Chicago Bulls: Mediocrity and False Hope

The Chicago Bulls have had possibly the most disappointing season in recent NBA memory.

They started off with the hopes of getting either Kobe Bryant or Pau Gasol, which would catapult this team beyond it's already stellar expectations and into the stratosphere of the Pistons and Celtics.

Instead, they got club-house turmoil and I got an article idea for early in the season.

With Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and a few others affected by the trade talks of them leaving Chicago, and then them not going anywhere and having to play for the people that were just trying to get rid of them, the Bulls were in shambles early this season.

There were also the botched contract extension attempts.  Gordon and Deng both have expiring contracts and neither of them have come to an agreement to continue with the Bulls beyond this season.

With all these problems, the Bulls struggled (and I even use this term loosely) early in the season, and were unable to get some consistent wins.

Then Scott Skiles got fired, Jim Boylan got a promotion, and the season was over.  Right?

Well, the Bulls are lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) enough to be in the horrible Eastern Conference.  Teams will finish with records that make the Memphis Grizzlies lick their chops feeling that they are going to make the playoffs.

Then came the big trade involving the Bulls, Cavaliers, and Supersonics.  Big Ben (who has been a big disappointment this season), Joe Smith (who has been the only veteran leadership), and Adrian Griffin were all gone.

The additions of Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes were thought to be moves to help their playoff hopes.

Instead, it was a move that GM John Paxson said was made to be the nail in the coffin of a bad season. 

But the Bulls, instead of just giving up on the season like bad teams in the past have, are still trying to make it to the playoffs. After tonight's victory over the Hawks, the Bulls sit a manageable two games out of the final playoff spot in the East.

While teams like the Portland Trailblazers (who are my pick to be great next season) will have to sit out of the playoffs just because they are in the far superior Western Conference,  teams like the Chicago Bulls, who are thanking God that they are in the Eastern Conference, get to continue their season.

The Sacramento Kings (11th in the West) would be a playoff team in the East.

The Bulls are a bad team that has made every move in the bad moves book this season, yet still they reach for unattainable hopes.

There is no Cinderella story this season.  Just disappointment and false hope.