Chicago Bulls: Why They Cannot, and Will Not, Succeed

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls are currently sitting in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and pulled within one game of seventh place Detroit, after beating the Pistons 99-91 last night.

So, to the naked eye, things would seem to be looking up, right?

To quote my favorite hobbit, ESPN's Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend."

Everything about the current Bulls roster is wrong, upside-down, and backwards. In their current condition, they're winning despite themselves and doing their future a disservice by staying out of the 2009 Draft Lottery. But I won't simply stop at making a blanket vote of no confidence; let me break down for you what's wrong with the Chicago Bulls.

Their mindset sucks

Earlier this week, after beating a Washington Wizards team that had more starters in street clothes than available to play, Ben Gordon was quoted as saying the Bulls were more concerned about Milwaukee, who are chasing the Bulls in ninth place, than they were excited about the prospect of catching Detroit in seventh.

What?

If I have ever heard a player say, without literally saying the words, "We're trying not to lose rather than to win," Gordon did. Teams that have a champion's mindset are focused on what's above them, not behind.

A swim coach of mine once told me that, if you focus on the bottom of the pool, you'll sink. It was an obvious metaphor for toning a championship mental approach from someone who was around a pool, but it speaks volumes to the issue with the statements from Gordon.

If the Bulls are trying to not fall to ninth place in the conference, the best they'll ever do is eighth. If they're trying for fourth and fall short at sixth, isn't that a better scenario? But as long as players like Gordon are publicly displaying a mindset of "getting by is ok" rather than "I want more," the Bulls won't do any better than they are right now.

Their rotation sucks.

Reggie Miller, on last night's TNT broadcast, said at one point that he believed Tyrus Thomas should average a triple-double... because, in Miller's opinion, Thomas should be able to block 10 shots a night.

While averaging 10  blocks a night makes about as much sense as Charles Barkley's golf swing, Miller has a point: Thomas is being wasted and misused by Vinny Del Negro and the Bulls coaching staff.

Thomas is as physically gifted as any player not named Kobe, LeBron, or Wade. But when Del Negro runs out Thomas, who's a skinny 215 pounds at 6'9" tall, at the power forward position, he's taking a fast, athletic pogo stick of a potentially dominant small forward and wrecking his game.

I know the Bulls just (over) committed millions of dollars to Luol Deng, largely because GM John Paxson has a man-crush on him and still thinks his future is too bright for him to be part of a trade for a legit star like Pau Gasol or Bryant. But look at what Thomas could bring to the table versus what Deng already has (or hasn't) been able to do consistently.

Last night, against a good Detroit team, Thomas had 18 points, 12 rebounds and a handful of assists. Thomas has three double-doubles in his last four contests, and had seven over a 10-game stretch at the end of January into the beginning of February.

When was the last time Deng had a double-double? How about one since the beginning of February.

As long as the Bulls have a decent center on the roster in Brad Miller, there's no reason Thomas should ever play the four. There is also no reason to believe Thomas shouldn't be able to put up better numbers than Deng's career averages of 15.4 points and just over six rebounds per game.

Furthermore, when was the last time a guard, who was under 6'2", led a team in scoring on a championship team? Isaiah Thomas maybe? Allen Iverson couldn't do it. And Ben Gordon isn't Iverson on AI's worst day.

Yeah, Gordon might bring a little bit of vintage Vinny "The Microwave" Johnson to the table, but for all the 40-point nights he gives the Bulls, when was the last time he guarded a two effectively? Or handled the ball well enough to be considered a point guard?

I know the Bulls are looking for guys who can get their shot no matter what on this roster, but Gordon gives away as much as he provides; his net effect on the game is almost break even.

I wasn't a big fan of Paxson's move at the deadline for Miller and John Salmons, but I am going to admit I was wrong. [For those of you that regularly read my writing, this is an enormous moment in the history of sports journalism.]

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