It's Been A Long Time

Yes, I know it's been a long layoff for me. 

There's been a lot going on.  I'm now a proud father of a two-month-old beautiful baby girl. 

I also moved across town and also have a new gig. So I had to do some adjusting and then get back. 

Please believe, however, that I have been keeping up with everything going on. 

From the draft that made vomit (another combine miracle, Al?), to the Bulls making the midseason deal of a lifetime (and reviving my faith in John Paxson), to Chicago pushing the C's to a series for the ages.  We'll get back on track with each other—I promise, folks.  I'm really excited to be back. 

I remember distinctly wanting to choke John Paxson as the Bulls season started off limping like a prize thoroughbred.  There were flashes of brilliance from Derrick Rose, and a lot of jump shooting.  The second part wasn't a surprise. 

I was fed up with Mr. Gordon, and wanted him to be shipped out.  Pax never pulled the trigger, though, and it worked out well.  So much for my future as a GM, he kept his head—unlike most of us fans—and regained the title as a upcoming NBA front-office star.

Pax brought in John Salmons and Brad Miller in a trade that didn't cause us to lose much of anything.  Next he traded off the often-lost Seflosha to the Thunder for a conditional first-round pick.  Way to go, Thunder—you guys got a steal. 

Before you knew it, we were back to being competitive.  Mr. Gordon began playing out of his mind.  Miller solidified our front court by being our high-post PG.  And Salmons? Wow, I could write a essay on what that guy brought to our team.  The Bulls went from a lost-cause lottery team to a squad that came together. 

I guess I should have kept the faith that Pax wouldn't allow the team to just flounder another season away after happened the previous season.  I was just getting antsy.  Wanting something to happen quick, wanting that big blockbuster to get Amare or someone like that to come in and make us scary. 

However, Pax stayed the course and refused to trade any of the guys he brought in.  (Well, with the exception of Seflosha, but he wrote that ticket himself.)  I've had a secret notion about how he put this team together.  And why he refuses to trade his young studs away for a big-name player. 

Pax was so tortured by playing with the G.O.A.T. that he was determined to build a team that was centered around the TEAM.  And albeit there is always someone to emerge from the pack on a team, he keeps plodding along, unflinching and standing firm.  

Early in the season, I believed he had lost his vision.  I felt he had lost the drive or more like the understanding of what type of team he wanted to build.  Turned out he just wanted to take a full-scope view.  

He didn't make the lunge deals that Phoenix or Dallas made a year ago.  He didn't take the bait that everyone was dropping in his face to take away his bigs in Tyrus and Noah.  Like a good sea captain, he made it through the storm. 

Now we all must anxiously wait for him to make his next move.  We have to wait until the season is over and find out what we will do in the draft and most importantly, what we will do with Ben Gordon, who yes I will say, needs to be re-signed and become what he wants:  To be the highest paid player on the team.  That is, until Rose is re-signed. 

I'm back in your corner now.  Never left the team, just wanted Pax to wake up and get this team out of the wet cement it seemed to be wading in.  I'll be patient and lie in the weeds until the Finals are complete, Mr. Paxson.