I almost skipped the month of March entirely and jumped to the final game of the season on April 1, against the Maine Red Claws. Here are a couple of reason why I didn’t: I already picked the Red Claws once and I don’t think picking a game on April Fool’s Day is just a dumb idea because the idea of April Fool’s is tired and probably results in an unbelievable number of friends open-hand smacking each other in the face in anger.
I just pictured that and I guess I take it all back. Well, except the part about picking that game as the final can’t-miss game of the season.
Next: Water Cooler: State of the Bulls
On Friday, March 17, Windy City hosts the Austin Spurs. Full disclosure, I may be picking this game because of everything wonderful about the Spurs NBA team and it has nothing to do with their D-League team. I just assume that since they do everything well and/or correctly, their D-League team is going to be a really fun watch.
All U Can Heat
This game does coincide with Chicago playing an away game at the Washington Wizards, but there are good reasons why that doesn’t matter.
The Bulls are terrible against the Wizards. The first game I saw at the United Center cost me all kinds of money and a six-hour drive in each direction. The Wizards won. You’ll also be shocked to know that Derrick Rose did not play. Here’s the thing – both of those events happen(ed) a lot for the Bulls. Derrick Rose missed a lot of games and the Wizards won a lot against the Bulls. No, not the Bulls that missed the playoffs last year and looked lost thanks to a mismatch by the front office that thought Tom Thibodeau-dependent veterans could thrive in an entirely different system. The Wizards always managed to hold their own against the good Bulls that attacked when Thibodeau said to attack. The Bulls team that was winning all of the regular season games and top seeds in the Eastern Conference always seemed to have a hard time with Washington.
Also, the Bulls seem to be on a downward trajectory. By the time that they take the court in mid-March, Windy City might be the least depressing thing about the Bulls. Guess we will have to wait and see, but see we will because these are all games that you can’t miss watching during the D-League Bulls’ inaugural season.