Rumors have been swirling for over a week now that Chicago Bulls’ head coach Vinny Del Negro will be fired.  Del Negro has not brought the Bulls were they want to be so far this season, but injuries and inconsistent play (most notably John Salmons) are more to blame than Del Negro.  Either way, the Bulls front office needs to either fire Del Negro, or back him publicly 100%.  John Paxson and GM Gar Forman have been dodging questions about Del Negro’s future, and giving vague answers.  Del Negro has been frustrated by the constant questions about his future with the Bulls, as well as the lack of confidence his bosses have shown for him.  With a young team that is playing below expectations, they can easily give up on their coach if it is obvious the organization is not backing him.  The Bulls need to be firm and direct on what their intentions are before the season turns into a disaster.  It is not too late to turn it around and the Bulls have won three straight to bring their record to 13-17.

The Bulls are having problems scoring points and Jannero Pargo was supposed to be an instant offense guy off the bench. That just has not happened this year. He has played in 24 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 10.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.8 assists per game. The reason he’s got nailed to the bench is he has been a awful shooter this season hitting only 35.2% from the floor and 29.5% from the three point line. Until he gets his shooting stroke back he will be sitting at the end of the bench for the Bulls.

The Bulls have decided to bench John Salmons replacing him in the starting line-up with Kirk Hinrich. Salmons is proving that last season was a fluke. He has played in 27 games (all starts) this season for the Bulls and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Salmons is only shooting 38% from the floor but that is better than Hinrich’s 36.2%. Hinrich has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. The one area this could help the Bulls out offensively is because Hinrich is a much better passer than Salmons which will likely help get more players involved in the offense.

Kirk Hinrich is better than he has shown so far this year and the Bulls need him to pick it up. He has played in 20 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Hinrich is shooting bricks from everywhere on the basketball court which isn’t like him. He is only hitting 36.5% from the floor, 31.6% from three point range and 69.7% from the free throw line. It’s too bad that Hinrich is playing this bad or he might have bumped John Salmons from the starting line-up as he has also been brutal for the Bulls this year.

Derrick Rose has been the only Chicago Bulls guard that has been showing up this season, as John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich, Jannero Pargo, and Lindsey Hunter have all been awful.  Rose has not even been playing up to the standards that he and others expected coming into this season, but he has been stepping it up lately as an early season ankle injury slowed his start.  That being said, Rose has still been averaging 16.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 46% from the field and 78% from the line.  Salmons and Hinrich have been terrible all season, especially shooting the ball.  Salmons is shooting 39.5% from the field and 34% from three.  He is averaging only 14.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists despite playing the most minutes (37.2 per game).

Hinrich has been even worse, shooting only 34% from the field and 30% from three, but he at least has a thumb injury to use as an excuse.  Hinrich has even been bad from the free throw line, where he is a career 81% free throw shooter, but is hitting only 68% of his free throws this season.  Pargo and Hunter have been getting limited minutes, but with Hinrich missing games the Bulls have needed these two reserve guards to step up, which they have not done.  Pargo, who is supposed to be an “instant offense” type, has been shooting 36% from the field and 30% from three.  In 11 games, Hunter is 4-26 (15%) from the field on the year and has hit only 1 of 12 (8%) three point attempts.  The Bulls have lost 9 of their last 10, and if they don’t get some better play from their guards their season will continue to be a big disappointment and they will miss the playoffs.

Was John Salmons’ play with the Bulls a mirage last season? The Bulls better hope not or they will have a hard time scoring points. Salmons has played in 13 games (all starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game despite only shooting 36.1% from the floor and 30.6% from three point range. Salmons has been getting a lot of his shots blocked so far this season so maybe he should start shooting more jumpers.

Chicago Bulls captain Kirk Hinrich has been a solid sixth man for the Bulls, defending and dishing out assists, but his shooting has been terrible.  Coming into this season the Bulls hoped that Hinrich could take on more of a scoring role and help fill the void left by Ben Gordon.  Hinrich’s shot has been off though, shooting only 35% from the field and 26% from three point land.  He is shooting poorly from the free throw line too, hitting only 16-23 from the charity stripe this year for a career low 70%.  Now Hinrich is doing a good job in almost all other categories, he just needs to start knocking down some shots.  So far this season Hinrich is averaing 9.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in about 30 minutes per game.

John Salmons is off to a very poor start to the 2009-2010 season as he is only shooting 27.9% from the floor. Salmons has started 3 games for the Bulls so far this season and he has averaged 36.0 minutes, 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The Bulls need Salmons to get his act together soon as they have had problems scoring points so far this season.

Joe Smith hasn’t shot well this month as he’s only hitting 36.7% from the floor and that will need to improve if he’s going to continue starting for the Bulls. Smith has played in 4 games (3 starts) this month and he is averaging 19.8 minutes, 7.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Smith better shoot better if he wants to hold off Nocioni for the starting job at power forward.

Last season the strength of the Bulls was the shooting prowess of their guards and this season they are clanking shots and it has hurt the team bad. Ben Gordon (39%), Kirk Hinrich (35.2%) and Chris Duhon (33.3%) need to shoot better or the Bulls will be watching the playoffs on T.V. and that would be a shame based on how tough they were in the playoffs last season. These three guards are only averaging 34.3 points per game and that’s not nearly enough seeing how Luol Deng is the only other big-time offensive player on the Bulls.