Who else is very excited for baseball?
I know I am. I keep telling myself it’ll distract me from all my basketball induced sadness, even if that may not be the case given how competitive the NL Central is shaping up to be. Anything is better than this Bulls season, right?
Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson spoke with NBC Sports Chicago recently, and once again provided admiration for head coach Jim Boylen has done with this roster. “Jim can’t control the injuries,” Paxson told NBC Sports Chicago. “And he is remaining positive, which is what we need the remainder of the season.” In other words, his comments lacked any real substance or honest self-awareness. Heck, swap out the names and Paxson has been defending his franchise to the public in the same way for years. The Bulls are stuck in a purgatory of development and injuries and it’s extremely old.
(Michael: Moreover, I’m a little fed up with the idea that injuries are entirely out of his control. To a certain extent, of course they are, but there’s reason to believe both Boylen and the Bulls training staff writ large has done a poor job identifying and handling injuries this entire season. Boylen has refused to call timeouts when his players are clearly injured on the court, he routinely encouraged guys to play through things, and seemingly values “toughness” above literally all else. So, I’m sorry, but he can control the injuries – at least a little bit).
Indeed, nothing about Boylen has been positive for this team thus far. And based on the reaction we’ve seen from his players on and off the court, I don’t think his optimism is rubbing off on anyone in the locker room.
It’s incredibly amusing – and by that I mean so frustrating I want to punt a basketball into space – that this team continues to walk back it’s preseason playoff goal like it never happened. Now, Paxson makes no mention of the team vastly underachieving and instead says Boylen is doing exactly what this front office asked of him: “We’re obviously having a tough season. But all along, I’ve asked Jim to continue to focus on teaching our young players, focusing on development and accountability, and he is doing that for us.” Remember when Boylen said he didn’t care about the win-loss column, implying everything was basically peachy? This is why. It’s honestly ironic that Paxson says part of Boylen’s job is to focus on accountability, because this front office does nothing of the sort.
While we’re on the topic of backtracking, Boylen finally came around to the idea of Coby White in the starting lineup.
Chances are this team wants to get a better look at White and Zach LaVine playing alongside one another, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen as soon as today. The spurts we’ve seen of them together have been pretty encouraging. I understand that a more passive player like Satoransky feels closer to the fit LaVine would need, but I’m not sure that’s the case. With White on the court, it takes some of the attention off LaVine. Unless it’s an off night for either player, it’s almost impossible for an opponent to ensure that they can lock down both. Of course, the defensive concerns are very real and White is still raw when it comes to running an NBA offense, but the potential is there. At this point, by not starting White for at least a couple of games, the Bulls are doing themselves a disservice. Unfortunately, they are well-known masochists, so ….
Anyway, LaVine is questionable to return right now and will be re-evaluated ahead of today’s 2:00 p.m. tip-off in Brooklyn.
Clearly, this chart means one thing and one thing only … Coby White >>>> Zion Williamson
The Bulls will be the first team to play the Nets since they fired head coach Kenny Atkinson.
You and me both.
This is exactly why the Bulls need to figure out what the heck this offseason change is going to look like and then act upon it immediately when the season ends.
MY EYES! MY EYES!
NEWSLETTER
