Postmortem

The eighth-seed Bulls jumped ahead of the top-seed Celtics by winning the first two games of their opening-round playoff series, only to lose the next four contests by margins of 17, 19, 11 and 22 points.  None of those losses were as close as the margins might indicate.

The team won 42 games last year, the first under coach Fred Hoiberg, and 41 this year; that doesn’t seem make for a good trend, especially after they won 50 games in the last year of Tom Thibodeau’s run.  If Hoiberg isn’t clueless, his players are.  They play middle-school defense, with three people chasing after the ball, and four-statues’ offense, four guys standing still while the poor slob with the ball tries to fight off a triple team.

The best way to judge the Bulls is to look at the White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf’s other team.  The Sox are supposedly in a rebuild, what with trading Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, only their starting lineups tend to feature eight players from last year.  Yet the team has started 13-9, good enough for first place in the AL Central Division.  What gives?  I’d say it’s new manager Rick Renteria.

His predecessor Robin Ventura was so laid back he seemed to be taking a five-year nap on the bench.  Compare that to Renteria, who twice this first month of the season has lifted a starter in the fifth inning of a game, winning both times.  Renteria comes with a pulse, moves people around in the lineup, gives different players a chance and talks directly to Latin players in Spanish (Renteria is Mexican-American).  The Sox may go south the way they did last year, but for the first time in years it won’t be for lack of effort.

Now, back to the Bulls—they need to find another Rick Renteria.  The roster may be a good deal better than 41 wins, with the right coach.  Next, they need to decide on their core.  For me, that would include Jimmy Butler along with young players Denzel Valentine, Paul Zipser, Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio; throw in Robin Lopez, and you’re pretty much done.  Say goodbye to Dwayne Wade; he’s a retired man walking.  If I’m spending money on anyone, it’s to pick up Rajon Rondo’s option.

If only someone were asking me.