SAN ANTONIO — Fred Hoiberg thought someone on his staff was messing with him.
A coach, a video coordinator, somebody.
As he sat in his hotel room going over game film from the loss Friday to the Pacers, it just didn’t look right.
“I thought somebody played a trick on me and slowed it down to half speed,’’ Hoiberg said. “We were just walking the ball up the floor, and that’s not us. We weren’t getting that thing up there fast enough, and the result was taking bad shot-clock shots.’’
As for the film from the Bulls’ 133-94 loss Saturday to the Spurs, forget about someone messing with it. Go ahead and burn it.
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In what was one of their worst performances of the young season, the Bulls were outclassed from start to finish, losing their fourth in a row and dropping to 2-9.
On top of that, rookie Lauri Markkanen left the game late in the first half with a sprained left ankle and didn’t return.
“I stepped on [Rudy Gay’s] foot,’’ Markkanen said. “Not too bad though. We’ll do some treatment on the plane and get some work in to get back as soon as possible.’’
A 2-9 start should put everyone on notice, especially with three days off before playing their next game, in Oklahoma City.
“There’s a lot of things we need to assess over the next three days,’’ Hoiberg said. “It starts with me. I’ve got to get our guys ready to play, prepare them to play with the type of effort that it takes to give yourself a chance to win games.
“I told each and every one of those guys, look themselves in the mirror to find out what they can do to help this team. We’re playing on both ends as individuals. We’ve got to find a way to get that team ball back. We had it in September, I loved how we played in the preseason, the effort we were playing with early, but the last few games we haven’t had it.’’
And if not?
“We’ll see who wants to compete in practice the next couple days,’’ Hoiberg said. “Everything is up for grabs.’’
Hoiberg was most upset by the lethargic start from the tip-off. That again falls on a starting unit that isn’t getting much from Paul Zipser, is getting inconsistent shooting from Justin Holiday (1-for-10 from the field) and up-and-down play from Jerian Grant.
That’s why the coach put spots “up for grabs.’’
“We can’t keep coming out with those types of starts,’’ Hoiberg said. “Digging the type of hole we’re digging, it doesn’t give yourself a chance, especially when we’re playing on the road.’’
He wasn’t going to find much argument from his players, either. For a group that started off the year playing with energy and playing team basketball, the last two nights have been anything but that.
“Everybody is aware that it’s not a one-person problem,’’ Robin Lopez said. “We all have to look inside ourselves. Recognize what we could do better for the greater good of the team.’’
Lopez and Bobby Portis led the Bulls in scoring with 17 points.
Follow me on Twitter @suntimes_hoops.
Email: jcowley@suntimes.com
