I’M BACK…AND I’M PISSED OFF-MY TAKE ON THE BULLS SITUATION

Ladies and gentleman after a brief hiatus to focus on my educational endeavors I have returned and as the headline reads…I’m pissed off. The Chicago Bulls, a legendary franchise, currently sit at 6 wins and 22 losses on the season. It is a true disappointment as I, along with a good number of fans across the league, expected more out of this ball club. With power forward Lauri Markkanen looking to break out after coming off of a solid rookie year, 7th pick out of Duke University center Wendell Carter, and newly signed free agent Jabari Parker the Bulls were set to have a loaded frontcourt. Guard Zach LaVine made the comeback that I knew he would make, currently averaging 23.8 points per contest and helping lead this young ball club into the future. Coupled with great role players including Bobby Portis, Denzel Valentine, and Kris Dunn, the Chicago Bulls were supposed to not be that bad this year!!!

But after having fired their head coach, Freid Hoiberg, dealing with repeating injuries, and even losing a game by 56 points, the Bulls are in utter chaos. Being the outsiders we cannot truly attribute these failures to a certain dilemma but from what has been reported and based off of team performance we can make probable assumptions. Jim Boylen being promoted to head coach has not sat well with the players as he reportedly practices in an “extreme” manner. I have said this over and over again and I will say it again. The way a team performs starts with ownership and goes down to the coaching and managerial staff. The Bulls have been unable to find a coach or manager who can implement a long-lasting, efficient system that gets the most of their young nucleus while advancing them as individuals.  That is where the problem lies and it is not something that just started this year, it started after Tom Thibodeau was fired and quite frankly it plagues many other franchises across the Association. The players reportedly discussed, in a number of text messages, as to whether or not they should show up to practice following their tremendous loss to the Celtics. LaVine said that that specific report was “blown out of proportion” but it seems very likely that they at least brought the idea up. That right there is sad, nothing more nothing less. After an absolute embarrassment on the court in all aspects, that’s the exact opposite of what a team should do. Yes, Boylen sat his starters throughout the better part of the fourth quarter but it was for them to rest up and get back at it the following day. There is no excuse for a team to lose by 56 points under any circumstance and it is a great summary of how the team has been performing this season. With Parker being removed from the rotation, they will lose a great presence on both ends of the floor and it will severely hinder the overall flow of the team.  He is being shopped on the trade market and hopefully, the Bulls can snag a few players and or picks in exchange for the star forward. The Bulls simply do not have the experience to be a top 5 team in the East but with the young nucleus they have, I felt that they could secure a reasonable amount of wins. Maybe next year.