Old Style Sports

Here we are, six and a half long months later…

What the hell happened to the Bulls?

In October, all of ESPN’s analysts picked the Bulls to finish no lower than 4th in the East, with some dolts picking them to win the Eastern Conference.

Ah yes, but those were different times. Kobe wasn’t happy in LA. He and Phil were bickering through the media. Trade rumors. Unhappiness. Maybe he’d be a good fit in Chicago? Now look where we are.

Kobe, still in a Lakers uniform if you haven’t noticed, has led his team (drastically improved by a midseason trade to get Pau Gasol) to the top spot in the West.

Granted the trade rumors were precisely that - pure speculation - but if John Paxson put together a package of veterans with expiring contracts and kids with potential (like some other team), maybe they would at least be in the playoffs.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20, and unloading the cumbersome contracts of Ben Wallace and Joe Smith was pretty big for the Bulls, but keeping this raw, undeveloped talent that just sat here under Head Coach Jim Boylan was just as much a waste had they made a crappy deal.

And sure, you can cite any number of excuses for why the Bulls didn’t do so well… Hell, I’ll do it for you:

• Youth - Despite adding seasoned veterans (and regular underachievers, mind you) Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes during the season, this team can still be called the Baby Bulls with Luol Deng, Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon, and Andres Nocioni only in their third year of NBA experience. And I didn’t even mention Tyrus Thomas (1) or Joakim Noah (Rookie).
• Youth again - the immaturity of this team throughout the season proved to be a major deterrant. Tyrus Thomas skipping practice, Joakim Noah fighting with Ben Wallace, and regular temper tantrums from additional players were precise reasons these guys finished out of the money in the East.
• The front office - John Paxson hasn’t been able to light a fire under this team’s collective ass since taking the position five years ago. This offseason, and next year’s performance should be a gauge for whether or not he keeps his job
• Lack of leadership - Who is the go-to guy on this team? To me, the Bulls have a lot of role players. Making the trade for a marquee name would have seemed ideal. Maybe I’ll suit up for them in November.

Alright, so I could probably go on forever about this, but it seems that the only way to end this post would be to look to the future. With a thin market for coaches this offseason, it appears that Rick Carlisle is at the top of a lot of teams’ wish lists. Specifically the Bucks & Bulls will be fighting for his services. So look for him to come to Chicago for a long term deal despite his record with the Pacers.

So as another banner thanking the fans goes up on another sports team’s Web site before the playoffs begin, Bulls fans should consider themselves fortunate.

They could be playing the Celtics the first round!