The Chicago Bulls are back under .500. It was a nice little win streak and it put the Bulls back into the playoff picture, but of course that ended and Chicago is now showing their true colors as a team that can’t be counted on to lose when they should or win when they should.
Next: Is Jimmy Butler a Flopper?
With the team in some vague amount of disarray, there are all kinds of things to talk about. Players the team believed in are showing signs of life, Hoiberg is making seemingly random lineup decisions, and the future is as cloudy as ever.
The only certain things are a Bulls roster isn’t a championship contender and constant entertainment from having one of the best players in the league. And one of the worst? I wasn’t talking about Rajon Rondo. No idea why you would assume that. Oh, and then there’s the site/podcast that misrepresented the trades in this piece, didn’t make a correction that we ever found out about out, and called for me to be fired. Because they couldn’t correctly read what I wrote.
Follow along closely Bulls fans, unlike “Radio Ethan” podcasts this stuff is worth your time.
Tanks a lot: Six reasons why the Bulls can win by losing veteran players – Stephen Noh (@hungarianjordan)
Yes! Noh is on board with the tank. I’ve been a bit overbearing with my campaign, demanding the Bulls face reality and rebuild on the fly. Noh lays out a very sensible plan that is not nearly as extreme as some suggestions I might have made. The Athletic does have a pay wall for many of their articles, but they also offer a free trial. You can always spring for their subscription, which is inexpensive and you get coverage on every Chicago sports team.
Film Room: Doug McDermott’s Career Night in Memphis – Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike)
Looks like our very own Michael Whitlow returned from his fancy trip to the NCAA Championship game between Clemson and Alabama just in time to celebrate Doug’s big night. He stopped writing about wrestling just long enough to give us a great video breakdown of 31 glorious McDermott points. Go read it, now.
The Chicago Bulls Miss Tom Thibodeau – Kevin Parrish, Jr. (@KevinParrishJr)
Parrish takes a trip down memory lane and recounts the rise and fall of Chicago under Tom Thibodeau. What’s more, do the Bulls miss Tom Thibodeau? Parrish tackles this and explains how the Bulls got where they are now and where they are headed because of their decision on Thibs.
Fourth Quarter Jimmy: Chicago’s Newest Superhero – Hunter Kuffel (@notgatherer)
Kuffel talks about the best Bull. Jimmy has been other-worldly on this island of castaways. Not everyone sees him as the great player that literally every statistic on the planets confirms he is. Kuffel focuses in on the end of games and finds that Butler is pretty good. How good? Hit the link and read on to find out about Jimmy’s clutch gene.
On the news beat…
Lopez tries to explain Chicago Bulls’ inconsistent season – Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHBulls)
Robin Lopez had some words about the play of the Bulls. It did occur to me that Chicago might not be very good at many aspects of the game, but Lopez had another explanation.
Player development proving as elusive as consistent rotation – K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop)
Johnson runs down some of the major issues that have been bothering a lot of us, including the curious case of Paul Zipser, Denzel Valentine and Jerian Grant. We certainly live in confusing times and Fred Hoiberg is doing literally nothing to help clear up his rotations.
There’s always something going on in Bulls Nation, so more great writing on important issues will pop up over the next few days. Until then, read up on the team.