Chicago basketball report: Bulls in the cellar of In-Season Tournament — and opportunity knocks for Aneesah Morrow at LSU

It hasn’t taken long for the wheels to fall off.

The Chicago Bulls slipped to 5-10 this week as they struggle to break out of a slow-starting slump. Local college star Aneesah Morrow was forced to step into LSU’s starting lineup amid the controversial absence of star player Angel Reese.

[ [Don't miss] Column: For Chicago’s sports teams, home cooking in 2023 has left their fans feeling sick to their stomach ]

Every Wednesday throughout the season, Tribune writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Bulls, Sky and local basketball.

In-Season Tournament advancement slipping away

The Bulls are halfway through the group stage of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, and their odds for advancement don’t look strong.

They dropped both of their home games in the tournament, putting them at the bottom of Eastern Conference Group C as the only 0-2 team. Both losses were close, which means the Bulls have a relatively low minus-8 point differential. But they no longer control their ability to advance to the quarterfinals.

Only the top two finishers in the group will have a chance to move on. The top finisher in each of the six groups advances, plus an additional team from each conference that has the highest point differential.

The Bulls will play two more group-stage games on the road Friday against the Toronto Raptors and Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.

Aneesah Morrow replaces Angel Reese in LSU lineup

After transferring from DePaul, Chicago native and Simeon alumna Aneesah Morrow has earned a spot in the starting lineup for No. 7 LSU — at least temporarily.

Morrow moved into the lineup for the last two games to replace Tigers star Angel Reese, whose absence from the defending national champions has sparked questions. Coach Kim Mulkey has refused to elaborate on why Reese hasn’t suited up for the last two games, although she alluded to “locker-room issues” while addressing the situation in a postgame news conference Monday.

“You always have to deal with locker-room issues,” Mulkey said. “That’s just part of coaching. In 40 years, I can never think of a time where I didn’t have to deal with issues. That’s what coaches do. Sometimes y’all know about them and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you want to know more than you’re entitled to know. I’m going to protect my players, always.”

In the meantime, Morrow made the most of her second and third starts for the Tigers after a shaky debut in an upset loss to Colorado in the season opener.

[ [Don't miss] ‘I can’t be denied if I continue to work’: How DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow became one of the country’s top basketball players ]

Morrow tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana, then scored a season-high 17 points against Texas Southern. She’s averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

LSU will play its next ranked opponent Nov. 30 against No. 9 Virginia Tech.

Number of the week: 24.7

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Heat guard Kyle Lowry (7) dribbles behind his back as Bulls guard Coby White (0) defends in the first half on Nov. 20, 2023, at the United Center. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Average first-quarter points for the Bulls through 15 games, a league low.

It reflects a common theme for the Bulls, who continue to dig themselves into holes that force them to attempt major comebacks — often after only a few minutes.

Sometimes the result feels like a monumental success. The Bulls were able to come back from a 21-point deficit against the Miami Heat on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak. But they couldn’t repeat the feat after falling behind by 10 points to start Monday’s game against the Heat, showing how unsustainable a comeback culture can be.

The Bulls have attempted several fixes for this trend, including moving Alex Caruso into the starting lineup. Coach Billy Donovan said he plans to stick with the current lineup for at least one more game to allow players to regain a sense of consistency with one another.

But it’s clear the Bulls haven’t found their fix. They’re the third-worst first-quarter team in the league with a minus-16.6 net rating, ahead of only the Portland Trail Blazers (minus-18.7) and Los Angeles Lakers (minus-23.9).

“We’re just overly trying to be conservative, in a sense, that puts us in a lot of situations that make it seem like we’re in mud,” DeMar DeRozan said. “But as soon as that sense of urgency kicks in, we find a way no matter how the game’s going. If we’re down 20, we get it going and we play like we’re supposed to play.”

Kahleah Copper announces her engagement

The Chicago Sky star and 2021 WNBA Finals MVP secured a second ring when she proposed to Swedish basketball player Binta Drammeh last week.

Copper announced the engagement on social media with the caption, “We’ve decided on forever.”

This has been a busy offseason for Copper, who was called in for training camp with USA Basketball at the start of the month. Copper participated in an exhibition game against the University of Tennessee as she vies for a spot on the U.S. Olympic roster next summer in Paris.

Copper signed a two-year contract extension with the Sky in September before the team hired new coach Teresa Weatherspoon.

[ [Don't miss] Kahleah Copper is here to stay — for now. It’s up to the Chicago Sky front office to make the most of it. ]

Week ahead: Bulls

• Wednesday: at Oklahoma City Thunder, 7 p.m., NBCSCH+
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: at Toronto Raptors (In-Season Tournament), 6:30 p.m., NBCSCH
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: at Brooklyn Nets, 6:30 p.m., NBCSCH
• Monday: Off
• Tuesday: at Boston Celtics (In-Season Tournament), 6:30 p.m., NBCSCH

What we’re reading this morning

• Column: For Chicago’s sports teams, home cooking in 2023 has left their fans feeling sick to their stomach
• 5 takeaways from the Bulls’ loss, including Coby White’s season-high night and the Heat taking the ball out of Zach LaVine’s hands
• Bulls, seeking solutions to a pattern of slow starts, want to ‘come out of the ring like Mike Tyson’
• Angel Reese’s unexplained 2-game absence brings unwanted scrutiny to No. 7 LSU and coach Kim Mulkey
• Column: Rumors make the sports world go round. Just ask Shohei Ohtani, Zach LaVine and Jason Benetti, among others.
• Alex Caruso credits confidence for his increased shooting, which leads the Bulls in efficiency: ‘If it’s the right shot, take it’
• Does Zach LaVine have lingering resentment over a benching? ‘I haven’t heard that at all,’ Bulls coach Billy Donovan says.

Quotable

“Just a miscommunication for us and our PR team. We’re all fine. I’m not ticked at all. I’m happy we got a win. We play these guys in a couple of days. I don’t want to sit around and celebrate. I’d rather celebrate in the locker room.” — Zach LaVine explaining why he declined a postgame interview with NBC Sports Chicago and didn’t celebrate on the court after a comeback win over the Heat