Wakeup Call

The NFL/Bears/Chicago sports’ media complex would have you believe Caleb Williams is a polished quarterback and Ben Johnson is a polished head coach, only they’re not, which was obvious in yesterday’s 19-16 loss to the Lions at home. In truth, Williams is a second-year player whose rookie season was marked by his having to survive being sacked 68 times. Williams has also had three head coaches. That he’s led his team to an 11-6 record, good for the second seed in the NFC, is an extraordinary accomplishment. But Willimas still has a lot of work to do. He scrambles way too much looking for receivers, only to throw off his back foot at the last possible second. Sometimes, those throws are caught, most times not, and sometimes Williams is flagged for intentional grounding. The Bears tied with the Falcons and Commanders for the most such penalties in all of football, with five. Two of those teams are going home. The other one is damn’ lucky to be going to the postseason. Yesterday was another game where the offense went to sleep for three quarters. Going into the fourth, the score was 16-0 Lions. That’s when Williams worked his magic, engineering two scoring drives that tied the game at sixteen. The Bears then managed a turnover to get the ball back with 2:18 left in the game. Guess who got called for intentional grounding on second down? Three-and-out led to a Lions’ game-winning field goal with the clock running down. The intentional-grounding penalty wouldn’t have mattered if the Bears’ defense had held; it didn’t. Yes, the defense managed three sacks on the day, but this is where they needed number four. No pressure on the quarterback translated into a 26-yard completion from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown to the Chicago 26. For all intents and purposes, game over. St. Brown racked up 139 yards on eleven receptions. If the defense had a plan to stop him, it didn’t work. Goff threw for 331 yards while the Lions rushed for another 122 yards. Again, if there was a plan, it needed to be shelved. The inability to adjust is on Johnson and his staff as much as it is any defender. I’d also pin a lack of intensity if not focus on the rookie coach. Six straight runs in the Bears’ first possession capped off by an incomplete screen pass? You can’t be serious. At least, Johnson wasn’t. So, things get addressed, pronto, or at the end of Saturday’s game against Green Bay, Cheese Nation is going to claim bragging rights for an awfully long time.

Litmus Test

Patrick Williams came off the bench last night against the blah, now twelve-win Hornets to score…zero points in minutes of “play.” The six-year veteran “shot” the ball seven futile times as the Bulls blew an eight-point halftime lead to lose 112-99. By the end of the game, only Nikola Vucevic (28 points with seven rebounds and eight assists) seemed to care. There’s absolutely no figuring this team out. A days’ late New Year’s resolution: I’m going to stop trying.

What Do I Know?

Three games ago, the Bulls were dead in the water; “listless” would be an understatement. In a 136-101 loss to the Timberwolves, Patrick Williams came off the bench to score all of seven points. Life without Josh Giddey and Coby White looked grim, indeed. Then, Billy Donovan’s team chose to wake up and beat the Pelicans, 134-118. Did I say “wake up”? Williams again came off the bench, only this time he scored twelve. Granted, New Orleans is only good against Chicago (and Zion Williamson healthy), but last night a good Magic team (19-15) came to town, and the Bulls won again, 121-114. Williams had fifteen points, and he didn’t even lead second-unit scorers. That honor fell to guard Kevin Huerter, who had himself a nice night with 20 points, four rebounds and two assists. Tonight, the blah, eleven-win Hornets visit the United Center. A win, and the Bulls climb over .500, which earlier in the week seemed impossible given their injury situation. What do I know?

Maybe This Time

The White Sox this week announced the signing of outfielder Jarred Kelenic to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. The onetime wunderkind from Waukesha, Wisconsin, has had a tough time of it since being the number-six pick of the 2018 draft. Lots of pop, not enough contact. Though you’d never know from the way mlb.com covered him; he was everywhere and everything to commentators, another Trout or Brett. As a rule, I think this kind of publicity is toxic to a young player, especially one who didn’t get a chance to grow up some while attending college. In three of his five big-league seasons, Kelenic has batted under .182, and a mere .167 in 60 at-bats with the Braves last season. Now, he’s just trying to hold on. As it is, the Sox have Everson Pereira, Tristan Peters and Derek Hill looking to do the same. In all likelihood, only one of those four breaks camp with the team. As ever, Darwin trumps hype.

Treading Water

A Bulls’ win over the eight-win Pelicans hardly seems major, until you realize two of those wins are against the Bulls, who seem to curl into a collective ball whenever Zion Williamson takes the court. Not last night. Bulls134 Pelicans 118. This despite Williamson pouring in 31 points and the Bulls playing without Josh Giddey (at least two weeks, hamstring); Coby White (at least one week, calf); and Zach Collins (maybe a week, big toe). But Billy Donovan was able to get the uninjured to do that swarm thing they’ve worked on occasion this season. All five starters plus three off the bench scored in double figures. Matas Buzelis, at 6’8”, started at guard while Jalen Smith slid over to power forward. Smith posted a double-fourteen, points and rebounds, in what may be a series of starts for him. Anytime Patrick Williams escapes the bench to score twelve points, it’s a good game. The question is, can he do it again tomorrow night at the United Center against the Magic? We’ll see.

Contact

I finally got around to reading a story in The Athletic from last month by Mitch Bannon, “The Blue Jays made contact hitting cool again. Can the rest of MLB follow?” According to Bannon, the Jays’ ability to make contact and get hits—that second part is important—is leading other teams to try and do the same. I would hope so. During the regular season, the Jays struck out the second fewest times in baseball while leading the majors in on-base percentage; at the same time, they were tied for eleventh in homeruns. The Yankees may dig the long ball, to the point of leading all of baseball in that department, but they lost to Toronto in the ALDS. So, there’s that. Baseball being baseball, people want to have their cake, or homeruns, and eat it, too, meaning plenty of contact. Baseball being baseball, teams will want to stock their lineups with as many Aaron Judge clones as they can find while going light on anyone like Ozzie Guillen or Luis Arraez, who struck out a mere 21 times in 675 plate appearances this season. Yet Arraez only managed a .327 on-base percentage to go with 61 RBIs and 66 runs scored. Not the kind of production you want at first base. Second base, where Arraez used to play, Yes, but his defense there is nothing to write home about. Any manager or general manager who has a player with near identical BA and OBP will check the power numbers. Arraez had eight on the season. That’s why he’s still a free agent. Vlad Guerrero Jr., on the other hand, had 23 homers to go with a .381 OBP, which is why he got himself a huge contract back in April—fourteen years, $500 million. Like I said, cake and eat it, too.

Simple as One, Two, Three

It’s simple, really. The Bulls can’t afford to lose more than one of the people in their ten-player rotation. Last night against the Timberwolves, they were short three. T-Wolves 136 Bulls 101 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggests. First, center Zach Collins didn’t even play; Collins has a sprained big toe that could keep him out a week (hello, losing streak). Then, halfway through the first quarter Coby White aggravated his calf injury. Wait, there’s more. Josh Giddey looked like he pulled his left hamstring at the start of the third quarter. And a close game turned into a rout. It’s disappointing none of the other Bulls stepped up, if not to win the game then at least make it respectable. Minnesota committed three—that’s right, three—turnovers all night to sixteen for the Bulls. Enough said.