Front Office Accountability, Rooting for the Other Guys, Boylen, Lauri, and Other Bulls Bullets

Nov 26, 2019

Teddy Roosevelt once said: “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

I’ll let you ponder that.

From head to toe, the Bulls are covered in dirt.

I wonder what John Paxson and Gar Forman are thinking as they watch this team.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) November 26, 2019

The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry is asking a good question here. Sadly, I think we all know the answer (*dollar signs cartoonishly replace pupils*). It sure feels like the GarPax front office has become content with losing basketball. Yet, we were told this was supposed to be the season the Bulls fight their way into the playoffs. The season’s still young, but a 6-12 start thanks to a blowout loss to a 5-11 Portland Trail Blazer team AT HOME makes this feel like an over-hyped hoax.

Speaking of losses at home, the Bulls have started this season just 3-7 at the United Center after a 2018-19 campaign where they won a franchise-low nine home games. Psssh, according to Michael Reinsdorf, that can’t possibly happen again!

Seriously, take another listen to this interview with Michael Reinsdorf from May and compare it to the junk we're watching now, on an almost nightly basis: https://t.co/h8xJEMWHXU
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) November 26, 2019

I don’t usually go off on the front office (I let others handle the constant barking), but it’s hard not to bring up the continued lack of accountability across the board. In most other organizations, a humiliating start for a third-year rebuilding team that preached playoffs would mean drastic change. The Bulls aren’t most other organizations.

Speaking of a lack of accountability, here’s some typically confusing stuff from Jim Boylen:

Boylen asked about LLauri Markkanen's minutes. pic.twitter.com/GNC4dhpPqW

— Ⓜ️arcusD ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) November 26, 2019

I dOn’T YaNk GuYs.

Lauri Markkanen hasn’t played over 30 minutes in the last five games for the Bulls. The distribution of minutes we’ve seen from Boylen has made little to no sense. His starters haven’t been playing starting-caliber minutes, while his bench lineups have stayed in the game far too long at times. Nothing about his in-game management has made any sense this season, and it sure doesn’t help when your chosen scheme on both ends of the court doesn’t appear to fit your personnel. We’ll talk more about all of Boylen’s poor decision-making later.

Last night’s game got so out of hand in the second half, the United Center crowd could be heard chanting for Carmelo Anthony to come back on the floor. Mhm, that’s where the Bulls are at now, folks – having fans want to watch opposing team’s players more than their own. Mayberry wrote about Melo’s return to the United Center, and how Chicago will always hold a special place in his heart.

Melo on the chants: “I think I will always be connected to Chicago some way, somehow. For years and years, my name has always been connected to the Chicago Bulls. I was a Bull for 10 days. That support was a big moment. Those fans didn’t have to do that.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 26, 2019

Lol … Bulls should’ve kept Melo.

If you need a therapeutic conversation about what’s going on with the Bulls, I recommend the latest edition of the Bulls Talk Podcast. Maybe these guys (like many of us) are just so beaten down by this team that there isn’t anything worth getting riled up about, but they have a nice thought-provoking discussion about this unit’s overarching problems.

On the latest Bulls Talk Podcast @Jason1Goff, @Bulls_Peck, and @KendallG13 discuss the Bulls inconsistent offense and Zach LaVine’s career night

LISTEN: https://t.co/dU9gCwWetO pic.twitter.com/r1KcEp31Xv

— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) November 26, 2019

Hello, darkness my old friend.

The Bulls are 0-6 following wins this season, losing by an average of 16.5 points per game.

— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) November 26, 2019

THIS COLUMN ALREADY!? UGH (I think I’ve written ugh on BN Bulls more than any other word).

I’m not saying the Bulls have had a bad start to the season, but @DarnellMayberry already has a ranking of their worst losses. https://t.co/gvKTmBg5Dj
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) November 26, 2019

written by

Elias Schuster

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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