If you watched that Toronto Raptors-Chicago Bulls showdown on
Saturday, you were in for a tortuous treat. It was survival. It was spunky. It
was plucky. It was Tom Thibodeau’s philosophy of winning every game actualized.
Luol Deng hits a buzzer beating putback and all is well in
Chicago Bulls land again. I was out in Iowa City at a bar when this occurred
and you couldn’t really gauge the incredulous bounce of luck in that setting
because they were into women’s basketball there.
I actually heard some guy telling the bartender that Britney
Griner, he heard, had a 92 inch vertical. I knew he said this because I heard
this twice as the bartender looked a little dizzy from this suggestion. Now, you
don’t necessarily need to be a basketball fan to understand that simply isn’t
possible. You need to be human and have some cursory math skills to know that
is fucking crazy.
That is 7 feet 6 inches. That means the bottom of her sole
on her shoes would gaze the top of a doorway. And by the way, I saw her play
for like 20 seconds and I’d be surprised she could net a 9- or 10-inch vertical.
But I digress. I was there for a guy’s weekend, meeting
friends from Chicago, and couldn’t help but enjoy the frenzied silliness of the
home game against James Johnson and the Raptors. This Chicago Bulls team still
plays at a playoff level nearly every game and continue to pull away from the
Miami Heat, who seem to be saving themselves for the playoffs.
Fans often speak in clichés, so does national media heads,
but the hustle and grit thing is really makes the Chicago Bulls unique. On
Saturday they deviated from their standard of rebounding and defense. Tom
Thibodeau was peeved enough to call a practice on Sunday. Their defense this
season hasn’t been as sharp, and I assume that is because of the lack of
practice time. It’s one of the reasons that their bench hasn’t been as crisp.
But, again, the Heat rolled over against the Oklahoma City
Thunder, who played like they were already in the Finals. (Interesting that the
Thunder continue to play better when Russell Westbrook sits.) The Heat, almost
as defiant as they were when they lost to the Rose-less Chicago Bulls a few
weeks ago, seemed intent on locking up the No. 2 seed this season.
And frankly, that may even be the better strategy in this
condensed season. But who knows? I think we’re seeing one of the most
impressive displays of resilience in professional sports. The Green Bay Packers
held up despite losing more starters than any team in the league last year, but
that is football and you have one game a week. And they still had Aaron Rogers.
The Bulls have gone almost a quarter of the season with Derrick Rose, have
never really counted on Rip Hamilton and had flirted with D-league additions
nearly every week.
These wins also amount to the Bulls locking up the top seed,
which gives them the Bucks, Knicks or Celtics—a possible tune-up at a time they
still be hoping Hamilton and Rose get back in shape.
Contact Mike Mitchell at michaelkennethmitchell@gmail.com.
2 comments:
the bulls bench has been outstanding since rose has been out. you saw that vs miami and numerous other games. the distribution of points for our squad, including our bench, has been very impressive
Yes, they certainly are getting it done. It's sort of a perfect test for their depth that has become so beloved. I'm not sure if it'll matter as much in the playoffs, but it's the primary reason why they're apt for the top seed.
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