Forward Jabari Parker claims Bulls ‘didn’t have a scheme’ to stop the Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Before Friday’s game against the Hornets, Fred Hoiberg was asked an obvious question about his short-handed roster. He did his best to stay politically correct rather than admit just how dire the situation has become for the Bulls.

“I guess the way to look at it is we’ve still got important young players that are going out there and getting a great opportunity, more specifically with our two draft picks from this last offseason,’’ Hoiberg said. “So even though we’ve got four of our — I guess you can argue top seven — out, young players that will hopefully be a part of the organization are still getting an opportunity to get out there and show what they can do.’’

But after an embarrassing 135-106 loss to the Hornets, Hoiberg lashed out.

“I know we’re throwing a lot of makeshift lineups out there, but I don’t care,’’ an angry Hoiberg said. “It’s not an excuse to not go out there and bust your ass and play hard. To give up 112 in three quarters is unacceptable. I don’t care who’s on the floor, you’ve got to go out there and have some type of resistance, and we did not do that. I thought the last couple games we took the right steps as far as battling through adversity. [Friday night], we took a step back.’’

How did the Bulls go from a team that just beat the Hornets on Wednesday at the United Center, and even had the first-quarter lead Friday, to letting it get away?

Jabari Parker offered up an explanation, but it didn’t help the optics very much of not only the coaching staff but Parker himself.

“I really felt like we didn’t adjust,’’ Parker said when asked why there looked to be a lack of effort after the first quarter. “They did a totally different thing [from Wednesday’s game]. Instead of setting a single side pick-and-roll, they set a double-drag, and we couldn’t guard it. We didn’t have a scheme for it, so that kind of buried us. That was our plan. They kept on running it, too.’’

Wait a second, the Hornets were running a double-drag set over and over again, and there was no counter in the playbook of assistant coach Jim Boylen?

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Or was it a lack of preparation?

Parker wouldn’t bite on either.

“Nah, don’t set me up like that,’’ he said. “We didn’t expect it, that’s all. But along with that, the energy, I could have controlled that, too.’’

Parker, who had the worst plus-minus (minus-18) of any Bulls bench player, maybe should have controlled the situation more, but the starters weren’t exactly great, either.

Zach LaVine watched his streak of four consecutive 30-plus point games come to an end when he scored 20 on 6-for-16 shooting, but the Bulls’ best player wasn’t the reason for the blowout. It’s actually hard to single out any one player for the one-sided showing when the breakdowns on defense were numerous.

It was simply a team depleted of talent that eventually gave up. That’s why the Bulls are 1-4 with very little hope in sight.

“It is what it is,’’ Hoiberg said of moving forward short-handed. “It’s part of the league.’’