Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Why Do We Put Up With This - Part 3?

It has been a LONG time since I was nearly brought to tears with a Bulls loss, but tonight it happened. Losing at home to the worst team in the NBA that was on pace (I know it's WAY early) to destroy the lowest season win total "record" (they were on pace to win 4 games for the season while the record is 9) just about killed me. Thank goodness I wasn't there to see it although I was at the debacle against Toronto on Saturday when they lost by 32 again at home.

For tonight's game I know there were a million reasons they lost and you really shouldn't point to a single moment that lost the game, but that disastrous decision by John Salmons to take a step-back 3-pointer with over 10 seconds left on the clock with the Bulls down by 1 was just horrendous. Of all the guys on the floor at that point, the one guy you just didn't want taking an outside shot (forget the fact that there were still 10 seconds left and NO RUSH and they didn't need a 3 at that point), John Salmons was THE guy NOT to take the shot. Luol was 10-17 from the field; Rose (who was a beast tonight) was 13-23; Taj was 8-12; and Noah was 3-6. Salmons was 4-11 before his ill-fated shot. If they had ANYONE else on the bench that could do anything, I would hope that Vinny wouldn't have even had him on the floor at that point but Pargo was 1-8 and Johnson was 0-5 and well on his way to bust status.

The missed free throws were a HUGE problem AGAIN tonight as the Bulls finished up 15-23 for 65% (Nets were 24-28 for nearly 86%) including going 0-4 to start the 4th quarter down by 10 points. The 19 turnovers leading to about 20 points for the Nets were also a huge problem as well. But with the game on the line, how does the ball end up in the hands of the coldest guy on the floor? And WHY is he chucking up a step-back 3 with 10 seconds left down by only 1 point? There was still plenty of time to get the ball to Rose (does this team no how to set a dang pick?) and let HIM take the last shot or at least drive and kick it to someone having a better night than Salmons.

The Bulls have now lost 7-of-8 including two pretty embarrassing home losses to a sub-.500 Toronto team and the loss tonight to the worst team in the NBA (this was their first road win of the season after dropping their first 12). Yes, they are missing a couple of key players in Tyrus and Kirk, but injuries are a part of the game and everyone always says they aren't an excuse so what is the problem here? I watched the post-game press conference with Vinny and someone actually had the guts to ask him if he felt he still had job security. GREAT question! And a perfect lead-in to this post.

I mentioned in my first post in this series that I have never been much of a fan of Vinny's considering how young this team is and his total lack of coaching experience having never coached anywhere ever before. He certainly came here on the cheap but as a 10+ year season ticket holder paying a ridiculous amount of money for the tickets, that is NOT what I want to hear. Seeing former Bulls coach Scott Skiles hold together a pretty bad Bucks team without Michael Redd (played only 5 of their 19 games) only aggravates me that much more. This Bulls team started the season with a nice defensive attitude because we all knew they'd have some trouble scoring without BG but that disappeared very quickly as they have given up 100+ points in 7 of their last 9 which resulted in losses each time. What is this team's identity? They absolutely suck at defending the pick-and-roll and give up too many easy shots to be a defensive minded team but then they can't score either (reaching 100 twice in 19 games - not a good combo.

So who's working with this team on their outside shooting? What about their free throws? Do they have any "go-to" plays they can run at the end of a game that will at least guarantee a good shot? The plain truth is that they don't have anyone or they just don't work on it. Sure at some point the players need to take responsibility for their weaknesses, but do you see any improvement in any of these areas? I sure don't. The rest of the truth is that this team is NOT positioned very well for this season and the worse they play, the less likely they will be to attract any of the upcoming free agents. After dismantling the Bulls on their home floor, why would Chris Bosh want to come here to play? Or why would Wade want to come back "home" to play rather than stay in Miami? And with LeBron doing his special dance in advance of their home win against the Bulls, that doesn't seem like the antics of a guy that wants to play here rather than fulfill D-Rose's dream of playing with him.

What the heck was Vinny thinking when he changed the starting lineup to bench Taj and start the OLD and SLOW Brad Miller (hey, at least he's tall) against a young, quick, up and coming Center in Brook Lopez? I'm all for shaking up a lineup that's struggling, but Brad Miller?!? As anyone that's ever seen Lopez or Miller play could guess, Lopez OWNED Miller in the first quarter. Brutal Vinny! I know he was trying to cover for his player when asked about the ill-fated Salmons 3-point shot near the end, but his response about checking the tape made it sound like he had no idea what happened. Anyone watching the game knew there was at least 8 seconds left when he chucked it up there so what is there to check? He was the LAST guy on teh floor that you'd want to take that shot and that should have been made explicitly clear in teh team huddle during the timeout preceding the play.

The Bulls, like the Bears and Cubs as highlighted in the previous two posts need a NEW coaching perspective and staff...one with some respect to help lure free agents here in the most important off-season in NBA history.

Again, why do we put up with this here in Chicago?

Next up...off-season baseball and the winter meetings.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Why Do We Put Up With This - Part 2?

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I guess I should follow up the Bears problems with those of my favorite pro sports team - the Cubs.

The good news is the Trib is officially GONE - thank goodness. The only problem is the debris field they left behind. Wrigley is totally out-of-date and run down; the minor league player development is a total joke; the GM had arguably (no argument from me) the worst season of all-time; the team president remains in his old spot; and the manager who mailed it in for the second half of last year is back too. Did I mention the worst ever Chicago free-agent signing (and THAT is saying a LOT) ever remains on the roster? They have the most expensive and under-achieving outfield in the history of baseball including THE most overpaid player in baseball (that is also saying a LOT). Luckily, they are only stuck with Soriano for another 5 SEASONS!!!

Yes, we now have owners who are at least telling us they are in this because they are baseball fans - lifelong Cubs fans as a matter of fact. But I remain baffled that Tom Ricketts has been supposedly involved with this team for nearly 2 years and yet left all the leaders of the organization in their familiar places. Even scarier were his comments on how much better the team was doing recently by making the playoffs 3 times in the last 7 seasons. The Cubs are the ONLY major market team in the NL Central with the highest payroll too. WHY can't they win the division more than they have? And since they have been spending but not performing, doesn't that leave the leadership as the problem? Particularly the GM who oversees the draft, signs the free agents, makes or doesn't make the trades, and hires/fires the manager? So how does Jim Hendry remain? I just don't get it.

Lou had a club option to come back this year. After a VERY disappointing season, the Cubs didn't renew it right? Wrong! Jim Hendry for whatever reason exercised the club option back in 2008. Wait...yes, you read that right...the Cubs exercised Lou's club option for the 2010 season back in September 2008 right BEFORE the Cubs went 3-and-out in the playoffs for the second time in two years. Why the big rush Jim? Was there some huge demand out there for an aging skipper that can't get his team up for the playoffs? This guy spends money like it isn't his...you know why...because it ISN'T! That's not the guy I want leading my organization.

Lou totally mailed it in last year giving up on his team in August and never fighting to get them back on track. Let's not forget the Cubs were still in first place as late as August 5th. Then the wheels fell off and the guy in charge of getting them back on was asleep at the helm instead. But let's turn the clock back a little further. How about calling his starting RF a "piece of s***" and sending him home one day only to have him back in the starting lineup the very next day? Or how long did he leave the ultra-struggling Soriano in the lead-off spot? How many Gatorade machines did he allow to be destroyed by underachieving pitchers with no repercussions? Who's in charge in the dugout Lou? Even when it was clearly over towards the end of the season, Lou still kept throwing out the old guys instead of trying out the younger ones to see if they could salvage anything from an otherwise disastrous season. Sam Fuld, Micah, Jake Fox, and Andre Blanco should have been sent out there day after day towards the end.

The biggest problem with the Cubs today is the long-term contracts that lock the team up and totally limit flexibility. Soriano is making so much money, you just have to play him and he's got so many years left on his contract and he's already pretty old that you're just never going to be able to unload him without taking on another disastrous contract which means you won't gain anything. You still have Milton Bradley but hopefully, he's all but out of here - I heard when Hendry finally sent him home with a couple weeks left in the season that the remaining players cheered wildly - not a good sign. Fukudome has two more years on his ridiculous Jim Hendry contract so you're stuck with him starting too so there goes 2 of your 3 outfield spots. You have no real CF - no, Fukudome is NOT a CF; he's a RF. The oft-injured Aramis Ramirez is here for 2 or 3 more years; Dempster 3 more years; Zambrano 3-4 more years; and Aaron Miles (what a JOKE this guy is!) for 1 more year. The guy that had the best year last season was D-Lee and he's only signed for 1 more year. They'll lose Rich Harden to free agency and Lilly is only signed for one more year so what once was considered a strength doesn't seem very strong anymore. Dempster seems to have lost a little something and Zambrano just seems to be one of those guys you scratch your head about what could have been if he would just grow up.

So the Cubs have a new owner that arguably over spent during tough economic times which will probably limit their immediate further investment in the team. They already said they were going to increase ticket prices again (the Cubs were the only pro team in Chicago to raise prices last year) and they are trying to squeeze some money from the guy that owns the building that used to have the Budweiser sign painted on the roof who changed it to Horseshoe Casino. Sounds like the same story as last year.

Lou has asked AGAIN for a middle-of-the-order guy which will potentially be the third year in a row as Fukudome and then Bradley were supposed to be that guy. What they really need to do is get a REAL lead-off guy - right now, the roster includes 3 pretty good #2 hitters (Theriot, Fukudome, and Bradley) and zero #1 or #5 hitters (Soriano is a #6 hitter at best these days). They also need a healthy and productive Aramis and D-Lee along with Soto getting his head screwed back on right. How about Chone Figgins to lead-off and play 2B? How does this starting lineup sound?
1 - Figgins 2B
2 - Theriot SS
3 - Lee 1B
4 - Aramis 3B
5 - Soriano LF
6 - Soto C
7 - Fukudome RF
8 - Johnson CF

Or what about moving Soriano back to 2B and putting Jake Fox out in LF? Having both corner outfield spots sucked up by overpaid underachievers really limits the Cubs flexibility with their young guys. Of course, they did this to themselves.

Next up...Vinny and the Bulls...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Why Do We Put Up With This?

Welcome to December. I'll start with THANK GOODNESS for the Blackhawks! Isn't that about it though in Chicago professional sports though these days?

Man, with the destruction of the Bears this season, what else do we have? There's no question the town's ONLY "universal" sports team is the Bears. Sure when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were winning all those championships (how long ago does that seem?), the town was very much into the Bulls. Other than that though, there are a lot of people in this town that simply don't follow the Bulls primarily because they just aren't that good, but also because NBA basketball just isn't THE sport any more. Then of course you have the dissection of the town's allegiance to the local baseball teams. I'm not sure dissection is the right word as that implies equal separation, but you know what I mean. The Blackhawks are doing great right now and are really the only local franchise even remotely on the right track and I'm not saying that to take away anything from the Hawks...it's just that ALL the other teams are VERY FAR from being in the same vicinity of on the right track. Even so, after the "Dollar Bill" Wirtz spent the last 20 years alienating most of the hockey fans in this town, I still don't think the popularity is back where it was quite yet although it is well on the way back.

Regardless, besides the Hawks, what else do we have in this town from a professional sports perspective? Let's keep in mind that Chicago is the third largest market in the US. It's football season (or so I have been told) so let's start with the "beloved". What the heck is going on here? Wasn't this team just in the Super Bowl a few years ago? Yes Bears' fans...it was less than 3 years ago when the Bears played the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Well look at them now. What the heck happened? Well, glad you asked - 5 words...Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith...they are what happened to the Bears. For that 2006 season, the Bears had a dominant defense and an up-and-coming defensive coordinator in former Bear Chico Rivera. Lovie felt threatened so they fired him to bring in Lovie's friend Bob Babich to decimate the defense first. After two very declining production years, Lovie decided to step in and call the defenses himself and he even brought in D-Line guru and former 0-16 Lions head coach Rod Marinelli. What a freakin' mess they are now! Lovie - news flash...the NFL has figured out the Cover 2. Additionally, you do NOT have the personnel to run the Cover 2. How many more 30+ points allowed games do you need to see to figure that out?

The defensive line is a joke after a pretty quick start. Tommie Harris was benched one game by Lovie and then took himself out of another with a ridiculous cheap shot punch on the 4th play of another game. Where's the discipline? The tackling is a total joke. If the safeties aren't trying to tackle guys around the shoulders, our line backers are simply trying to knock guys over instead of wrapping up. Maybe it's time to allow the guys to actually work on their tackling in practice Lovie instead of relying on some sort of divine intervention on Sundays. And the D-Line...apparently Rod lost his touch while coaching the first and only 0-16 team in NFL history.

Personally, I think the offense is a total joke. How many more times are they going to try that stupid "bubble screen" while the defense is in tight press coverage? It CAN'T work Ron! Go back and destroy another college program buddy because you are NOT a real NFL O-coordinator. Now that Charlie Weiss is free to pursue other work, maybe he can come here to help install a real offense for Cutler and Forte.

Jerry Angelo has destroyed this team from the inside out on top of everything else. His drafts have been horrible to say the least which is why most of us were such big fans of the Jay Cutler trade - he can't draft anyone decent in the first two rounds anyway so we weren't really losing much. Is he any better at signing free agents? Nope! They signed two big offensive line guys - Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale. One word...DISASTER! These guys have been HORRIBLE! And he also signed a new LB in Pisa Tinoisamoa. Well, he has 3 more tackles than you do sitting on the couch.

For the most part, I have heard very little criticism of Jerry Angelo and the common retort about the Bears potentially firing Lovie with 2 years and $10 million left on that extension he signed after losing the Super Bowl. Really? The Bears are going to cry poor? Seriously? The franchise is worth over $1 billion! Cough up the cash and bring in a REAL name. I find it hard to believe the Bears wouldn't make that $10 million right back with a decent team on the field. Is anyone even still following these guys with the way they are playing? How many of you watched the game on Sunday? The big problem is the Bears can't even rebuild through the draft as they just don't have enough quality picks to bring in skill position players that will make an impact. So now you have a $20 million franchise QB with no line to protect him or to help the running game and not a single real WR for him to throw the ball to. You don't have an offensive coordinator that can get creative enough to get Greg Olsen open more consistently so your best offensive weapon is only about 50% effective.

I know this is far from a universal concept, but the ruining of Devin Hester was the beginning of the end of this team as far as I'm concerned. Again, the Bears in the #2 market in the NFL (remember, LA doesn't have an NFL team!) cried poor and didn't sign the only real receiver they had in Bernard Berrian and instead took their #1 offensive weapon and shoe-horned him into being a receiver. Not only that, but they filled his contact extension with receiver incentives without anything in there about return TDs. He scored 11 return TDs in his first two years in the league (I beleive the all-time record is 13) and ZERO since his new contract. And he has hardly made up for his lack or return production with receiving TDs with only 3 TDs in each of these last 2 years. In the meantime, Bernard Berrian scored 7 receiving TDs last year (that was before Brett Favre!). STUPID AND CHEAP!

The team is a mess and looks to be stuck there for the foreseeable future. So the question is...WHY do we put up with this year after year of mediocrity?

I'll follow up on the Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls in future posts.