Scott Skiles no longer has control of the team, and neither does Jim Boylan.
John Paxon chickened out and should have traded for Kobe, or Pau.
They have no inside presence, so they live and die by their jump shots.
Read that list about five times over… I guarantee you’ve heard them all, and there are probably some that I’ve missed.
So, back to the game on Wednesday night. It finally dawned on me why the Bulls are as bad as they are.
I realized that every team in the NBA has similar problems to those listed above. There are no teams in this league with players that do not have egos the size of Ted Washington or Keith Traylor.
The problem with the Bulls is simple:
No leadership. Almost every other team has one guy who is not afraid to step up and take charge of the locker room. And it’s not a Coach either!
We’re all at fault for raving about how great the Bulls have been with their dynamite bench scoring, and how one guy doesn’t have to carry the team. The problem is that someone has to be able to carry the team, and someone has to be able to step in and straighten out the crooked lines.
What would have happened if Chris Duhon made a comment to Michael Jordan about not caring about being suspended because he doesn’t play anyway?
Jordan would have beaten his ass senseless.
Team chemistry, like our wonderful market, is extremely volatile.
Any trader will tell you to strike while the iron is hot because tomorrow, things could be upside down.
Just look at it this way. One day, one of the best players in the league said he wanted to come to Chicago, something that hasn’t been uttered since the mid-'90s. This move would have propelled the Bulls to the playoffs, guaranteed.
That’s what would have happened.
Instead, a guy named Bynum gets hurt, some other guy named Pau heads out West, and their stock jumps up a million.
Pax, on the other hand, put his money in Enron. You know what happened after that.
No. 24 would have looked great trading in the Lakers' purple and yellow for the Bulls' red and white. Actually, No. 24 would have been a better option than Nos. 9, 12, 21, 24, 32, and 34 combined. No. 24 would have looked even better wearing those black shoes come playoff time.
But that’s a fantasy.
So let’s pretend like Kobe in a Bulls jersey never could have happened, even though that outcome was only days away.
No. 24 is no No. 23, but he’s the best that’s out there. And we missed it.
I guess there’s always next year.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Chicago Bulls articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
8 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete