Frustration. If you were to condense the entire 2016 Chicago Bulls season into one word, it would most definitely be frustration. Frustration that Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose look like toddlers fighting over who gets to play with the basketball first at lunchtime recess. Frustration that first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg’s press conferences seem to contain the same 10 words in a new order.

We need discipline. We need communication. We need toughness. Dr. Hoiberg, now that you have made your diagnosis, what can you prescribe to make it better? Communication is a word Why then, has nobody been talking? Surely 50 games in, someone would start!

The Bulls have lost 11 of their last 16, and with Butler going down with a left knee sprain (missing three to four weeks of playing time), the glimmer of hope that Bulls fans felt going into the season has all but been extinguished. The fourth quarter is when things just fall apart. Just this week, the Bulls blew a 12 point lead in the last five minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The very next day? Same story, different title: A sixteen point lead blown against the Denver Nuggets. Player press conferences feel forced; why wouldn’t they, if the players don’t even believe the words that are coming out of their mouths anymore?

And it’s anyone’s guess as to what’s going on being the scenes in the locker room. Players throw barbs at each other, blaming someone for missed rebounds, another for not having his head in the right place. What is this, the seventh grade? I thought this was the Chicago Bulls, not the 2014 Chicago Bears. At least Chicago has the Blackhawks to watch right now.