PHOENIX -- Pau Gasol summed up the entire Chicago Bulls season to date as he put on his socks late Friday night.

"We know that this team has spirit and potential, we just don't do it consistently and we don't do it every night," Gasol said after the Bulls' 99-93 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Truer words haven't been spoken this season. Yet again, the Bulls had a chance to pick up a much-needed win, and yet again they didn't make plays when they needed them most. Watching the Bulls this season has been an unpredictable affair in regard to wins and losses. They beat the best teams in the league and they lose to some of the worst. What has become very predictable this season, and is a distinct change from years past during coach Tom Thibodeau's tenure, is that the extra energy and effort that has defined the Bulls over the years goes missing for too many stretches.

Too often this season the Bulls go through long spells in which their attention to detail seems lacking. That was the case again on Friday night as it appeared the Suns earned the majority of the breaks by making the right plays -- the hustle plays and extra passes -- that are the difference in close games. It's a recurring theme for a Bulls squad that remains frustrated that it can't get over the mental hurdle of playing hard and tough for all 48 minutes of the game. That attitude is also why Thibodeau stressed "discipline" several times during his postgame news conference.

"The thing is, we got to look at it," he said, when asked why there are so many stretches when the discipline isn't there. "It doesn't take much. When you're short-handed like this, your margin of error is very, very small. So when guys get in there, they got to get the job done. You can't get away from what you're supposed to do, you got to know what your job is and do your job. We got to be able to count on everybody."

Bulls guard Derrick Rose said the Bulls' attention to detail was as solid as it has been in years past, but while the sentiment is positive, the reality is that more than halfway through the season, the Bulls are still searching for answers as to why they can't get on the right track and stay there.

"It's the same, but I told you, it's all on the players," Rose said. "Whoever's out there, they have to pay attention, including myself. Paying attention to detail, whoever you're guarding, you've just got to make sure you know what they do and know the reason why you're out there. It's hard losing these two games but these couple of days will let us get everything out of our minds, everything out of our body, and hopefully come back with a different approach."

The approach the Bulls need most is the one they've had before. The feeling that they are going to execute and communicate well each night, whether they shoot well or not. Somewhere in the past month the Bulls lost their way, the 'edge' that players so often refer to during a season. As they walked out of the locker room Friday night, they maintained a level of confidence that they would get things righted and play the way they're capable of later in the year.

But as the calendar gets closer to the end of the regular season, it has become apparent that the Bulls aren't as mentally hungry as they have been in years past. There's still time to get it back, but these are not the kinds of questions championship contenders should be answering at this point in the season.

"I think that we're still a work in progress," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "We're not where we need to be defensively. And offensively. We know we have a lot of work to do. The thing is we know that we're capable of beating the best ... but we need to execute better and we need to play better defense."