Disclaimer: All Iowa fans should avoid this brief intro …
SHOUTOUT ILLINI BASKETBALL!
Big Ten tournament and March Madness is about to be wild in Champaign! Have fun, y’all!
Over the last several weeks, the Bulls have continued their downward trajectory in the Eastern Conference standings, and their 43rd loss of the season might have been the final straw on the camel’s back. The New York Knicks are now just one game back from sending the Bulls into the bottom four. And while most observers have understood the harsh reality of this season for what feels like months, head coach Jim Boylen and the front office are just now joining us. The Sun-Times wrote about the Bulls finally shifting their mindset completely toward development for the remainder of the season, something Boylen says will be talked about with John Paxson sometime today: “We’ll kind of sit down, and we’ve talked about winning and developing, and there may be a moment where we turn into pure development mode. That’s what you do. To me, if that’s what is best for the franchise, that’s what helps us to continue to grow and get better, I’m sure we’ll do that.”
The organization has failed to hold Boylen accountable, and suddenly a lot of his recent comments have defined the win-loss column as inconsequential. But whether Boylen has focused the majority of his efforts on (1) development or (2) trying to win, we’ve learned that he’s pretty bad at both. The Bulls could very well finish with their same record as year one of the rebuild, and the team’s collective unit has shown little to no progress along the way. In more ways than one, this front office (aided by Boylen), has hit rock bottom. The rebuild as we currently know it has failed and almost everyone around the league knows it’s time for a new voice to lead this franchise.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale wrote out the top offseason goals for the league’s worst teams (always a fun category to be in). To no one’s surprise, he said the Bulls must change the front office. And I couldn’t agree more with the way he wrapped up his short blurb on the team: “To be clear: The Bulls are not in a damning position. They’ve yet to take a position at all. This should be the summer they install decision-makers with a more consistent and long-term vision.” Well said.
The Bulls might be the best team in the league at finding different ways to lose basketball games. Can you think of anyone better?
I mean, come on. This is some ELITE losing ability!
Lauri Markkanen improved on his 1-10 shooting performance against the Pacers with a 16-point outing against the Nets yesterday. To be honest, though, it didn’t really feel like an encouraging performance. He sank four 3-pointers and shot the ball only eight times.
Denzel Valentine, Shaquille Harrison, Thaddeus Young, and Tomas Satoransky should NEVER have more shot attempts than Markkanen. Other than Harrison, he played more minutes than each one of those players. All he’s discussed lately is wanting to prove he’s more than a spot-up shooter, and while we know he can be, he isn’t trying to be. At this rate, the only way I can see real change coming Markkanen’s way is if a new head coach can take over this team. Markkanen’s confidence is shot, and he knows he doesn’t fit well into what Boylen is trying to do.
Again, props to Shaquille Harrison for using his time wisely. This guy is playing hard and trying to earn his bag this offseason.
Chandler Hutchison’s news isn’t looking great.
As always, good stuff from The Athletic’s Stephen Noh. I was always confident about White’s defensive potential – and like on offense – we’re finally seeing what he’s capable of.
https://twitter.com/StephNoh/status/1237002714359488513?s=20
The scoop on what happened in Brooklyn with head coach Kenny Atkinson is … interesting.
NEWSLETTER
