In his seven seasons in Chicago, Taj Gibson has yet to miss the postseason. So, with the slumping Bulls fading from the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the veteran forward is growing frustrated.
To put it mildly.
"Hell yeah, I'm embarrassed," Gibson said following Chicago's loss at Madison Square Garden Thursday, the Bulls' second loss to the Knicks in as many nights.
"It's frustrating when we come up short, and we look at ourselves, we're losing to ... I don't want to criticize any(body), (but) trash teams," Gibson added, as reported by ESPN's Nick Friedell. "Everybody's in the NBA for a reason, but we're playing against teams that are not playing for anything, and we're just laying down. It feels like now we're a target. It feels like teams are not taking us serious."
In fairness to the Bulls, prior to their home-and-home sweep at the hands of the lowly Knicks, Chicago had won seven of its last nine games vs. losing teams, so it's not the "trash teams" that are necessarily doing them in.
The Bulls have actually lost 10 of their last 12 games against teams with winning records, part of an overall run that has seen them go 14-23 since Jan. 9. That slump has the Bulls 1.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons for the eighth and final playoff spot with only 11 games remaining.
If there's one legitimate excuse the Bulls can point to, it's injuries. According to mangameslost.com, only seven teams have lost more man games due to injury than Chicago, and only the Clippers have lost more on-court value to injuries.
Gibson won't have any of it.
"Like Jimmy (Butler) said before, nobody cares if you're hurt, nobody's going to care about anything," Gibson said, referring to his hobbled teammate. "The only thing people are going to worry about is if you're on that court and you're doing your job. So we just got to do our job."
Taj Gibson 'embarrassed' by slumping Bulls' play vs. 'trash teams'
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