play because that's when we give up those leads, at the beginning of the fourth. Nothing against my teammates, but I think if I'm out there and I get their energy going the right way, now take me out and let me rest."
"But the energy's going, the energy's flowing. I think I got to start playing at the beginning of the fourth quarter."
As a result, the Bulls lost against the Celtics, 100-105 and the head coach will definitely take note of what happened and might heed Butler's advice.
"[He said] I need a rest," Butler said. "I'm like, 'Man, I can handle an extra 45 seconds to a minute. Just let me get the energy going, get a stop here or there, and get us going in the right direction to start the fourth.'"
"That's what I was back there talking to him about," Butler said. "It's a learning curve for him just like it is for me. I understand what he's trying to do, I'm not mad at him for that, but we got to win games if we want to find ourselves in the postseason."
