Bulls losing is 'demoralizing' but there's understanding of the process

It was as efficient a first half as the Bulls have played this season.

The ball was moving, the offense looked connected, and the lead was as much as 22 points over the defending Western Conference champion Spurs.

Then it wasn’t.

Wednesday’s third-quarter collapse wasn’t the first one for this team this season, just the latest, but it did leave a locker room sounding a bit more desperate than it has on the road to a 1-9 start.

“We’re in a league where you either win or you lose,” veteran Jalen Smith said. “We’re 1-9 now? So as a young team it’s demoralizing because you want to win every game, but you’ve got to understand that there is a process to it and we’ve got to put together a whole 48 (minutes). We can’t pick and choose when we want to play hard. We are in a rebuild, we have a bunch of young guys trying to learn a new system, new coach, new front office, and everyone is doing their part, but we just got to put together a win.”

Just the latest reminder of how painful rebuilds are.

The other reality staring this team in the face? Yeah, they want to “put together a win,” but are they prepared to play the right way for four quarters and who does it come against?

It’s not like the schedule is allowing them to take a breath, facing Atlanta, Minnesota and Cleveland the next three. There’s a realistic chance they go into Brooklyn on Nov. 18 with a 1-12 record, hoping to end the streak against the 3-8 Nets. Maybe.

It starts with ball security and understanding the importance of coming out of the halftime locker room with the same intensity they have started some of these games.

“The first five minutes of the third quarter is the most important part of any game, whether you’re down 20 or up 20,” forward Matas Buzelis said.

That’s why he was so hard on himself after the Spurs loss.

He had a stellar first half and watched it quickly turn into a nightmare, thanks to a scoreless third in which he turned the ball over four times.

“To be honest it’s on me,” Buzelis said. “I’m one of the leaders on this team and I have to be able to fight in the third quarter. I came out like dragging and good teams like that, they take advantage. I have to be way better and I will be.”

He’s not alone.

The Bulls had eight turnovers in the third, made just one three, and allowed the Spurs 14 more shots in that quarter. A detailed handbook on how to lose a game.

Now it’s up to the veterans to try and keep the locker room staying patient with the process.

“We’re doing a good job of that,” Smith said when asked if the locker room was staying together through all the losing. “We’re a young team, we’re really connected with one another, you know. Pretty much everyone is around the same age, give or take a few guys, so we have a great relationship. We knew it was going to be hard – whole new front office, whole new coaching staff – we just got to put together wins. The NBA is a big boys’ league, you lose, you lose, but you want to go out fighting.”

Which Buzelis was all but guaranteeing he and his teammates would do, starting with playing all out for 48 minutes.

“It’s hard to do but I think we can do it, I know we can do it, and we will,” Buzelis said. “It’s a process and we’ll figure it out, I promise you that.”