Monday, May 12, 2008

D'oh!

When it comes to teases, the pretty girls in Wrigleyville have nothing on Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

As a Bulls fan, I'm tired of Reinsdorf jerking my chain.

We heard the T-Wolves wanted to punch the Big Ticket out of Minnesota, but the Bulls couldn't come with the right package.

We heard Pau Gasol was certainly coming to the Bulls (eventually). However, the Bulls were unable to pull the trigger.

Then, we heard that we had a chance to bring in the best player in the game. He even told us to go buy a Bulls jersey.

Unfortunately, the Bulls were unwilling to deal Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace.

And now, this.

Mike D'Antoni wanted to coach the Bulls, bringing his fun-and-gun style to a city that has practically slept on professional basketball since No. 23 officially hanged it up.

The Bulls wanted D'Antoni to lead its youthful roster, which he saw fit for his style.

So, why isn't he coaching the Bulls?

Because Reinsdorf and Co. sat on their hands and waited to be outbid. And they were.

They low-balled their top choice and will likely have to settle for their third choice.

Chicago, I hope you're ready for some more bad basketball.

The roster is in flux. There is no plan in place. They have no stinkin' coach. A Bulls fan's only hope is that the ping-pong balls bounce to the point where the Bulls can land either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley.

The Bulls offseason plan should have been this:
  1. Sign D'Antoni and let the run-and-gun put Chicagoland McDonald's restaurants out of business.
  2. Rig the draft, pick up Michael Beasley.
  3. Sign Baron Davis, let him run the point.
Instead, it will look like this.
  1. Sign nameless, faceless assistant coach for cheap.
  2. With the 9th pick in the NBA Draft, select Kevin Love because we all know John Paxson loves good college players from powerhouse programs.
  3. Keep the roster in tact and hope last year was just a fluke.
The Bulls should be thriving right now. Instead they are struggling because they couldn't take advantage of the ultimate recruiting tool: the Jordan Era.

Instead, Reinsdorf treats the Bulls like a second-rate hobby.

While this city starves for a winner (that isn't lead by ranting lunatic from Venezuela), it might get it from a franchise that has provided 100 years of punchlines. Or a professional hockey franchise that isn't located in a Chicago suburb. Maybe a football team that is one year removed from a Super Bowl appearance can make it happen.

OK, maybe not.

Instead, the team that has provided Chicago with the most championships sits on its laurels, hoping the right situation happens instead of making the right situation happen.

-LMed

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