It’s March. It’s that point in the year when NCAA
basketball becomes relevant for two weeks and people stop complaining that the
NFL is over. Fantasy football talk won’t annoy until early July. There is just
too much life to live until the NBA playoffs begin.
I can’t numb myself until then. Like a lot of us,
there is still much joy to be gained over the regular season—a domain, where
the Bulls seem to master for the second consecutive season.
At the fore are the majesties and holy-shit-did-you-see-thats
of Derrick Rose. He did it. Again. He beat another team in the closing seconds
with clutch play that only two other players in the league—Kobe Bryant and
Kevin Durant—seem to mirror.
It makes a Wednesday night seem like a Friday. This
is what we would miss if they never would have come to an odd compromise in
December of 2011.
Sure, the game should have never been this close.
The Bulls were sloppy on defense, incapable passing the ball and even being
beaten on the offensive boards. The Bucks have been an easy target for the
Bulls since Tom Thibodeau has arrived, but it seems Scott Skiles had his number
on Wednesday as guys like Drew Gooden and Ersan Ilyasova netting nearly 60
points.
(Quick aside: Aren’t Drew Gooden and Carlos Boozer
pretty much the same guy this point in their careers? After shipping out Gooden,
the Bulls get another back for a much more expensive price.)
(Another aside: Scott Skiles made a classic troll
move: “What a luxury to have. You don’t
even need to run a play.” You don’t think he is not aware of how much luck goes
into the NBA. His departure netted Rose. He’s never coached a star like Rose
and to belabor the point, Vinny DelNegro has already coached Rose, Chris Paul
and Blake Griffin.)
This was
an uncharacteristic game for both teams, but the Bulls have managed to hold on
to remain perfect since the all-star break. It’s almost a duplicate of last
season, the Bulls are winning games in spite of injuries to key players but
mostly look inferior to the Miami Heat. It’s making more Bulls fans itchy—if not
optimistic—about a showdown against LeBron and co.
For now,
they get another national showdown against the Orlando Magic on TNT. I don’t
expect it to be close as the Magic are a sensitive bunch with Dwight Howard’s ambivalence.
There will be talk about Howard coming to the Bulls on the broadcast, but it’s
mostly wishful thinking.
The Magic
will probably stand pat, as will the Bulls. And while our skepticism keeps us
grounded about the Bulls championship aspirations, it’s still nice to forget
logic on a Wednesday night.
Contact Mike Mitchell at michaelkennethmitchell@gmail.com.
7 comments:
If you’re drunk or stupid, you’d see the Bulls are the best team in the NBA. What the frig is with all these haterssss?
--Tony
"And while our skepticism keeps us grounded about the Bulls championship aspirations, it’s still nice to forget logic on a Wednesday night."
Totally agree. The shot was nice. I feel bad for Brandon Jennings, who I somewhat like. It has to be damaging to one's self-esteem for a peer (i.e a fellow young PG) to burn you on a consistent basis. I also feel bad for Skiles. I'm not sure why a superior coach like Skiles would take a job in Milwaukee, but it seems both Jennings and Skiles are too talented to be suffering in a basketball-irrelevant market like that city. Obviously basketball history in Milwaukee extends beyond the 2000s, but outside of Glen Robinson and Ray Allen a decade or so ago, I cannot remember a time since then where Milwaukee had any top 10 or top 15 players on its roster. Perhaps a healthy Bogut is a top 15 player, but it's not like his team will be contenders any time soon.
On a random note only tangentially related to this post, I was wondering if a Howard-Rose Bulls team would have some of the same problems they currently have. This is not to say they shouldn't acquire Howard, but I am trying to think of how a Howard-Bulls team would solve the problems the Bulls encounter with just Rose and the rest. It seems that you still would need an above-average perimeter player since Howard neutralizes himself in late game situations due to poor free throw shooting, which would leave the Bulls in the same position they are now: depending on Rose to generate offense, especially when defense is tight. So I think the question is not whether you should give up players like Noah and Deng for Howard---you should---but what player(s) do you target to surround Howard and Rose in order to solve the problem defenses present when they pressure Rose to drop the ball off to one-dimensional players in playoff situations.
I think you're identifying with a third of the Bulls fan base with that kind of suspicion: That they still won’t have enough offense with a Howard trade.
They probably won’t, but the point is they’ll have hall of fame point guard and hall of fame center in their primes. It also gives Rose the most athletic player he’s ever played aside. Howard is an actual go-up-and-get-it player (how’s that for wide receiver comparisons?).
For some reason, Thibodeau still likes to use Joakim Noah for screens instead of Boozer, who is supposed to be lesser skilled than him at that particular feat. But he likes using Omer more than Noah for this same reason. Neither player can score, really.
Howard gives them an actual player who can finish on pick and roll.
However, back to your point: I think people seem to only think that this season is the Bulls’ shot at a title. Many fans are too impatient to see the big picture. I mean, do you remember when about 35-40 percent of the fan base (according to my unofficial estimate) wanted Michael Beasley more than Derrick Rose because the Bulls already “have a point guard” (Kirk Hinrich) and they’ve needed a low-post scorer forever (which Beasley wasn’t even at the time), but people assumed just that because he was listed as four in college.
I think if you unload Deng, Noah, Charlotte Bobcat pick and Taj Gibson for the Howard, you can consider adding Nikola Mirotic in the near future if he’s as good as panned and possibly Ray Allen, if he takes less money (something completely within his personality). This also finally puts the Bulls in the category for those who will be title chasing. Howard, as flawed as he is, gives you a lot more of a threat within three feet of the hoop than Noah. It’s really almost automatic.
I also trust that Thibodeau can get a lot out of his defense with Howard.
I think you're identifying with a third of the Bulls fan base with that kind of suspicion: That they still won’t have enough offense with a Howard trade.
They probably won’t, but the point is they’ll have hall of fame point guard and hall of fame center in their primes. It also gives Rose the most athletic player he’s ever played aside. Howard is an actual go-up-and-get-it player (how’s that for wide receiver comparisons?).
For some reason, Thibodeau still likes to use Joakim Noah for screens instead of Boozer, who is supposed to be lesser skilled than him at that particular feat. But he likes using Omer more than Noah for this same reason. Neither player can score, really.
Howard gives them an actual player who can finish on pick and roll.
However, back to your point: I think people seem to only think that this season is the Bulls’ shot at a title. Many fans are too impatient to see the big picture. I mean, do you remember when about 35-40 percent of the fan base (according to my unofficial estimate) wanted Michael Beasley more than Derrick Rose because the Bulls already “have a point guard” (Kirk Hinrich) and they’ve needed a low-post scorer forever (which Beasley wasn’t even at the time), but people assumed just that because he was listed as four in college.
I think if you unload Deng, Noah, Charlotte Bobcat pick and Taj Gibson for the Howard, you can consider adding Nikola Mirotic in the near future if he’s as good as panned and possibly Ray Allen, if he takes less money (something completely within his personality). This also finally puts the Bulls in the category for those who will be title chasing. Howard, as flawed as he is, gives you a lot more of a threat within three feet of the hoop than Noah. It’s really almost automatic.
I also trust that Thibodeau can get a lot out of his defense with Howard.
True. I'm completely on board with Howard, but just wondering out loud on the pieces you would need to complete the two headed monster of Rose and Howard.
In hindsight, I think the Magic should have followed the Jazz's precedent and dealt Howard as soon as they realized he would probably want out. Since you're never going to receive equal value when you trade a star, it makes sense to deal one when he's still under contract for more than a year. I think teams would be more anxious to decimate their rosters and draft pick stockpiles if it meant acquiring Howard with two years left on his contract instead of a year or now half of a year.
Also, with Noah's recent hot streak I hope GarPax does not repeat the same mistake of the Gordon-Hinrich-Deng years by falling in love with the current "core". Hopefully this recent burst increases Noah's trade value and convinces someone that acquiring Noah in a larger deal with the Bulls is worthwhile.
Trading with time left on the contract has been Bill Simmons' philosophy, but with Howard, I'm thinking he's bluffing. He's a fishy personality, but you can still add a perimeter threat and be right back in the picture.
I hope management has learned from their conservative complaceny. They've been gifted Rose. If that hadn't happened, we'd be talking about another eight seed again.
Not only an 8th seed, but no long-term future. A team of good role players, perhaps a notch below a team like the Hawks.
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